Online Education Review

Online Education Review

I really like online classes. This was only my second one to take, but I wish I could have taken more. The best part about online classes is the freedom to fit it into your schedule. In person classes often times have a conflict or at terrible times. I think that many university's will eventually not have class in person. A quality recording of the professor's lecture has many advantages than in person, however, it makes asking questions more difficult. That is why office hours exist though. I just like how you can do online classes from anywhere you want with internet. 

(Mel Gibson in Braveheart)

Gen. Ed. Review

Gen. Ed. Experience

Overall, I would say that I have had a positive experience with my gen. ed. courses. I think they have been an important part of my education because they have exposed me to many different areas and broadened my thinking. My math and science general education has been extremely important because it laid the foundation for my future courses. Humanities have been a great experience and have taught me a lot of cool things. Just being exposed to different cultures has made me a more well rounded student and person in general. The humanities courses I have taken, along with others have stimulated a lot of thought about various subjects. I actually took an upper division Political Science course called Immigration Politics because I thought it covered the requirement that I am taking this class for. Even though it did not count for anything gen. ed. requirement wise, it was one of my favorite courses throughout college and gave me the opportunity to take this class, which is another one of my favorites. The discourse in that class was great and exposed me to many other beliefs, of which I am very thankful for. My least favorite part about gen. ed. courses was probably the math. I will absolutely not miss having to teach myself an entire course. Some teachers do not speak very clear and it makes it difficult to learn. Some may just not be good teachers in general. They may be good researchers and be experts on the subject, but that does not mean that they can effectively teach it to others. Of course this is not limited to just math courses. Also, the fact that people can have different difficulty of the same class based on the teacher you have bothers me immensely. The reason this bothers me so much is that students are evaluated based on grade point average when trying to get an internship or enter the workforce. Course material, exams, teachers, grade distributions, etc. all vary from teacher to teacher and from year to year, so it is kind of like comparing apples to oranges when comparing two students based on g.p.a. At the same time I understand that there really are not many other options, in terms of evaluating students. I  a think good way could be to standardize all assignments, exams, and curricula for a specific class, regardless of professor. The professors could get together and decide on what to do specifically. They could teach it however they wanted, but every student taking that class would be examined the same, independent on professor. On the other hand, I have had many wonderful teachers throughout my general education. The number of awesome professors that I have had far outnumber the poor ones. My favorite part about my Gen. Ed. education have been the awesome professors that I have had.

(Yoda Meme)

College Writing Review

College Writing Review

My major is Industrial and Systems Engineering, so there has not been a ton of writing. The majority of writing has come in the form of lab reports, research projects, and other projects in general. Many of my exams have had free response questions, but those are sometimes answered with bullet points. Inside my major, the most writing intensive classes that I can think of have been Applied Research Methods and Ergonomics. The writing in those classes were lab reports, free response exam questions, and research papers. Outside of my major, the English Composition courses were the most writing intensive classes and were more of literary analysis type of writing. All in all, the courses I have taken have broadened the scope of my writing and have helped me break complex things down into something that is easily understood. 

The most helpful part of this class was giving me the freedom to write about whatever I wanted. Usually there is some structure to what I have to write and I have not had that freedom in a school setting since sixth grade English class, where we had daily journal entries about whatever we wanted. There has not been any part of this course that has not had a positive impact on my writing. I think a class that allows people to tell stories, similar to this course, would be awesome because it brings back some imagination that might have been lost.

(Zits)

Extra Reading Diary: Dante's Inferno

Dante's Inferno

Gate of Hell and Charon

All of these stories are dark and creepy, and this one is no different. The poor angels kicked out of heaven for being faithful to themselves rather than God moan very loudly because they are not allowed into Hell. Charon is a scary demon and is described very well throughout this story as well as in Limbo. I am pretty sure that Charon is also referenced in the stories of Greek Mythology too. 

Limbo

Limbo is exactly what I would have expected it to be. Which is basically a place of nothingness. The saddest part about Limbo is that all people who do not follow Christianity or are not baptized are sent to it. Even before the time of Christianity, people were sent to Limbo instead of heaven. I do not think that is very fair, considering that they did not know what to believe in and had never heard of Christianity before. Some prominent people have been lucky enough to be taken from there, however.

(Christ in Limbo)

Fallen Angels

This story is creepy as well. I picture fallen angels to be giant and scary. I can only imagine their anger after being banished from Heaven. I thought this story was very interesting though and shows Dante's fear of being lost in Deep Hell while he is still alive. Lucky for him however, he has Virgil who is watching out for him and promises to never leave him in Hell. If I were Dante, I would be terrified the entire time. Hell is one of those places that I never want to experience, alive or not. He truly is brave for doing so while alive and not forced there after death. 

Storytelling for Week 14: The Wicked Witch of the West

The Wicked Witch of the West

There once was a prince who desperately needed a wife in order to take the throne. His requirements were that she was a princess, beautiful, and loving, Months went by with no luck of finding a woman who met those qualities, and the prince began to lose hope. Then one day, there was a knock at the gate. It caught everyone off guard because it was storming violently. The even bigger surprise was that the person who knocked on the gate was a woman. This woman had long blonde hair and was the most beautiful woman the prince had ever seen.

Mesmerized by her incredibly good looks and charm, the prince let her into the house for some tea. The two talked for hours and then the prince asked one last question. This woman had it all, but the prince feared that she may not be a princess. To his joy, the woman was a princess. The prince was determined to make her his wife and proposed on the spot. There was something off about the princess, but the prince was too focused on her good looks. The two married the very next day and the prince seemed to be the happiest man in the world. 

The princess was no ordinary woman. She was the Wicked Witch of the West and had tricked her way into marriage with a prince twice before. Shortly after her weddings, she would poison the prince and become the new leader. She was a power thirsty and would not stop at anything to achieve it. Her secret to getting the men to fall in love with her was her love spell, which could make anyone fall in love with someone.  

(Charlize Theron in Snow White and the Huntsman)

Luckily for the prince, his loyal servant did his research into who the woman truly was. He discovered that she was really the Wicked Witch of the West and had been known to marry and kill the prince to achieve power. So before the witch could do anything, they sentenced her to death and killed her. 

Author's Note

The original version of the story had a prince looking for a "real" princess to marry, but he could not find any. This was until a princess knocked at their gate during a storm. The way they tested to see if the princess was "real" or not was by forcing them to sleep on a bunch of mattresses with a pea at the bottom. If the woman could feel the pea and not sleep well, then they were deemed a "real" princess, This woman felt the pea and slept poorly, therefore she was "real" and the prince married her. I wanted to make this story a little darker and so I made the woman a witch who kills her husband and rules over kingdoms. 

Bibliography

Original: The Princess and the Pea

Author: Hans Christian Andersen translated by H.P. Paull

Year of Translation: 1872

Web Source: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook

Reading Diary B: Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen

The Princess and the Pea

I really enjoyed this story, especially because of how short and sweet it was. The story starts by saying that there is a Prince who wanted to marry a princess, but only a "real" princess. He had found many princesses, but they were not "real". When I first read this, I thought it meant he did not love the other princesses or something like that. As I read on, I soon found that this was not the case. The way his family determined whether or not it was a real princess was placing a bunch of mattresses on top of a pea, and if the princess feels the pea while she slept, then she would be deemed a "real" princess. Sure enough, a princess shows up at the gates in the middle of a storm and sleeps on top of the mattresses. She complained of sleeping poorly because of something pointing her back and was thus deemed a "real" princess. The Prince went on to marry the "real" princess.

The Wicked Prince

This story was very entertaining and had a good ending. The prince in the story kind of reminded me of Xerxes from the movie 300, when the Persians tried to conquer Sparta. Similar to that movie, the wicked prince also wants to conquer everyone, destroying many kingdoms and killing men, women, and children along the way. The wicked prince ends up believing he can defeat God, which is ridiculous. In 300, Xerxes believes he is a god and won't stop until he conquers everyone. I think he honestly believed he was an immortal God in the movie, until Leonidas made him bleed. Apparently, Xerxes, in real life, actually sentenced the sea 300 lashes for destroying two of his bridges. They are both oblivious to their own tyranny, which I have noticed is very common throughout history. The whole time, the wicked prince, like Xerxes, believes that there is no wrong in what they are doing. In order to challenge God, the wicked prince has his people build a giant ship with a thousand guns and had hundreds of eagles attached to it to give it flight. Picturing the eagles carrying a giant ship is pretty funny and clearly unrealistic, but is also cool. Not surprisingly, he ends up being no challenge to God and his angels. In the end, he ends up being humiliated by a single gnat. Everyone laughed because the prince thought he could defeat God and ended up being defeated by a single gnat. Although it wasn't the harshest of lessons, I thought it was a good one. The wicked prince deserved much worse for what he had done, but these stories are more fitted for children. The descriptions of what the wicked prince had done to the lands he conquered never went into much depth and left it for the imagination of and interpretation to the reader.

(Rodrigo Santoro playing Xerxes in the movie 300)

Week 13 Storytelling: Puss in Boots

The Origin Story of Puss in Boots

Once upon a time in a far away land existed a cat. The cat was not an ordinary one. His name was Puss and he was able to speak just like the people and wore black boots.

Puss' parents were brutally murdered by a wolves when he was just a young boy. and would change him forever. Just before the wolves arrived at their home, his parents hid him. Watching his parents die right before his eyes changed him forever.

A few days later when Puss ran out of food and water, he walked into the nearby town. He was spotted by a man by the name of Marquis. Marquis felt bad for the poor cat and brought him food and water without any questions. The man told him that he would leave food and water outside of his door in case he needed anything. This went on for a few weeks until, Marquis finally asked where his family was and what was wrong. Feeling indebted to the man, Puss felt obligated to tell him.

After hearing how the cat had lost his parents, Marquis felt horrible and offered to let Puss stay at his home with him. Puss immediately accepted and was extremely thankful for Marquis graciousness. So thankful that Puss promised to repay him through his friendship, loyalty, and animal hunting ability.

Now that Puss lived in the town, he was walking on hard ground a lot more. This caused his feet to hurt, get sore, and his nails to dull. Luckily for Puss, Marquis knew just what to do. Marquis bought him custom sized black leather boots to protect his hind feet. After a while, Puss was able to walk on his hind legs just like a human. Puss and Marquis were the best of friends and did everything together. This is the origin story of Puss in Boots and the rest is history.

(Puss in Boots)

Author's Note

The original story was pretty much nothing like this one and Puss' parents were not murdered by wolves. I wanted to write a more personal story about the relationship between Marquis and Puss because I felt like the original did not tell much about it. In the original, the author tells a lot about how Puss essentially gets Marquis married to the princess, but not really much about why Puss feels the need to do so much for him.

Bibliography

Author: Andrew Lang

Year: 1889

Web Source: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook

Reading Diary B: Lang's European Fairy Tales

Lang's European Fairy Tales

Puss in Boots Part 1 and Part 2

(Puss in Boots)

I really enjoyed this story. Part of the reason I liked it so much may have been my familiarity with the character Puss in Boots. This was a two page story, so I included links to the first and second page. Puss in Boots is also known as the Master Cat and Monsieur Puss, and he is very smart and clever. There is no doubt that Lord Marquis of Carabas needs the Cat, but I would argue that the Cat does not need Lord Marquis of Carabas. Monsieur Puss does everything for Lord Marquis, even devising a plan to have the princess fall for him. I thought it was funny how the Master Cat the cat could intimidate and scare countrymen and reapers with his threats. After all, he is only a cat. The way he conquers the ogre is very clever. The ogre can transform into any animal and Puss convinces him to transform into a mouse because he does not believe he can. Falling for his trick, the ogre changes into a mouse and Puss eats him whole.

How the Dragon was Tricked Part 1 and Part 2

This story was another one of my favorite in this unit. Stories about tricksters are always entertaining, especially when the trickster gets away with everything. This was also a two page story, so I included links to the first and second page. The main character in this story is a cunning young man. Although his actions are terrible at times, I could not help but root for him throughout the story. I am not sure what exactly it was that made me want to root for him, but maybe it was how he did everything he did. He persuades and tricks everything and everyone he encounters, even a dragon. Overall, I found this story to be extremely entertaining.

Storytelling for Week 12: The Drawing of the Sword

The Drawing of the Sword

Long ago, after King Uther Pendragon died, an age of darkness filled England. People were starving, criminals were left unpunished, and there was no end in sight for there was no ruler. Then, one day a giant stone with a sword inside appeared outside of the Great Church in London. Etched on the sword was "The one who pulls out this sword shall be the new king of England." People went crazy over this, resulting in a tournament to see who could remove the sword.

Arthur, a young boy was the foster son of Sir Ector and foster brother of Kay. It was the day of Kay's knighting and Arthur had forgotten his sword. Feeling horrible, he rode home to fetch his sword. On his way, he ran into an odd looking tree that was very large and had a door on it. His curiosity led him to knock on the door to see who lived there. An old man opens the door and says hello, followed by asking what the boy wanted. Arthur explains that he was fascinated by the tree and had to meet the interesting person who lived inside. "Well thank you, my name is Merlin," the old man said. Arthur was shocked, as he has only heard stories of him. Merlin liked Arthur's enthusiasm so much that he vowed to be his mentor. Merlin sensed that this boy was special.

After meeting Merlin, he rushed off to get Kay's sword. A half of an hour later, Arthur returned with his sword and told Kay that he met Merlin and that he would be his mentor. Kay refused to believe him and told him he was stupid. The tournament to remove the sword was the next day so they went to bed early to get some rest. 

The tournament was packed. People from all over England came to try to pull out this sword. Arthur never thought he had a chance to pull the sword out, but decided to try anyways. The day went on and no one could pull out the sword, not even the biggest and strongest of knights. After Sir Ector and Kay failed to remove the sword, Arthur got his shot. He walked up to the sword and pulled as hard as he could thinking that it would require a lot of force. The sword came out of the stone as if the stone was a sheath to the sword, sending Arthur falling to the ground. All of London was in attendance and was in shock. Arthur was crowned King of England that very day. He would go on to have many adventures with Merlin and become the best king of all time.

(The Sword in the Stone)

Author's Note

My version of the story is very similar to the original version. The biggest difference in my story was that he met Merlin on his way to fetch Kay's sword. In the original, the sword said that whoever pulled out the sword was the King by birthright, meaning that they were a child of King Uther Pendragon. Arthur was given to Sir Ector by Merlin when he was a child, and Merlin told him that you would know who his father is when the time comes. The time came when Arthur removed the sword, and he realized that he was the son of King Uther Pendragon. I decided to have Arthur remove the sword in front of a huge crowd for the first time, rather than having him pull it out without anyone looking at first and having to prove to everyone that he really did it. I tried to make it similar to the movie. I chose the picture from the Sword in the Stone movie because that was how I pictured Arthur. Just ignore the fact that the sword was in an anvil instead of a stone.

Bibliography

Title: The Drawing of the Sword

Author: Andrew Lang

Year: 1902

Reading Diary A: King Arthur Pt. 1

King Arthur

The Drawing of the Sword

This was the first story and arguably the most important because the events that occur led to the coronation of Arthur. After the passing of King Uther Pendragon, Britain was left with no ruler and laws were being broken left and right with no consequence. One day appeared a sword in a stone with the words, "Whoso pulleth out this sword is by right of birth King of England," engraved on the blade. Every knight tried, but they all failed. Arthur was the foster son of Sir Ector and foster brother of Sir Kay. Merlin gave him to Sir Ector when Arthur was a child and told him that he would know who his father was when the time came. It turns out that Arthur's father was King Uther Pendragon and is why Arthur could pull out the sword. I like to think that it was Arthur's selfless act of wanting to get the sword for his foster brother, Sir Kay, which led to him being able to pull out the sword. Every knight wanted the sword for himself so that they could become King, however, Arthur just wanted to get it for Sir Kay because he was unable to retrieve his other sword. 

The Sword Excalibur

King Arthur is extremely lucky to have Merlin as such a close friend. Nearly dying in battle, he lost his sword and would need another. Merlin then led King Arthur to a lake that had a sword being held up by the Lady of the Lake's arm. His good fortune continues and he gets Excalibur. I thought it was interesting how Merlin asked him, which he liked best, the sword or the scabbard. He was going to have both regardless, but asked it anyways. Merlin disagreed when King Arthur answered the sword, saying that it is worth ten swords because it protects him. I tend to agree with him except for the fact that it is Excalibur. 

The Round Table

(King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, by Evrard d'Espinques)

The Round Table is iconic and is one of the first things I think of when I think about the stories of King Arthur. I enjoyed this story much like the others and it shows how gracious and genuine Arthur is. He also seems to be very emotional not only in this story, but the others as well. I think the people love him most for his emotion and sincere statements, such as when he stuck by his word that he would give any man the gift he should ask for, and made young Tor a Knight of the Round Table. A round table is a great way to encourage discussion because everyone can see each other and there are no ends. This makes King Arthur even more likable because he treats everyone as if they are the same level as him.

Storytelling for Week 11: The Master And His Pupil

The Master And His Pupil

Once upon a time, there was a great sorcerer. He was able to live for hundreds of years because of his magic, allowing him to become the most powerful sorcerer the world had ever seen. As the years went one, he became bored and wanted to allow himself to die of old age. So he decided to take a pupil under his wing to pass on his knowledge. 

The sorcerer searched for years. He wanted to be one-hundred percent sure of the person he selected to teach because his magic in the wrong hands would be catastrophic. Finally, in a town of the North, he found his pupil. It was a young man by the name of Aladdin. Despite being a peasant and living on the streets, Aladdin shared all he had with the others, often receiving nothing in return. There was a purity in his soul that the sorcerer had never seen before. 

He approached Aladdin the following day and told him his story. Aladdin was amazed and wanted to hear more. Not once did he interrupt the sorcerer or try to one-up his stories. Once the sorcerer was finished telling him his life story, he told him that he would teach him if he would like. Without hesitation, Aladdin told him it would be his honor to carry on his legacy. 

Due to the immense knowledge the sorcerer had attained over his long life, it would take many years to teach him everything he knew. Aladdin was fully aware of the commitment required, but he would do anything to get off of the streets. 

The young man was the hardest worker the sorcerer had ever seen, as they trained relentlessly. His talent and power had soon surpassed even his own. Aladdin wanted to become the best and most legendary sorcerer to have ever lived, and he did. The sorcerer could now rest easy knowing that his legacy had been passed down. 

(The Karate Kid)

Author's Note

I chose this story because of how easily adaptable it was. Having seen Disney's Fantasia and Sorcerer's Apprentice, I knew I could do something fun. In the version of the story that I read, the pupil was an idiot and wasn't taught anything. He was more of a servant to the sorcerer than his pupil. The sorcerer's spells are all in a leather book that the pupil hadn't been able to read. One day he forgot to lock the book before he went out and the pupil's curiosity about the book led him to open it and read a spell. In doing so, he summoned a demon and nearly died had the master not realized he forgot to lock it and returned. I decided to make it more of a master and pupil relationship with my story because it is in the title after all. I thought Aladdin's character would be a good fit for his pupil, since he came from nothing.

Bibliography

Title: The Master And His Pupil
Author: Joseph Jacobs
Year Published: 1890
Web Site Source: Mythology and Folklore Un-Textbook

Reading Diary B: English Fairy Tales

English Fairy Tales

The Three Little Pigs

This was one of my favorite stories when I was a little kid. I had not read it in so long that I forgot some parts of it, so it was fun to read the story again. I always that it was funny that the first two pigs built their homes out of straw and furze because in no way would that be stable. Also, if the wolf could blow it down, then how could the simple force of the wind not do the same? For some reason, I thought the two other pigs survived, ran away from the wolf, and hid in the third pigs house. The third pig is very clever in this story and continues to deceive the wolf, even though the wolf is trying to do the same to him. In the end, the pig outwits the wolf, boils him, and eats him for dinner.

The Master And His Pupil

Since I am a big fan of science fiction, I really liked this story. The notes before reading the story mention that Disney's Fantasia is another version of this folktale, so I was very interested in the story from the beginning. I remember seeing the movie many times as a child and even seeing the show at Disney World. Even more recently, there was another Sorcerer's Apprentice movie made with Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel. This is how I pictured each character while reading this story. Overall, the pupil is pretty stupid and the master apparently does not like to teach him things. For this reason, it feels more like the pupil is more of a servant or slave for the master. The pupil should have never began reading spells from the book if he could not understand any of them. This nearly killed him, as he summoned a demon without knowing what to do afterwards. Although the pupil should not have opened the book and read from it, the master could have actually taught him how to use it to prevent this from ever happening.

(Mickey Mouse in Fantasia)