Showing posts with label Week 3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Week 3. Show all posts

Saturday, September 2, 2017

My Week 3 Review: Mythological Creatures

My week 3 is at its end. I enjoyed the reading this week and have got some great ideas for my project. But, I'm also pretty tired mostly thanks to my other classes.

Anyways, my favorite part of the weekly announcements this week would have to be Tuesday, August 29's mythical creatures tidbit. I found this image fascinating because it shows just how wild some creatures in mythology are.

Venn diagram of mythological creatures.

Friday, September 1, 2017

Extra Reading Notes:Noah's Ark part A

  • Might be fun to explore the building of Ark.
  • Might be fun to explore Noah's families reaction to him building the Ark.
  • Might be interesting to explore the time in the Ark from one of Noah's sons point of view.
  • Could be fun to explore Noah's sons reactions when they find their father drunk.
  • Could be interesting to explore the tales of the angels and fallen angels.
Noah's Ark and its inhabitants by Simon de Myle.

Thursday, August 31, 2017

Feedback Strategies

In my personally opinion, feedback always serves a purpose. It's the quality of the feedback that varies. For instance, praise feedback may make a person feel good about themselves, but, if the purpose of the feedback was to give constructive feedback, then it may not be as beneficial as critical feedback. That's my take on feedback anyways.

The first article I read was "Specific Feedback that Helps Learning." I think this is a good article that gives some tips on constructive feedback. In particular, I like the part about transparency since I've had experiences were I've spent more time trying to figure what the feedback is rather than improve based on the feedback. The second article I read was "Criticizing Praise." It's an interesting article to, say the least, and I can see where the author's coming from, but I can't completely agree with him. He states that praise is a form of manipulation which I can't quite get behind. With that said, he does make some other good points and that makes the article worth reading.

Operational amplifier in a positive feedback loop configuration.
Source: Wikipedia.

Topic Research: The Heroes of Myth.

I decided I'd be going with a kind of combination of my previous ideas. So it's going to be like my storytelling posts in that each section will focus on the summoning of one mythological figure. However, I'm going to add in elements of how these mythological figures see the modern world and I'm also going to have them interact with each other. With that said, all I need to do is figure out which mythological figures to feature as servants.

I've already decided on two of the mythological figures to be servants. The first being Zeus just because I thing he would be fun to write about. Finding information on Zeus isn't hard but Wikipedia gives a good starting point. The other is Noah from Noah's Ark. He would be an interesting servant and I can already imagine the amusing interaction he could have with Zeus. The UnTextbook story on Noah is a good starting point.

Statue of Zeus.

I still am undecided on the rest of the servants that will show up. I'll probably decide on those as I read more in the weeks to come. But for now, Britomart from Faerie Queen in the UnTextbook is a good contender. I think she would make an amusing servant primarily cause of the gender confusion and how that can direct interactions with other servants.

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Wikipedia Trial: From Circe to Charybdis.

So my trail starts at the article about Circe. After reading Homer's Odyssey, I was curious about Circe and what kind of goddess she is.

This article led me to the article about nymphs. I've heard about them before, but I never look into what exactly they were. So, seeing Circe called one made me want to learn more about them.
Painting of a nymph by Gaston Bussière.
Soruce: Wikimedia.

My trail then lead me to the article about Scylla. I was curious when I saw that Scylla was once a nymph and wanted to learn more about that.

Finally, my trail led me to the article on Charybdis. After reading about Scylla, I wanted to learn more about her counterpart Charybdis.

Week 3 story: The Summoning of Odysseus

Odysseus and Circe by Matthijs Naiveu

Here we are again. It’s time to summon another servant. My first summoning was unexpected to say the least. I’m still not use to Pygmalion, but that’s a story for another time. Anyways, I can see my instructor is losing patients so I better get the summoning started.

I perform the summoning ritual the same as last time, hoping that this servant will be more on the normal side. Just like last time, after completing the last verse the circle shines brightly and there appears my new servant. I see a rugged man in a toga with a bronze sword at his side and a fierce look in his eyes. He then says:

“I am rider class servant Odysseus, scion of Zeus, son of Laertes. Are you my master?”

At his question, I reply:

“Yes, I’m the one who summoned you. It’s nice to meet you Odysseus.”

He replies with a nod and says:

“Likewise, master. May great Zeus smile upon is in our future battles together.”

Yes, He’s a normal servant! I’m overjoyed at summoning a heroic spirit that seems normal, especially when compared to Pygmalion. Anyways, I have to say I’m quite fortunate to summon such a great hero. If I recall correctly, Odysseus is most well-known for his voyage after the battle with Troy. He faced many trials during that voyage such as: A man eating cyclops, an encounter with a dangerous goddess (or was it a witch?), a journey to meet with the ghosts of the departed, and even an encounter with sirens and the Scylla.

As I’m lost in thought, my servant says to me:

“For what reason do you smile so broadly? Has the great father Zeus granted you a great boon? If so, we must celebrate with the finest wine and meat!”

At his words, I respond with:

“No no, nothing like that. Say Odysseus, what kind of abilities do you have?”

In response, he says:

“My noble phantasm is my fleet of great black ships and my loyal crew. In addition, I have the standard skill of riding that comes with the rider class and my charisma skill is quite high.”

Excellent, Odysseus with be a great ally. I then say:

“That’s good to hear. I have another question. During your voyage you encountered a goddess, Circe, but was she really a goddess? Because she sounded like a witch to me.”

Odysseus responds with:

“Ah fair Circe was most definitely a goddess. Mischievous as she was, not once did she bring harm upon my crew or I. Fair Circe also bestowed upon my crew and I fine wine and meat, and also greatly aided my voyage with her grand knowledge. No witch would have done so.”

At hearing his words, I became even more intrigued and say:

“Really, that’s quite interesting. Could you tell me more of your voyage? I would love to hear how you-“

Before I could finish my sentence, my instructor interrupted and said:

“All right that’s quite enough. If I let you continue we’ll be here all day. There’ll plenty of time for storytelling later.”

Reluctantly, I agreed with my instructor and so ended my second summoning.


Authors Notes:
So the setting of my story is the same as my previous story. I'm most likely going to make this a pattern with my stories. In regards to the actually story, I tried to keep Odysseus's personality close to what it was in the original work. However, it isn't always easy to get a sense of a characters personality in Homer's works. So it might be off. Next, I tried to imagine what kind of abilities Odysseus would have. I thought his noble phantasm would have to be related to his voyage and so I made it his fleet of ships. To elaborate a bit, a noble phantasm is the symbol that is most recognizable about that hero. For instance, King Arthur's is Excalibur and Hercules's is his nine labors. Anyways, I also thought it would be fun to touch on the subject of Circe because she doesn't come off as a goddess in the original tale. I thought I'd have Odysseus give a more clear answer on this.


Bibliography. "Odyssey" by Homer and translated by Tony Kline. Web Source.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Tech Tip: My Blog Profile

I took a look at my blog profile settings but decided not to change anything. I don't have a problem with displaying my name on my blog since its my blog. In regards to my online identity, I haven't really given it much thought. I'm a pretty impersonal and reserved guy so I tend to be cautious of what I post online. With that said, I'm not particularly worried about anything I've posted being a hindrance to future jobs or anything like that.

Reading Notes: Homer's Odyssey, Part B

Homer's Odyssey translated by Tony Kline: Source

  • Lots of ghosts. could be fun to have them play tricks on Odysseus's crew.
  • Could be fun to expand on the fate of Agamemnon and tell his tale in greater detail.
  • Might be interesting to explore what all the ghosts are doing in Hades.
  • Could be interesting to see what would happen if Odysseus's crew followed his commands and released him while passing the sirens.
  • Might be fun to explore what would have happened if Odysseus and his crew safely passed by the Scylla.
  • Honestly, part B was less interesting than part A simply because it focuses so much on ghosts. Without having a sense of who all the ghosts are, it loses its impact. 
Odysseus and the sirens by H.J. Draper. I find the look on his face amusing.

Monday, August 28, 2017

Reading Notes: Homer's Odyssey, Part A

Homer's Odyssey translated by Tony Kline: Source

  • Odysseus uses tricks to get away from the cyclopes. 
  • Odysseus kind of broke into the cyclopes's home, so it might be interesting to see the cyclopes point of view. 
  • Zeus is brought up a lot so it might be fun to have Zeus narrate throughout the tale. 
  • Odysseus's crew is always with him but they don't say much, so it might be interesting to see their point of view.
  • Circe is called a goddess but she seems more like a witch to me. Might be fun to explore that.
  • Hermes shows up and helps Odysseus. Might be fun to see what happens if he doesn't show up.
  • Could be interesting to explore the year Odysseus and his crew spent on Circe island.
Circe by Beatrice Offor