Famous Last Words for Week 15

Well, I'm almost done with this weeks work for this class.  I'm quite happy to say that I'll be finished with the last of the extra credit posts by tomorrow sometime.  I finished all the required postings as of this morning.  Yay!  I'm hoping that I get some "free passes" or bonus points to bump up my grade just a little bit.

For my other class, I'm a teacher assistant in a psychology class, so I still have to attend those classes this week and then help proctor a test on Monday for the professor.  That should be the last of my duties for that class.  The next class I plan to take is my Trigonometry class again.  Neither of the other two classes I need to finish my degree at OU are offered in the summer, so it looks like I won't be back at OU until the fall semester.

My personal life is still going well.  One of my middle daughters started complaining this morning of the same symptoms that my youngest one had last week, so I may be dealing with another child throwing up soon.  I'm hoping not, but if it happens then I'll just deal with it.  Stuff happens, right?  I'm still feeling well and that's a very good thing!

My son has a job interview today so I'm crossing my fingers that his interview goes well.  He needs a job because I'm getting ready to kick him out of the house by the end of July.  He's twenty-two years old, so I think it's time to be on his own.   Plus, I need the room he's currently in, so I can move my teenage daughter into it.

Even though it's been pretty rainy and overcast outside, I've actually kinda liked the weather.  My plants and landscaping really needed the rain.  Everything looks so green outside now.  It's actually quite pretty.  I'm hoping that I can get out there and plant a garden sometime soon.  I tried to grow some carrots last year (I planted them a little too late) and they didn't turn out so well.  Lol

Oh well, hopefully this year will be better.

Well, I guess that's about it for this post.  I hope that everyone has a wonderful summer and has the best of luck in all your future classes!  Take care and I'm glad that I was able to meet each of you in this class.  A special "Thank You" goes out to the professor, Laura Gibbs, for allowing me to take this class and expanding my learning so much.

Have a great summer everyone!

Fun in the Sun

Portfolio Guide

This is my Storytelling Portfolio.  I will be adding stories that I write into this folder from time to time for everyone to read and hopefully enjoy!

Christine The Faithful

The Psychic and the Magical Leopard

The Man Who Lost His Wife

The Swan Princess

Online Education Review for Week 15

This class is not my first experience with online courses.  I actually enjoy online classes more because I  don't have to go to a physical classroom with a bunch of other people I don't know.  Please don't take offense to my previous comment though.  I have good reasons for my preference of online classes.  First reason is that I'm an introvert.  I find it harder than some people to "open up" and make friends with people I don't know.  Second, I have a somewhat significant fear of being in a crowded space such as a small room with a bunch of people in it or an elevator too.  It makes my anxiety level increase.  Lastly, I like being able to complete my work in the comfort of my own home and being able to complete the homework, etc on a more flexible schedule.  Most online classes have a deadline for completing homework, etc, but also give you the flexibility to complete the assignments early if desired.

Another major reason I love online classes is because the classes give me the flexibility to work on classwork at any time of the day.  I have four children at home and trying to work my class schedule around their school schedules can be a bit of a challenge at times.  Don't even get me started on how difficult it is to go to classes when you have a house full of sick kids.  It's impossible to attend in-class courses when you have to stay home to tend to the sick children.  Online classes give you the freedom to do work at night when the kids are asleep too.  That way even if the kids are sick, they can still be tended to in-between working on classwork.  

I would also have the freedom to work on my classwork from anywhere there is a computer Internet connection.  I wouldn't be stuck attending a classroom.  If I went on a vacation, I could still work on my classwork from my hotel room because most hotels have free WIFI.  That's just one more way that online classes are considerably more flexible than traditional classroom courses.

I would most definitely take more classes if they were offered online instead of on the campus.  I'd even be willing to pay more to have that choice.  If I were to design a fully online course, I would have the students participate in weekly discussion boards, complete weekly or twice a week assignments, maybe write a paper or two, and/or complete a midterm and final exam online as well.

Online Courses

Gen Ed Review for Week 15

I decided to take this class as one of my upper division Gen. Ed requirements.  The main reasons why I chose this class was because it was about mythology and because it was an online course.  I'm really not convinced that Gen. Ed classes are really necessary to earn a degree in college.  Most of the information in the classes will never be used in the workplace.  I'm a pretty firm believer that Gen. Ed classes should not be required, but offered as optional courses.  With that being said, I do think that some Gen. Ed classes should be required like COMP 1113 and 2113 because everyone will be using writing skills in their future careers.  Math classes should be required up to a certain level such as college algebra.  Unless you're majoring in a Math degree, I just don't see how the more advanced math classes would be helpful in the workplace.  I could go on and on about what I think should be required or not, so I'll just get off my soapbox for now.

For me, the most beneficial part of the Gen. Ed curriculum has been the english classes.  When I first started attending college, I really needed the help with my writing skills because I wasn't that focused on my education when I was in high school.  The least beneficial Gen. Ed classes for me were the Science and History classes.  When I eventually go into my chosen field of being a foster care or adoptions worker, I'm not going to need to know anything I learned in my required Chemistry class or any of the American Federal Government and History classes.

What I will remember most from my Gen. Ed classes are the classes that were most pertinent to my chosen degree field.  The Psychology classes, Sociology classes, English classes, and last but not least the fun classes that I chose as electives (this mythology class).  It has been a pleasure to be in this class.  

Gen Ed quote

College Writing Review for week 15

Since I began college back when I was eighteen or nineteen years old, I have used writing in almost all of my classes.  I have changed majors several times throughout my time in college and in some degrees writing was a major component of the classes I took.  At first, I thought that a degree as a  medical transcriptionist was the field I wanted to pursue.  As a medical transcriptionist, there was a lot of writing required of me.  It turned out to be the wrong choice for me, so I decided to go into deaf interpreting.  Deaf interpreting was as dependent on writing skills, but it also turned out not to be the best fit for me.  After changing my major again to massage therapy, I enjoyed it immensely, but after several years of working in the field I was physically worn down.  There was very minimal writing requirements in the field of massage therapy because it was mostly about hands on training.  Therefore I had to change my major again.  I finally decided what I wanted to do which was acquire a degree in Psychology.  I attended the University of Phoenix at first and I was not pleased with the fact that the classes were completely about writing papers for each assignment in each class.  I wanted some variety, so I decided to transfer to OU and finish my degree there.  So far, the writing requirements at OU have been minimal with the exception of this class.  

Throughout my college career, there have been several classes that have been writing-intensive for me.  Composition 1113 and 2113 were very writing-intensive, as well as, almost all of the classes I took at the University of Phoenix.  The only writing-intensive class I have taken so far at OU has been this Mythology class.  These classes have made me a better writer by making me more familiar with APA and MLA writing formats, proofreading my writing, and keeping me up-to-date on what is considered good writing.  What has been most beneficial about writing for this class is the feedback I receive about each writing assignment I do.  Each person sees different mistakes and/or has suggestions that can help me be a better writer.  The most meaningful writing experience I have had so far in my college career would be this mythology class.  I learned a new skill, blogging, and this class has helped improve my opinion of myself as a writer.  I never really thought of myself as a creative person, or a writer in general, and this class has changed that for me.  A lot of students in this class have liked my work and writing style and that has increased my self-esteem.

I feel that this class would be beneficial for anyone to take while attending OU.  It had definitely helped me to break out of the mindset that I'm not that creative when in all actuality, I AM a creative person who just wasn't believing or allowing myself to be as creative as I can be.  Thanks for this opportunity!

I Am Creative

Famous Last Words: Week 14

Week 14 has been a good week overall.  

Academically, I'm continuing to get good grades in my classes at OU.  Woo, hoo!  I'm about to finish up my postings for this class and I'm feeling really good about my effort and grade in this class.  I've had several stressful weeks throughout this class, but everything ended up on a good note.  Yay!  As for my Trigonometry class at OCCC, well...I'll be taking it again and hopefully since I've had more practice and experience under my belt that I'll do better next time.   Even though I won't be graduating this semester as I had hoped, I only have 3 more classes to finish and I plan to take it really slow so I can get super good grades in all of them.  I should be graduated in approximately 2 more semesters.  I know I can do better in the last of my classes, if I take them one at a time.

Good Grade

On a personal level, my life has been good.  My littlest daughter was sick (throwing up) for two days in a row, but is all better as of yesterday.  She's a tiny little thing, so I was quite worried about her getting dehydrated.  Luckily she didn't get dehydrated and started feeling better.  My other 3 girls are finally finished with the public school standardized testing.  Whew...that was a challenge for my 3rd grader.  Next year, I'm going to have a Kindergartener, a 2nd grader, a 4th grader & a sophomore in high school.  I'm going to be SO busy!

I've also decided to get my butt back into shape.  I finally got sick and tired of being overweight and want to get back into great shape.  I bought an elliptical and my goal is to use it at least 3 days a week to start off, and then work up to everyday.  I'm also starting a fitness boot camp for the next 4 weeks and I'm betting that will make me sweat off a few inches and pounds.  Lol   I also love to dance, so I might sign up for an adult dance class at my girl's dance studio.  I've done it before and it was SO fun!

Motivation Needed

Scary Scale

In my last post I had mentioned that I was getting a new fence installed.  That hasn't happened yet due to all the rain, but it should be done by next weekend.  My husband and I have also been talking about moving to a bigger house as well.  That's still just in the idea phase, but I'm hoping that it does turn into reality in the next few years.  We have to pay off a few bills first, and then fix a few things in our current house before we can make a move.  Waiting sucks, but it will be worth it in the end.

That's all for this week, folks!

You Tube Tech Tip: Week 15

This is another good clip of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody

Another good clip

You Tube Tech Tip

This clip is so funny, I had to share it.

Funny Clip

Extra Reading Diary Post for week 14: Czech Folktales

The unit I chose for this week is Czech Folktales​.  My favorite was The Bear, the Eagle, and the Fish.  

Bear, Fish & Eagle

I love that this story is a happy ending fairytale.  This story reminds me a little bit of the story Beauty and the Beast.  The bear, eagle, and fish were all human princes enchanted by a spell just like the Beast was enchanted by a spell.  

The story diverges from the Disney movie where the women marry the enchanted princes in their animal forms and have children with them.  In the Disney movie, he turns back into a human before he and Belle marry.

I liked the suspense in the beginning of the father getting lost in the woods and needing the help of the three animals to retune home.  I also like the fact that the father had flaws just like all real humans.  This father had a gambling addiction which cost him to lose all his money even though he was given lots of money by each animal.

In the end, the father ended up defeating the magician who had cast a spell on the princes because each of the princes gave him tree things to aid him in his search for the magician.  The bear gave him three tufts of fur, the eagle gave him three feather and the fish gave him three fish scales.  The father used these special gifts to help him defeat the magician.

After the magician was defeated, the princes & their children turned back into their human forms and each of them were given part of the king's land to live out the rest of their days with their families.  Even though this story had a rough beginning with the father losing his daughters, his gambling, and losing his way in the woods and his money, the story ended on a happy note with the magician being defeated and the families living happily ever after together forever.

Czech Castle

Reading Diary A for Week 13: Italian Popular Tales

I chose the unit Italian Popular Tales and my favorite stories were Zelinda and the Monster and The Fair Angiola.

I really liked the story of Zelinda and the Monster because it reminded me of the story of Beauty and the Beast.  The serpent reminded me of the Beast because he had been enchanted by a witch's spell.  He looked like a serpent, but once the spell was broken he was actually a young, handsome prince.  The story also had an enchanted mirror in it which the serpent used to show the princess her dying father.  That is a similar storyline to the movie Beauty and the Beast as well.

Where the stories diverge is that the princess does not love the serpent and tells him every day that she doesn't want to marry him.  The serpent uses the knowledge of the princesses father dying to persuade her to marry him.  It's when he promises to save her father that she decides to marry him.  Beauty doesn't declare her love for the Beast until he dies in her arms.

The movie becomes similar again when both the serpent and Beast turn into handsome, young princes and they marry the women they love.  In both stories, they also live happily ever after.

Angiola and Prince

My second favorite story in the unit was about The Fair Angiola.  This story reminded me a lot of the story Rapunzel.  I liked this story a lot.  The stories are similar in how the princesses are taken away from their parents and kept hidden away in a tall castle far, far away.  Both stories have princesses with extremely long hair and they both let down their hair out of the castle window, so that their captors can come inside the castle.

The stories diverge with how the princesses were taken to the castle to be hidden away.  Angiola had met her captor many times on the path into town and had talked to her numerous times.  She knew that one day she would be taken away because her mother had told her so.  Rapunzel did not know she was kidnapped and raised by an evil woman.  She had never met her before being kidnapped and thought she was her mother all along.

The stories again become similar in regards to the princesses meeting the princes in the tall castle and they both ran away with their princes.  The princesses were also chased and threatened by the women who had kidnapped them.  They also both ended up getting married and living happily ever after.

Famous Last Words for Week 12

This week has been a better week for me overall.  I got to relax some even though I had housecleaning and homework to do.  Relaxing and taking a nap are not things that I normally get to do at all usually.  My husband didn't have to work on Friday, so we spent the day together goofing off and running around together while the kids were in school.  That was certainly a nice change from the daily grind I deal with each week.

I'm so happy that my family's medical issues are well under control now.  That makes me less stressed and a happier person in general.  My littlest one does have the sniffles right now, but it's nothing too bad.  I can handle the sniffles.  Lol

My classes are all going well.  I didn't get as much done in this class as I had hoped for this week, but that's ok with me too.  I did get all the required stuff done, so I'm feeling quite good about that part.   I do love going to college, butI now realize that I like it much more when I take less classes in a semester and can concentrate on each one as I take it, so I can get a much higher grade.

My Trigonometry class at OCCC is not going so well, but I plan to switch to Audit and then retake it again in the Fall or possibly this Summer.  I know I'm not really a Math person, so I know that retaking the class will benefit me and help me obtain a better grade next time.  Trigonometry is hard and I feel that the more exposure I have to it, the better I'll do.  I also plan to utilize their tutoring services as well.  I think that will help me out even more.  Can I just say...I HATE Math!!  Lol

Ok, ok...I don't hate ALL Math, but anything above College Algebra sucks big time!

Trigonometry Sucks

Wasn't the weather beautiful outside this past week?  Even when it rained a little, I still enjoyed the weather.  I really do enjoy outside temps in the 70's to 80's and just a little bit of rain here and there.  The stormy weather that rolled in this morning was a bit of a shocker though.  I woke up to heave rains, howling winds and a little bit of small hail.  It kind of frightened me at first until I looked at my Accuweather app on my phone and saw that it was just a minor thunderstorm.  I can't wait to have a few days of no rain though because I'm getting a new fence installed as soon as the weather clears.  Yay!

I guess that's about it for my Last Words post this week.  Thanks for reading and have a wonderful, productive week!  Until I post again...bye!

Storytelling for Week 12: The Swan Princess

Once upon a time there was a king of the North land, King David, whose daughter had become of age to marry.  There was also a king of the South land, King Stephen, who was getting old and sick and needed his son to marry a princess, so he could make sure his kingdom would be taken care of and protected after he passed on to the next life.  The two kings decided to meet one day to discuss their children getting married in the near future.  The princess entertained the prince while their fathers discussed the marriage arrangements.  They became instantly smitten with each other and knew that they would be happy with getting married to each other.  This arrangement would bring forth peace between the two lands.

Well, the king of the West land, King Joshua, heard about this meeting and adamantly disagreed with the arrangement because he wanted his daughter to marry the prince of the South land.  King Joshua was very well known around the lands as a vengeful and hated man.  He did not want peace between the lands, but wanted to rule the land of the South as well.  So King Stephen told King Joshua that he would never allow his son to marry a daughter of such a wicked man.  This news enraged King Joshua, so he decided to kidnap the princess and have a witch cast an evil spell on her as well.

A couple days later, King Joshua sent out his best fighters to kidnap the princess of the North.  No one in the North kingdom realized what had happened until the next morning when King David found his daughter missing.   There was much grieving and sorrow that day in the land of the North!  Search parties were sent out to find the lost princess, but no one could find her.

Once King Joshua had the princess hidden in the darkest of places in the forest, he had a witch cast a horrible spell on her.  The princess was turned into a swan and was confined to the lake in the middle of the forest.  She could still speak with a human voice, but had to live her life as a swan.  If she attempted to leave the lake, she would die.  The only way for her to break the spell would be to promise to NEVER marry King Stephen's son, the prince of the South.  She could not make that promise because she loved the prince with all her heart.  The prince loved her with all his heart too, so he set off on a journey to find his beloved princess.

Swan Princess

The prince finally found his beloved princess after many months of searching and she told him of the witch's evil spell and of King Joshua's plan to have his daughter marry him instead of her.  The prince decided that there might be another way to save the princess and that way was to kill the witch.  So, the prince set off on another journey to find the witch.  Once he found the witch, she begged for her life and promised to reverse the spell that she had cast on the princess.

The witch and the prince rode back to where the princess had been held captive for many months.  The witch did as she promised and reversed the spell so that she would not be killed.  Once the spell was lifted, the princess was turned back into her human form and rode off with the prince to the land of the South to be married as quickly as possible.  They were married later that evening before word had spread to the land of the West where King Joshua lived.

King Joshua was enraged that the witch broke her promise to him, but by then there was nothing he could do about it.  In the end, the prince of the South land and the princess of the North land lived happily ever after for the rest of their days.

Editor's Note: I retold the story named The Fate of the Children of Lir.  I changed the story quite a bit.  Lir is a man who wanted to become king of the land.  When he was not chosen as the new king, he became angry and went back to his home.  To keep peace in the land, the chosen king sent a messenger to Lir telling him that he would let him chose a wife from one of his three daughters.  He was pleased and chose the eldest daughter.  They had several children together, but she died after having their last child.  So the new king sent another one of his daughters to become his wife to keep Lir appeased.  His new wife became jealous of Lir's children and took them to a lake where she cast a spell of them to turn them into swans with human voices for five hundred years.  Lir went out and searched for his children, but could never find them.  It wasn't until after the five hundred years had passed that the spell was broken and they returned to human form.  However, they did not return as human children, but as old people.  They ended up dying a couple days later after they were returned to human form.

I chose to change the story to fit more along the lines of the movie The Swan Princess.  That is where I got all my inspiration for the changes I made to the original story.  Even though I decided to use many ideas from the Disney movie, I didn't follow the storyline from beginning to end.  The original story was about the children of Lir turning into swans for five hundred years, but in my version I turned the princess into a swan until the witch reversed the spell after being threatened with death if she didn't reverse it.  Another similarity between the original version and my version of this story was that there was great sorrow when the characters went missing and that search parties were sent out to find them.  I kept that idea in my version of the story as well.  I also changed the ending to where the prince and princess lived happily ever after.  In the original story, Lir's children never saw their father again and ended up dying within a few days of turning back into human form.  The ending in my version of this story is also different from the movie's ending.  The Swan Princess dies in the movie, but is brought back to life by the prince's kiss.  In my version, the princess doesn't die and the spell is broken by getting the witch to reverse the spell instead of by a lover's kiss.  Another difference between my story and the Disney film is that I used a female witch to cast a spell on the princess.  In the Disney movie, the character was a male sorcerer who turned into a magical beast and the prince defeated the beast by killing it with his sword.  The last idea that I used from the original story, The Children of Lir, was that the king wanted to keep peace among the lands, so he sent Lir two of his daughters to marry.  I used the same idea of keeping peace in the land by using having the prince and princess vowing to be married and then getting married in the end.

Bibliography:

This story is part of the Celtic Fairy Tales (2) unit. Story source: More Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1895).

Disney movie: The Swan Princess, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swan_Princess.

Extra Reading Diary Post for week 12: Nursery Rhymes

The unit I chose for this assignment is Nursery Rhymes.  My favorite was Nursery Rhymes: Charms and Lullabies.  Here is the first one...

(Wikipedia: Rock-a-bye Baby)

HUSH-A-BYE, baby, on the tree top;

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock;

When the bough bends, the cradle will fall;

Down will come baby, bough, cradle, and all.

This lullaby is one of my all time favorites from when I was a child. I also sang this lullaby to my own children when they were little.  Even though it is a lullaby with an awful ending with the cradle and baby falling out of the treetop, little children don't know it has such a sad ending because the song is so catchy.  They don't really pay attention to the words...just the melody.

Lullaby

(Wikipedia: Peter Piper)

PETER PIPER picked a peck of pickled pepper;
A peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked;

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper,
Where's the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked?

This is one of my favorite charms (or tongue twisters) from my childhood. It brings back memories of my other and I in her kitchen saying tongue twisters to see who would mess up first.  Unfortunately for me...my mother won most of the time.  Lol   We would make a game of it every week while I was int he kitchen helping her make dinner.   My mother has since past away (last year), but the memories of all the good times we had from my childhood remain with me.  Choosing this unit about nursery rhymes reminded me of all those good times.  After I became an adult, single mother and moved back in with my parents for a while, we had the same kind of fun with my first daughter as she was growing up as well.

Peppers

Reading Diary A for Week 12: More Celtic Fairy Tales

The unit I chose for this week is More Celtic Fairy Tales.  My favorite story is The Fate of the Children of Lir.  This was a three-part story in the weekly readings.

This story was quite different than all the previous stories I have read from the earlier weeks in this class.  I like how the story was written in regards to the chosen King wanting to keep peace with Lir even though Lir wanted to become King and was upset about not being chosen as the new King.  Instead of fighting and/or killing Lir, the new King chose to keep the peace with Lir by offering him one of his daughters to be his wife.

Lir had a happy life with many children born to them until his wife died after having his last child.  Both Lir and the new King were devastated by her death, but the Kind wanted Lir to have happiness again so he gave him another one of his daughters to marry.  They were all happy for a while, but then the story takes a dark turn with the new wife becoming jealous of Lir's children.

The new wife takes the children to a lake and casts a spell on them to turn them into swans for 500 years.  This is where the story starts to remind me of the story and movie called The Swan Princess.  An evil sorcerer turned her into a swan.  The new wife reminds me of the evil sorcerer and the children remind me of Odette, the Swan Princess.

Even though the story started out very happy, it ended in a very sad way with Lir's children never seeing their father again.  It wasn't until 500 years later when a man from the North married a woman from the South that the spell was broken.  After the spell was broken, the children turned back into humans, but they were no longer children anymore.  Lir's children were very old, fragile humans who ended up dying just a day or two later after the spell was broken.

I really enjoyed the story overall even though it had a very sad ending for everyone.  I tend to enjoy stories with a happy ending better though.  I probably would have preferred that the children be reunited with their father, but that is not the way the story was written.  Maybe I'll retell this story and put it as my next retelling of a story in my Portfolio.  I could change it to have a happier ending.

Lir's Children

Famous Last Words; Week 11

I have been MIA for a while.  Sorry for that, folks!  Between my husband having some medical issues (surgery), my own personal battle with a stomach bug and my teenager dealing with bleeding ulcers and anemia...I've been emotionally and physically tapped out.

We are all back on track now, so I am back to writing my blog posts again!  Yay, for me!  I've ben trying to play a little bit of catch up in all of my classes and this class is no exception.  This class is hard work, but I love it nonetheless.

After being away from posting for about 2 weeks, it was definitely hard to get back into he swing of things again, but I persevered.  I'm looking forward to getting everything done for this class this week and doing ALL of the extra credit.  Ambitious, I know, but most definitely doable!

As for my other classes...well, I had to drop a couple of them so I won't be graduating this May.  I'm a little bummed about that, BUT the feeling of being overwhelmed and stressed is gone and that makes me happy.  I will still graduate, but I'm going to take it at a much slower pace.  I'm planning on taking one class at a time, so I can concentrate on each one and get the best possible grade in each of them.  This will be the best scenario for me because...wait for it...we will be adopting a newborn in August.  Yes, we are crazy and crazy excited to be adopting my grandchild.  We have no idea if it's a boy or girl yet, so I'll probably update with that information later on in this course. (We're hoping it's a girl though!)

My kids will give me the extra energy to get through it.  Lord knows...they are full of energy!  Lol

Here's to another week FULL of writing and other assignments!  

Cheers!

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter yesterday!  My girls were able to color Easter eggs, visits with their grandparents and hunt Easter eggs!  It was a great day for them.  Since my kids were at the grandparents, my hubby and I got to spend the day relaxing at home with some much-needed peace and quiet.  It was a good day for us as well.  Lol

Personal photos of all 3 of my beautiful girls!

Storytelling for Week 11: The Man Who Lost His Wife

There once was a man and woman who lived in a small, provincial town where work was very scarce.  They did everything they could to put food on the table and clothes on their backs, but their effort was still not enough.  The couple was slowly starving to death.

One day, the husband decided to talk to his wife about leaving the town to find better work elsewhere.    He said, "Dear wife...we have very little food and no way to make a better life for ourselves.  I must leave this town to find better work."  

"My dearest husband, you must leave at once so that we might be saved from starving," she said.

So he began his journey that very afternoon with what little food they had left for the day in search of someone who would give him a job to support his faithful wife.  Her husband came upon a farmer who took in the man and gave him plenty of work and advise as well.  The farmer warned the man that when he finally returned home that unless his wife was truly faithful and loyal, the man might find that his life might be completely different than before.

After her husband had departed, the woman became very depressed but decided to continue plowing the fields and tending to her animals like she always had in the past.  After a few days had passed, a prince was on his way to see the king of the land.  His carriage had to pass through the area where the poor were tending the fields and animals.  The prince happened to glance out at the people and laid his eyes upon one very hard-working, beautiful woman.  He told the carriage driver to stop and he beckoned to the lonely, beautiful woman tending to the local animals and crops.

The prince said, "Oh most beautiful woman, why are you in the fields performing such harsh duties when you are as beautiful as you?  Why don't you come live with me and receive anything and everything your heart could ever wish or dream of?"  The woman was surprised and excited all at the same time because the prince had chosen to speak to her.

"I will come with you, my dear prince, and take you up on your offer," said the woman.  Even though she knew her husband was off working hard trying to provide a better life for them, she couldn't resist the charms and promises from the prince.  The prince lived up to his end of the bargain and gave the woman anything she asked of him.  She now had the life she had always wanted even though it was at the husband's expense.

The woman ended up marrying the prince and forgetting about the man who left to provide a better life for her.  When the man came back to surprise his wife with all that he had accomplished, he was shocked to see that his wife had left him and married another man.  He begged and pleaded with her to come back to him, but after a while his attempts fell upon deaf ears.  After the initial shock had worn off and numerous attempts of trying to win back her affections had failed, he realized that the farmer was telling him the truth when he warned him about his life possibly changing upon his return home.  The man could no longer take the rejection and fell sick from being heartbroken.  Less than a week later, the man died of a broken heart.

The End

Prince and the Beautiful Commoner

Author's Notes:  I retold the following story, The Tale of Ivan, from the Celtic Fairy Tales unit.  The story was about a husband and wife who were so poor that the husband decided to leave his home in search of work that could support his family better.  He did find work and after three years returned to his loving wife and they ended up living a very happy, blessed life.  While working abroad for those three years, the farmer that took him in gave him advice in place of wages, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Because he listened to the farmer's advice, he was blessed with riches and a wonderful life in the end.

I changed the story quite a lot.  I chose to focus my writing on the wife and what she did after her husband left in search of work.  In the original story, she was faithful and waited those three long years for her husband to return.  In my version, she fell for a prince and they ended up being together while her former husband was working elsewhere.  Also in the original version, there was a happy ending for the man and wife.  In my version, the man returns and find his wife living with another man, a prince, and has forgotten all about him.  He ends up dying in the end.

This story is part of the Celtic Fairy Tales (1) unit. Story source: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).

Reading Diary B for Week 1: Celtic Fairy Tales

I chose to finish off the Celtic Fairy Tales unit and my favorite story was The Tale of Ivan.  This tale was a similar story to ones I've read in the past where the man goes on a journey to find better work, so that he can better support his family.  He does find work, but also learns quite a few life lessons as well.

As he is applying those life lessons on his way back to his wife, he learns a lot about the people around him and about himself too.  He holds steadfast to what he was informed to do and finally finds his way back to his wife, who is very happy to see him again.

This story also makes me think about my own life and how my husband would do anything he needed to support his family.  He also has very strong beliefs and morals and would have down exactly as the man in this story did on his way home.  The male character in this story reminds me a lot of my husband.  I can also relate to the wife character because I would have been loyal and waited for my husband to return like she did.  I have very high standards and morals as well.

I also like how the family was rewarded for their good deeds in the ending of the story.  The husband not only received his wages for the 3 years he worked for the farmer, but also was rewarded for doing exactly as he was advised to do.  He and his wife ended up living in a nice place and having money to support them.  It makes me think of the saying, "A good deed shall not go unrewarded".  I firmly believe that and try to do a good deed everyday at the minimum.  I love stories with a good moral and a happy ending. 

Ivan

Reagan Diary A for Week 11: Celtic Fairy Tales

I chose to read the Celtic Fairy Tales for my Reading Diary "A" submission and my favorite story was The Horned Women.

This was a story about a woman who was approached by twelve witches each with a different amount of horns on their foreheads.  They bewitched the woman and tried to get her to do their bidding for them.  As she was trying to perform some tasks for them, she heard a voice that told her to say and do certain things to make the witches go away.  She did as the voice had told her by putting feet water around the house, making a cake with blood from her family members and other things like that to save her family from the witches return.

When the witches returned, they weren't able to reenter her home because she had performed the tasks that the voice of the Spirit of the Well had told her to do.  The witches finally went away and left her family alone for over 500 years.  Her family kept the traditions alive so that their family would continue to be safe from the witches (horned woman).

I really admire the woman's tenacity and willingness to do whatever it took to save her family from the witches.  She was a mother of young children and good mothers will do anything in their power to protect their children.  She showed a great strength even though she was originally overcome by the witches spells in the beginning.  She believed that her family would be safe if she listened to the voice and did what it said.  Because of her actions, her family remained safe for many hundreds of years.

I can relate to how the character felt about her family because I would do anything I could to keep my family safe.  I think that is why I liked this story so much because I can see myself in this story's character.  We can all be fooled by false or bad people at times, but once we figure out they are trying to hurt people we love, then that's when the "momma bear" personality in me comes out.

The Horned Women

Commenting Review Week

STEP THREE: Write up a blog post where you share some thoughts about the commenting in the class so far. You can write about anything you want; the following are just some prompts to give you some ideas to think about as you write your post:

• Do you feel like you are making good connections with other students in the class at the blogs?

Yes, I think I am making good connections with the other students in the class.  I like how you put us in different groups sometimes, plus I like to choose people at random to comment on their posts.  I hope to eventually comment on at least one post from each student int he class.

• What kinds of interactions do you think are most helpful in creating good connections online in a class like this?

I definitely think that having us comment on other students Introductions has helped us get to know each other better.  Also, commenting on other student's writings has helped me get to know other students personalities better.

• What kinds of comments have been most useful to you so far on your blog posts?

To me, both the constructive criticism comments, plus the positive affirmations have been extremely helpful to me.  Sometimes I need to know what's wrong with my story and other times I need that pat not he back & "good job" comment to help keep me going.

• If you have received Project comments, have those been useful so far? (Not everyone has gotten Project comments yet.)

Yes, one person helped me with grammatical errors and some sentence structure issues, while others told me they were inspired by my story and they remained engaged in my story because of the way I write it.

• When you are leaving a short comment, what do you usually focus on?

I try to focus on the positive parts of their posts like keeping me engaged in their story, the way they write their character dialogue, and overall storytelling techniques.

• When you are leaving a long comment on a Project, what is your focus?

My focus is both positive affirmations, plus constructive criticism on grammar, sentence structure and paragraph lengths.  

• What is the easiest part for you about writing comments? What is the hardest part?

The easiest part is to write what is good about a story.  The hardest part is writing the constructive criticisms without sounding judgmental or snooty.

• Do you do a lot of commenting on other students' work in your other classes? Is your major one in which peer comments are generally an important part of the classes you take?

Writing comments on other students work has never been a part of my college experience so far.  The only times I have ever had to make suggestions before was when I attended University of Phoenix and we did A LOT of group work.

• How do you make use of comments when you revise your writing?

I read each comment and make the adjustments to my story.  I try to incorporate everyone's suggestions into my writing.

• Are there comments people have given you about your writing that have really made a difference for you in your writing overall?

Yes, one student commented that they would like to see more character dialogue in my stories.  I plan to incorporate that into my next story.  The sentence structure & paragraph comments have been helpful too.

• Do you have any suggestions for improving the commenting component of this class? 

I really can't think of anything to make it better at the moment.

Inspirational Quote

Writing Review Week

STEP THREE: Write up a blog post where you share some thoughts about the writing in the class so far. You can write about anything you want; the following are just some prompts to give you some ideas to think about as you write your post:

• What have been your greatest writing successes in the class so far this semester?

I think my most successful writing successes have been my storytelling assignments: Pat-A-Cake, Christine the Faithful and The Psychic and the Leopard.  I'm including this picture from my Pat-A-Cake story because it has been my most favorite story to write so far.  The story was inspired by my daughter, Mary, and her desire to bake all the time.

(Image information: Pat-a-Cake by Mary Brigid Barrett and Illustrated by LeUyen Pham)

• What writing goals do you have for yourself in the second half of the semester?

My writing goals are to complete more of the Reading Diary Assignments and spend more time on my Storytelling Assignments.

• As you look at your Storytelling posts, what do you think are some good strategies for coming up with good stories?

The best strategy for me is to use some ideas from my own life.  I always seem to write better when I have a personal connection to the story.

• Have you been able to get some good writing ideas from looking at the writing other students are doing?

I have been able to get some good writing ideas from other students, especially Stoffel, Allison, and Bria. They use a lot of actual character dialogue in their stories and I haven't quite perfected that technique yet.  I plan to use their techniques in the future.  I'm in no way saying that I'm not influences by the other students int he class.  I'm just saying that those students have made the biggest impression on me and my writing so far.

• Is the feedback you are getting from me and from other students helping you to improve your writing?

Yes, the feedback has been quite helpful in revising my stories.  They notice my grammatical and sentence structure errors when I don't.  I have also used suggestions about creating smaller paragraphs and will be adding character dialogue in my stories in the future.

• What kind of feedback is most helpful for you in your writing?

Any kind of constructive criticism is helpful to me.  I'm not a writer and I know it.  Any comment makes me into a better writer.

• Have you learned anything useful about yourself as a writer, about the writing process, about writing techniques, etc. from your work in this class so far?

Yes, I have learned that although I have more years under my belt in college than almost everyone else in this class, I am no where near as good a writer as some of the younger students in this class.  I'm learning a lot from everyone else in this class including the instructor.  

• What do you feel are the biggest challenges you face as a writer? What do you think could be most helpful to you in facing those challenges?

My biggest challenge I face as a writer is my own mind.  I tend to tell myself that I don't write well or I don't know how to put a creative spin on a story.  Sometimes I over-analyze myself and my ability to write.  The thing that has been the most helpful is seeing all the positive comments on the stories I have written already.  That helps a great deal.

• What do you find most inspiring as a writer? What do you find most rewarding? 

The most inspiring things to me are reading other people's stories and incorporating their writing styles into my own writing.  When I do incorporate other student's writing styles into my own, I get a lot more positive feedback.  That is definitely a huge reward for me.