Online Education Review

I've taken several online classes throughout my college experience and some of them have run incredibly smoothly while others were much less effective. I like taking online classes because it cuts down on the amount of time that I actually spend in class. As a science major, I take one or two labs each semester, and the majority of them require that I am in class on campus at least 7 hours per week. When I've taken two labs in a semester it doubles, and basically that is really just a lot of time to be in class. I like that online classes give me some freedom in that respect.

One of the biggest problems that I've found with online classes is that some professors of online classes don't seem to make themselves very available, and many don't really spend time into developing a class that is effective and engaging. I think it can be so much harder to be engaged in an online class because there is no face time, and it's really hard to get to know the people in your class, or to get to know you professor. When I struggle to feel engaged in a class, I typically don't do as well/don't learn as much than I do in classes or with professors who really seek to engage you in the material. The other problem that I've noticed in most of my online classes is the lack of feedback. In the majority of the online classes I've taken, when I turn in an assignment, I get a grade, and no type of explanation or feedback into what I've done well, what I did wrong, ways to fix it. It can be really frustrating and makes the class that much harder to succeed in and enjoy.

Something that I've really really loved about this class is the amount of communication. I feel engaged and connected to the people in this class. I've never really felt lost about what to do or wondered how I could improve on something. The feedback in this class really is awesome. I like that we get comments and feedback from both the professor and from our classmates. This class has just been so easy to be engaged in. Each assignment is so clearly laid out and explained, and I have felt like there were resources for every single little thing. Making a website, and setting up a blog could have been really hard and confusing (particularly for me because I am not technology adept) but there really were step by step instructions that were essentially dummy proof, not to mention Laura Gibbs (I feel like I should maybe just say "you" since you're reading this?) is so crazy helpful. It's seriously practically impossible to be confused in this class, and also practically impossible not to enjoy this class. There is so much freedom in this class, but it still manages to be so structured and easy to navigate. Honestly I talk to my sister MacKenzie about how much I love it all of the time (she is still mad that she graduated and can't take your class again) and have recommended this class to everyone that I know.

Please say you've watched Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. If
not, please do so immediately. It's hysterical.

Seriously this class rocks, and is hands down the best, most fun, and most effective online class ever. Honestly its probably just one of the best classes ever in general.

Week 15: OU General Education Review

Michael Scott (honestly do we even need a caption?)

Some of my very favorite classes that I've taken at OU have been to fulfill my gen. ed. requirements. As a science major and particularly as a pre-health student, I basically eat, sleep, and breathe science. Sometimes it literally makes my brain feel like jelly... if anyone else took O Chem II, biochem, microbio and microbio lab all in one semester, you know what I'm talking about. Being surrounded by so much science makes taking classes that are completely opposite of that so refreshing.

I really love european history and  have a particular fascination with ancient Greek culture. Most of my gen. ed humanities courses have been involving those topics. I took European history 1500-1815 with Judith Lewis. AWESOME CLASS. I could literally listen to her talk about history all day long. Her class felt like story time all of the time. I learned so much, and she made the class so enjoyable. Her tests were all essay based which I actually really loved because I felt like I learned more and I was able to express my opinion about so many different events in history, particularly about women's roles in European history. 

I also took Greek Tragedy in English Translation with Ellen Greene. Another totally awesome class with a totally awesome professor. Her class was discussion based, and I loved that I was able to get to know and interact with my classmates. It was really fun to hear other people's interpretations of different pieces of literature, and to understand some of my favorite and also least favorite (looking at you Agamemnon) characters from different points of view. 

This class has been another class that I've loved because there is so much interaction with the other classmates, and I have gotten to read so many different people's versions and interpretations of awesome stories throughout a variety of cultures.

My gen ed experience at OU particularly with humanities courses has been incredibly positive. These classes have been some of my absolute favorites and I feel like I've been able to broaden my horizons and really immerse myself in subjects that are very different from my chosen field. Because I had so much freedom in choosing my classes for my humanities credits, I was able to find classes that really interested me, and ones in which I would feel motivated to learn and participate, and as a result the things I have learned in these classes have and will continue to stick with me.

Week 13: Famous Last Words

This is me in Arezzo eating delicious gelato.
Trying to pretend I'm there right now.
Taken by my friend Tara.

This week I've really been struggling with inspiration for one of my stories for my storybook project. I am supposed to be writing about Andromache and her marriage to Hector, and I'm about half way through the story and I just am not feeling inspired. I am really disappointed because Andromache and Hector are one of my favorite couples in Greek mythology. I love that they had such a happy marriage. I am really just a huge Hector fan. I'm hoping that by the end of the night, I'll feel a spark of inspiration and really be able to finish the story.

I may be struggling because this week has been so incredibly stressful. I had two projects due for my major microbiology classes and both of them were ridiculously hard and time consuming. This week I have barely had any sleep, and I have just felt completely brain dead since. Not to mention our capstone independent projects are winding down and I have an intensely long paper to write so that I'll be able to graduate looming over my head. Not really a great combination that is conducive to writing. Hopefully though I'll be able to finish it tonight and be happy with it.

One great thing did happen this weekend. My mom came in town for Mom's weekend! I was really excited to see her and have a girl day. We didn't do much, but we had such a fun time. We went to Chuy's and had margaritas. The prickly pear one is back, which is my absolute favorite! Then we went and looked around at houses for lease in Moore, which is where I plan to live with some roommates next year while I attend medical school at OU. It was really fun. She's coming up again next weekend too for my little sister's birthday, so yay for more mom time!

Extra Reading Diary: Europa's Fairy Book

Okay obviously I love this unit because it is more stories that are so familiar to me and that I really love. I really like reading different versions of stories that I know because it is so cool to see how the differ across different cultures. This week I read the Italian fairy tales and several of the stories were very similar to the stories in this unit, however they each had their own different details. It was so cool to be able to compare some of the Italian stories to the stories in this unit (Europa's Fairy Book).

The cool thing about reading this unit this week is that I got to read another version of Beauty and the Beast, one of my very favorite stories. This version of Beauty and the Beast was more similar to the story that I remember from my childhood, but still had some differences. It was really cool to compare it to the Italian version though. In this version the Beast is an actual furry beast unlike in the Italian story. In this version though the beast dies, and when Bella sees this she runs to him crying saying that she had come to love him. It is with her declaration of love that the beast comes alive and changes into a prince and they live happily ever after. I loved this version of the story, because Bella fell in love with the Beast of her own volition. In the Italian story I did not like how the monster persuaded him to marry him so that he could be lifted from the curse. I liked the idea of Bella and the Beast actually making an honest connection.

Cinderella the Movie

I also really liked the story The Cinder-Maid. Obviously this story is a version of Cinderella. I really loved this version. It was very similar to the story of Cinderella that I know which includes the step sisters cutting off their toes or heels to try to fit into the slipper. I liked how this version of the story didn't include a fairy god-mother really, but instead the hazelnut tree and the birds in it helped to get Cinderella ready for the ball. I also really liked how this story featured three different balls. It was cool to see the repetition and progression of the story that some of the childhood versions of this fairy tale leave out.

Reading Diary B: Italian Popular Tales

The stories in the second half of the unit Italian Popular Tales are a little bit darker than the first half. The first half was filled with fun and engaging fairy tales. Each of the stories had a happy ending. The second half of this unit is not like that. The stories do not all have a happy ending. I still really like them though. They are really interesting and a lot of them have religious backgrounds.

Pilate looking about as creepy as the story
would suggest (Happy nightmares to you)

One story that really stayed with me was the story An Incident in Rome. This story kind of gave me the creeps honestly. It was pretty cool at the same time. It definitely had an air of mystery all throughout it. The image I had of the carter coming across a man deep in the ground, reading over and over a piece of paper and not responding when he was spoken to was so weird and creepy. I thought it was even more mysterious when he finally answered and wrote his name on the carter's back. The idea that the carter came out of the cave looking like he had aged fifty years was really kind of scary. It indicated to me that the man in the hole had done something bad, and that going down there had almost sucked the life out of the carter or something... really creepy. Of course this story ended up having a religious background when the man in the hole was revealed to be Pilate. This story was so weird, but it really stuck out in my mind because of all of the mystery that surrounded it.

I also read The Story of Crivoliu. This story was also weird. Within the first two lines there was a mention of incest... gross. I kept reading however, and was really intrigued. It ended up being a story with a religious background as well. When Crivoliu found out the circumstances of his birth, he being a man of faith, left his home of his adoptive parents and went to go do penance for his parent's sins (incest, seriously, gross). Long story short Crivoliu ends up becoming the pope, and his parents come to confess their sin from long ago, and Crivoliu says that he is their son, has spent many years doing penance for them, that they are forgiven, and should come live with them. Really nice and pope like of Crivoliu, but honestly kind of weird. The whole basis of the story was just so weird that it stuck so heavily in my brain. This unit definitely took a strange turn from the Beauty and the Beast story.

Reading Diary A: Italian Fairy Tales

Beauty and the Beast

I love these fairy tales in the Italian Popular Tales unit! These stories are exactly the type of stories I think of when someone says the words fairy tale. I really loved that several of the stories were familiar and that I got to read Italian versions of some of my favorite stories like Beauty and the Beast. There were also several stories which were completely new to me, but they all read very distinctly like the fairy tales I read as a child.

One of my favorite stories was the very first one Zelinda and the Monster. It is the Italian version of beauty and the beast, which is one of my very favorite fairy tales. I loved getting to compare this story with the Beauty and the Beast that I know and love. There were no dancing and singing teapots like in the Disney movie, but there still was the air of magic in the palace. Zelinda and her father were served dinner by invisible hands! The beast is different in this story as well. Instead of being a big hairy bear like beast, the monster looks like a dragon. What a thing to imagine! 

I also really liked the story How the Devil Married Three Sisters. This story was funny and really clever. I loved that the third sister was able to outsmart the devil and save her two older sisters in the end. I would definitely be interested in rewriting my own version of this story, maybe from the youngest sister's perspective. I really liked how this story had a happy ending that didn't rely on a woman being saved and married by a prince or a king. Instead it is a story about a smart girl who is able to outsmart her devil (literally) husband.

College Writing Review

As a second semester senior, I have done a LOT of writing throughout the last four years. Because I am a Microbiology major, the writing I do is often tailored specifically to scientific manuscripts. Writing in a class like this one is a lot different than writing for my science classes. Writing in microbiology is governed by an insane amount of rules. Sentences must be kept succinct and detached, practically everything must be cited within the text and in an intensely tedious manner. All of it is very formal, very informative, and really incredibly boring to do (haha, but really).

Most of my labs for my major have been pretty writing intensive, so I've had a LOT of practice with scientific writing. Outside of my major I haven't taken a lot of really intensive writing classes (because all of my other classes are already so intense and I don't fancy the idea of making my class schedule any more miserable than it already typically is, haha). This class and a classics class I took called Greek Tragedy (everyone should take this, Ellen Greene is the best and will change your life) are probably the two classes outside of my major that I have had to write the most for, and I've actually really enjoyed both. It is nice to get to escape from the monotony of science writing and get a chance to explore writing creatively.

I have especially loved this class because it has allowed me to explore and rewrite so many of my favorite stories. I don't often get a chance to be creative like this, so the storybook project has been really exciting, and such an awesome experience. I would love for everyone to have the opportunity to create a storybook like we have in this class. It is such a great way to explore your interests, your creativity, and to learn about stories all over the world.

On another note, I was actually thinking just last week about having a required writing class for science majors. We currently don't have anything like that, which honestly is pretty stupid. Science writing is really hard because there are so many rules, and it has such a distinct style (distant and terse) that most people are not used to writing with. When you have to write your first scientific manuscript, it's really hard, really scary, and you feel completely lost because you've never really learned what to do. Your professors give you a brief little presentation, tell you the title of some microbiology writing standard books, and send you on your way. It's really overwhelming, and not super helpful. I think providing a class that distinctly focuses on how to write science manuscripts, review articles, etc. would be so helpful, and an easy way to increase student success, especially because it is such an important part of classes and the real world of science.

Sheldon Cooper (also RIP Leonard Nimoy)

Extra Reading Diary: Alice in Wonderland

Alice falling down the rabbit hole in the 1951 Disney adaptation

I love Alice and Wonderland! I remember reading the book as a kid and thinking it was so magical! I watched the Disney movie all of the time with my sisters, and when the live action movie directed by Tim Burton came out my little sister (a giant Tim Burton fan) and I were so excited! I was really excited to read this unit, and it didn't let me down. It was a great short version of the story, and all of my favorite scenes were in it!

I really love the first part of the story Down the Rabbit Hole (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). I love reading about Alice's first moments seeing the White Rabbit, and falling down the hole. The beginning of the story is so fun because it's her very first delve into the world of Wonderland, and she is just so filled with wonder and curiosity. I love the description of her falling through the rabbit hole. It is so dreamlike and slow placed, and really sets the tone for the rest of the story.

I also just really love the way that Lewis Carroll uses so many parentheses. His writing style is very casual, and the parenthetical phrases feel like he is speaking to you directly, giving funny little side remarks or letting you in on little secrets. It makes the story so much more personable and fun to read. His writing is just so incredible. He does such a great job of creating this wonderfully curious and whimsical character of Alice. She is so instantly likable and embodies the wonder and imagination of childhood. I think his writing style and characterization is what absolutely makes the story of Alice and Wonderland so completely wonderful. I am so glad I decided to read this unit because it's been years since I've read the book and I had forgotten how magical and whimsical the story was.

Reading Diary B: Celtic Fairy Tales

This has been one of my favorite units so far. The stories are so fun to read. Every single one is different, and each has an element of magic, mystery, or a lesson to be learned. I have loved these stories.

Ivan and the Farmer

From the second half of the unit, one of my favorite stories was The Tale of Ivan. In it a man leaves his wife so that he may make wages for them. He works for a farmer, and for three years he sacrifices his wages for a piece of good advice. During this story, each time he received a piece of advice, I tucked it into my mind knowing that they would come into play later in the story. When he finally leaves to go back home to his wife, he follows those pieces of advice so well that it ends up saving his and his friends' lives. This story was so fun to read and I loved how the advice that was given was applicable later in the story and we were able to see how it changed the outcome. The final piece of advice is something that I believe is very applicable always "Honesty is the best policy." I find that being honest results in more rewards and better outcomes than lying ever does, and this sentiment is even shown in the story. I think this story would have been a good story to tell to children in order to show them the importance of listening to and heeding good advice.

I also really liked the story Beth Gellert, mostly because I really love dogs. This story shows how faithful and loyal dogs are, and it made me really happy to read a story about a dog protecting its owner's child. Although it was really sad that the dog was killed, I still thought the entire sentiment behind it was so sweet.

Reading Diary A: Celtic Fairy Tales

I love this unit so much! The stories are so magical and fun! I love that these stories are so easily recognizable as fairy tales. Many of them have all of the same components as a modern day fairy tale. These are especially exciting to me though because I am a fan of Celtic history and culture.

The first story Connla and the Fairy Maiden, was one of my favorites. I really liked the bones of the story and I could see myself writing a more detailed and slightly different story based off of the original. I really liked the dynamic between Conn the King and Connla, his son. I almost wish that this story would be turned into a novel that I could read. I would love to know more about the fairy maiden and her Plain of Pleasure. I think adding more detail about life there and who she is as a person/fairy would add even more to the story.

I also really liked the story The Shepherd of Myddvai. It also had really interesting elements. It was quite funny in a way because when she said not to hit her meaninglessly she had meant that he could not even tap her on the back or anything, and he had not known that. Because I love for my fairy tales to have a happy ending, I would have liked for the lake lady to have come back instead of leaving forever with all of her marriage offerings, but either way the story was really cool!

Silver-Tree asking the trout who the most beautiful queen inin the world is

I absolutely loved the story Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree. It was so reminiscent of Snow White and I loved getting to see a story that may have inspired one of my favorite fairy tales. It was such an interesting story and while very similar to Snow White, a lot of the details were so different and new and I really loved that about it. I could easily see myself writing my story this week over this story.

Reading Diary B: Faerie Queen- Britomart

Britomart and Sir Artegall meeting

Okay so this unit (Faerie Queen- Britomart) is still so so good. It has been one of my favorite units to date! I'm so glad that we are in the British stories section of the class because I have been looking forward to this since the class started in January.

One of my favorite stories from the second half of the unit was the very first one called What Britomart saw in the Enchanted Chamber. There was not that much action in it, but it had such awesome descriptions. People named as feelings were described, their outfits and facial expression were given in detail. It was so so cool to read about the way Hope would be dressed or how Desire would dress and look. It was just such an interesting take that I had never thought to think about. I loved the way that the happier and uplifting emotions tended to have brighter and more extravagant clothes, while the more forlorn emotions tended to wear darker, simpler clothes. What a cool and interesting idea to utilize throughout the story.

I also really loved the very last story describing the end of Britomart's quest to find Sir Artegall. (How Britomart Ended her Quest). Although it was a little cheesy, I thought it was such a cool representation of the culture created by the code of chivalry in the time of knights. I really liked the description of Britomart's actions when she realized that the knight she had been fighting was her true love Sir Artegall. It describes her as trying to lift her weapon, and being unable to, and also trying to speak hateful words but only being able to say nice things. I thought that was so interesting and such a good representation about how love and change how we behave, and prevent us from doing things that we wish we could in the heat of anger.

Reading Diary A: Faerie Queen- Britomart

Britomart by Walter Crane (1900)

Wow I love love this unit so far! I am reading from the unit Faerie Queen- Britomart. It is very reminiscent of a Shakespearean comedy, particularly like Two Gentleman in Verona or Twelfth Night. I love reading about knights and the code of chivalry that they lived by. To me this would be such an interesting period to live in. There were several aspects of the story that really caught my interest, and that I would love to write about and reimagine.

I really love the part about the magic mirror from Merlin. It is described early on in the unit in the story appropriately named The Magic Mirror (ha!). The idea of a mirror which you look into and can see things about yourself or those around you is very cool, and I love that this is where Britomart discovered the knight whom she would marry.

I really love the suspense that was created because when she saw the man and she did not know who he was. It was very romantic and a reflection of those days where it seemed that love and courtship ruled over so many things.

I also really loved the character of Merlin. I think there are just so many ways to imagine him as a person/character. I would love to be able to write a story based on the section How Britomart went to the Cave of the Magician Merlin. I love reading stories about the times of King Arthur and the magic and sorcery of Merlin and Morgan La Fey. It is so fascinating, and I would love to explore that further.

Extra Reading Diary: Apache Tales

So I'm reading Apache Tales for my extra reading diary this week, and wow! This unit is really interesting! I love that the stories are all single stories because I liked being able to read so many different stories about so many different Apache characters. I thought that it was really cool to read such a wide variety of stories in one unit. The stories in this unit were all pretty short, which is something that I always have a hard time doing in my writing. I tend to write with a lot of detail, and I really like longer stories. However there was something really neat about the efficiency of these stories. They were very too the point, and read a little bit like a non-fiction story, just like a quick retelling of events.

Coyote

I particularly liked the stories Coyote Secures Fire and The Man Who Helped the Eagles. In some of the stories I felt a little confused when they referred to characters. Sometimes because I wasn't sure who a character was, and sometimes because there was so much pronoun usage. In these two stories though, I found the message to be really clear. The story about Coyote was especially great. It was a really surprising story, I did not expect any of the actions, so I was really entertained throughout it. I really just loved how all of the stories in this unit are like little snapshots. They don't have too much detail nor are they too wordy. They are complex stories sometimes but are presented very simply. I really liked that, and I felt like it gave my imagination a lot of room to make up my own details about the story.

Reading Diary A: Native American Hero Tales

I am reading Native American Hero Tales this week! Wow, they are so awesome. I really love the Native American stories because they are always so detailed and clever. I love how many of the stories connect back to nature and the earth around us. It is such a reflection of the respect that the Native people felt for the earth and the living things on it.

Hupa woman and child. Photograph taken by
Edward Curtis

I really liked the story Bluejay and His Companions. It had so much action! I typically find that Native American stories are really focused on the detail and the beautiful imagery inside of the story, and less focused on this action, but this story was not like that! Bluejay and his companions really did go on an adventure of sorts (not of their own volition of course). I loved that the story was predictable in the way that each after each escape I knew they would come across a new village with a new challenge to find their way out of, but had no idea what that challenge would be. It made the story so easy to follow because their was that sense of repetitiveness in the plot. However it was still so interesting because the challenges were new and exciting each time!

I also really liked the story about Dug-From-Ground. This was another story that focused a lot on action and less on the descriptive imagery. It was still very full of detail and I was able to make a clear picture in my head of the story as it happened, however the action was awesome and so interesting! I felt so engaged. I think that sometimes stories that lack any sort of action can be boring and hard to read, so I loved that these stories really brought a lot of action into them.

Extra Reading Diary: Tejas Legends

Wow I love the Tejas legends. They are so magical feeling. I also really love how filled with action many of them are. Sometimes I find that stories do not seem to have exciting actions and storylines, but many of these definitely do. They are so full of suspense, which I think is such an important thing to exist in a story. It keeps readers interested and wanting to finish the story. It also creates this sense of nervousness and excitement for what is going to happen next.

One of my favorite stories in this unit is When the Storm God Rides, I mean wow, what a story. It is, like so many Native American stories, centered around nature and animals, and very full of beautiful descriptions. However, it also has incredible suspense and action. I love that the story describes hurricanes and why they exist. The last hurricane that is described in the story is so full of excitement and danger. I was so enthralled while I was reading it.

Native American tapestry featuring moccasins

I also really enjoyed the story A Tribe that Left its Shoes. It was an origin story like so many Native American stories are and it was just such an interesting story. It described the origin of orchid flowers. Like the story When the Storm God Rides, this story also had quite a bit of excitement and suspense. A volcano erupted on the island where the Indians lived and they had to evacuate their homes. Many of them died. This part of the story was so action packed that it just made me want to keep reading. I was quite pleasantly surprised because I find that origin legends and myths are often not very action packed or suspenseful. The Tejas stories manage to teach as well as the be fun and exciting stories.

Creating suspense and excitement in stories is something that is really important to me in my writing, and I hope that I will be able to use what I read this week to help me write a better action filled story for my storybook story about Medea.

Reading Diary B: American Indian Fairy Tales

Wow I really love how descriptive the stories in this unit (American Indian Fairy Tales) are. There is so much detail in all of them, and I love all how so much of it is tied into nature. The people are described with similes comparing them to animals, or to landmarks. Its such an interesting way to utilize detail I think, and I love that it just really is reflective of Native American culture. In all of the detail there seems to be such a reverence for the natural world and its creatures.

I really loved this description of the daughters of the hunter from the story The Child of the Evening Star.

Their hair was dark and glossy as the wings of the blackbird, and when they walked or ran, it was with the grace and freedom of the deer in the forest.

The sentence is so elegant and I think that the description is really beautiful. I can picture the scenes in this story so well because of these descriptions. They also give the story kind of an ethereal feel, I think, which to me is really fitting in this particular story because the girl is protrayed as being so beautiful, so kind, and very wise. She chooses her husband based off of his heart and how beautiful he is inside, and not at all based on his outward appearance.

This story not only has beautiful language, but I really loved the youngest daughter. I love that this story is about looking past outward appearances and delving into the character beneath the face. It is always so important to remember that there is so much more, that is so much more important, beneath the skin, and I love that the youngest daughter in this story is the one who realizes that best.

Commenting Review Week

I've really liked the commenting portion of this class. It's always a little weird being in an online class because you never really feel in touch with anyone in the class, sometimes even the professors. The commenting and feed-back in this class really combats that though I think. I feel like I've gotten to know classmates a little bit, and I just generally feel more connected in this class than I have in other online classes that I've taken.

Me when someone likes my story (really though,
 SheldonCooper gif)

I definitely think that the commenting portion is really helpful, especially because this is a class that is really writing based. Comments which are more detailed and are constructive are definitely more helpful than short comments. I really like comments that focus on different aspects of writing, like syntax and structure. Comments like that help me in future writing because I can refer to those and see how I need to alter my writing style to meet those critiques.

I also really like the act of commenting on other people's writing. Not only is it fun to be able to read people's stories, but I think in critiquing other people's work it helps me to become a better writer as well because I notice things that I don't necessarily notice in my own writing, but after I have seen it in someone else's I am more aware of it and better able to fix it in my own. Also I think reading other people's stories and commenting on the things that I like about them helps me in my own writing too, because I get to learn different styles and structures that work, are interesting, and easy to read and follow.

Writing Review Week

I've really liked writing the stories for this class so far. I think its so fun to get to re-imagine stories and put them into my own words and give them my own twist. Through writing the different stories every week, I've definitely learned a lot about my writing style and the types of writing that appeal to me most.

Roman Temple of Aphrodite

I really love writing in first person. I've learned in this class that this is the way I feel the most connection to the characters. I love to focus on the depths of just a single character in stories. I always think it is cool to read a story or even just to imagine the story from each of the character's perspectives. I wrote a story during week 3 in the first person that I really loved. It was a scene from the Cupid and Psyche unit, and I wrote it from Psyche's perspective. I loved getting inside of Psyche's head and creating a stronger personality for her. The image to the left is the image I included in the story I wrote. I imagined this, but less in ruin (obviously), to be the setting of the story.

I also realize however that some stories are much harder to write in first person. Many stories lend themselves better to third person. I do love how third person writing really lends itself to being very descriptive. My first story I wrote for this class, I actually really really liked. It was a third person recounting of the Assembly of Achilles. It could be because of my love for Greek mythology, but I really felt like I was able to create an accurate and lasting impression of the assembly.

The story book project has been something that has really challenged me. I came up with a theme that I feel very strongly about, and I want to make sure that I do justice to the characters and their stories. I am a really slow writer and it sometimes takes me multiple attempts to get something out on paper that I really like. The feedback I have gotten each week after turning in the next aspect of my project (formulating ideas, writing style, actual writing) has been so helpful. It's both encouraging and directive and has helped me to create something that I am very proud of thus far. I cannot wait for it to be finished!

Reading Review Week

So I've really enjoyed this class so far. I love that each week focuses on a different region/area. For me it is really helpful to have things organized this way because I can prepare myself for the types of culture and ideas that will be shared in each of the stories.

Thus far my favorite stories have been from the Classical and Biblical unit we did in weeks two and three. I kind of expected this because I am incredibly partial to Greek mythology, and basically all things ancient literature and culture. My sister was a Classics major in college and she forced me to read Aeschylus and Euripides, and obviously Homer, so I was really excited about this unit. I also just really love all of the drama in Greek culture, so those stories captured me right off the bat. I also really liked the Georgian folktales. They were so magical and I loved that many of them seemed to have a message of some sort. In one of the stories I also found a lot of connections to one of my favorite Greek characters, Oedipus. The picture to the left is of a Georgian prince. It was the image that I used in my reading diary. The story was about a prince who I thought was very much like Oedipus in many ways.

I definitely enjoy doing the reading diaries because it does help me to get my thoughts in order for the storytelling assignment. I am a really slow writer, and it takes me a while to get the words and feelings I want to convey out on paper. I like the reading diary because it kind of helps me to do that. I can use it to think about and write down the stories that I liked most, and what it was about them that drew me to it. I like focusing my reading diary on the feelings and connotations that I am drawn to in different stories. I kind of like to be able to marinate in a feeling of a story for a while before I actually begin to retell it, and so the diary is super helpful for that.

I'm doing a lot of extra reading for my storybook, which is a big part of why it takes me so long to write my introductions and stories. I kind of wish that I had to do a reading diary for those stories as well, and maybe I will start doing one in my own time so that I can better get my thoughts and ideas in order before writing. I have loved the reading for my storybook. I am so in love with the characters that I have chosen and each of their stories, so it is really fun to get to read them over and over and see the differences in each story's portrayal from varying sources.

Basically I love to read, and think about what I read, and spend all day wishing I was living in the world I was reading about, so this class is just a complete blast.

Image information: A Georgian Prince by Grigory Gagarin, 1850s

Week 7: Famous Last Words

Wow what a week this has been. I'll start by saying that I have officially accepted a position at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine for the coming fall! I am so glad to finally have an idea of what the next four years will be like for me. I have already started apartment hunting in Oklahoma City, and am having a small problem because I may or may not have really expensive taste and a college student budget, haha.

Personal photo of my friends and I hanging
out in the snow after class!

I've been thinking a lot about my storybook project this week and am so very excited about it. It's been a little hard to decide how I want to organize it, and has taken a lot of revision, but I am finally so so happy with my introduction, and am really really excited about what I have of my first story. (I'll be posting my first story tomorrow). I just really feel like I've chosen such great characters to write about, and I love writing in first person (which I'll be doing through the entire story book) so I'm really excited to get everything done and up on the website. I hope you guys will like the characters I've chosen and their stories. They are stories which I have read over the years or studied in different classes and really felt a connection to the women characters, so I hope that I can do them and their stories justice.

Other than that I've just really been enjoying the snow this weekend. I actually have never been a fan of cold weather or snow at all.. but I guess its because being from Dallas all we ever seem to get is that stupid icy, sleety, disgusting mix. Not a fan. But this weekend the snow has been so so beautiful! My boyfriend and I even had an impromptu snowball fight this morning while we tried to clean off my car. I lost miserably and was literally covered head to toe in snow by the time it was over, but it was so much fun, and got me so excited about the snow. I kind of wish it would just snow for the whole week... so if that's not a change of heart, I don't know what is.

Week 7 Storytelling: The Silkworm Goddess

Goddess of the Silkworms 

There once was a beautiful and spirited girl. She was the only daughter of very hardworking father. Her mother had died when she was young, and ever since it had just been the two of them. One day her father left to go on a journey. He would be traveling all over China for he had to purchase grains and seeds and new livestock for which to grow his farm with.

Several weeks past and the girl became very lonely without her father. It was very hard work to tend to the farm all day by herself, and having no one to talk to was beginning to wear on her. She had only the animals to keep her company through out most of the days, and as a result had begun to talk to them, as if they were friends who could speak back.

One day the girl was feeling particularly alone. She missed her dear father very much, and longed to see her only family. As she was walking through the pasture, she came upon their stallion. Stopping to see him, she began to stroke his neck.

 "Stallion," she said. "If you could but run to my father and bring him back, why I would be so delighted, I would marry you." She giggled at her own joke.

The horse however began to bow down. He knelt down on his front knees, bowing his head as if to say "Your wish is my command, my lady."

Then he raised up and tore across the pasture, quickly disappearing from sight. The girl chased after him, but catching him was impossible. The girl fretted and fretted over the horse, wondering what she would do when her father arrived home and realized she had lost him. Days past and there was no sign of him, until one day, from a far distance she spotted a man sitting atop a horse riding towards her family's farm.

As the horse and its rider neared, the girl realized it was the stallion and her beloved father. She was so excited that she picked up her skirts and ran to meet them. "Oh father! You are back, and you have brought the stallion! I was so worried when he ran off, and I have missed you so!"

Suddenly though the horse stepped towards the girl and tried to bite her. She jumped back as her father swatted the stallion, and then looked towards her questioningly. "What is the meaning of this? Why would he bite you?"

"Oh no," the girl paced. "Oh no! Oh no! This can't be. Father, I was so lonely here, and one day I was tending to the animals and I said to the stallion if he would go and bring you back, I would marry him! Oh papa, I was just joking! It cannot be that he believed me!"

Her father stepped towards her, heaving in a breath. "Speak of this to no one, daughter, else the neighbors will talk." With that he grabbed the stallion pulling it towards the house where his bow lay. He quickly shot the horse, wasting no time in skinning it, and then hung the skin to dry in the barn before burning the carcass.

One day however, while walking with a friend, the girl came upon the horse's hide. "Stupid horse," she said, kicking it. "Thinking you would ever be able to marry a human, serves you right." Just as she said it however, the hide reached out and grabbed the girl! Wrapping her up tightly as she screamed before running away quickly.

The girl's friend was horrified, and so she took off sprinting in the direction of the house. Running to the girl's father, she relayed what had just transpired. The girl's father gathered the neighbors, and they spent many days and nights looking for the girl. but she was no where to be found.

Many days later however, they came upon her hanging from a tree still wrapped up in the horse hide. There was no way to loosen her from the tree, so day after day they watched as she gradually turned into a silkworm and wove a cocoon. She spun many strong and thick threads, and gave them to her friend who wove them into silk to sell for profit.

One day she finally disappeared from the tree and her father and her friends began to long for her greatly after several weeks. One night after they had spent the day telling stories about times when the girl had been alive, she suddenly appeared.

"Father, friends, you must yearn for me no longer. I have been sent into heaven to watch over the silkworms.  I am important here, you must not sorrow for me anymore." And so the community stopped sorrowing for the girl, and instead built many temples to her, and offered her many sacrifices in the silkworm season, and from then on they always had large profits of silk to sell for profits.

Author's Note: This story is from the Chinese fairy tales unit. The original story really appealed to me because it was so odd, and I was so surprised by the events of it. I wanted to keep the general story much the same because I love the surprise of the girl suddenly getting wrapped up into a horse hide and then turned into a silkworm. (very random, right?) Instead because the original story was so short, I wanted to add a little more detail to it just to elaborate more on the events of the story and make it easier to picture in your head. You can find the link to the original story here though! Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!

Google Timer Tech Tip

Okay, wow this is the coolest thing. I had no idea this even existed. How handy! I try to give myself breaks every once in a while when i'm studying and this will definitely be useful in helping to make sure that I actually get back to work after a reasonable amount of time.

Too often I will give myself a break, and an hour later realize, oops, I should have gotten back to work way earlier than right now. I try to set a time limit when i'm giving myself breaks. For instance if I stop to do something else, I'll say "at blah blah time I'll get back to work" but then I get engrossed in something else and miss that time mark. I've never even thought to use a timer really, but what a great idea!

I also think this timer will be helpful in managing my time better. I can sometimes get really nit-picky when I'm studying and if I am not quite sure about something, I can get obsessive over it and end up spending a ridiculous amount of time on it, when I should have just stepped away from it and moved on to another section. I think I will start using this timer when I'm working on problems like this. I'll decide, "Okay, I will work on this for 30 minutes, and if by then I don't understand, I'm going to move on to the next thing and come back to it later." Then I can set the timer for that time to make sure that I actually follow that guideline.

So glad that I found this handy little tip.

Reading Diary B: Chinese Fairy Tales

The unit that I am reading this week (Chinese Fairy Tales) is really interesting to me. The stories are all quiet different. I really like how the majority of the stories spend a lot of time on the setting of the story, and how the actions of the story are set up. There were several stories that I particularly liked while I was reading however.

I really like the story called The Lady of the Moon. It's about a woman who takes an immortality potion and floats up into the sky and lives in a palace on the moon. The story does not have a whole lot of action in it, which surprises me that I still really liked it. It focuses a lot on describing the setting of the moon, what is on it, how it looks, etc. I really loved the descriptions a lot. They seemed magical and whimsical. The descriptions were so vivid that I could easily picture the scene in my head. I found myself wanting to create a story in this very setting.

Women placing silkworms onto bamboo screens

I also really liked the story The Girl with the Horse's Head or the Silkworm Goddess. This story was quite interesting, and though it was a little confusing at some parts, I really liked its ending. I loved how this story seemed to have a lot of action. I even felt a little bit of suspense while I was reading it. The story was very different as well. It was so unlike any fairy tale that I have ever read. It still had the same magic and wonder weaved into it though. I would love to read a more extended version of this story, to have someone drag it out into a full length novel, maybe.

Extra Reading Diary: Filipino Tales

The stories in this unit (Filipino Tales) are really interesting to me. The first few that I read felt really lighthearted, where no one was really punished for doing wrong. However, then there were several stories which were much darker. All of them have been enjoyable to read though, and pretty short!

Chimpanzee

I really liked the story The Enchanted Prince. It was an interesting story to me because the woman who was scorned did not exact a revenge which had a horrible outcome. She instead decreed that the prince would be made into a monkey and his subjects and town into a forest filled with animals for many centuries. However after he would be turned back into a man by the love of a woman, and live happily ever after, ruling his kingdom. I thought it was so interesting that the scorned witch had made it so that he would eventually be able to marry and rule his kingdom instead of ruining his life forever. However, it did allow for a great story of a woman falling in love with a monkey who then turned out to be a prince!

I also really liked the story The Clever Husband and Wife. It was another story that I thought was pretty strange because the husband and wife were really deceitful and had lied their way into getting money from their masters several times, but when the masters found out were not upset at all. Instead they rewarded them by moving them into their house. It seemed weird to me that there was absolutely no punishment for the couple's deceitful methods, nor was anyone upset by their lies. But it was such a different outcome than the other stories I have read about lying and deceit in this class that I ended up really liking it.

Week 6 Storytelling: Two Bottles of Wine

Spilled bottle of wine

Princess Hase-Hime sat in the living room playing with her younger half-brother. As she played she thought about the last few years. Her mother had died when she was just five, and her father had remarried a year later. Where her mom had been loving and kindhearted, her step-mother was cruel and vindictive.

Hase-Hime had tried so hard to be good over the years. She had weathered her step-mothers cruelty without complaint and worked hard to make her father and her proud, however nothing seemed to be able to change her step-mother's feelings towards her. In fact, over the past couple of weeks, things had been worse than ever.

Hase-Hime had been invited by the Emperor to play the koto for him. Her step-mother had even been asked to accompany her on the flute. However, while Hase-Hime had practiced tirelessly, perfecting her songs, and memorizing notes, her step-mother had done neither. It had been a great embarrassment when her step-mother had played so poorly during the performance that another lady had had to step in for her. When the emperor had lavished gifts on her, her step mother had seethed in jealousy.

She'd been especially cruel to Hase-Hime since. Hase-Hime had even overheard her muttering to herself in the kitchen saying, "If only Hase-Hime were not here, my son would have all of the love of his father." Hase-Hime had been disturbed by this, but had quickly put it out of her mind.

Today she was playing in the living room with her half-brother. At four years old, he was playful and goofy, and he idolized her. She loved spending time with him, helping him to play make believe with his toys, telling him wonderful stories about all kinds of magical creatures. They were currently sitting on the floor surrounded by toy warriors, acting out a story with them as Hase-Hime told it aloud.

She glanced up as she saw her step-mother walking into the room with two bottles of sweet wine. Strange she would have two bottles, she thought.

"You two are both so good and so happy that I have brought you some sweet wine, and some cakes," her step-mother said, her voice sounding a little strange. Hase-Hime watched as her step-mother fumbled over the glasses, hands shaking as she poured two cups of wine, one from each bottle.

She seemed flustered and out of sorts as Hase-Hime and her half-brother grabbed their glasses and sipped at the wine. Over the next half hour, Hase-Hime noticed her mother staring at her keenly, but she'd quickly look away when Hase-Hime noticed.

Suddenly her half brother screamed in pain, doubling over and grasping at his stomach. He vomited violently, before collapsing onto the ground, seizing. Hase-Hime jumped toward him terrified and panicked. Her step-mother screamed, eyes wide in shock and horror.

"My baby, oh my baby!" She grabbed at him, fumbling her arms around trying desperately to make him stop shaking, but when he finally did, his body fell limp, his eyes open but unseeing.

Hase-Hime looked on horrified. Her baby brother, her precious baby brother was dead. Just like that. As she stood there, frozen in shock, her step-mother turned toward her, her gaze wild and angry. She opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it before turning back to her lifeless son.

Hase-Hime looked around the room, eyes settling on the two separate bottles of wine her mother had brought in from the kitchen, and shivered. Something was not right here.

Author's Note: So I wrote my story based off the second part of the story of Princess Hase from the Japanese Fairy Tales told by Ozkani. I tried to give a little bit of background into who Hase-Hime was before going into the part of the story that I was going to focus on, but basically Hase-Hime's mother died when she was little and on her death bed had told Hase-Hime that no matter what she was to honor her father and to be a good and obedient child. When her father married her step-mother, Hase-Hime continued to be a perfect child, even though her mother was so incredibly cruel. In the story it is pretty matter of fact about how her step-mother accidentally kills her son while trying to poison Hase-Hime. I wanted to make it a little bit less obvious, and just allude to the truth behind her half-brother's death in my version of the story. I know this story is pretty dark, but it just really intrigued me and gave me the chills when I was reading and I wanted to share. You should definitely check out the rest of the story however (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four), it has a happy ending! Thanks for reading!

Reading Diary B: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki)

Princess Hase and her father illustrated by a Japanese artist
in Ozaki's Japanese Fairy Tales

Okay so after reading the second half of this unit (Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki)), my very favorite story is the story about Princess Hase. I think it is such a cool story, and it is a little bit reminiscent of both Cinderella and Snow White. Princess Hase had to deal with the whole evil stepmother thing like Cinderella, although her stepmother was a little more evil than Disney would probably ever allow.

The stepmother even ordered her to be taken off into the wilderness to be killed. This was when I started thinking of Snow White... Remember when the evil queen decides she wants Snow White dead and orders a hunter to kill her in the woods and bring back her heart? The servant doesn't want to kill Princess Hase, so instead he gets his wife, builds a cottage in the mountains and raises her... pretty Snow White like, right?

I loved how this story was so full of Japanese culture and tradition, but read so much like European fairy tales. I really loved the beginning of the story about when Princess Hase was a child. The early death of her mother, and her determination to follow what her mother had instructed her to do made her seem so wise beyond her years.

One of the scenes from when she was young that really stuck out in my mind was when her stepmother poisoned a bottle of wine in an attempt to kill her, but instead accidentally fed it to her son killing him. I can picture the scene so vividly in my mind of how this must have played out, and it absolutely gives me chills.

Reading Diary A: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki)

Oh this unit (Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki)) is really cool so far! I love that the stories are 3-4 parts long. I really like the longer stories because I like to feel like I am able to learn about the character more, and spend more time inside of the story. 

So far my favorite story is The Man who did not Wish to Die. I really liked how within the story a good background was given into the "Elixir of Life" that the man was searching for. That one of the most powerful emperor's had searched for it and not been able to obtain it, was a great testament to how elusive and desirable this thing was.

Sentaro flying to the land of Perpetual Life from the book
of Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Ozaki, illustrated by
Japanese artists

One of my favorite parts of the story is the description of life in the land of Perpetual Life. Sentaro was so determined to live forever or for hundreds and hundreds of years at least that he had never considered that it might not be as grand as he thought. The land of Perpetual Life was beautiful, but the people in it were not happy. They had been alive for hundreds and hundreds of years, no one had died. A priest had told them about Paradise, which was only to be found after death, and the people longed so much to reach that place that they would eat and drink poison in an attempt to get sick and die. I loved the initial contrast made between the people of the land and Sentaro after he first arrived in the land of Perpetual Life. They had such different outlooks of things, and I loved how over the course of the story Sentaro begins to see how living forever is not necessarily a blessing.

I really thought Sentaro was an easy character to read about. He had the same desires as so many people have, to live comfortably and almost lavishly, and to live a long long life. However throughout the story his outlook changes completely, and he seems wiser and to have a better understanding of life and the world and gifts around him.

Comment Wall!

Leave me comments, suggetions, or anything really here!

Extra Reading Diary: Indian Fairy Tales

For my extra reading diary this week, I read the first half of the Indian Fairy Tales. I really like these fairy tales. They are very different than the Georgian and Turkish fairy tales I read this week and last week, but still so interesting and fun. Like the Turkish fairy tales they seem to each have a lesson or a message woven into them. Its so very cool to me to be able to see the values that people find to be most important and how they weave them into stories to be used as a teaching method.

One of my favorite stories was The Magic Fiddle. I liked it in particular because the story was so full of magic. I also thought that the ending to the story was really interesting and quite a good message. After all of the ordeal that the girl is put through (she drowns in a well because of her sisters-in-law, she is turned into bamboo, was cut down, carved into a fiddle and carted around the country) she finally turns back into a human and sees her brothers and does  not react in complete anger. It says the only revenge that she took was to tell them that what they had done was wrong. I thought that was such an interesting ending to a story. I expected at the end that the brothers and their wives would be punished for their actions, but instead the girl acted with grace and not with vengeance. That was really cool to me.

The Lion and the Crane

I also really liked the first story The Lion and the Crane. This was another story that I really liked the message of. The crane does a big favor for the lion by helping him get something out of his throat, and when the lion should be showing that he is grateful to the crane, instead he responds only that the crane is lucky that he has not eaten him. The moral of the story was to show gratefulness to those who help you, and to always be gracious and kind to others. I really like that message and therefore enjoyed this story greatly. This is definitely a story that I would read to my children (when I have them, a wwaaayyyyy long time from now).

Reading Diary A: Turkish Fairy Tales

Okay, so I am really loving the Turkish Fairy Tales. They are everything fairy tales should be. They have princes, talking animals, fairies, and witches. At the end of the story everything is wrapped up into a neat little bow. These are the types of stories I would have loved to have been told as a child.

So far I really like The Fish-Peri.I love how magical the story feels. The fish is so grateful to the man for not selling or eating her, that every day when he leaves to go fishing, she changes into her human form and cleans his house for him. I also really enjoyed the tasks he was given by the Padishah. They were so random and seemingly impossible, yet the fish-maiden never batted an eye. She always had the perfect solution. I really liked how in this story it was the woman who was helping the man. So often in fairy tales the women are presented as being helpless creatures who rely on a prince charming to come and rescue them, but in these fairy tales, the women are not helpless at all. I can imagine that these stories would have given girls confidence that they are capable of solving problems themselves, and that they too can come to people's rescue.

Illustration from The Crow-Peri by Willy
Pogany

The Crow-Peri is another story that was very similar to The Fish-Peri, and I liked it equally well. In this story, a young maiden had been turned into a crow. She was helping a man to complete a series of tasks given to him by a Padishah at the demand of his jealous and vindictive lala. I really liked the element of treachery in this story, how the lala was constantly trying to influence the Padishah and force him to come up with tasks that the man would fail at. It was an added element to the story, which the Fish-Peri did not have as much of. Again I was so very impressed by how the women in this story were not portrayed as being helpless and weak, but instead contributed equally to the solving of various problems.

I cannot wait to read the rest of this unit!

Extra Reading Diary: Georgian Folktales

I loved the Georgian Folktales. They were so interesting and all of them seemed to be fable like. I felt like in each one, I was learning about the values and beliefs of the people who told them. There seemed to be a lesson in each of the stories, which I really appreciate. I love that stories can be used to instill values in children and in others.

A Georgian Prince by Grigory
Gagarin (ca.1850)

Oedipus and Antigone by
Antoni Brodowsky (1828)

One of my favorite stories from this unit was Fate. It definitely had a classic fairy tale feel. I also really liked how it dealt with the concept of fate. The entire story revolves around the idea that your fate is inevitable, and that no matter what you do to try to avoid it, it will catch up with you. It reminded me of the Greek character Oedipus. Although Oedipus's fate is much darker than the prince in this story, the basics are the same. Both Oedipus and the prince learn of their fates, and in distaste for them, endeavor to do all that they can to prevent it. In this story the prince finds the poor weaver's invalid daughter whom he is fated to marry and stabs her. However, like Oedipus, he is ultimately unable to escape his fate. He finds a beautiful woman in a palace in the woods years later and marries her. It turns out that she is the same poor weaver's daughter, but has had a change in circumstances. I like that this story is so reminiscent of Oedipus's story, but does not end in such tragedy as his did.

I also really loved the story The Serpent and the Peasant. This story had such a great message of  understanding, forgiveness, and grace. I could definitely see the religious influences within the story which testifies to their commitment to Orthodox Christianity. The snake is so full of grace and faithfulness. The peasant comes to him for help continually, and then continually acts thanklessly afterwards. He gives the snake back nothing. Even still though the snake offers his help without complaint when the peasant comes to him. When finally the peasant shows remorse for his actions and offers the snake what he had promised him. The snake acts gracefully. He forgives the peasant for his greed, for his violence, and for his thankfulness, and even says he does not want what he is due. This story to me is so representative of the faithfulness of God, and how He is there for us, and cares for us even when we turn our backs on Him. Further when we finally come back to Him, He is not vengeful or angry, but forgiving and full of grace. I love that this story seems so influenced by Christian beliefs.

Week 4 Storytelling: Never Smile at a Crocodile

Photo of a crocodile, AFP/GETTY

I sat in my villa, surrounded by lush furniture. Servants brought food and drink to the chaise on which I lounged on my patio. It was summer, and it was rather hot. One servant fanned me with a giant palm leaf. The house was bustling today, the Pharaoh was coming to visit.

I was the chief scribe, a rather important person, but still these visits were unusual. My wife should be here. She should be readying herself, helping to prepare the house, but she was no where to be found. I looked toward the large lake that I'd had put at the edge of my property and scowled. I knew where she'd been going all of these days.

She thought she was so clever, so secretive. Little did she know that I had been watching this whole time. I knew about her love for that peasant. I knew every gift, every secret meeting. I snarled in disgust thinking about how I'd watched them disappear into the cottage on our property. Watched as food had been brought from the villa to them, shook in anger while I watched them bath in the lake in the evening.

I glanced toward the magic box sitting on the end table beside me. Reaching out and opening it, I gazed upon the wax crocodile I had obtained. I grabbed it, calling for my butler. I turned it around in my hands muttering the quick spell I had learned, before handed it to the butler.

"Throw this trinket into the lake behind the man when he comes to bathe himself next."

The next day the Pharaoh arrived. I was doing some of my dealings with him, when the butler came and whispered in my ear.

"It is finished, sir."

I smiled to myself and continued on with the Pharaoh. Several days passed, the Pharaoh was still here and we were nearing the end of our work and his visit. My wife had spent the last days sulking and crying, acting out like a child.

Finally I confided in the Pharaoh. I told him of my wife, her unfaithfulness, her obvious and indiscreet abandonment of her vows. I told him of the wax crocodile, and how the butler had thrown it into the lake. I told him of how the young man had not returned since. I told him of the spell and my suspicions that it had worked. We went together to the lake, where I repeated the spell and called to the crocodile figure.

Up out of the water rose a giant crocodile! It came towards the shore, and the young man my wife had been consorting with was held in his jaw.

"He does everything I command," I said in wonder. The spell had worked. It had really truly worked.

The Pharaoh looked toward me, amazed at the sight. He turned back toward the water, where the crocodile sat. The young man he had had in his jaws stood shivering at the shore. His Majesty commanded to the crocodile, "Seize the wrongdoer."

The crocodile leaped out of the water, grabbing the man and disappearing back into the water. His Majesty asked if I wanted my wife punished similarly. A part of me did. A part of me was so angry I wanted her burned at the stake like many other women who abandoned their vows were, but I couldn't do it. I would punish her my own way. She would pay for what she had done.

Author's Note: So I am reading the Ancient Egyptian stories. I chose to write the story of the Wax Crocodile. The story is kind of dark, and I wanted to keep it that way, but I did change the ending some. It's all about a cheating wife and her lover and them getting the punishment deserved to them. In the original story the woman was burned alive at a stake, and her remains were tossed into the Nile. It was pretty gruesome, and while I don't mind violence in stories, it seemed a little bit melodramatic and kind of out of left field, so I altered it. Hope you enjoy!