Myths and Folklore with Karissa

My UnTextbook Plan: Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4. Week 3: _ Ovid's Metamophoses_ _ Week 4: _ Women Saints__ _ Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6. Week 5: _ Ancient Egypt_ _ Week 6: _ Turkish __ Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.] Week 7: _ _Congo_ _ Week 9: _ _Japanese Mythology__ __ Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11. Week 10: _ Pacific Northwest_ __ Week 11: _ Cherokee__ Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13. Week 12: _ Beowulf_ _ Week 13: _ Welsh Fairy Book (Thomas)___ Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15. Week 14:    Russian __ Week 15: _ Heptameron __ I am excited for some of the topics that I am not familiar with. I'm most excited about the units that are completely unfamiliar to me. I have read a lot about Greek and Roman mythology. I love it, but I want to read so...

Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback: I really like the idea of feedforward. In the past, I have taken feedback personally, because it some sense it is personal. The person is providing feedback about something I did, a reflection of me. I am trying to figure out how feedforward can be implemented into this course. Maybe it can be used to make more general comments about a piece of work. For example, if I read someone's blog and notice that something general is missing, then I would provide feedforward about how to implement those aspects into a future story. How to Give Bad Feedback Without Being a Jerk: People often consider me as blunt. Sometimes I can come across as harsh when I don't mean it to be. I will use these 4 tips to lighten the blow, without using the insincere compliment sandwich. The first tip is to provide an explanation about why you are giving the feedback, which gives context and allows you to restate your confidence in their abilities. I especially l...

I decided to use my Africa Storybook idea. I was researching some books from the freebookapolooza collection on Africa and came across one that I started to read. It is called Fairy Tales from South Africa . I liked a story, called The Unnatural Mother, which is about a mother seeking to regain her son's acceptance through a quest for water. Along her journey she is helped by some animals, and in turn, she aids in breaking a spell that turned their town into a forest and the people into animals. Here is my idea: I want to use other fairy tales and stories about the animals that help the Unnatural Mother, which included an Elephant, Tiger, Giraffe, and Rabbit. I would write stories featuring these animals and then for my final story use the Unnatural Mother fairy tale, so it turns out that the animals throughout the storybook were actually people. Possible animal stories: Rabbit: Animal Fables from the Dark Continent Elephant: Why the Bush Cow and the Elephant are bad Friend...

Oddly, Perseus remembered the story of Medusa's origins as he traveled to the place of the Gorgons on winged feet. Medusa was considered extremely beautiful and was visited by many suitors. Her hair was praised by those who saw it. Then one day, Neptune violated Medusa in Minerva's temple and caused the destruction of her beauty. Minerva, seeing this violation as a slight to her values, punished Medusa by turning her shiny, thick locks into writhing snakes. Instead of inspiring admiration, she now terrified others, paralyzing her foes as stone when they looked into her eyes. Perseus did not wish this for his fate. He wanted to gain honor through his fight with Medusa, not a place in the afterlife. Don't look.... Don't look... Don't look... Perseus repeated this mantra as he walked into the place of the Gorgons, preparing himself for the upcoming fight. Perseus used his shield to look around corners and pillars to avoid accidentally catching the stone-cold g...

Pyramus and Thisbe: Plot points: Both describes as "on fire" Spoke throw a fissure in the wall Plan to meet at Ninus grave Lioness tears  Thisbe's veil Pyramus sees and plunges his sword into his side Thisbe sees this, mourns, and does the same. Descriptions: "As he lay back again on the ground, the blood spurted out, like a pipe fracturing at a weak spot in the lead, and sending long bursts of water hissing through the split, cutting through the air, beat by beat." - I like this description of how the blood spurts out of Pyramus's wound. I think describing something in this way adds gore indirectly, because it is much easier to visualize the movement of something that we are more familiar with - burst pipe vs spurting blood. Perseus and Medusa: Description of Medusa: snakes for hair, Attack on sea monster (Andromeda): described like a struggle for life and food between predator and prey animals. Plot points: Begins as a story ...

Dis and Proserpine "You might see her limbs becoming softened, her bones seeming pliant, her nails losing their hardness." - I like this description of Cyane becoming water. I is a very visual and tactile description. I think it is interesting that within the larger story there are often smaller ones mixed in. For example, Ceres turned a boy into a creature while looking for her daughter. Plot points: Venus asks Cupid to shoot Dis Dis takes Proserpine Cyane turns into a sacred pool Ceres searches for her daughter Boy into creature Makes the lands infertile Arethusa saw Proserpine in the Underworld as queen Ceres asks Jupiter if Proserpine can return to heaven Yes if no food has touched her lips (Fates) Proserpine ate some seeds Ceres turned messenger of this into a bird (bad omen) Jupiter: Proserpine will divide the year between the two - Dis and Ceres Setting the scene: I liked how for the Proserpine and Dis story that Calliope was always ...