Story: The Animal Army

Once upon a time, in a time you probably know well, the land was ruled by humans. Humans were the most intelligent, the most powerful, and the most greedy animal in the world. They treated other animals cruelly, tried to study them, and even locked them up in cages. They would keep cats and dogs and other animals in their homes and call them "pets." It was a dark time, a terrible time, and a time that has left our planet forever ruined with pollution and waste.

Little did they know, though, that time was coming to an end. You see, something amazing was coming. An ape born out of stone, hatched from his rock, he was waiting for his moment to pounce. He lived on the earth for hundreds of years before he learned the abilities he needed for his moment. He was friends with the monkeys in his jungle, big and small, but they all looked up to him. He protected them when they needed it, and he knew that one day he would be strong enough to overtake the humans.

It was difficult to train the monkeys, however. They weren't quite as smart as him or as strong. Over the years, many monkeys would die. But every time a new monkey was born, he would begin it's training. Soon, the monkeys called him the monkey king. Eventually, the monkeys that the monkey king trained begin to pass down what they learned to their children through DNA. They were beginning to become smarter and stronger before they even had any training. All the while, the humans lived their years in charge, unaware that their entire species was in grave danger.

After 300 years, the monkey king finally knew it was time to put his plan into action. With his strong, smart monkey army, with apes, gorillas, and monkeys of all sizes, he lead his army into the city. He knew the humans had guns and bombs that could take them out, but he also knew the humans would be so blindsided and confused that they would have no idea what to do. As they marched, the people of the town ran for their lives. It was the most terrifying thing any of them had seen. The monkeys tore through the zoos, releasing all of the animals, calling them all to join the army.

The Monkey King

With all of the animals joining together, the humans were no match. It was clear that the only reason humans were so powerful was because the animals had not learned to rise against them. However, this army tore through tanks, powered through gunfire with no fear, and eventually took out every army in the world. The animals now ruled. Still, the monkey king was left in charge and called the Monkey King by all of the other animals. Humans were left alive, but locked in cages just as they had done with the other animals. Humans were now the pets and zoo animals of the world. The tables had turned and so they would remain until the end of time.

Author's Note: My story is based off of The Monkey King from Wihelm's Chinese Fairy Book, a story where an ape is hatched from stone, and he craves immorality. Over years, he learns many skills yet he craves more. He overtakes people and steals their power, until he is at war with Heaven. As I was reading this story, I immediately thought of Planet of the Apes. I decided to take some elements from both stories and combine them into a story where animals take over the world.

Reading Notes Part B: The Monkey King

Another element I get from this story could be a moral of the consequences of wanting too much power. Elements of this story could be changed to change the moral into something different, for example, it could be a story about the downside to immortality. He is afraid of death, so he strives to become immortal. Once he does, maybe it is not all he thought it would be and he regrets his decision.

Another moral we could get from this is the consequences of stealing and hurting others to get what you want. He could try to get immortality, but be punished for stealing things from others along the way, and never end up getting the thing he was after.

Something I still want to go back to is the Planet of the Apes combo. As the story ends, you see that he has gotten a lot of power. Even though the apes do take over in the original film, it could be changed so that these apes gain power and almost take over, but are unable to. I think that I would want to eliminate the Heavenly aspect to this story and change it to something science fiction like. It might be nice to have it be more realistic, I could even change it to take place in present day.

Another change I could make is to erase the monkey component entirely. It could become realistic to the point that is follows a main who is after immortality and traces the consequences along the way.

The Monkey King

The Monkey King from Wilhelm's Chinese Fairy Book

Reading Notes Part A: The Monkey King

The first thing that came to mind as I began this story was Planet of the Apes.  I can just see how this could go in this direction, with an intelligent ape hatching from an egg and then collecting all the other apes and monkeys in the world to take over the humans. That would be something different to do and a new direction to take the story, with a combination with Planet of the Apes.

I feel like I would want to do another combo story here like I did with the Wizard of Oz and Ramayana, but that story also had to do with monkeys. I'm not sure why I keep choosing monkey/ape stories but I still think a combo would be cool to do with this story.

Another thing I think of here is the story of evolution. The ape tries to blend like a human and even gets his name. I can see how this story could be tied in to evolution although I'm not sure how to do that yet. It might be an interesting idea, though.

Monkey fights with demon

Again, as I see that the monkey king is traveling and fighting demons to get there weapons, I think of Planet of the Apes. It just seems obvious that this could be made into a story where monkeys take over the world. I think that might be the direction I head in as I think about what I want to do for my retelling of this story,

The Monkey King from Wihelm's Chinese Fairy Book

Learning Challenge: Reading

This week, I decided to practice reading out loud. This is something that I do often on my own, but I've never really paid attention to how it was helpful. This week, I paid attention to how it was benefiting me versus silent reading. When I read aloud, I realized I could see, hear, and speak the words all at once and that was very helpful in allowing me to understand and retain the information. I often have a hard time with not getting distracted while reading but this is definitely something that is very helpful. I will continue to practice this to gain a better understanding of my readings so that I can retain the information better.

Image from Pexels

Growth Mindset: New Storytelling Style

This week, with my retelling of Twenty-Two Goblins, I tried out a style that I hadn't used before. For one, it was the first story that I had written from a first-person perspective, and also it was written to be slightly comical and it was also an unfinished type of story, one where you're not really sure what happens next. Before this story I had only just changed a few details in the story but left most everything else the same. With this one, I changed most everything. I actually really enjoyed writing this way. I felt free to make the story completely my own. It was more enjoyable than keeping with the same tone as the original story. I think I might actually try this more often, I feel like I learned a lot just by trying out the new style.

Image from Wikipedia

Review: Punctuation

My favorite graphic from this week was the one for Saturday, National Punctuation Day. Punctuation is something that we all struggle with even though we have been writing for 15+years. It's just something that is very difficult and there are many rules to remember! So, it's never a bad thing to learn a little more and have some friendly reminders of correct ways to use punctuation. I had no idea that National Punctuation Day existed, but I think it's really cool and a great way to get people excited about punctuation.

National Punctuation Day

Famous Last Words: Settled In

Well, as you can tell by my blog post title, I finally feel like I am settled in with this course and my other classes. I know, it took forever since we're almost halfway through the semester already. But, now that I have my storybook all set up and slowly coming to life and have given my first feedback, I feel like I have this course figured out. Now I just need to keep working on my storybook and enjoy what I come up with. I honestly didn't think I would be able to find a topic that I like since I never have thought of myself as creative, but I really do enjoy my topic and how my storybook is looking so far. I hope others will agree.

With my other classes, I was feeling overwhelmed since I have three online and two on campus. But like this class, I've gotten in the swing of things and I feel a lot less stressed. I'm feeling very positive especially since it is finally the start of fall. I mentioned in my introduction that fall is my favorite season, and it's finally here! Unfortunately the football games have been a little disappointing but they are still a lot of fun and I know we will still have some good games this season. Now that the Halloween stores are opening up, I can't wait to go check them out and buy some cool stuff for my room! Halloween is my second favorite holiday probably, because I really like Christmas too. All of these things make me feel very positive and that is so helpful for my school work. I always work better in the fall and I wish there was a way for me to transfer that positive energy to the spring. Nothing fun happens in the spring! I hope to have a really good rest of the semester now that I'm all settled in and the best part of the year is starting.

Image from Pexels

Tech Tip: Google Sites Page

Hi guys! I have expanded my google sites page and made an introduction on my website. This is for my storybook, feel free to check it out here.

Story: Twenty-Two Zombies

Hi, my name is Eddy. I'm a goblin. Don't be afraid, though, I'm not a bad goblin. I might not be too pretty, but I'm still a good guy. You want to know who isn't a good guy? The king. That's right, the king of this land is worse on the inside than I am on the outside. He hates us goblins, and he banished us from the kingdom, so now we have to fend for ourselves in the wild. People hate us now because he has painted such a bad image of us. They think we are savages, but really we just do what we can to survive. If the king would stop putting such bad propaganda out about us, we might not be so hated.

So, my goblin friends and I have come up with a plan. We are going to force the king to stop making us out to be the bad guys! Now we are definitely no match for his army, there are only twenty-two of us left.. but we have a plan. After all, we do have some special goblin powers. You know, like being able to take over the body of a corpse. The corpse is basically a shield, even if it gets blown up we'll still be safe inside. So if we just keep jumping in corpses, we'll make it to the king. It's the perfect plan, really.

Here's what's gonna happen: My goblin friends and I are going to go to the cemetery and dig up as many bodies as possible. One-hundred should be a pretty good number. We're then going to wheel them away and stack them just outside the gates of the castle. Will people smell them? Maybe, but eh, who cares. That night, we are going to jump inside of the bodies. Twenty-two dead people are going to be walking towards the castle. You know what really scares those humans? That's right, twenty-two walking corpses. ZOMBIES! It'll be great. They'll try to kill us, yeah, but when they see that more bodies are coming and that we can't be killed, they'll just be scared and run for their lives.

Goblins in corpses

Now, once we make it in, we'll go straight to the king. Only about ten of us in corpses, though. The rest will sneak in as our regular, goblin selves and wait for the opportunity. The ten corpses are going to pretend to attack the king. BRAAAINS! It'll be hilarious. Then, when he really thinks it's all over for him, the eleven other goblins will come to the rescue! We'll "scare" the corpses off and save the day! Then we'll make the king a deal.

If he let's us back into the castle and treats us right, we'll keep those monster corpses away, but if not, we'll let them come back to finish him off! I have a feeling he will choose the first option. Well, I've got to go now, I think my twenty-one goblin friends are gathering to dig up some bodies. Wish us luck!

Author's Note: This story is based off of Twenty-Two Goblins translated by Arthur Ryder. In the original story, a king must go get a corpse from a tree. As he carries the corpse back, he notices it is talking and realizes there is a goblin inside. The goblin tells the king riddles, if the king gets the answer right, the goblin escapes and goes back to the tree, if the king gets the answer wrong he may keep walking. But, if the king knows the answer but does not say, his head will explode. So, there is really only one goblin but he tells twenty-two riddles. In my version, I made it to where there are twenty-two goblins trying to convince the king to let them back in the castle. I kept the king, the goblins, and their ability to get into a corpse but changed most everything else to make a funny little plan from one of the goblins perspectives. 

Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins Part B

As this story goes on and comes to an end, we find that the goblin was not so evil after all and that it was the monk that was an evil doer. Since this is not the ending I was expecting, it did give me a few ideas on how to change it.

One change that I thought of for this story would be that the king is too proud to give a wrong answer. He knows all of the answers to all of the riddles, but he refuses to answer incorrectly even though he has to to get the goblin to leave the body. It could now be a story about learning to give up your pride in order to do the right thing, and the monk could instead have been teaching the king a valuable lesson rather than using him.

Another way to retell this story would be to have it be some kind of game show. This story is told in such a way that it would be easy to make into a game show of some kind, involving the king, the goblin, and the monk. It would be a comedic approach to this story.

One thing that I feel like the story didn't really go that much into was the corpse. Like I said before about turning the story into one about pride, it could be that the corpse is a prisoner of some kind that must be rescued and the only way to free him is through answering all of the riddles correctly. Perhaps the king needs help with this task and it turns into an adventure type of story.

Goblin and King

Twenty-Two Goblins  Arthur Ryder's translation of the Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati 

Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins Part A

The story begins with a monk asking a kind to do him a favor and get a dead body that is hanging from a tree. Had the king been cruel and not done this, the monk may have had to do it himself, or find someone else to do it for him. This is one small change that could alter some parts of the story.

As the story carries on, the king is told riddles. If he answers correctly, the goblin escapes and goes back to the tree, if he knows the answer but lies about it, his head will explode, but if he doesn't know the answer, the king will carry on walking with the goblin. The king keeps getting the right answer because he is wise, so he must keep going back to get the goblin.

One thing that could be altered here is the rules. Perhaps the king must get the answer right to continue going, and if he does not know the answer, the goblin goes back to the tree. It would probably change the moral of the story, instead forcing a dumb king to be wise rather than the other way around.

Another thing about this story that I found interesting was the title- it is called "Twenty-Two Goblins". Before reading, I thought that it would be some kind of battle between twenty two goblins rather than twenty two battles with one goblin. I could write a story that I inferred from the title rather than how the actual story goes. Perhaps he has to get through twenty two goblins and their riddles before he is allowed to take a dead man, or a prisoner, home.

the goblin in a tree

Twenty-Two Goblins Arthur Ryder's translation of the Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati

Famous Last Words: Storybook

Well, at the end of week 4 I finally feel like I have my life in order when it comes to this class and other classes as well. At 1/4 through the semester, I guess it's a pretty good time to be at that point. I'm happy with where I stand as far as extra credit, and I'm hoping to get a bit ahead in the weekly assignments as well. Mostly, though, I'm counting on the extra credit to keep me ahead. As long as I do that as well as not skipping any assignments, I should be good to go.

This week I finally settled on a storybook topic and set up my website. It felt great to finally get the ball rolling on that and I'm really excited about where it is going. My topic is going to be a retelling of stories from the villains point of view, making them look like the good guy in some cases, but really just telling it from their side in others. I love stories like that and I think I am going to really enjoy writing these and I hope other people will enjoy reading them as well.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to set up the website, I love it when things are easier than I think they are going to be. It looks really cool as well, and I can't wait to add more until it is a fully developed website with content. At first I thought I might do the portfolio, but now that I have figured out my topic I'm really glad that I didn't choose that option. I thought that the portfolio might be the easier way to go, but sometimes the harder way is more fun and I think that is going to be the case here. I'm excited to get started on my stories!

Evil Queen

Feedback Focus

I really enjoyed trying out these techniques, and I think they will be very helpful as I go about reading other peoples stories. I do have some trouble with focus at times because I have so much going on in my life. My mind tends to wander a lot and I start to think about something else. By the time I have gotten back to reality, I'll realize I've read a whole story and remembered none of it.

My favorite of these techniques is reading out loud. This is something that I already do and it helps me tremendously. If I read out loud, my mind is less likely to wander and I'm also hearing the words, seeing the words, AND speaking the words. Those three things combined really help me to remember and focus on what I'm reading. As I read through the stories provided, I read it slower than I normally would and I found that even more helpful. My favorite story was Why Dog and Cat are Enemies, I thought it was very cute and I love dogs and cats so that was added enjoyment.

Dog and Cat

My second favorite technique is to use a timer. I am a very fast reader, so I do tend to go through a story too quickly and that probably means I don't retain all of it. While timing myself, I found that if I use 10 minutes to read, I can read slower and focus more; or I can go back and read again. This is very helpful for focusing.

My third favorite was the copy-and-paste technique. This was helpful, but I also felt like it took up extra time that wasn't really necessary. I probably won't use this in the future unless I really want to understand something that I may be having trouble with. It's nice that I was able to make notes while going along though, and that was the biggest plus for me.

Week 4 Story: Rama, Sita, and Oz

A long time ago, there was a young boy named Rama. He was strong, brave and all the people in his village loved him. Although he was young, everyone already knew he would grow up to rule the land because of his bravery and strength. His best friend was a girl named Sita. She was the most beautiful girl in all the village and everyone knew that she would one day rule the land beside him. The two grew up together and over the years, became completely inseparable.

Many years later, it was finally time for Rama and Sita to be married and begin their life as king and queen. There was one person, though, that was jealous of the perfect life that Rama and Sita had. She was witch from a far away land who had been banished to the village that they lived. She was once the ruler of her kingdom but she was sent away by a good witch who did not want her wickedness around. Even in this new land though, the witch still had her powers. She now thought it was the perfect time to get rid of Rama and Sita for good so she could become the ruler of this new land.

One night, she went into their room while they slept, and with a wave of her wand, POOF! they vanished. She smiled a wicked smile and prepared to take over her new kingdom.

The next morning, Rama and Sita awoke startled. "Where are we?" cried Sita.

"I don't know," said Rama. "Remain calm and we will try to find our way back home."

After walking for some time, Rama and Sita came across a sign. The sign read "Welcome to OZ". As they looked around, they saw strange creatures and heard shaking in the trees. Frightened, they ran until they stumbled upon a village. In the village, there were many people, small houses, and colorful shops. They felt safe in this village.

"Where are we?" Sita asked one of the villagers.

"Why, you're in OZ!" He replied. "I believe you were sent here by a witch that we banished recently.. I'm sorry about that. We will try our best to get you home!"

After many days, Rama and Sita fell in love with the village. They decided to get married there and the villagers gave them a house of their own. Rama and Sita began to show the villagers how to get food and make bigger houses, and the villagers were very happy.

However, there was another problem beginning. The witch from their former village had a sister, and her sister was not very happy about the new guests.

"How can these strange people come and give the townspeople such hope. They may have banished my sister but I am still here, and I still rule this land!"

In the village, the sky began to turn black. The villagers ran to there houses and Rama and Sita were very afraid. Then, the witch came from the clouds, laughing a wicked laugh. The smoke covered the whole village until Rama could no longer see. By the time it cleared, he noticed that Sita was gone.

Wicked Witch

"What happened? Who was that woman?" Rama cried.

"It was the wicked witch! She has stolen your wife because she does not like to see happiness in the village!" Someone replied.

"We must get her back! What can we do? Will you fight with me?" He asked them.

"It's hopeless. Her sister was easy, but she is much to powerful to overcome. She has an army that is much larger than us!" A villager replied.

It was then that Rama remembered the creatures and the shaking trees he heard in the forest. He immediately thought of a plan. He ran to the trees and shouted at them.

"Who are you creatures! Why do you live your lives hidden in the trees?" It was then that one creature came down from the tree. Rama realized it was a winged monkey.

"We were forced to stay in the trees by the witch. She banished us from the skies or else we will be killed." the monkey replied.

"I think it is time we got rid of this witch!" Shouted Rama.

The monkeys in the trees began to shake them violently as they followed Rama. Rama ran toward the witches tower with a fleet of flying monkeys behind him, even the villagers joined him. Their numbers were great compared to the witch's. The monkeys tore through the tower and found Sita, and brought her back to the village. They then went back and demolished the witch's entire tower and left no one alive, not even the witch.

"Thank you." Said Rama. "All you needed was courage to overtake this villain. You will be rewarded!"

Sita and Rama decided that Oz was a perfect home for them. They sent the monkeys to their old village to kill the other wicked witch and take all the treasures they wanted. They remained in Oz to rule and to help the villagers build and get food. Rama and Sita lived happily ever after in the land of Oz.

Author's Note: This was a retelling of Ramayana, an epic poem from India about Rama and Sita. Rama was banished from his town because of a jealous wife of his fathers, and Sita was stolen by a demon. An ape God then helped to retrieve Sita with an army of monkeys. This story made me think of the monkeys from the Wizard of Oz, so I decided to combine the two stories. I had yet to do a combination of two different stories so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

Ramayana as found in Mackenzie's Indian Myth and Legend

Reading Notes Part B: Ramayana

As soon as I began to read part B of Ramayana, I immediately thought of the idea that Rama and Sita actually enjoy their time being exiled. Perhaps they make friends where they are, don't encounter demons, or get sent to a place that they are able to make into their own kingdom. They do not want to return to a place where a woman plotted against them. Or, perhaps they don't make a kingdom at all but instead they live in a small house with just the two of them and raise a family, leaving royal and rich life behind.

Another idea that comes to mind here is that this could be turned into a tale of Sita instead of Rama, a more pro-feminine approach. Rama could be captured and Sita has to rescue him, or Rama could die and Sita has to overcome her death even though in the story she says that she cannot live without him.

It would also be interesting if Sita accepted Ravana's love and betrayed her lover Rama. This could become some kind of demon love affair similar to Hades and Persephone or something of that nature. Or she could truly fall for him. It would be an interesting twist to this story.

It is worth noting that Rama receives a lot of help in getting Sita. Had he received no help the story would have an interesting direction.

Rama battles Ravana

The ending of this story is something that I will definitely be changing. Whether it is happy or sad I don't know yet, but I feel that Sita should get a better ending than that.I may even give Rama a bad ending rather than Sita. I could also turn this story into something funny and less serious. It would be difficult but I think it would be fun. 

Ramayana from Mackenzie's Indian Myth and Legend 

Reading Notes Part A: Ramayana

The first thing to note in this story is the relationship between Rama and Sita. Not only were they chosen for each other through Rama's great deeds and strength, but they also were very happy together. It would be interesting to make Rama a weak coward or to make Sita bored or unimpressed by him in an "Aladdin" type of feel. This could change many events throughout the story, or maybe the two could come together for different reasons.

I like the idea of Rama and Sita meeting each other for different reasons than what the story tells. Perhaps they marry in spite of their parents wishes and have to sneak around. One of them could be poor while the other is rich yet they still fall in love.

The couple are so friendly and loving with each other that it would be interesting if they were not. They could hate each other and despise the relationship there parents had arranged for them, both wanting to be with other people.

Rama and Sita

Another critical moment to note is Rama's fathers vow that had him sent into exile. Many things could be changed here to send the story in a completely different direction. Rama's father could have died to prevent exile or the woman could have not wanted his exile in the first place. 

Suddenly while reading Rama and Sita talking about his exile, I thought of Romeo and Juliet. This somehow seems like it could go in a very tragic direction. If Sita was not allowed to go with Rama, would she kill herself out of sorrow?

Ramayana as found in Mackenzie's Indian Myth and Legend 

Week 3 Review

By far, my favorite graphic this week was "A World of Languages". I absolutely love language and it would be my hope to learn all of them. Seeing as there are over 7,000, I don't see that happening; in fact I would consider myself lucky just to get to 3. Still, I really enjoy knowing where languages come from and where they are spoke. This was a great graphic to give me something cool to look at through my week and teach me a little bit about the languages that I love.

Link to Image

Famous Last Words: Beginning the Semester

Now that the beginning of the semester is coming to an end, my classes are starting to pick up. I feel like I am starting to fall behind in this class because I am completing the assignments on their deadlines rather than ahead. The assignments are rather lengthy and I find that they take up more time than I realize. I wanted to work ahead, so my goal for this week is to get through to week 4 and onto week 5 by the end of the week. Then, I plan to work a normal schedule and complete the tasks one week at a time but still one week early. This will make me feel a bit more on top of things. One way that I am ahead, however, is by completing some extra credit. I like having this cushion to remember that even if I feel behind that I really am not. I still hope to finish this class a couple of weeks early even though I am finding it more difficult. I have three online classes, so I feel that the workload with all three is slightly greater than a regular class since all of the teaching is online. I am still really enjoying the class though and I hope to improve my writing greatly by the end of the semester. I'm still not where I want to be on my ability to change my style when writing stories. I need to go more out of my comfort zone, and hopefully I can do that this week as well. I'm excited to get into different types of readings this week as well. This week we should be exploring readings that I have not been exposed to before so that will be extremely interesting and new for me. I'm hoping I can make an interesting story out of whatever it is I choose to read for this week.

Image from Flickr

Learning Challenge: Tips for Happiness

I have never really considered myself a healthy person or someone who knows how to be healthy. I eat out almost everyday and I don't exercise, somehow I've managed to still be healthy and not overweight thanks to my youth and metabolism. However, I think one of the keys to being healthy is being happy, so I decided to share some happiness tips. Health and happiness really do go hand in hand, and if you can achieve one, you usually can achieve the other. My first tip for happiness is to get out of the house once in a while. Even if you dress up just to go to Walmart or to run errands, it can be nice to get your mind off of things by driving around and not staying cooped up in the house. Another tip is to be with people, but also appreciate time with yourself. There is nothing wrong with spending time alone watching your favorite TV show, and in fact I think that's a great way to stay happy. Make sure though that you try to take invites with friends even if you don't think you want to go, you'll probably end up having a good time. My last tip is to think positive. I know, this is like "duh", but it is something that people don't do. Practice noticing every time you have a negative thought and then saying "I'm having a negative thought, I need to think something positive." Eventually, this will become a habit, and your thoughts decide how happy you are. Happy thoughts lead to a happier life, no matter what the circumstances.

Image from Pexels

Growth Mindset: Talk With a Friend

This week, I decided to talk with my friend about growth mindset. I asked them if they had ever heard of it and they said they hadn't. I had also never heard of growth mindset before this class and so I wasn't surprised that they hadn't ever heard of this topic. I explained to him what growth mindset is, and he suddenly realized that he sees this being talked about very often but just under a different name. It was then that both of us realized that although many people have never heard of "growth mindset", most people are still aware of the problems concerning it and what it is. Even schools know there is a problem with how students react to grades and learning. In many ways, people are already acting to fix this issue without necessarily knowing what it is called. I think this is a good sign. My friend said he had already been applying some of the ideas of growth mindset in his school work without even knowing it, but knowing the name and specific definition will now make it easier.

Picture from Pexels

Week 3 Story: Creation of Earth

Before there was Earth and before there was the Universe, there was only the Kingdom of Heaven where God and his angels lived. It wasn't a place you could see or visit and it wasn't a place that our minds can understand today. But God in his kingdom began to want more. He wanted a physical world and to create more souls for his kingdom, but he wanted them to have free will to choose to love him rather than to be forced to or to be born loving him like his angels.

So, God decided to create a world of souls outside of Heaven. He knew exactly how he wanted to create the souls. He wanted them to be inside of a physical body that was not immortal. After the physical body died, their souls would either go to Heaven or they would stay in the Earth he created. God created one man, Adam, and one woman, Eve.

However, God failed to know what to create as the Earth. He knew it could not be like Heaven since this was a physical world. So, he left Adam and Eve in darkness.

"What is this place?" Adam asked.

"I'm not sure," Eve replied. "But it frightens me."

As Adam and Eve looked around their new home, they became quite scared. It was dark and empty. They were simply bodies standing on a dark floor with nothing around them but complete emptiness. They began to panic and cry out to God. Quickly, God realized he needed to make a way for them to have light. It was then that God created the sun. Adam and Eve were relieved to see light and their panic began to fade.

After a couple of days, Adam and Eve began to become sick. God noticed that they had no color to their face and they simply laid all day. They even began to complain to one another of headaches. God was new to a physical body, so he quickly realized that Adam and Eve needed to nourish their bodies in order to survive in them. It was then that God created lakes and rivers, animals and delicious fruits. Adam and Eve not only now had food and water, but the world around them also became much more beautiful.

Adam and Eve

After a few more weeks, Adam and Eve met another problem. They found it difficult to sleep because of the constant light from the sun. Their eyes were tired from the light and were in need of a break. God then decided to create night. The sun would shine during the day so they could hunt and see each other, but during the night it would be dark so they could rest.

Adam and Eve were very happy about this, but they soon became quite cold during the night. They decided to work with the land to create items to keep them warm. These clothes helped them against the elements as well. Soon, Adam and Eve were thriving in their new land with free will. God then left them to their new world.

And so, this is how the Earth was created. The things we know today were not meant to punish us but to help us survive in the best way possible without being in Heaven, since we must make the choice whether we want to go there are not. If people choose to not love or follow God, they can stay in the world he created for them although it is not perfect. Only those who love him can live in his perfect kingdom.

Author's Note: In the original story of Adam and Eve, the problems of the world today are a punishment for Adam and Eve disobeying God after they were created. In my story, I wanted to show a different perspective, one that instead made the world we know today as God trying to give us the best world possible without it being Heaven. The world can't be perfect or else it would be Heaven, so instead of our world being a punishment I simply made it to where it is the way it must be in a physical world where God gives us free will. It gives it a bit of a more positive read than the world being a terrible place of punishment.

Adam and Eve from book of Genesis, The Legends of the Jews by Louis Grinzberg, and The First Book of Adam and Eve 

Reading Notes: Adam and Eve Part B

The first thing to note in this Part B of Adam and Eve is that God takes pity on Adam and Eve when they fall outside of the garden. Had he not taken pity on them, things would have turned out much different for them.

Another interesting note would be if Eve did not feel sorry for what she did, or maybe Adam either. She could even have blamed Adam or not tried to save Adam and take the blame herself. Perhaps it could cause negative affects for her and Adam rather than the mercy that God showed. This could even take a total different turn where Adam and Eve join with Satan to make him even more powerful. This would be a very dark interpretation.

Garden of Eden

Another key part of Adam and Eve is God creating the sun so that they do not have to live in darkness. Has this not happened, the world would have been all in darkness and it could have completely changed how the world is today. Another idea this gives me is to reverse this story into originally being miserable for Adam and Eve and then God making their world better with the parts of the world we have today.

Adam and Eve from book of Genesis, The Legends of the Jews by Louis Grinzberg, and The First Book of Adam and Eve 

Reading Notes: Adam and Eve Part A

Since I went with a Classical choice last week, I decided to go with a Biblical choice this week.

The first thing to take note of is the original telling of Adam and Eve from the Bible. This states that God created a man and a woman in a fruitful Garden of Eden with all they needed. They were not clothed, were not ashamed and had no worries.

In the next part, God tells them to not eat the fruit from one tree. A snake encourages Eve to eat and says that if she does, she will be smarter. So she does, and gets Adam to eat as well. They then notice that they are naked and go to cover themselves. God then punishes them to have all of the problems of the world that we have today.

Most people know this part of the story, and I can already think of ways to change it. There are certain details like the snake, God telling them not to eat from a certain tree, and Adam and Eve's lack of shame from being naked that would be interesting if changed. It could make the story into something completely different, although I would still like it to explain how we got our problems of today so I will have to think of a way to tie it into that.

As the story continues, we see that the angels and Satan (still an angel) get jealous of Adam. This would eventually lead to Satan's fall and create the devil we know today. How interesting it would be if a detail were changed here.

It would also be interesting if a different punishment were given to the snake, or if he had been forgiven instead.

Adam and Eve from Genesis and from the Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg

Creation of Adam

Week 2 Review

This week, I really enjoyed Wednesday's post about storytelling style. Seeing as I'm trying to expand on my creativity when writing stories, I thought it was great that there was a rap battle option given. How creative! I would have never thought to do something like that, but I do know of and love those videos. I might just have to try it out!

Zeus and Thor rap battle

Image from publicdomainpictures

Famous Last Words: Exploring Writing Style

With this class, writing stories is something new to me. I have always been good at writing essays or research papers, but writing a story is something very different that requires much more creativity. This week, reading other peoples stories really helped me to figure out what I can do with my own writing style. I think I was a bit nervous about how much to really change the story or the characters. I wanted to keep the basics of the story with just one big plot twist or something like that. I found that while reading my classmates work, however, I may have been a bit too shy. Many people completely changed the story to where only the characters names and relationships were the same but almost everything else was different, for example making a tragic or sad story into a hilarious one with a completely different setting. Now I know what I can do, and I'm hoping each week I will go more and more out of my comfort zone and really write some creative stuff.

I think that stepping out of this comfort zone will also make the class a lot easier for me. Instead of constantly thinking about how to write the story that won't stray too far from the original, I can just sit down and write whatever I want to and make the story completely my own. I know that I do need to make it relate somewhat, but knowing that I can change more than just one plot detail or one character is going to really help me with writer's block and other things that are holding me back. I was also surprised to see how easy it was to meet the 500 word minimum, and I found myself writing a couple hundred words over that. I think overall I am going to really enjoy how this class improves my writing.

Image from Pexels

Growth Mindset: OU's Growth

I truly believe that college is a million light years ahead of high school when it comes to growth mindset and creating an environment that encourages learning. I can honestly say that I have developed more of a growth mindset here at OU (without even knowing it) than during any of my time in high school or middle school. For my tests, I almost always have something like a project or an essay that is graded rather than a standardized test with multiple choice answers. This in itself is a step in the right direction, because I actually learn to remember and not learn just to get the right answers on a test one time. My work can be interpreted and I can show what I know rather than what I do not know.

This being said, there are also areas of needed improvement. I find that during the lower division courses that are taught by mostly Masters level students that are only slightly older than me, they are still in the wrong mindset about school. The older professors tend to grade students based on their work but the younger ones still just want a test score that the big boss man requires. This means that the freshman and sophomores are still getting that fixed mindset education. It would be great if professors could be taught this information about growth mindset. I know many don't know about it, and I think it would help a lot to prevent incoming freshman from dropping out and deciding that they aren't meant for college.

Image from Pexels

Learning Challenge: Time Management

When I made my schedule for this class, I hadn't even officially started classes yet. Since then, pretty much everything has changed including my class times and my work times. This means that yes, I had to revise my time to do work for this class! Originally, I was doing Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. This worked for me because I only had one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and no class on Fridays. Now, Fridays are still a good time for me, but I've changed it to where I will work on this class during the weekend. Two hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and if I have any time during the week I'll knock out an assignment during that time as well. I am definitely going to be doing some extra credit so that if I ever do get overwhelmed, I can skip an assignment, or maybe I can finish the class early! The extra credit is great and it gives me a comfortable cushion to keep me from getting overwhelmed in this class, so I haven't been stressed out yet. I think I've got my time finally managed!

Image from Flickr

Feedback Thoughts

I think that there are two main things that cause people to take feedback in a negative way; one is that they are too confident and the other is that they aren't confident enough. If someone thinks they suck at something, negative feedback can confirm that for them and make them feel even worse about it. If someone thinks they are great at something, negative feedback can cause them to say "that person doesn't know what they're talking about" and throw out the feedback entirely. The key here is to find a happy medium, knowing you always have space to learn and improve and that just because there is feedback does not mean you can't improve or that what you did wasn't good. I think the article% Tips for Taking Feedback like a Champ was really helpful with this.

In regards to giving feedback, I think many people will always give positive feedback to avoid making the person run into one of the struggles listed above. This is a problem too because it just prevents the person from getting better. In fact, it can give them a big head that results in the "that person doesn't know what they're talking about" mindset when they do get negative feedback. Be honest, but don't tell them they're the best writer of all time. It's also important to not give too negative of feedback. Don't tell someone that their story sucks, just tell them where they can improve and make sure you tell them where they did well also. Combining negative and positive feedback together can make the person feel complimented while also showing them that they need work. This is what works the best for me when I receive feedback and it's also how I try to give it.

Image from Flickr