Week 3 Storytelling: The Dog and the Egg

There was a Dog and a Chicken that were the best of friends. They did everything together, from frolicking around the chicken coop to playing in the mud. Nothing could separate their bond... or so they thought. The Dog was always getting into things that he shouldn't be and he was always hungry.

One day, the Dog noticed his friend, the Chicken, laying some eggs. Although he did not know what they were, his senses were off the charts. They smelled so delectable, he asked the Chicken if he could have just one of his many eggs. The Chicken replied, "Are you crazy? No you may not have one, I am waiting for them to hatch. You may never take from me." Not sure what to o, the Dog respected his good friend and attempted to stay away from what the Chicken was watching.

As the Dog and the Chicken were hanging out one day, a farmer came and scared the Chicken off of her eggs so that he could take some for himself. The Chicken was not happy to say the least. The Dog whimpered, "What is happening? Why is the farmer taking your eggs from you?"

The Chicken cried back, "He is taking my eggs to eat. They will never become my children. The farmer will turn them into scramble."

Curious to help and friend... and find out more information on these eggs, the Dog took off after the farmer to see what he would do to them.

The farmer walked to the inside of his rickety house with haste and the Dog trailed not far behind. The Dog, unlike the Chicken was allowed to go inside the house. He wandered through the intricate and delicate furniture to follow the farmer to the kitchen. Wondering what he would be doing to the egg, his eyes stayed glued to every move that the farmer made. The Dog watched him heat up a pan on the stove and glob a slice of butter on to the pan. Then, it happened.

All the sudden, the farmer grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet and cracked the egg. "Woof woof", the Dog attempted to exclaim to the farmer. The farmer did nothing but hush the dog up and began to whip the eggs. The Dog had never seen anything like this before.

A few minutes later, the farmer had made what he called "Scrambled Eggs" and began eating it immediately after it was on his plate. After the farmer was all done, he set the plate down and called the Dog over to eat. He too lazy to rinse the plate off, so he let the Dog lick off the remainder.

The overly excited Dog scrambled over to eat the scraps as they tasted so delicious. Although he felt guilty about his friend and betraying him, he continued to eat this magical meal.

Still curious after finishing, the Dog still wanted an egg all to himself. He waited until the farmer wasn't looking and swiped an egg off the counter and ran off with it. Hiding from the Chicken and the farmer, he looked at the shiny white round thing that lay before him. Feeling guilty, he put the whole egg in his mouth and swallowed it whole. It was painful, but the Dog did it and didn't feel any different, nor did he really enjoy eating the egg. Not wanting to tell the Chicken what he did, he tried to keep it a secret from his friend as they continued about their business. About three days later, the Dog was not feeling great at all. He was sweating profusely and sick to his stomach.

The Chicken tried to help his friend, but didn't know what was making him feel this horrible. The Dog's fever would not go away. Thinking he wasn't going to survive, the Dog exclaimed to the Chicken that he had eaten a raw egg and betrayed him. He was apologetic to his dear friend and vowed never to betray their friendship again...

(The Dog and the Chicken, Web Source) 

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Author's Note: 
After reading through some of the stories by Milo Winter, I came across an interesting one called, "The Dog and the Oyster". As interesting as it sounds, it was about just that. In the original story, the Dog would go around eating whole eggs. When he was out by the sea one day, he ate what he thought was an egg, but was really an Oyster. The Oyster upset his stomach and the lesson was that if you act too quickly, you'll end up being sorry. For my story this week, I added a different twist to the story. I left out the oyster part and elaborated on the egg that the dog ate. The lesson here again is that the dog acted too quickly without realizing what could happen.

Bibliography: 
Aesop for Children by Milo Winter, link to source 

Reading Notes: Aesop for Children, Part B

The second part of the reading included more short stories with lessons within them. The first story that grabbed my attention was "The Wolf and the Goat". It was about a Wolf wanting the Goat for as a meal so he tried to temp him by saying there was grass for the Goat. The Goat knew what the wolf was doing and politely declined. The lesson was not to be too selfish. There are a few things I could do to this story to transform it if I was to remake it my own. I could have made it more adventurous and had the Goat falling. Just when the Wolf thought the Goat would be his I could somehow give the Goat wings to fly or make him vanish like it was just a figment of the Wolf's imagination. I think I could transform it to bring different things to life that shouldn't be. For instance, the Goat was standing on a cliff and I could bring the cliff to life and scare the Wolf waiting for a meal.

(The Wolf and the Goat; Web Source) 

Another story I enjoyed was "The Dog and the Oyster". I love how the author pairs together some of the most insane things throughout his story and I think that is what makes them so unique. In my story I think I want to pair together an interesting duo. It was also funny that the dog was eating a whole egg. That is weird and almost unheard of, but could be funny to include random things like that in my next story. It would have been fun to extend on the story and to bring the eggs to life inside of the dogs stomach... in fact I might do that in my next story. Stay tuned.

Bibliography: 

Aesop for Children by Milo Winter; link to web source

Reading Notes: Aesop for Children, Part A

I really enjoyed reading these fables. They all had a lesson to be taught within the story and at the end of the stories there was a line that repeated the lesson. I think in my writings I should include more lesson. One story from Reading A that I thoroughly enjoyed was "The Dog, the Cock, and the Fox". The descriptions were very detailed and that is something I should work to improve in my writing as well. In addition, the lesson was very clever. The Fox thought that he could trick the Cock who was wandering in his territory. In the end though, the Fox was tricked by the Cock because he didn't know that there was a Dog with him. Not only do I enjoy lessons, but I enjoy stories with a twist to them. When things don't turn out the way they are expected, I think that really draws the reader in. Another story that I enjoyed reading was "The Gnat and the Bull". Even though it was a short tale, it left me with a powerful message. The Gnat was resting on the Bull and thought he was high and mighty. When he was leaving from resting on the Bull's horns he made an announcement. The Bull wasn't even aware of the Gnat and the Gnat thought that he was so great. 

(The Gnat and the Bull, Web Source) 

When thinking about my own story that I will write this week, I think it would be cool to add a lesson or reverse a lesson. The last story that I really enjoyed was "The Sheep and the Pig". I think it would be interesting to do a take on the animals as food items talking to each other and maybe adding in some dialogue. With the Sheep and the Pig story, the Sheep were unaware of why the Pig was squealing so loud when the Shepard took him. They didn't understand that the Pig would be killed for bacon and the sheep were only being used for their wool, which would grow back. I could do a twist on the story where the Pig escapes somehow and the Shepard or the Butcher are the ones that get killed for their meat.

Bibliography: 
Aesop for Children by Milo Winter, link to the reading

Tech Tip: Canvas Mobile App

I did not know that canvas had an app, so I found this to be a cool Tech Tip! The app downloaded well onto my phone and is very accessible for getting to assignments. I used to just go to my phone's internet and get to canvas that way, but will definitely be using the app from now on. I liked how you could customize it to make it your own and that it doesn't log me out of if when I exit the app. Another cool feature that I liked was that it had a to do list! That is great for assignments and reminds me what I have to do and what I have not done yet. I would recommend this app to anyone using Canvas. It was a lot better than the D2L app we used to have.

(Canvas, Web Source) 

Feedback Thoughts

Getting feedback can be a harsh reality sometimes. It happens all the time and isn't always well received. What I found most helpful after reading through some articles, is that it is a growth process. A lot of the times, people take feedback to mean a negative thing and that isn't always true. We all have room to grow and learn from other people. The article "5 Tips for Taking Feedback Like a Champ" was very insightful. We must allow our minds to be open and have the willingness to see different perspectives. Just because someone gives us feedback, it doesn't necessarily mean that what you have done is wrong or bad. They are just giving you insight to explore or expand on you topic or ideas. Another article that I took away from was "Using Harsh Feedback to Fuel Your Career". I agree with the author when they that sometimes people confuse behavior with identity. When someone leaves a comment or feedback that we don't necessarily like, we associate that person in a wrong way or manner. People need to not lose sight of the bigger picture, and trying to grow from improvement. We are not all perfect.

Giving feedback can be just as hard as getting feedback. I know from personal experience that it can be hard to convey critiques and help that other person grow. I enjoyed the article "Presence, Not Praise".  I think from an early age we are all given praise and complements for just completing tasks. Like the article said, it boosts children's self esteem, which can be a good or a bad thing. When children get older, they start to realize they aren't going to be praised for every little thing they do and will sometimes receive negativity. The lesson in this article was that when we give feedback, we really need to look beyond what someone has done and accomplished. I also liked the "Be A Mirror" article for giving feedback as well. It talked about giving feedback as a way to grow someone's mindset. We should not be putting people down, but giving them feedback that allows them to think outside of the box.

(Feedback, Web source) 

Week 2 Storytelling: Adam and Eve

You all know the classic story of Adam and Eve, right? The one where God creates man out of his own image and places him perfectly into the Garden of Eden. He then gives this so called perfect man, Adam, a distinct set of rules to follow and creates a woman from the man himself. Her name is Eve.

Side note... It still baffles me that man wasn't created from a woman. The things I would do to see a man go through childbirth these days. 

Anyways, back to the story. God says, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil..." First off, why would you tempt someone with food when they are hungry? Adam and Eve were just created. Their stomaches were probably rumbling. Second off, God said this tree had knowledge. Again, Adam and Eve were just created, how could they have known what God was really saying. Eve is tempted by the tree of knowledge and indulges into its goodness and even gives it to Adam. God sets new rules as sin enters into the world.

You probably think you know the rest of the story, right? Wrong. Here's what really happened... 

The apple? Not entirely an apple. You see, the "tree" of knowledge in the Garden of Eden was actually a giant mushroom. Eve was vegetarian and the Garden of Eden was everything that she had dreamed of. God warned them that something would happen if they ate the mushroom, but they proceeded to without hesitation. 

Satan was the one who provoked Eve to eat the mushroom. His intentions weren't bad, he just wanted them to relax and mellow them out. Essentially, Satan was a drug dealer. 

Without hesitation Eve devoured the mushroom. She exclaimed, "Adam try this! I've never had anything like this." 

Adam tried it like any good male companion would. He followed love over his creator. It wasn't the best thing they'd ever tasted, but boy did they begin to feel it soon after.

Adam and Eve went about their day, until all the sudden something hit them. Their minds and souls began bouncing around in a world of something they had never experienced. Everything felt completely different and they thought they were having an out of body experience. 

The first of it was bad. Very bad. 

They wandered out of the Garden, betraying what God had commanded. They went into a place of darkness and paranoia. Their bodies were numb to movement as they let their mind wander to the evil. Beginning to feel nauseous, Adam stated, "God what have we done? I ate from the mushroom and feel the wrath of the Earth." 

God wasn't very sympathetic. For he had known what they had done and was going to let them figure it out on their own. 

After wandering through darkness for a little bit, Adam and Eve finally reached a euphoric feeling. They were giddy and restless. 

(Adam and Eve euphoria, Web Source) 

Adam exclaimed in the midst of everything going on, "As God did not plague us with darkness, behold, He has caused this sun to rise and to plague us with burning heat."

Adam and Eve were wandering around the Earth and took into account all of the good and bad things they saw. Without a worry, they wandered back to find God to tell him their feelings of happiness.

Their eyes were open. They were in search of more of this magical feeling forever. When they told God their news, he was not thrilled...

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Bibliography: Adam and Eve, link to unit section 

Author's Note: In the original story, Adam and Eve eat from an apple tree and God punishes them. The stories from this section also included things I did not know about the original story of Adam and Eve. One thing the story included, but I did not add in my story was about another woman named Lilith. She was a companion given to Adam, but refused to accept. In my story, I decided to make a twist on a lot of things. I added a mushroom in the Garden of Eden as opposed to an apple. This mushroom took Adam and Eve on another journey of what it is like to be "high". They just wandered around and explored their new world.

Reading Notes: Adam and Eve; Part B

Part B begins with the creation of the garden God planted on the third day. The garden is majestic and beautiful. The story also includes so much little details about the scene so it is set very well. God is bringing Adam out of the garden and deciding where to place him. After going in every which direction, he decides to let Adam dwell in the west side. Adam and Eve then had to enter the Cave of Treasures.

Adam begins to think the world is ending soon and begins to weep. God has the ability to make things possible, so he reassures Adam. Adam then sees the tree that had taken the apple from, but God had the ability to change it's appearance. I think there could be a twist about God not being helpful or showing some type of mercy. Adam and Eve did not like the cave, they felt it was a punishment for what they had done. They wanted to see the beauty of the world. The cave made them feel trapped and unable to see heaven above. They pray to God and feel dead inside. God comes to answer their question and tell them they should not have disobeyed him and that Satan tempted them.

Adam and Eve began hearing God's words and began to truly listen to him. As the story goes on they finally get out of the cave and are able to see the world. They find themselves dependent on God and his creations. They discover both the world of light and darkness, questioning the intentions of both places. God is the sun and lightness. Satan is the darkness of the cave. There is talk of suicide and forgiveness at the end. God makes everything better.

With this story, I have so many ideas for a Storybook. I think it would be cool to have a candy theme and have even more temptation. I really enjoyed the whole story of Adam and Eve.

(God the Father, by Girolamo dai Libri)

Bibliography 

Adam and Eve, link to unit section