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.