Mythology

 After hearing the description of the monster in the forest, the Warrior knew exactly what level of threat he was going up against, for he has conquered it before three years ago. The Warrior replied: "Do not worry, Yee and Zy. I will gladly vanquish this disgusting and evil foe. I've done it before and I'll do it again with ease. However, I must ask of something in return. The past couple of years in the kingdoms above have been terribly lonesome. And for that, I must request that you give me your daughter's hand in marriage." "I will happily hand over my daughter's hand in marriage for you, O Protector of the Forest," Yee happily answered the Warrior, "but only if you rid the world of the evil that's in the Forest!" And with that, with the help of the heavens, the daughter was transformed into a diamond-encrusted sword in its sheath beside the Warrior's waist. "Thank you all. With the help of your daughter, I will surely make...

All stories below were received from Egyptian Myth and Legend , by Donald Mackenzie  The Two Brothers: Part I Dialect is very hard to understand, sounds like something from ancient scripture. However, it is still readable.  Starts the story with the normal "there once was ..." just like many other ancient myths or short stories that were available during this time and forward. This can be something that I can incorporate into my stories I like how, out of the two brothers, one was said to be "imbued with the spirit of the gods" However, the other brother was not This indication can show the source of conflict as well the differences in character between the two characters. But why only one of the brothers? Bata, the one that was imbued with the spirit of the gods, is able to understand the tongue of the oxen and other animals This can be a magical aspect that is needed in many mythological stories/folktales. The Two Brothers: Part II Towards the end of Part I, there...

 For the storybook project, I plan on writing in continuation of the myth of dragons in various Asian cultures, such as Japan, Chinese, and Korea. I have found that, although, from differing cultures, these creatures of ancient stories have more similarities than they do differences. One of the idea I have is to create all the stories of various dragons, but they are all related to one another. For example, for one story, I might depict a dragon who's main domain is in China while in another, I will have one in Japan, and they are all blood related and connected. Therefore, there might be the possibility of a story of one dragon that is the greatest ancestor of them all. Some sources I'd like to include would be from the Joly  and Project Gutenburg . Some stories I would want to include are:   The Dragon's Pearl ,   The Dragon in Japanese Art , and  Korean Water and Mountain Spirits .  Something that I am hoping to learn throughout this semester-l...

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 Odyssey: Ghost of Erebus , Homer's Odyssey by Tony Kline For the most part, the style of writing is dramatic, being somewhat consisting of several run-ons. Perhaps write more as though you were writing as you are speaking? In particular, something that I liked most about this story was the inclusion of prayers to the gods. We all know that in ancient Greek times, especially in epics, the relationship between gods and mortals is something that is prevalently mentioned. Here, the author mentioned the main characters' prayers to Persephone and Hades, which were the 'rulers' of the underworld. This statement here says that the gods play an all-around important role in the daily livelihoods of humans and their wishes, as we can see in the curse of Odysseus during the previous chapters. Odyssey: The Ghosts of Elpenor and Teiresias Perhaps the most intriguing part about this story was the inclusion of ghosts. Normally creatures and monsters that are not fully human would appe...

  The Land of the Cyclopes , by Tony Kline I like this introduction of the creatures that served as the main antagonists of the story Sets the scene for the savagery of these monsters and how they came to be, including the description of them being "lawless" and "rely on the immortal gods" For the introduction, the author did not dive in straight to the main plot of the story, only imaginative descriptions of these creatures  This serves to create an aroma of suspense that is associated with these creatures and the dangers they will pose to the main antagonist of the story Not only for the creatures, but the author also used the introduction to show the setting of the story as well There were also inclusions of the main backstory regarding the gods that rule the realms of this story, which in this case was the reference to Zeus and his connection to the Nymphs as well as the Cyclopes. Prisoner of the Cyclopes , by Tony Kline Each of the character introductions follo...

 In " Why do So Many Managers Avoid Giving Praise ," I can see that often bosses are so hesitant on giving praise, as they do not know how to balance between the praises and the criticism. It can often be perceived negatively if the boss only gives out negative reviews, which can often times be critical according to the employees. Rather, in the surveys, from both sides, they would feel much better if the boss gives out praises as well as constructive criticism. Also, if there were praises, the article emphasizes that the praises must be highly specific and not just a "good job" as it gives more information to the workers what they are doing well on so they can continue in such a pattern. Therefore, in balance, would create criticism more effectively. In another article, titled " Be a Mirror " It again talks about the importance of growth mindset. One of the suggestions that intrigued me was, towards the end, the author talks about how if we start praising...

 The Dragon's Pearl What was so interesting was that the story showed the origin of a dragon that is now considered the "guardian" of that riverbank. The story started with a common backstory about a poor, but a generous family that was struggling to make ends meet. However, they had come across something that would change their fortunes forever However, with the kindness of the main characters, it would have to be counterbalanced by evil and greed by the antagonists of the story, which in this case would come in the form of some men in the village that wanted to take away their source of fortune from the kind family The story seeks to explain some natural occurrence of the real world, which in this case is the River Min, the mud banks, and why it was called "Looking At Mother Bank" This can be something that I can use to incorporate into my story, some sort of supernatural explanation for natural events that includes supernatural characters like the dragons For...

Three years ago, a Warrior ventured into the depths of the Great Forest and defeated Yerdua, the notorious, smelly, shiny-headed demon that has been a plague to the region to all the inhabitants living in the small village next to it. Ever since this great feat, the Warrior was promoted to the level of a god by the divine beings that were watching closely to see who could defeat Yerdua, as that individual would be crowned with the most awesome power that could ever exist in the world. He then served as a protector of the forest, defending the villages from anything that could harm the animals and the humans going near the forest.  One day, the Warrior realizes that ever since the attack of Yerdua, followed by her ultimate destruction, humans haven stayed away from the Great Forest. This bothered the Warrior. He wondered what could be the reason for these people staying away from the Forest? He feared something was in its midst. Therefore, out of concern, the Warrior came down to pa...

Reading notes adapted from  Homer's Iliad , by Alfred J. Church The Rousing of Achilles Usage of many descriptive adjectives and verbs. This can be very useful in immersing the reader into the story Instances of grammatically incorrect sentence structures, however very effective when read aloud! Also, in terms of sentence structures, many of them are non-direct or passive, which is contrastive from what is required in essays, etc. The verbiage used was very much like the olden times, and also very exaggerated "O Hector, do you not dare ..." Spoke as though you are watching a play about the past The story portrayed the main hero, Achilles, as a character that is known widely in the world of the story and his infamy leads to fear among people who have never even seen him This usage of background fame can be used for characters that do not need a detailed backstory before the story starts. The character's already known throughout the lore itself The Slaying of Hector Eve...

 Reading notes adapted from Homer's Iliad , by Alfred J. Church Iliad: How the War with Troy Began The story starts with traditional "once upon a time, there once ..." that generally begins with most folktales Revolves around royalty and their interconnected relations Usually involves some form of love or arranged marriage All characters described as some form of title or relationship to another form of royalty Ex: Nestor, the oldest man in the world Ex: Diomed, son of Tydeus The Quarrel Interference with the gods as a way to give one of the sides an advantage Here, the priest of Apollo prayed to Apollo, and the god went and destroyed Agamemnon's horses, mules, and the rest of the army An instance of a clear moral dilemma between Agamemnon and the rest of his chiefs Human fault in Agamemnon's greed and desire to gain Also, another divine intervention when Achilles was about to pull out his sword to spar with Agamemnon, but the goddess Athena stopped him and convin...

  R eading some of the articles on the importance of feedback and overall creating a growth mindset, there are some things that I think is worth mentioning in terms of what I took from them. In " A fixed mindset could be holding you back -- here's how to change it ," the author explicitly tells the importance of children not  being  exposed to failure as part of the "everyone wins" curriculum that seems to be apparent in most places, even at home. Due to this, children, as they grow up, have a fixed mindset and whenever they reach the blunder of failure, it attacks their "sense of identity." This is incredibly important as due to the fact that they were never quite been fully exposed to failure, they do not have  the  necessary coping mechanism to deal with it. If  they  were always touted as "brilliant" or "genius" when they were younger, they never quite understood the concept of being able to get back up and try again. In fact, m...

 1. Cryptids     One of the things that I look forward most in this class is reading more about cryptids. I've always been so fascinated by these mythical animals, such as the chupacabra, Bigfoot, the Mothman, etc. I've always doubted their existence, but it's the mystery that's associated with modern-day folklore that makes them so interesting to read about. I could make a storybook about a certain region, with stories about some of the most prominent and historically-significant mythical monsters in that region, which can be extended to 3-4 stories. Being that there are a number of these stories all over the internet, I believe that the best source would be Wikipedia , as I should start by venturing there. I'm still unsure if I would write stories about the most common, such as Bigfoot, or I should write about those that are more on the uncommon side. However, I would love to expand my knowledge to different areas of the world, especially mythological creatures of...

 The Lion in Love Once upon a time, there was a Lion, who was became madly in love with a human woman and had proposed the question of marriage to her parents. Seeing that the King of the Beast was at their door and asking for the hand of their daughter for marriage, they didn't know how to decline. The woman's parents did not want to anger the King of the Beasts Finally, the woman's father told the Lion, "We are honored by your interest in our daughter. However, seeing that she is small and weak, we fear that your own affection for our daughter can end up hurting her. Being that is the case, would you be willing to clip you claws and remove your fangs? Surely we would reconsider." The Lion, being so madly in love, did exactly what the parents of the woman asked. He went and got his sharp claws clipped and his large fangs removed. However, when he came back to the parents of the woman, the parents merely laughed in front of his face and denied them of his proposal...

 Reading from Heavenly Beings: Susanoo and Orochi  by  E. W. Champney and F. Champney Usage of multiple descriptive adjectives, verbs, and gerunds that is more complex and unnatural when compared to today's average usage Usage of words that is reminiscent of fairy tales, such as "fair maiden," and "ye." There were also numerous accounts of conversation that is divided into different paragraphs  I really liked the usage of mythical monsters/creatures in this story, such as the Koshi, especially in the world of gods and goddesses Conversation and interactions between these divine beings and mortals is also something I think I would like to add in my stories. Involves the role of a powerful protagonist as well as a clever and descriptive way of defeating his/her enemy. (Susanoo Killing the Orochi. Source: Toyohara Chikanobu )

 Upon reading some of the articles about time management in preparation for this blog post, there are a number of things I learned that I wish to implement currently and for the foreseeable future. For example, from Tim Grahl's " The Myth of Too Busy " I was intrigued by the concept of being "busy" as an avoidable excuse and it implies one's inability to manage their time well. Granted that there will be situations where one has actual plans, but the point of the article is to say that in a world where everyone is essentially "busy" there are steps to allow oneself to make plans for the other aspects of life. One of which is learning how to prioritize your time well, and taking precautionary steps such as having a healthy sleep schedule and working ahead allows for the ability to fit in more time for extracurricular activities, or activities that one actually enjoys doing. Another aspect of time management that is worth considering comes from Amand...

 I'm very intrigued by the way the assignments are structured for this class, in terms of routine aspects to the class itself divided into each separate day, and how each topic for the day connects with the other days within the week. In addition, I also like how the extra credit assignments are never set at a certain time where it's due, but rather that whenever you have any free time during the week to do them. It also helps that these assignments give a clearer insight as to what you would want to learn regarding the general topics of the class. Overall, I don't have any specific questions that I have currently in regards to the extra credit opportunities or the way the general work schedule is during the week! (Designer Sketching Wireframes. Source:  Unsplash )

 In terms of mentioning the numerous technology tools that are and will be used in this class, in addition to some useful extensions that can be used regularly, for the most part, I'm familiar with its functions! It's quite intriguing as this is my first online class in college, and it's quite a different experience than the usual lectures in-class and homework off-campus. This being said, I think online classes are better in terms of the expected structure of the week and you can plan accordingly to the rest of your responsibilities. One thing that I haven't used before, in terms of the tools, is the bookmarking option. As useful as it potentially is, I haven't been using it at all since I've used a computer. I'm also interested in all of the platforms that I'll be using this semester, especially in the creation of a website as this is something I've never used before! Other than that, I think this will be a semester where I will explore more functi...

 From what I've seen of growth mindset up to now, I can see that there's been implementation of it in my high school years as well as the time I've spent in college. I haven't before heard of Carol Dweck, but have definitely been aware and familiar with her work. Personally, on the growth-fixed mindset, I consider myself to be more on the fixed side of the spectrum. Dweck was right, I was raised in, not just an educational environment, but at a home environment where the idea of getting an A in the class was top priority. This wasn't to say that of course, the main goal was to get the most of learning the material itself, but it has insinuated me the idea that I HAVE to get the A, no matter what it took. Of course, I see this as the issue that students can resort to cheating, skimming, and dread the idea of actually learning and applying the concept themselves. They think too narrowly, only enough to do well on the nearest quiz or exam and then never reapplying that...

Looking over some of the past storybooks created from this class in the years prior, there were a couple that really caught my eye when looking at some ideas for the projects later on this semester. One of these books was " Lara Croft and the Mask of the Jaguar God ." The reason why I found this very interesting was the combination of an already existing fictional character, Lara Croft, and the Aztec legends. I've never thought about the idea of recreating an existing storyline and weave it in a way that dealt with the concepts of mythology, all while leaving the development of the characters unchanging from their pre-existing plots!  (Statue of Xolotl, from Cece's Storybook. Source: Nuberoja ) Another storybook I found interesting while browsing was " El Salvador Legends ." One of the concepts I found intriguing about this project was the fact that for the most part, the story is told in a different language and at the bottom of each of the author's res...

 Hello! My name is Long, I'm currently a senior studying Microbiology Pre-Med route, and might I say, time has been going by way too fast for me right now. I remember just yesterday that I was a freshman entering the campus in Fall 2017 without a clue as to where my classes were. But, here we are, 5 semesters later, and I guess there's nothing you can do about it but try your best to catch up! Am I right? In the past two semesters, something that I was proud about was the matter that I achieved a 4.0 GPA in both of my busiest semesters of college so far. I know I'm giving myself a pat on the back right now, but seriously at some points during those semesters, I contemplated ripping off all my hair. I can say that, for me, 2019 has been a year of work after work after work, I couldn't find any time for myself. Spring 2019 I was pledging a fraternity. In summer, I was taking biochemistry every weekday for 2 months. And Fall 2019, I busied myself with 5 science-related cla...

Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4. Week 3: Homer's Iliad  Week 4: Homer's Odyssey Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6. Week 5: Ancient Egypt Week 6: Bengali Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.] Week 7: Japanese Mythology Week 9: Congo Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11. Week 10: Alaska Week 11: British North America Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13. Week 12: Beowolf Week 13: Celtic Tales Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15. Week 14: Rusian Week 15: Dante's Inferno (Statue of Anubis. Source: Unsplash ) In terms of these specific units within the class, I'm especially interested in Japanese and Russian mythology as there are so many famous references in today's media. Another section that I'm excited about is Ancient Egypt mythology!