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Showing posts from October, 2020

Tech Tips: Canvas Profile

 Although I had already added a profile picture (it was actually my first ever college assignment when I was a freshman) I found this tip extremely useful. Throughout the years of having to do discussion posts on Canvas, or even emailing my professors (those who ONLY use Canvas to send emails) they are able to see my face and name. This seems obvious, but once again, after doing discussion posts for so long, and being in classes that I had peers with the same name (two Emilys, two Brads, etc) having a profile picture and a profile set up is super helpful, and if you have not done so already, you should!

Week 9 Story: The Big Three

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The Big Three  There once were three friends whose friendship was inseparable. Although from different families, everyone mistook them for being siblings. They were the same age, always were together, and never let anything - or anyone - get in their way. Their names were Jack, Jaguar, and Jillian. It always felt weird for Jillian to be the only girl in the group, but considering how close they were, gender had no effect on their relationship.  One day they had all decided to go on a hike, together of course. They would never do anything alone, or even in groups of three. It was all or nothing when it came to The Big Three, as people would call them. Jack packed the snacks, Jaguar packed the tent and camping materials, while Jillian mapped the trail. Although they did everything together, they mostly stuck to what they were best at. Jack always wanted to be a chef growing up, and his dream was to go to culinary school. All the while, Jaguar wanted to explore the world, and every trip t

Reading Notes: Filipino Popular Tales, Part A

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  The Three Friends: the Monkey, the Dog, and the Carabao Once there lived three friends — a monkey, a dog, and a carabao. They were getting tired of city life, so they decided to go to the country to hunt. They took along with them rice, meat, and some kitchen utensils. The first day the carabao was left at home to cook the food, so that his two companions might have something to eat when they returned from the hunt. After the monkey and the dog had departed, the carabao began to fry the meat. Unfortunately the noise of the frying was heard by the Buñgisñgis in the forest. Seeing this chance to fill his stomach, the Buñgisñgis went up to the carabao and said, “Well, friend, I see that you have prepared food for me.” For an answer, the carabao made a furious attack on him. The Buñgisñgis was angered by the carabao’s lack of hospitality and, seizing him by the horn, threw him knee-deep into the earth. Then the Buñgisñgis ate up all the food and disappeared. When the monkey and the dog c

Week 8 Progress

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 I am content with my progress thus far into the semester, as I feel like assignments such as the story revisions help me not only improve my writing and creative thoughts, but also my grammar and overall syntax that is extremely useful for improving since it is applicable everywhere. I think I am most proud of my first story that has been revised multiple times now. I feel like I have established a secure weekly schedule of knowing when to do assignments and not letting them sneak past me very often, or at all. I always do them at night as I feel like these assignments are a good way to unwind. I like class assignments like these, where I am reflecting on my semester. I can get a good understanding of how it going by writing my thoughts down as such. I have used some of the extra credit assignments as well, but I save them usually for the week I have missed an assignment. I have done a few assignments out of interest of the topics of those extra credit assignments, though. I feel like

Week 8 Comments & Feedback

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 I think the comments I am getting are wonderful! Normally, when students are assigned to give feedback to other students, it's just to get it done and sometimes it does not have real value. I feel like in this course, however, since it's not about discussion posts, but rather stories and introduction posts, there is more interest from student to student. This means there is genuine criticism from my peers, and it really helps me improve and learn a lot about new people. This goes the same for my feedback out, where I actually have an interest in giving feedback, so I give much more genuine feedback. I think the blog set up is really great. I can always go back to someone's blog if I liked their story or wanted to get to know them better through their discussion posts; if I wanted to keep reading their stories if I liked their writing, I could easily go back. It is really helpful with them having introduction posts, as well, as it lets me get to know much more about them in

Week 8 Reading & Writing

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 I feel very good about the reading and writing assignments. I took the Indian Epics class with the same schedule last semester, and I feel like this semester I am more on top of things. I also feel like a lot of what I learned last semester in terms of my writing transferred over very well into this class. I like the design of my blog much more as well as my project website. The writing comes to me a lot easier after reading other students' writing as I am inspired with both their writing and blog designs. My biggest accomplishment would have to be how I have learned to not only understand old myths, but also to relate them to my life in a way that I can write stories about them (especially since a lot of my renditions of the myths take place in universities). My favorite reading would have to be The Odyssey .  My reading notes have been pretty helpful, but a lot of the time I just draw from memory. The reading notes help me make sure I get the details correct. I need to make sur

Week 7 Story: The Prideful Man

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  The Prideful Man There once was a humble man named Thertle who tried to appreciate all parts of his life. This wasn't easy to do for him, because he did not have much that he felt he could appreciate. He was a high school drop out, his family had lost contact with him, and he had virtually no friends. That is, unless you can count Miss Goose from the famous "two-flavor" ice cream parlor, but she was friends with everyone. He wanted what she had. Not in a greedy, envious way, but in an honest way. She knew everyone, and was loved by everyone, she had a business, a family, a stable income. And most importantly, she loved life. One day, like a turtle coming out of its shell, Thertle gained the guts to approach Miss Goose in a way that led to something other than small talk. He wanted to ask how he could get started with restarting life so he could learn to appreciate it like she did.  "Miss Goose, how can I be like you? You're loving, successful, and have a family

Reading Notes: Japanese Mythology, Part A

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  Amaterasu is a goddess of great importance in the Shinto religion of Japan. Her complete name, Amaterasu-omikami, means "the great august kami (god) who shines in the heaven."  She is the sister of Susanowo, the god of the sea and of storms, and she is also the sister of Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon. Ninigi, the grandson of Amaterasu, is also the great-grandfather of Emperor Jimmu, providing the link between the realm of heaven and the emperors of Japan the next generation, with Ho-deri (Fire-Flame) and Ho-wori (Fire-Fade), the sons of Ninigi; Ho-wori was a hunter and Ho-deri was a fisherman.  The name Toyotama means "Shining Jewel" or "Peerless Jewel," as the name is rendered here Romance of Old Japan  by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917). Source :  Amaterasu, rays of light radiating from her body, as she emerges from her cave in anger, thinking that there is a goddess that rivals her in beauty, and thus light returns into the world.

Week 6 StoryLab: Crash Course Myth Videos

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 One of the video mentions how myths are generally very old and how they can be told in different versions. I personally like this idea about myths, as they can be retold different ways; these ways can be just simple syntax changes, overall plot differences, or character additions. If you were to have a favorite myth, or story, it would be nice to know there are different renditions you can choose your favorites from rather than just having one or two versions. Different versions does not equate to the myth being wrong, or a particular version being wrong, it just means there are different perspectives, or all of them have a piece of the picture as a whole. The video gives an example of the story of Zeus & Persephone; the versions are different for example in the scenario that Hades tricks her to eat pomegranate seeds in one version, whereas she wants to eat them herself in another version. These differences can be subtle differences as such, or change the plot as a whole. I also e

Reading Notes: Life of Buddha, Part B

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"Mara's Defeat" THE light emanating from the hero's body reached even to those realms where Mara, the Evil One, reigned supreme. It dazzled Mara, and he seemed to hear a voice saying: "The hero who has renounced royalty, the son of Suddhodana, is now seated under the tree of knowledge. He is concentrating his mind, he is making the supreme effort, and soon he will bring to all creatures the help which they need. The road he will have taken, others will take. Once set free, he will set others free. Once he has found peace, he will bring peace to others. He will enter nirvana, and he will cause others to enter. He will find wisdom and happiness, and he will give them to others. Because of him, the city of the Gods will be crowded; because of him, the city of the Evil One will be deserted. And you, Mara, a commander without an army, a king without subjects, will not know where to take refuge." Introducing Mara... giving background and setting up plot Mara was f