Everything In Between

 Week 4  Diving deeper into the family drama with Cassiopeia and Cepheus, I also enjoyed looking into a couple stories about Andromeda   and her relationship with Perseus after she was punished by Poseidon sending Cetus after her. I enjoyed looking into how she was saved and how it became a love story in a way, like a very dramatic love story with family drama literally everywhere. Perseus comes in after slaying medusa and saves Andromeda's life and marries her causing conflicts with her uncle who was promised her. This goes into the story of Perseus turning them into stone. I find the connection to her constellation to be interesting as well because she's chained up as if her and her mother were sentenced to the stars in unfair ways. This would be a good additional story to add on really developing who andromeda is and who Perseus is. I also wanted to dive into Poseidon's role as he is a planet - Neptune . According to the article, the plant was named this following the sa

 Feedback is encouraged!!! Thank you all for the help :) Goddesses in the Sky (Source: Stars! )

Week 4: Advice to Writers Lab I really enjoy writing these small spin off's for these stories so I thought I'd go into how to change up my writing or advice with it! I've noticed during the reading assignments that I am drawn to stories that get in depth when it comes to the creation of the characters personalities. I become drawn with them and love reading more just to see what's going to happen next! In Jon Winokur's " Advice to Writers " website, a post resonated with me that was called " Give us Characters we'll Carry with us " by Silas House. I notice the stories I remember most are the ones with the best characters. This post also talks about how characters resonate with us because we can relate to them with our own hopes and struggles. I think when it comes to creating these stories, the characters need to be strong for people to remember them or want to keep reading, it feels real and people like real. In my future writings and in my

 Week 4 Reading the rest of " The Golden Ass " by Apuleius I was really focused on the shift between the two journeys the lovers were on and the relationships affected by both. It is shocking to me that Venus is so upset as she is known to be the Goddess of love. You would think she would be supportive of Cupid's relationship with Psyche. Instead she is extremely mad and upset about it because she "mocks" her. With that the repercussions show during Psyche's journey when she ultimately needs a place to stay. Surprisingly enough it also shows how strong the relationships between Venus, Juno, and Ceres (although they know Venus is somewhat overreacting) as they acknowledge how Psyche has good intentions but they cannot go against Venus and make her find different places to leave. Even after that Venus doesn't slow down emphasizing how upset she really is. This reminds me of like a mean girl kinda thing where someone takes another girls boyfriend but in god

 Week 4  For this week's reading I was able to get a better understanding on the assignment after realizing I did it completely wrong last week! Yikes! I was extremely intrigued with the story " The Golden Ass " by Apuleius. I enjoyed how it started off because it started off in such an odd situation. A woman had just been kidnapped and was joined by a magical-hero donkey and a horse that later turns back into his human form. I think it was interesting that the girl was weeping so bad after been kidnapped at her own wedding to the point the old woman who was also there, told her a story to calm her. When she talked about Cupid and Psyche I found it to be an entertaining but very detailed story. The plot of Psyche having sisters and her parents being warned of what would happen to one of them stood out to me because it sets the story of Cupid and Psyche up well, but also showed a parallel to the woman who also got kidnapped on her wedding day. The certain "rules"

 Week 3  The early stages of the storybook have definitely showed me that I am open to going any direction with it and my blog posts. I don't see myself as a writer by any means, but I do find it interesting that I am capable of doing it and it's somewhat cohesive. Knowing that I'm not the best at the writing process or coming up with ideas and sticking with it, I would love to hear about what others think. In terms of feedback the article " The Difference Between Praise and Feedback " by MindShift does a really good job explaining that kids should be praised for the process of their work, not for themselves. It discusses how students often take on new challenges because they want to, not because they were told they're already good enough. I think that idea is smart when it comes to my storytelling. Telling someone they worked hard writing these stories helps acknowledge their accomplishments and know they've been seen for their capabilities. When it comes

Week 3  The topic I really explored was digging deeper into constellations and stars and ones that include Greek Gods/Goddesses or queens and kings. Digging into stories I really enjoyed the ones associated with Cassiopeia due to her being known as vain so that's probably my number one most interesting story I want to research further. Her ultimate punishment in some stories was her becoming a warning for others who express this to Greek Gods. Here are some resources and stories into the stories about Cassiopeia. I also explored some others that would be interesting twists to take that had some similarities or involved women and their constellations.  A good mix of constellations and Greek mythology would be  Cassiopeia ; it explains how Cassiopeia is perceived in comparison to other countries and why her constellation in the sky is important. It's placed next to Cepheus and the story from Storyland of Stars  by Mara L. Pratt (pg. 83-84) explains why they're in the sky and

Week 3  The Ferocious Fish Long ago there was a man named Albus who had a wife named Elise. They lived in a cottage by the river. One day Elise fell deathly ill. She didn't know why or how but she knew she was going to die.  Elise didn't  want Albus to be sad over her death so she instructed him to do one thing.  "Albus, when I die, you must go to town and buy the first animal you see. It will relieve you of your great sorrows as long as you never forget about our love." she said.  Albus looked at her and smiled and said "Anything for you my love."  Elise passed away the next morning and sadness filled the home. Albus was convinced he couldn't go on without her but remembered what she told him. He put on his boots and left for the town square. Upon his arrival to the market, he was quickly approached by a lady in a cloak.  She said, "I have a fish for sale, if you take good care of him he will turn into a beautiful woman and you will have a wife&quo

 Week 3  For reading B I really enjoyed the Jewish Fairy Tale: The Fairy Frog by Gertrude Landa. I have definitely found myself a fan of the small tales that Landa has. I love the magical creatures or elements that occur to the people who deserve it. I found this story interesting right off the bat because it introduced the idea of pain from a death, and listening to the deceased. I think in most stories when it comes to someone dying, the main characters often disregard their wishes because they won't be around to see if they follow through. I liked this because the main character Hanina and his wife do exactly what they promised his father. They would go to the market the first day of passover and accept any gift that is offered to them. It was interesting to have the suspense build up of not knowing what was in the basket. It went further for there to be another basket inside the basket, suggesting Hanina and his wife knew the gift looked large and intriguing at first and is now

 Week 3 For the reading assignment I found a story that kept me extremely engaged and entertained all the way until the end. The Magic Palace  a fairy tale by Gertrude Landa (1919) built up suspense to show how a man turned rags literally into riches. I liked how the story started off by really giving insight into how the main character Ibrahim really saw the world. From the start he cared about other people. He wanted to see a life where other people didn't experience the pain of being poor and not having enough food or good enough clothes. He then was introduced as one who was affected by this and wanted to try and support his family. I enjoyed reading about this because it's a lot of the same problems we have today. Many people can't afford to get nice clothes and that even has the chance of hindering them from finding good jobs. The story went on to introduce a mysterious man who asked to be his "slave" and Ibrahim at first was completely transparent with the

 Week 2  When it comes to feedback I know it's something people, even me, have to learn how to consider and use to better ourselves. I think people put their guard up because they don't like being told what they're doing wrong. A lot of that comes with the negativity people feel at first. I found " How to Tame Your Inner Critic " by Joel Almeida very insightful when it came to this. You might be unhappy with how things are going but that doesn't mean you have to stop trying the things that make you happy. The situation you might be most upset about ultimately doesn't define you. Instead considering things that slowly help reach that goal actually helps. It might feel slow but you also break things down making it less stressful. It consists a lot of being able to handle knowing what might not work for you and letting in other ideas that will! I liked this article a lot because of the part of consistency. I found my life to become less stressful when I plann

 Week 2  First Topic:  I really enjoyed looking into the storybooks about constellations and the stars. One that really stood out to me was " Women in Constellation " because of it's way to connect the stars to earth. I really liked that it focused on Women when a lot of stories are man based. It also did a great way of encompassing all parts of the stories from a personal view or perspective that made you connect with the main character. I think it makes the story more interesting when it's not common for these kinds of stories to have that kind of perspective. The author was also able to tell these women's stories and make them seem likable in some aspects, like they aren't very different from what women might experience now. I don't know much about the background of constellations and this author seemed to. I'd love to learn more about that and really gives these constellations personalities. I think if I picked this topic I'd really focus on ho

There once was a woman that longed to see the world. Her name was Scarlet. She lived in a house in the middle of the dark woods all alone. She spent most of her time doing chores and was so tired of it! One day when she was cleaning she heard a knock on the door. She opened it and to her surprise she finally had a visitor, an old man.  Scarlet opened the door and said "Hello! I haven't had a visitor in so long, please come in!!"  The man was surprised at how kind she was and immediately thanked her. He sat down at the table, looked around and noticed it was only her in the house.  He asked "May I ask what your name is and what you're doing in this tiny house all alone in the middle of these dark woods?"  Scarlet was taken aback but kindly answered as she was just happy to be talking to someone.  "My name is Scarlet, may I ask what you're doing knocking on strangers doors?"  The man laughed and said "I was lost and could smell how delicious

 Week 2  Reading Notes: Origins ,  Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899) "The man in the Moon"  This reading felt very earthy. Starting out the blacksmith wanted to be with the trees and the mountains. When he discovered that wasn't where he felt comfortable he wanted to be one with something else. He wanted to be a stone cutter instead and ventured on the become that. The blacksmith going through these changes seems all in all like a lesson. We often seek better because we think we are uncomfortable or unhappy when we really miss our opportunity to enjoy life the way it is. Going through all of these changes and coming back full circle is what sounded to me as a missed opportunity. I also could feel the presence of this blacksmith  experiencing all four elements: Earth, wind, fire, and air! I liked that because he started off as a simple blacksmith and was able to take form as all of these things. Things that we actually can't take form as but we can ex

Week 2 Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4. Week 3: Cupid and Psyche Week 4: B i ble Women Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6. Week 5:  Santal Week 6:  Twenty-Two Goblins   Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.] Week 7:  Japanese Mythology Week 9:  South Africa Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11. Week 10:  Cherokee Week 11: Marriage Tales   Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13. Week 12:  Beowulf Week 13: More English Tales   Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15. Week 14: Italian Week 15:  Celtic Tales I'm veery excited for these readings. I've been really into Viking stories so I think it would be cool to see more of those and things to do with the Viking Gods and the idea of Valhalla specifically. I'm very excited for the Celtic units because of this but also the European units for telling different versions (th