Myth-Folklore Fall 2017

As it is well known, the goddess Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, but carried on an affair with Ares. When Hephaestus found out about her disloyalty, there were many consequences. One of these consequences involved a human couple named Pygmalion and Galatea. He knew that Aphrodite had a special place for them in her immortal heart. He could not kill her lover, so he tore down her greatest accomplishment instead. (Image Information: Hephaestus, Aphrodite, and Ares Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Though it is not known by many, the goddess Aphrodite had a favorite pair of lovers. She had been the one to push them together and watch their love bloom. Anyone could see that Pygmalion and Galatea adored one another. Galatea was particularly beautiful. All the men watched her when she passed. However, other women could not hate her for this because her beauty was matched only by her kindness. She cared for both the young and the elderly. No unkind word ever left her mouth. Pygmalio

I'd heard the story of Pygmalion before, but it never creeped me out quite like it did this time I read it. This man seems to find all women repulsive, so he makes one who can't speak things he doesn't want to hear or do things he doesn't wish. He falls in love with the appearance of a woman he carves from a  rock. I pity this poor woman who awakens to Pygmalion kissing her and touching her breast. I think it would be interesting to rewrite this story with the statue woman reacting differently to Pygmalion's affection. It could also very easily be rewritten as a tragedy by reversing events. Pygmalion finds an incredible woman different from any other he's met. They fall in love, but he displeases the gods and his lover is turned to stone. (Image Information: Pygmalion Source: Wikimedia Commons ) I was unfamiliar with all of the lion fables , but they were enjoyable nonetheless. I was unhappy with the endings for the first and last stories. I understand

This assignment was actually a little difficult for me. I wanted to dive right into these stories instead of skimming for interest. Several sections I was immediately drawn to were the Grimm tales ( Ashliman , Crane , Hunt , and  Librivox ). I stated in a previous post that I am a fan of their works.  (Image Information: The Brothers Grimm  Source: Wikimedia Commons ) A few others which quickly caught my eye were Ovid I , II , and III . I've loved Greek mythology since I was a little kid. I remembered hearing the name "Aesop" ( English , Jacobs , and Winter ) before, but couldn't place it. I now know I remembered it from elementary school when we were read  The Hare and the Tortoise , but it would be nice to read more fables by this famous storyteller. Other units that drew my interest were Adam and Eve , Bible Women , Gospel of Mark , and Folklore of the Holy Land . I never really went to church growing up, so when other people would talk about stories

The first article I read was about multitasking and how this art is not beneficial to anyone. I was surprised to find that I mostly agreed. I think most people my age would've been upset with Charles J. Abaté's statements. When I was in high school, I pretty much established my study methods that I use now. I would often text or listen to music while doing homework. However, when I had a particularly difficult assignment or I was running low on time, I turned off my phone and music. (Image Information: Stressed                       Source: Pixabay ) I knew I couldn't focus as well with the distractions. It would often drive me to even greater stress and frustration if I continued with the multitasking. I have found that now, it is beneficial to me if I use texting as a reward. I'll tell myself, when you finish reading this section or ace this round on quizlet, you can read that text and respond. These are quick and reasonably frequent breaks that I give myself

Before this class, my main methods of social media were Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Now, I know how to make and post on a blog. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and it seems like it might be fun. I've still never created a website, but the idea sounds very interesting. Regarding bookmarks, I currently have far too many for my poor bookmark bar to hold. It's funny that creating a folder of bookmarks for this class is mentioned because I did that earlier today. (Image Information: Too Many Bookmarks  Source: Pixabay ) Image editing is a passion of mine. I love cropping or rotating a picture to focus in on the important parts. I really enjoy manipulating color and lighting to get the best from a picture. I could spend hours doing this. I believe I have also used a graphics creator app before. I'm familiar with the idea but it's not something I do often. However, I'm not sure how I feel about adding audio. In some instances I think it coul

I'm a little nervous about all of the writing I'll be doing for this course, especially the storytelling assignments. I think I may have a hard time not repeating things I've already used in another story. However, I'm channeling my newfound growth mindset and I am excited for this challenge. I'm also excited about the famous last words extra credit. (Image Information: Writing in Diary  Source:  Fredrik Rubensson on flickr ) It's easier for me to let the words flow when I've got something going on in my life. I don't have to construct a story, I just have to narrate what's happened and reflect. I think this will be an easy way for me to rack up some extra points!

Before this assignment, I had never heard of Carol Dweck or the growth mindset. I think that I may be very much in the fixed mindset section of the spectrum. When I started watching the first video, I felt a little uncomfortable and defensive because it was like this woman was directly targeting me. All my life, my parents have told me I'm smart and my teachers have called me smart. I've noticed that as I got older and I reached harder challenges, I thought "Well I must've reached my limit. Last year or that last test score was the best I'll ever be and it's all downhill from here." I took the ACT something like 9 times, but I never really studied. Once I reached the end of high school and I kept getting the same score, I called it quits because I thought that was as high as it would ever get. I definitely don't look forward to challenges. For every assignment, it feels like my entire future depends on the grade. My big goal for each semester is to g

Hey everyone, my name's Casey. My major is Biology-Pre PA(Physician Assistant) and this is my second year at OU. I probably should have tacked on a Spanish minor as well, but I'm feeling a little stressed on time with this four-year graduation goal. I took 3 semesters of Spanish for my major, and I didn't realize how much I would miss it until now. I can feel it slipping out of my mind every day and I find myself google-translating words I used to know by heart. I'm thinking I might work on that if I don't get into PA school my first try. My boyfriend is Mexican and he nags me about continuing with Spanish because he knows I'm losing it quickly. Carlos is also the one who has pushed me to start traveling. He is the reason I went to Naples, Florida last spring break(this was the trip from my favorite place post ). Here are a couple more pictures from Florida because it was so beautiful and I'm kind of proud of my impromptu iPhone photography skills. (I

Murders in the Bible The first storybook that I read was  Murders in the Bible . These stories were very dark and eerily well detailed. I really enjoyed the author's style of writing and I think this is what drew me to finish the storybook. My family is not particularly religious, but I did know the gist of most of the bible stories from a world religions class. At first, I thought the introduction was a little over the top, but I later realized that this was fitting for the protagonist. The author seemed to really get into the psyche of the character and I liked that she had an overall design theme of blood. (Image Information: Bloody Hand, Web Source: BlogSpot )  I noticed that the author often used the spacing of her paragraphs to add emphasis to sentences or words and I think it added a nice touch to her storybook. Also, it may seem like a small detail, but I found the page navigation to feel less like a storybook and more like a web page. Once I finished one story,

I don't get out of Oklahoma much, as my family doesn't really believe in traveling. However, I was able to go to Naples, Florida with some friends and their parents last spring break. It was still a bit too chilly to swim in the ocean but it turned out to be an awesome trip. We stayed in the family's condo which was backed up to a little wildlife area. There were so many lizards, birds, and squirrels to watch. (Common Lizard Lacerta vivipara,  photo uploaded my AJC1 ) I was very impressed with the food as well. Once, I was hesitant to order what was essentially fish sticks but it was delicious and fresh. I'd kill for some of those fish sticks any day. I also really enjoyed our walks. I'm not usually a very active person but the area lacked Oklahoma's normal heat and humidity. Being outdoors was actually very enjoyable. This was at the end of one of our excursions. There was a nice little gazebo-type structure out in the middle of the water to sit an

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