Ann's Blog

(Image Information: Writer's Desk, Public Domain ) For this assignment, I explored the Writer's Write website. The first interesting thing I stumbled across was Book Reviews , under Everything Literary. I love book reviews, so this was very exciting for me. I read a few different reviews just for fun. The ones I chose were Record of a Spaceborn Few , The Paper Lovers , and Death Cup . I picked these three to read about because the titles grabbed my interest. They all sound good and are now on my to-read list. Record of a Spaceborn Few sounds like a deep, futuristic sci-fi book. It is the third in the Wayfarers series. The Paper Lovers sounds like a wild story; it is about a man who is caught having an affair and becomes a religious fanatic, as told by his wife. Death Cup is a spooky detective fiction starring a woman named Storm. The next thing I looked at on the website was the Writing Prompts section, also under Everything Literary. The first writing prompt I read was ...

Bibliography:  American Indian Fairy Tales , collected and published by Henry Schoolcraft. The Fairy Bride (Image Information: Puk-Wudjies, Blogspot ) Summary: In this story, there is a young girl named Neen-i-zu, who, like the other children, grew up listening to old Iagoo's stories. One of those stories that she loved was that of the Happy Land, which was " a far-off place where it was always Summer, where no one wept or suffered sorrow." She would often take long walks in the woods, alone, dreaming of the Happy Land. In these woods lived mischievous little fairies called Puk-Wudjies. Neen-i-zu believed that these faires were meant to show people the way to Happy Land. She often sat and watched the fairies play, hoping they would take her to Happy Land. Her mother wanted her to marry a man but Neen-i-zu was not interested. On the day of her wedding, Neen-i-zu disappears. The next day, a hunter sees her in the forest, acting strange, and joined by a fairy-m...

Bibliography:  American Indian Fairy Tales , collected and published by Henry Schoolcraft. Week 10 Reading Notes, Part A: The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds. (Image Information: Playground, Blogspot ) This is a beautiful story full of beautiful sentences. For this post, I will be writing about why I liked this story so much and what made it so lovely. Here are some reasons why this story is so pleasant. This story is full of happiness . There are happy people, happy animals, and a happy valley. Examples of Happiness: From the beginning of the story, we feel that the characters are happy. Iagoo is happy to tell the children stories and they are very excited to hear them.  In the story he tells, the people and animals are happy. The mountain lion, usually a ferocious predator, is described as thus: "T he Mountain Lion would growl pleasantly and pass you the time of day." The valley that the boy and girl live in, in the story Iagoo tells, is a...

For this assignment, I chose three cat pictures that I liked from the randomizer. (Image Information: Cat Explorer, Blogspot ) I chose this picture because I am an explorer at heart and all I really want to do with my life is explore the world and learn things.  I want to travel the world, meet people, explore places, learn about different cultures, and be able to speak many languages. I am majoring in French and I also plan on learning Spanish and Chinese within the next few years. There are many languages I want to learn after these, including Vietnamese, Arabic, Persian, Russian, and German. Sometimes I feel like I'm not very smart because I want to spend my life doing these things, but then I remind myself that you don't have to be a doctor or a lawyer to be smart and successful. Income does not equal success. (Image Information: Brave Kitty, Blogspot ) I liked this picture because I feel like it applies to my life currently. It seems like every day there is a n...

(Image Information: Diversity, Pixabay ) The video I watched was Denmark's TV-2 All That We Share , which is a heartwarming video that brought people together in trying to change the way we view others. It was a video about accepting others and recognizing that we all have things in commons.  The video starts by showing different groups of people divided up based on things like class, age, and where they were from. Then a presenter asks people to step forward if what he says applies to them. He starts making random statements like "I am a step-parent" or "I am lonely," and people from different groups would step forward and create a new group. The exercise appeared to bring the participants happiness and we could see them relax as it went on. In the end, there is the realization that labeling people or grouping people together because of arbituary attributes is silly, and we judge people a lot based on these unimportant things.  One thing the video confir...

(Image Information: Inspirational Cat, Blogspot ) I thought this picture was cute and it made me feel happy. Orange cats are so precious, and the message is one that I think a lot of college students can relate too. For many people, college is an escape from their bad home life, a safe haven from their past. At least, that has been my experience with it. It can be hard to focus on the present and not on the past, but you've gotta do it if you want to make good grades.  The video I watched was Asking Dumb Questions is a Smart Move. I really liked this video because I feel like I am full of dumb questions. I always seem to have 10 more questions than everyone else in the room but most of the time I keep them to myself out of fear of being annoying or sounding dumb. Now I know I should just be confident and ask away!

(Image Information: Workplace, Pixabay ) This week I did an extra credit reading on Sindbad the Sailor and I really enjoyed it. I read both Part A and B and wrote notes up on the stories. I learned a lot. My best writing of this week had to have been in this class because I did not write much for my other classes. My best was probably my story this week, which is about Fox-Fire. I had fun writing this story and I experimented with using elements from my actual life, which I had never done before.  I read many different blog posts and stories written by my classmates this week and they were all excellent. There is a lot of talent in this class. I have seen many aspects in my classmates' writing that I have learned from and will try to apply to my own work in the future.  My other classes are going well. I am in a French class that requires a lot of writing and I think that writing so much for this class has made me more confident in my writing which has made wr...

(Image Information: Sindbad the Sailor, Wikipedia ) I started by searching for Sindbad the Sailor on Wikipedia since his story is the most recent I have read for this class. Wikipedia describes Sindbad as "a fictional mariner and the hero of a  story-cycle  of  Middle Eastern  origin." From this page, I was led to The Count of Monte Cristo , which is simply described as " an  adventure novel  by French author  Alexandre Dumas." I am familiar with Dumas, though I have yet to finish the Count of Monte Cristo. According to Wikipedia, the main character in the Count of Monte Cristo uses the name Sindbad the Sailor as an alias at one point. I loved learning this fact, and it makes me glad I read Sindbad.  Next, I went to the page of Auguste Maquet  who is described as "a  French author, best known as the chief collaborator of French novelist  Alexandre Dumas." I was very intrigued to find out that Alexandre Dumas worked with a ghos...

(Image Information: Sleeping Child, Pixabay ) For this learning challenge, I decided to read about sleep. I have always had a lot of sleep problems and weird sleeping habits. I dream every night and have lucid dreams every night. This leads to me waking up unrested and then wanting to nap later in the day. But even when I nap I don't get peaceful sleep. I also stay up late and occasionally stay up till morning only to take a short nap before class. These days are always unbearable and now I know why. I did not realize previously that it was so important to go to bed at the same time every night and to not eat a lot before sleeping. I work as a server in a restaurant and on weekends I usually work from 11 to 9-10 with no breaks, and when I get off I am usually hungry and exhausted so I often end up eating a big meal (my only meal of the day) right before I go to bed. I have known this is super unhealthy (yikes) but I didn't realize how much it could mess up my sleep quality...

For this assignment, I watched the Sprouts Growth Mindset Animation. It was a cute, short video that reminded me what the difference is between having a growth mindset vs a fixed mindset. I think this video helped me better understand what exactly having a growth mindset is and how to go about changing your fixed mindset to a growth one. The video was really inspiring and it made me realize that while I have aspects of both mindsets, I was raised to have a fixed mindset and definitely need to work on having more of a growth mindset. I have bad anxiety so I avoid trying new things, but this video made me want to change that. It also gave me an idea of what/how to teach my future students. From watching the video, I think some things I need to work on are positive thinking, reacting well to feedback, and trying new things. I thought it was interesting how the video mentioned that some job interviewers will test their candidates for growth mindsets. Now I know! (Image Information: De...

(Image Information: Screenshot of Canvas Logo) (Image Information: iPhone, Pexels ) I have used the Canvas app since I started at OU, nearly two years ago. I am very grateful that the Canvas app exists because it has been a great help to me. It makes it so much easier to quickly check grades, syllabi, and assignments while you're on the go.  For a busy student, the Canvas app is a lifesaver. And the Canvas app does not only allow you to check things, but it also provides a way to communicate with your classmates and professors. I have even completed assignments on the app. If you are a student who uses Canvas and you have not downloaded the app yet, you need to go get it now! Personally, I love having the Canvas app because I can check on my grades while I'm at work, and I can study and review assignments on the bus. It's also super handy to use while walking to class, or while waiting for appointments. I think people, especially young people, rely o...

Week 9 Extra Credit, Reading Notes, Voyages of Sindbad, Part B This time I decided to focus on content. Specifically, I will focus on the repetition of the same storyline by the author.  The story starts with Sindbad once again deciding to set sail on another voyage, despite his past. He and his fellow sailors come across a roc's egg and break it apart and eat it. They are then attacked by the parent birds. The boat is sunken but Sindbad survives. He drifts to an island and meets an old man who tricks him and forces Sindbad to carry him high so he can pick fruit. Sindbad makes wine to lighten his burden and also gets his captor drunk, thus allowing Sindbad to escape. He runs away and meets some mariners who help him. He leaves with these mariners and they go to a different island to collect coconuts. They have to fight with mischievous monkeys to get the coconuts. Sindbad collects and sells coconuts until he has enough money to return home.  Unsurprisingly, before l...

For this week's tech tip I tried creating a story on Twine. I kept the story very, very simple. The reader is asked to choose between three animals. If they pick the right one, they win. If they pick one of the other two, they lose. I had fun playing on Twine and would like to try creating a more detailed story. I think it would be really cool to write a story on Twine for one of our future assignments, or even just for fun. I think it would be fun to write survival stories, about a hero or an apocalypse. Another idea is to make it a fortune teller story, where the reader's fate will be told based on the choices they made. Here is the link to my  story.  (Image Information: Twinery, Speed of Creativity )

Week 10 Extra Credit, Reading Notes, Voyages of Sindbad, Part A This week I will be focusing on Style, specifically dialogue and action writing.  Action Writing: The author first uses action writing when describing the moment the sailors realized they were not in fact, on an island at all, but on the back of a sleeping whale. The author describes how the sailors on the island were startled when the ground started shaking and at the same time their fellow sailors on board started yelling. A lot is going on in a short amount of time. The sailors run for the ship while the whale submerges itself, and at the same time a breeze picks up and Sindbad, the narrator, is forgotten. The author does a great job of describing all of this in a mere three sentences in a way that makes the reader's heart beat fast. Dialogue: Two examples of the author using dialogue are listed below. This is an example of Indirect Dialogue: "while at the same moment those left upon the ship set up ...

(Image Information: Fox Face,  Flickr ) (Image Information: Fox Close Up,  Maxpixel ) Hello. My name is Alex and this is my story about fox power.  It was nearly forty years ago. I was a young boy, about thirteen. My family lived out in the country in the middle of nowhere, Oklahoma. My mother had always loved animals, and she was constantly adopting them because she couldn't stand to see them hungry. We had sheep, pigs, cats, dogs, rabbits, goats...you name it, and we probably kept it as a pet. The one creature we'd never cared for was foxes. Back then, there weren't many foxes in our part of the woods.  One day I'm out feeding and watering the animals, something I don't particularly like doing but have to do anyway. The pig has gone and knocked her water bin over, so I've gotta climb the fence to her pen and turn it over for her. I'm struggling in the mud, trying to right the dang thing. It's heavy, and my feet are slipping in the mud and ...

Bibliography:  Chinese Fairy Book , Richard Wilhelm, Translated by Frederick H. Martens . Stories: Fox-Fire and The Talking Silver Foxes Fox-Fire: I thought this was a really cool story, particularly because I am currently reading Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, which is about Korean mythology but is still quite similar as it is about a family of foxes with magical, shapeshifting powers. Throughout Asian mythology are legends of foxes and their power. In Chinese, it is the Huli Jing, in Korean, it is the kumiho, and in Japanese, it is the Kitsune. These are all variations of the same mythical fox-like creature. The foxes can have multiple tails depending on their power and age and can shapeshift into any form. In this story, a boy stumbles across a fox preparing the elixir of life. He manages to steal it from the fox and becomes very powerful. He is able to make himself invisible, was able to see ghosts and devils, and could commune with the spirit world. " In cas...

Bibliography: Chinese Fairy Book , Richard Wilhelm, Translated by Frederick H. Martens . Story: Yang Oerlang. Reading Notes: Yang Oerlang Beautiful Sentences:  " Now you must know that at that time there were still ten suns in the heavens, glowing and burning like fire. " I thought this was the most beautiful sentence in the story. I think describing the suns as glowing and burning like fire paints a pretty picture in the mind of the reader. It makes me want to practice my descriptive writing in my story this week. Why I Chose This Story: I found it interesting to read another version of how we came to only have one sun. There is a common piece of Chinese folklore that describes an archer shooting down the suns. I had never heard this version of Yang Oerlang crushing them with mountains. That is why this was my favorite story of them all. Story Rewriting Ideas: I love the idea of the ten suns being gods and I think it would be interesting to do...

(Image Information: AOC , Wikipedia) I've included this picture of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez because she is my role model and I find her very inspirational. I cannot say I am happy with my progress in this class so far, at least if we are talking about points. This is because I have fallen quite behind in this class. Things got really stressful and I missed a lot of assignments. However, I am still hoping to finish this class with at least a B! I have come up with a plan and with the help of the extra credit, I think I will be okay. As well, I am happy with the progress I have made writing-wise because before this class I was not writing at all, which is not good! I love writing and am really happy that this class has gotten me back in the writer's mindset.  For the second half of the semester, I know I need to be more careful about completing all of the assignments and doing extra credit. However, I think the realization that I am technically failing the class right ...

(Image Information: Growth Mindset Memes ) Feedback Thoughts: I have received some good feedback from my classmates this semester. Overall, I would rate the feedback a 7, because some of the comments I'm receiving are mostly just compliments, which is great, but not helpful, and sometimes the comments that contain actual feedback are a little bit unclear. The comments I find most useful contain actual feedback on what I can do better. Compliments are great too, I guess the best comment would have both! I would rate the quality of my feedback to others students a 7 as well because I don't think I'm any better than my classmates so if I feel like what I'm getting deserves a 7, what I'm giving probably deserves the same. I think I need to focus more on giving constructive criticism, instead of just telling them what I liked.  I am definitely getting good ideas from other peoples writing. I think reading is the best way to improve your writing because as ...

(Image Information: Fairy Tales,  Wikipedia ) I chose this image because I feel like it represents the class matter, in a mythical, magical way. Looking Back: Reading and Writing I have really enjoyed the reading and writing assignments this semester. I think these assignments are great for jumpstarting the brain of a writer. I actually love the idea of reading a short story and rewriting it like we do in this class, so much that I recommended the exercise to my entire family.  Creating a blog is a great way to keep all of your writing in one place. I have enjoyed learning how to use blogging for writing in this class. I think this is a skill I will continue to use after I finish this class. The project website we created is also really cool. Creating a website is not something I have much experience with so this was something new for me. So far it has been a breeze! I would say I am satisfied with my writing for the project and assignments. It's reall...