Learning Challenges- Schedule Review

On Week 1, I set my schedule to be Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. My plan was to start the week on Sunday and then finish up by Thursday so that I could get ahead on the week. It was a great plan, until it never happened. 

A meme about procrastination. Created by: Laura Gibbs

I usually find myself starting on Tuesday and ending on Sunday. This works, because I do get everything done on time. However, I'm usually stressed to get stuff in that night. My problem is that I'm not good at working long periods of time. I like to do one assignment and then take a break and come back to it. This means I am typically doing some of the assignment each day of the week. Therefore, my week usually goes Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and finishing up the week Sunday.

That being said, I am not ready to give up. This week, it will be my goal to have all of my weekend assignments due by Thursday or Friday so that Sunday can be spent working ahead on the future week. I think my problem is that I got behind early, which made it difficult to stay on schedule. Once I am back on schedule and get into the routine, I will like it a lot better and it will relieve a lot of my stress. I am willing to make a big push one week to have easier future weeks. 

Source: http://oulbh.blogspot.com/p/time-management.html

Disney Remixes: story book styles brainstorm

Topic: For my topic, I will be focusing on the original versions of some of my favorite Disney movies. I will find four different fairy tales that have original folk backgrounds that have been made into Disney movies. Two of the stories I want to include are The Little Glass Slipper and The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood . Both of these stories were written in French by Charles Perrault and then were translated into English. I chose Perrault's versions of the stories because I like how much detail he includes. Even though it makes the stories longer, it creates a much more vivid scene and this is something I enjoy while I'm reading. I do not think I will have any trouble finding stories since Professor D.L. Ashliman, a retired professor from the University of Pittsburgh has created such an extensive database of folktales that I can reference. My criteria for picking stories is to pick stories that have been turned into Disney movies that the U.S. population is familiar with.

Bibliography: 
1. The Little Glass Slipper, from The Blue Fairy Book, by Andrew Lang (1891) 
2. The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, from The Blue Fairy Book, by Andrew Lang (1891)

A modern take on Cinderella
Photo created by: Krystn Palmer (2009)

Possible Styles:
1. Immortals Among Us- I think for the stories that had an important character die, it would be cool to keep them around. For example, in The Little Glass Slipper, Cinderella's mother has died. I think it would be cool to incorporate the mother and add her in. I read a German version of the story where the mother was still incorporated through a tree that was planted in the garden; however, I would like to incorporate the mother as an actual character in the story. Like maybe the mother is with her at the ball in spirit and helping her in that social situation? Maybe, I could show Cinderella nervous, about to walk in and her mother is with her to give her advice and reassurance?  

2. Public Relations Consultant- This story telling style is so interesting to me. I am an advertising major but as part of my classes, I have had to take some PR classes and have learned how to write press releases, etc. I think this could be a really cool story telling idea because it puts a fun spin on the classic fairy tales, but would also help me in my public relations writing. For The Little Glass Slipper, I could write a plan about how the kingdom is embarrassed that they have lost the princess, but they are doing everything they can to find her in a safe and swift manner. For The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, I could take one of two approaches. The first idea I had was to write about how the old fairy cursed the princess but the kingdom does not need to worry because she will only sleep and the steps the kingdom is taking to protect the new princess, etc. Another idea I had was to write a plan for once the princess is actually asleep. 

3. Characters Grown Old- I think its a cute idea to tell these stories like the two parents are looking back, telling their children how they met. Since most of the stories are about a prince coming to save the princess in some way, I think this story telling style would be very easy to apply to each of these. I could also then develop the children as characters since they would be older.

A family reminiscing
Photo by: Rhonda Baer and acquired from The National Cancer Institute

4. OU Campus- and more specifically Greek life. I think it would be cool to tell the story in a way that relates to my experiences at OU. I am a part of a sorority so I think it could be cool to write as if Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty were too. In addition, my boyfriend and I actually met at a fraternity party, so I think it would be cool to make Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty meet their future husbands at a party and tell the stories like they are a part of the modern day dating scene and nightlife at OU. For example, rather than the prince hosting a ball in The Little Glass Slipper, it could be a formal. As for The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, the entire sorority house would fall asleep with her instead of the kingdom. 

5. Fake Twitter- I could make a fake Twitter account for the characters and live tweet their experiences. An example would be to live tweet The Little Glass Slipper and have Cinderella tweet the ball and then once she got home. I think this could be another really fun way to add a modern spin to these classic fairy tales. I could also tweet from the perspective of the princes, the step-sisters, or other characters in the story. 

6. And the moral of the story is...- Since most of the fairy tales have morals connected to them, it could be fun to do the Tech Tip idea of creating a poster for the image of the fairy tales to illustrate the message. This could be a cool way to add some visual creativity. 

Storytelling Week 3: The Boy and the Snake

One day, a boy came home to his father.

“Father, I have finally met the one I want to marry!” he exclaimed to him. “Who may it be? One of the girls from down the way” the father excitedly questioned. “No! But her beauty has eclipsed the beauty of all else and her laugh has enchanted me,” the son replied.

The father was very intrigued now. He was proud of his son for finding a suitable wife so early and without the help of his parents. Where could he have met her?

“Well, when shall I meet her father?,” the patriarch asked, “you know we have to have his blessing before you can be granted her hand in marriage.” “I know, father. But, don’t worry. I feel like that will not be an issue,” the son replied, “would you like to meet her now?” “Well, of course!” the father exclaimed. He had not expected her to be waiting outside of their door.

The mother joined the two and stepped outside with the father and his son. However, once they saw her, the two parents gasped and raised their hands to cover their faces. For, their son’s new lover was actually a large, green serpent.

A green serpent. Photo by Frank Wouters 

“Isn’t she beautiful? And her hiss is a tinkle in my ears,” the son said, beaming down at the snake.

The father and mother didn’t know what to say. They didn’t want to offend her, for her powerful venom could kill them in an instant. However, they did not want their son marrying her.

After a long pause, the father said, “Son, we understand your feelings and are eager to grant your wishes. However, we worry that her venom and fangs might injure you. Could you ask her to remove her teeth and have her poison extracted? Then, we can reconsider your request.”

The son felt quite dejected then. However, he bent down to his lover, stroked her head, and quietly asked her his parent’s request. Her eyes saddened, however she loved the boy so that she nodded her head in agreement. Then, in one swift movement, the serpent coiled her tail around the boy and swept him away. She knew her strength and was not one to bow to the demands of some meager humans. The boy held on to her, but did not seem afraid for he was being carried away by his love.

The mother and father did not see the boy again. However, it is said that he lives happily in the forest with the serpent and lives a lavish life among their loyal companions. As the story goes, neither the boy nor the serpent regret their decision to deny his parents and live their life as they knew fit.  

Lesson: Life your life as you know you should.

The man and the snake together. Photo by: Alexander Ess

Author's Note:

The original story was called The Lion in Love from The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs. The fable told the story of a lion who fell in love with a girl. However, the parents were nervous to let their daughter marry the lion due to the fact that he may accidentally injure her. So, they asked him to remove his claws and teeth before they would allow them to marry. The lion loved her so much, that he did both of these things. However, when he came back to the parents, they just laughed in his face since he could no longer harm them. I made several changes to the story. The first was that I switched the characters so that the boy was the one who fell in love with an animal rather than the other way around. Also, I wanted the girl to remain a powerful figure, so I made her a large serpent instead of a smaller, meeker animal. In addition, I changed the ending so that the serpent did not obey the family's request. Instead, she stayed strong and took the boy with her to live on her terms. Since the story was so absurd to me in the original version, I decided to maintain the same level of silliness, if not more. In addition, I added in my own little life lesson that I choose to live by, just as the fables do. 

Bibliography:

The Lion in Love from The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs from the nineteenth century. 

Web Link: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/aesops-fables-lions-part-2.html

Week 3 Reading Diary: Aesop's Fables (Jacobs)

This week for my reading diary I chose to read classical stories instead of biblical stories. I chose to read The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs. I was really happy I read this unit because one of the topics I was interested in for my storybook was animal stories. Through this unit, I got a clearer idea of some animals I would like to focus on. After this reading, I'm thinking I would like to write about foxes or cats. Foxes because they are so cunning and tricky. I think this could be something really fun to expand on and think of new ways that the fox could trick the other characters in the story. Also, cats because I liked how they were described as "self aware and focused". I think they are more cautious, which would be the opposite of a fox, but definitely something I would have fun developing in the stories. 

From this unit, I also discovered some other aspects that I might like to include in my own storytelling. The first would be to characterize historically strong characters as weak, like in Androcles and the Lion. For a storytelling idea, I think it would be cool to switch the roles of two characters and make the strong one weak and vice versa. I also liked the message of this story- that we can all learn from gratitude. I think in America, it can sometimes be extremely difficult to be grateful for all of the things we have and always want more. I think this fable does a good job of reminding us to do so. 

From The Lion in Love, I realized that I like stories that are more realistic. I understand that this was a fable, however the story of a lion falling in love with a woman and having his teeth and claws removed for her seemed very far-fetched to me, which kind of turned me off from the story. In my attempts to be creative, I want to do it in a way that it seems clever rather than stretched. This way, the reader may not experience the same feelings as I did while reading.

As mentioned above, I am heavily considering using foxes as the focus should I decide to write a storybook on animal stories. The Fox and the Stork is a good example to me because I love the craft of the story. The tricks were simple but still creative and added humor to the story for me. This is something that I would like to include in my stories to add another element for the reader. Also, the story of The Fox and the Grapes is another story that drew me to foxes because it is so relatable to me. Oftentimes, if I cannot have something, I convince myself that its not something I wanted in the first place, just as the fox did with the grapes. Lastly, the story of The Fox and the Mosquitos  interested me because it is such a wise story. I was really surprised while reading it because I had almost an epiphany moment. It is so true that should the hedgehog shoo away the mosquitos for the fox, only more would come that were even more hungry and suck him dry. This kind of insight is not something I had really thought about before but is so true. I'm not 100% sure how it applies to my life right now, but I am confident it will at some time and would be a valuable lesson to remember. 

The Fox and the Mosquitos. Illustration by Walter Crane's Baby's Own Aesop (1887)

I did not enjoy any of the wolf stories because I thought the wolf was downright mean. This is probably an indication that you will not see many mean characters in my stories. Maybe I should write one just to practice that style of writing? I don't even know what I would say in the dialogue. 

The last story that caught my attention was the story of The Cat-Maiden. While this story almost falls into the "unrealistic" category with The Lion in Love, I still liked it because I think it teaches a very valuable lesson. Beings will never abandon their true nature, so its important to accept them as they are. You wouldn't expect a cat to not act like a cat, so don't expect a jerk to act kind and gentle or vice versa. Granted, everyone has their moments but they will always revert to their true nature. This is, unfortunately, something I've forgotten at times and would have done better to remember. 

Generally, I've really enjoyed how both the Bible stories from last week and the Classical stories from this week teach lessons subtly from the story. This is something I would really like to incorporate into my writing because I feel like it makes it so much more meaningful. I will definitely need practice, however, because I feel like this skill is difficult to master.