Myth-Folklore 2020

 These notes are over "The magic of the Book: Hermann Hesse on Why we Read and Always Will" by Maria Popova  Author is talking about how reading an old book and writing poetry reconnected her with her own childhood memories.  The thrill of reading can be lost when we get older. I think this is in part because of the education system and the way they deal with reading Author reads "The magic of the Book" by Hermann Hesse: Among the many worlds that man did not receive as a gift from nature but created out of his own mind, the world of books is the greatest… Without the word, without the writing of books, there is no history, there is no concept of humanity. And if anyone wants to try to enclose in a small space, in a single house or a single room, the history of the human spirit and to make it his own, he can only do this in the form of a collection of books. (From Hesse) Other quotes other popular book sayings--what do books do for the human experience?  Apparently,...

 These notes are based off of this selection of videos from Crash Course Myth: Monster, Horses, Dragons I'm watching these for more information on monsters. For my storybooks, I'll be focusing on sea monsters, so I want ideas about how to write monsters and how to use them in my stories!  Video #1: Monsters. They're Us, Man" what do mean by monster?  look and act outside of the normal, natural boundary  transgress social boundaries  describe the other (to show!) Look and act monstrous Dracula: Human bat-but have thirst for human blood (transgress sexual boundaries as well!) I wrote an essay on thisss lol Why do they exist? Sent by gods to punish humans  Sea monster sent by poseidon to drown andromeda--  mother bragged about beauty Monster story cycle  repetitive monster appears--menaces   death and destructions the hero saves! (my sammy) monster returns though (power puff girls) episodic monster story these are good things to keep in min...

 These notes are based off Sinbad: Sixth Voyage that is part of The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang.  I've started to notice that most of these stories are very similar. They start the same, and end the same Sindbad's friends or fellow sailors usually die, and he is left alone to have his adventure He's always rescued by more sailors/people of the island Sometimes an old captain recognizes him   He always ends up with treasures and riches! This is very episodic He simply fights a different monster or ends up on a different type of island  I want my storybook project to avoid this I want an arch, not just a collection of events, but I don't know if I can pull it off.  Anyway the story notes: Sindbad get bored (as usual), and sets sail! This time he travels far away and sets off from an Indian port Stormy weather hits, and the ship gets lost They end up in the most dangerous part of the sea-the current is about to destroy them The ship crashes ...

 These notes are from Sindbad: First Voyage that is part of The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang.      I'm taking these notes because this is an idea that I had for one of my storybook project stories.  I wanted my main character to rest on a "island" that was really a sea monster.  This is exactly what happens to Sindbad, so I want to see how he deals with it.  Since my character will also be a sailor, I think this story will be helpful for my writing.  Sindbad is rich, and he uses his money at first solely for pleasure (he wastes it!) Anyway, eventually he gets tired of this and ends up on a ship, ready to experience life.  He arrives at the island, a green meadow, along with the rest of the crew  It's very low--it only barely comes out of the water.  The crew starts to relax. Build a fire, etc The island starts to quake! The island is really a whale! The whale was asleep but comes back to life It seems like the whale...

  This one didn't seem to work very well! I couldn't save my images for some reason :( Also, some of the formatting for this one is a little bit dated. I wonder if we can find some alternative sites that do a similar thing?

For this challenge, I read "Learning in the Age of Digital Distraction" by Eric Westervelt  This article is about how phones and other technology are changing the way people think and act. Specifically, this article interviews Dr. Gazzaley and asks him about his research on human productivity and digital devices. Gazzaley argues that human brains have evolved to seek out information. This is opposed to food, since that need is not longer critical for survival.   Even though this behavior can be negative, humans still do it. Multitasking is bad for the brain and performance. It divides up attention, making it harder to focus.  It's easier to put things into memory if your brain can filter out different distractions (background noise) There are so many distractions in our world today. We constantly task switch, but we need to work one doing one thing at a time. We need to focus attention on 1 single task, not multiple.  Multitasking also increases stress, mood, an...

My idea for this storybook is to create a sort of log or narrative that focuses on sea monsters. I plan to have a young heroine that chases/interacts with various sea monsters from different countries. I would have 3 different monsters that show up and create trouble for a young sailor. My main character (Sammy) will be setting sail in hopes of proving that sea monsters exist. Her mother was also a sailor and I plan to use that has her character motivation and backstory.  The stories/episodes that I wrote about last week are still in my plan! I hope it's okay to copy and paste, since I've basically already mapped out in my head what kind of stories that I want to tell. (If not let me know and I'll redo this assignment. I did add in some more ideas to the list though! My bibliography would mostly be wikipedia articles. They have great information about all the sightings and myths surrounding sea monsters. I also might do a couple of extra reading assignments. I'm not sur...

 Link To Storybook: Portfolio: Strange Stories from a Strange Town  Image Information: Dark Ocean Found on: Thought Catalog 

[Characters]:  Brad: Quarterback for the Athens football team Eric: Running Back for Athens Coach Hader: Head coach for Athens  Darren: Quaterback for Trojans football team  [Setting]:   Football field. It's a great night to play sports; the sky is clear. The stadium is full of fans, wearing golds and reds. We're at Athens High School during the national semifinals playoff game. Athens High is playing against the Trojans. They trail by 10 points in the final quarter. There is 8 minutes left on the clock. The camera zooms to 2 boys wearing gold football uniforms on the sidelines. Cheerleaders lead chants in the background.  Brad is sitting on the bench, looking angry Eric joggs off the field and over towards Brad [Eric]: BRO. Come on. Enough of your petty drama with Hader! Do you see this crap out there? They are MURDERING us.  Brad rolls his eyes, but says nothing [Eric]: You're the best guy that we have! Dude, you know that we can't win this without y...

 These notes are based off The Iliad: The Ransoming of Hector, retold by Alfred J. Church  I am so over Achilles at this point I really don't know why he's even considered a hero He's arrogant, rude, and cruel Justice for Hector! He's already dead, so why is Achilles trying to dishonor his body? He's dragging it around daily...why???? At least Zeus is mad about it! He needs to get Achilles in trouble  He's crying over his friend--but other people died too! So King Priam is Hector's dad. He's upset (obviously)  Zeus is on his side though Priam has to PAY to get Hector's body back That's messed up. He takes so many things with him All his riches and items Zeus lets him pass through the gates without being seen So the Gods seem to have liked Hector and Priam, even though he died  Priam runs into Myrmidon-- he fought with Achilles and saw Hector often The body of Hector is in perfect shape-even after being dragged around by Achilles That must be anot...

 These notes are taken from: The Deeds and Death of Patroclus from The Iliad by retold by Alfred J. Church  So Achilles is kind of a jerk His buddy Patroclus wants him to join the war, but of course, he will not Why? His sense of pride. He thinks he is a big shot, and was offended by the King of Greece We all know that the war cannot be won without Achilles My first thought is to retell this story as a high school sports inspired story Everyone needs the QB to play, but he won't because the couch made him angry But IT'S THE SEMI FINALS  And the team is gonna get DESTROYED So along comes the running back, trying to get the QB back.  Anyway, Achilles just makes fun of his friend Patroclus apparently will die!  Will Achilles kill him? Well he randomly decides to join in the battle The trojans are gathering around and the greeks are starting to lose So, in football game time, it's the last quarter! Um, Achilles wants all the glory--screw his friend basically Fire s...

So far, I'm leaning toward the sea monster idea. It's something that's different than what I did before, and I think it would be a challenge for me to create this kind of story. It would be an episodic kind of story, with my main heroine going to different places and facing different sea monsters. There would need to be a story arc, and it would need enough variety to not be boring/repetitive.  Would it be an option to somehow make this a portfolio instead? I think I would also have to do more outside research, since there isn't really a sea monster unit!  Anyway, 3 story ideas! #1:  Heroine (Sammy Seafare??) sails to the coast of Japan to find evidence of the mythical yokai,  Umibozu  . The "sea priest" appears to sailers when the sea is calm, but can quickly turn it into chaos. Many sailors have lost their ships after an appearance from Umibozu. When Sammy is alone on the water, Umibozu raises out of the sea! #2: Maybe Sammy tells the story of her mother? He...

 Article #1: How to Get Past Negativity Bias in Order to Hardwire Positive Experiences by Katrina Schwartz  I chose to read this article because I don't really know what "negativity bias" is. It sounds like being negative in your brain, instead of thinking positively. I tend to be a negative nancy, so I'll see if this article has any tricks for me.  So! I see that I was sort of correct. According to this article, there are ways to rewire your brain thinking patterns. The brain is moldable! This scientist, Rick Hanson, argues that students can develop motivation and think of themselves as more active learners. Maybe students can become more positive in their outlook on learning? Apparently, the brain is used to putting negative emotions (or input) in front of positive things (negativity bias). Humans focus on bad news, not positive news. We should try to train our brains to dwell on positives instead. So basically, it's all about mindfulness. Being aware of our yo...

 These notes are based off Procne's Revenge from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Translated by Tony Kline  The Truth is revealed  So this story is already crazy There are 2 sisters, and one was raped attacked by the other sister's husband (who is a king)  Now, Philomela is the sister that was attacked She had her tongue cut out and is now a mute  She has been kept in a dungeon for about a year The sister married to the king has no idea, she thinks the sister has just randomly died or gone missing Procne is the sister married to the king This almost is like a criminal minds or CSI episode I wonder if I can change up the story to make it like one of those crime shows? Philomela wove a cloth, and sent it to her sister Procne is now aware of what happened and goes to rescue her sister Even though what they do is kind of sick, it's also kind of awesome that they can get revenge  Neither sister is angry at the other one, which is great new Philomela is now ready to help he...

 These notes are from Persephone's Fate, a story taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline.  This story is a bit hard to follow for me.  I know that Persephone was raped/kidnapped by Dis (Hades) Ceres is now looking for her daughter, and seems to have found her and figured out the situation Now, this is where the pomegranate comes in! Persephone eats 7 seeds (sin?) from a tree.  Ascalaphus saw it, and now that he saw her eat the pomegranate, and now she is no longer able to return Ascalaphus is working for hades? I believe? Maybe I can add something cool to his character Maybe he doesn't want persephone to leave, so he is sabotaging her chances to leave the underworld I'm honestly confused about what is happening in the story- why can't proserpine eat?  Is that because of the gods? Anyway, he is turned into an owl, which acts has a omen of disaster Jupiter divides up the year, and now she has to spend half of the time in heaven, and half the time...

 Topic #1: Greek Myth and Various Greek Things I know that this topic is very broad, but I figured it would be better to have it all under one category since I have so many ideas! I've always loved Greek Myth and stories, but I've never had a chance to read or research much about them. Right now, I'm very interested in Hades and Persephone story. I've seen a lot of pomegranate symbolism lately, and I want to understand backstory. I know the basics, that Hades kidnapped Persephone, but that's about it. Maybe it would be cool to turn Hades into some kind of hero instead of a villain, or put the myth into a modern YA story? I really liked this Hades storybook   and I've read a bit of Persephone's wiki page . I also like other greek myths, gods, and goddesses, so maybe I could do a collection of stories/retellings.  Topic #2: Fairy Tales This is an obvious choice for me, since I've grown up on Disney movies and fairy tales.  Rumpelstiltskin and the Little ...

Hey everyone,  I have updated this story! The new version can be found on my portfolio website:  Strange stories from a strange town Centuries ago, there lived a man who had never seen the ocean. When he finally made it the coast, he fell in love with the ocean, and the ocean fell in love with him. He spent his time enjoying the breeze while the ocean would sing to him, her love crashing against the shore. Eventually, the man had to journey back to his home, which was far from the ocean. The ocean was alone. She kept singing to the man, hoping that one day he would hear her call and return. This went on for days, then weeks, then months. She tried singing louder and louder until her song flooded the coast. The ocean could no longer be contained as she desperately tried to reach her lost love. The song became angry and violent and her waves began to destroy the earth. A wise man watched the destruction. Most people feared the ocean, but the wise man wanted to understand her...

 These notes are from The Man in the Moon from the Myth-Folklore Anthology. It's by Katherine Neville Fleeson and originally comes from Laos Folk-Lore.  I like the simple nature of this story. There is nice repetition in the lines, and the story follows a nice pattern. It's mostly a conversation between The wise man and the Man.  Is the wise man a god?  He seems to have the power to change the man into anything he wants Maybe he tricks the man into being the moon-- maybe he needed to fill the spot or something lol However, I don't like the reasoning behind the man in the moon.  What if the man had a better reason to end up in the moon? In this story it's more of a punishment, for not appreciating his life. I wonder if I change the story slightly to make it a love story (I love those the most lol) If I did this, the man and the ocean would be the main characters Maybe the man is far from the ocean and wants to see her everyday The only way to do this is to keep...