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