Week 3 Story

Long ago in the town of Chile, there lived a prince named Ryan.  Ryan was known throughout the land as the son of King Hugh. He was often known as the troublemaker of the family and the comedian.  He was often sent away on what he thought were “important missions,” but in fact were just errands that his family had wanted him to run. One day his father required him to go away to the town of Cyprus.  So, as Ryan headed off he thought to himself, “I must be the luckiest man alive, my dad always sends me on important missions for the kingdom.”  This time though, unbeknownst to Ryan, his father had sent him away so that he could deal with the evil witch Blake, who was trying to take over the kingdom.

After being on the road for a few weeks Ryan eventually came back to Chile.  What he saw shocked him, there were houses on fire, some that had been burned to the ground, crops were decimated, and the castle looked like it had been at war. Ryan dropped everything that he was carrying and rushed toward his home to see what was happening.  When he arrived all, he saw was carnage.  There were dead bodies everywhere. Some of the soldiers that he had known all his life were laying on the ground covered with cuts and dripping blood. As Ryan entered the hall, he saw his father slumped on his throne lifeless with a pool of blood around his feet.  Ryan eventually reached his father and stood in despair, he cried out, “What has happened here!”  His mother appeared from a concealed comparing in the wall behind the throne and told him that the evil witch Blake and her minions had stormed the castle while was away and destroyed mostly everything.  She went on and said how his father tried to fight them off, but he was eventually overpowered and then stabbed.  As Ryan was listening to this he burned with an intense rage and hatred for this witch and vowed to end her life.

Ryan hastily left the castle and went on search to find the witch.  As he was wandering around the town, he heard people scream out, “Have mercy on us ol’ witch. Please spare our lives.” Ryan went to investigate the noise and what he saw made him shudder.  Standing before him was the most grotesque witch he had ever seen in his life.  Words couldn’t even begin to describe what she looked like.  Eventually the witch turned back to her victims and started inflicting torture. As Ryan was creeping up behind her he realized that he did not have a weapon to slay her. He noticed out of the ornery of his eye that there was a little knife by the edge of the burnt down house he was creeping behind.  He grabbed it and then made his way toward Blake.  As soon as he was in position he lunged at her and stabbed the knife right through her throat. Blood was gushing out and the witch turned around and looked at him in shock and then fell down dead.  Ryan was praised as a hero and eventually took possession of the crown and became king of Chile.  Every month on the day that he was father and the towns people were murder the kingdom holds a celebration of life to remember those who had passed.

Bharata fainting at his fathers Cremations. (January 28, 2018)

Reitberg Museum. Source: Wikicommons

Authors Note: I felt for this story I kind of wanted to give some more backstory about what had happened while Ryan was away form the city. In the original story all that we know is that Bharata returns and his father has been killed.  With this new story I wanted to portray how he was killed, and I wanted the main character to get exact his vengeance on the one that destroyed his family. I also excluded the brother from the story because I feel that he added no real value. I also wanted to give the story a happier ending than the mysterious one that was given.

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Bharata Returns. Bharata Returns

Reading Notes Part A: King Dasharatha

King Dasharatha was another interesting read for me.  To be honest, I have no idea how to pronounce any of these people’s names and I am very unfamiliar with Indian culture.  That being said, I thought this story was very well told.  I really enjoyed how it got straight to the point and told me who King Dasharatha was.  When I took the Mythology and Folklore class last year it seemed that if we w2ere going to be introduced to a new character the story really dragged out telling us about who the new person we were reading about was.  I like this story better because it is way more simplistic in the fact that it gives us the character right away and we get to learn about him with no bs. Also, how the author described the kingdom that Dasharatha rules over uses very elegant words.  I did have to re-read the story just so I could better pronounce the names and try to understand what was being said. I have not really ever read a story that gives such beautiful description as the story does.  I felt like I could visualize everything in my head and was in awe of the splendor and beauty.  It always seems that stories and myths never focus on the small details but rather the larger picture.  This story does the opposite and it really drew me into the narrative.

The one thing that I did not like was that all the names sounded kind of like a rhyme scheme, which really threw me off.  I found myself rhyming the names together and when I was doing that I had no idea where I was in the story.  I think that if they were to tone down all the names and different people it would be an easier story to follow. Overall, I really enjoyed the story and cannot wait to read more.

King Dasharatha. (1930)

Bazaar art. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. King Dasharatha. King Dasharatha.

Topic Research

The topic that that I am wanting to write about is Indian horror  I feel that there are not a lot of stories about Indian Horror out there.  I am a big horror fanatic so this one would be right up my alley. Indian horror has never really been brought as far as cinema or in stories so I think it would be wise to create really creepy stories about the Rakshasa, Pischacha, and the Bhoot Chaaturdashi.  This would  be intriguing because all would be connected by showing up in the last story to join forces to try and destroy mankind.

I would focus on the the Hindu telling of the Rakshasa.  The reason I would choose this one is because the description that Wikipedia gives about them is similar to zombies/werewolfs.  I think being able to vibe off that. A second story that I would talk about are the Pishacha.  These characters seem much different than anything in horror that I have heard about so exploring them further while having them play a huge villain role will be fun to write about.  The third story would focus on the Bhoot Chaturdashi.  With this story I would bring the Rakshasa and Pischacha together and have them join up.

Rakshasa. (May 9, 2018

Bildflut. Source: Wikicommons

Reading Notes Part B: Bharata Returns

I really enjoyed the Story of Bharata Returns.  I feel like this story is a great representation for people all over the world.  It shows that it doesn’t matter what culture or race you are, that the loss of loved ones has a profound effect on everyone.  After I read this story, I instantly began to see how it could be worded to fit other cultures or religions.  This story reminds me of a story that I had to read for mythology and folklore.  It was cool to see a connection between two different stories that are in different parts of the world.  It would seem like to me that every culture has a small part in shaping the myths and legends that all the cultures use around the world.  Since people always interacted with each other it stands to reason that whatever they might have learned from another person of a different race and culture, they then take back to their people and use it to help grow a story.

One point that I thought was interesting is that when Bharata found who was responsible for the death of his father and his brothers exile he did not want revenge.  He ordered the hunchback to be set free because he realized if he were to harm her than vengeance would befall him.  In other stories like this one, in other cultures, the person who finds the one responsible for the deaths in their lives usually extract vengeance.  This was interesting to me that a guy who just lost almost everything that he had would spare the life of the one who caused him and his mother such grief.  It definitely shows to me that the people involved in the Indian epics are much more evolved than say, Greek heroes. 

Bharata. (1916)

Balasaheb Pandit Pant Pratinidhi. Souce: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Bharata Returns. Bharata Returns

Feedback Strategies

The first article that I read was Try to feedforward instead of Feedback. I really enjoyed this article a lot.  I thought that it was a good idea, that instead of crating, we give useful advice on how someone can propel their story or whatever. Giving suggestions about what might be “cool” or “interesting” would certainly give the author more leverage of what he might be able to add to draw people in.  The second article I read was What Kinds of Messsages Help Kids Grow. This article was helpful as well because it shows that positive reinforcement is always better than being mean and negative toward someone.  People and kids are more likely to respond and change something if they see it as constructive criticism not just someone pointing out the negatives of what they are doing.

I feel confident giving everyone feedback even if it is not that great.  Since I am a film major most of my work has been giving feedback or working on revisions to stories or scripts so I am used to it. 

Feedback. (May 26, 2014)

Alan Levine. Source: Flickr

Week 2 Story

A long time ago in the city of Calcutta there lived an intriguing child named Johnny.  Now Johnny was known all around his city as the boy would would get freaked out by anything and usually try to cause a panic.  One day when Johnny was in school his teacher was telling them a story about how the Earth first started breaking up.  As his teacher was talking she said, “And Jimmy heard a giant crash and when looked behind him, the Earth started to open up and swallow the houses whole.” Now this story genuinely freaked Johnny out because he was always afraid that he would get swallowed by the Earth.   After a week or so went by Johnny almost completely forgot about the story.

One day Johnny was napping under a giant apple tree when he was awoken when he heard a loud “crash!” noise.  Remembering what his teacher said Johnny got up and took off running for the town screaming, “The Earth is opening up! Run for your lives!” At first the people thought he was kidding because he was known to have pulled pranks like this in the past but when they saw the terror in his eyes they realized he must be telling the truth.  People soon began to grab items from there house and follow Johnny as he made his way through town. Eventually, the whole town was following him, and they made their way to the adjacent town of Derk.  When they had arrived safely in Derk, the mayor of the City Dwayne, called out to the masses, “What is the meaning for all of you people entering my town!”  One person spoke up and said, “I heard that the Earth was opening up and swallowing our city whole!” When asked where this information came from the people started to respond saying they heard it from this person who heard it from another and so on.  Eventually it was traced back too little Johnny boy. Johnny told Dwayne what he had heard and told him about the story his teacher had told him.  With a great laugh, Dwayne told him, “It is just a story boy, lets go back and see if the Earth has opened up indeed.”

So, Dwayne and Johnny made the long trek back to Calcutta and the tree where Johnny heard the noise.  When they arrived, they found that the Earth had not opened, just that the apple from the tree had fallen off and been getting cut open by a sharp rock. Dwayne went over to the rock and ripped it from the ground, but when he did that they Earth started to open and he looked at Johnny with fear in his eyes and then was swallowed up.  Johnny freaked out and ran as fast as he could and could hear the earth swallowing everything in its path.  As he made his way back to derk the people of both towns could hear him yelling out, “The Earth is coming to eat us!” When they all went to see him, they saw the earth just devouring everything behind Johnny as he ran toward them.  About 30 heard from t eh town the earth stopped swallowing everything in its path and Johnny and the rest of the towns people were safe.  Johnny was labeled a hero and his heroic deed of evacuating the town was remembered long after he was gone.

Earth opening up. (March 28, 2008)

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, U.S. Geological Survey. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography:

Author: Babbitt, Ellen C. The Foolish, Timid Rabbit. The Foolish, Timid Rabbit.

Authors note: I wanted to make the characters human and give a little backstory about why Johnny was afraid the earth was opening. I also thought that it would be a good idea that instead of having the earth not open and swallow everything, that instead it does. I thought it would be kind of comical to have Dwayne, the mayor, pick up a rock that destroys the town. It was also imperative that I make it seem like the boy who cried wolf too many times, but the final time he was correct and not lying.  The moral is kind of like sometimes what people say is the truth even if it doesn't seem like it.

Topic Brainstorm

1. The first story is Battle for Lanka. The reason that I chose this one is that I am a war nut so anything that pertains to fights, or war has my interest right away.  I have no previous knowledge of this story at all but it is something that definitely peaks my interest.  It was definitely interesting to read this story through journal entries.  If I were to do this one I probably would make each section its own portion of the battle with the culmination of who won the battle for Lanka. I would probably give more detail of what happens on the battlefield and the aftermath.

2.  The second story that I found interesting was Karna: The Ill fated Hero. I chose this one because i am a sucker for stories that deal with a ill fated character, like Achilles. I really enjoyed the way that this storybook was structured! I thought it was good to introduce us to the characters we were going to meet right away.  I have no knowledge about this story.  If I were to retell this story i probably would make it captivating and full of mystery to lure my reader in.

3. The third story was Indra: The Thunder God. This struck me as interesting because it almost reminded me of Thor. The storybook I read was not real organized at all. If I was to attempt to do this story book I would make sure my introduction was the first tab that readers clicked on.  Not only that but I would like to also make it more exciting.  I would maybe have Indra be telling stories of how he came to be to his children or followers. Also, when telling the story of him fighting against other Gods I want it to be able to pull the reader in deeper and be invested.

4. The fourth and final story I chose was India Horror. If I were to retell these stories I would do it in such a sense that a sense of horror really comes about as like a ghost story.  After reading this storybook there really wasn't anything horror about it and I was let down.  I would want to make the stories told in this storybook real spooky macabre type stuff that would creep people out. I may not no a lot of about Indian myths but I am confident i would be able to turn every story into a good one that people would want to read.

Indian holi Horror. (March 16, 2014)

NA. Source: Flickr

Week 2 Reading Anthology

I thought that these anthologies that we had to read were very intriguing.  It seems to me that most Indian myths must deal with animals as the protagonist or antagonist to make the story flow. The story that really stuck with me The Foolish, Timid Rabbit. I though this story was quite funny and a good representation of life.  We should not always follow a pack of people.  If one person says one thing and then people pass it around and yet it sounds too good to be true someone should question it, otherwise we all look dumb.   One question that I have after eating these stories is why are all the people animals? It it intriguing and something that I would like to learn about.  Going back to the story it was interesting that they had the rabbit as being a dumb foolish creature when rabbits are supposed to be one of the wisest creatures. I like that the point the myth was trying to get across was easy to understand as well.  Unlike some myths and folklore that are hard to figure out the message of the story this one wasn’t.

The lion Roaring. (April 4, 1912)

Ellsworth Young. Source: Wikimedia

Author: Babbitt, Ellen C. The Foolish, Timid Rabbit. The Foolish, Timid Rabbit.

Week 2 Reading Overview

The Ramayana that I have chosen to read is the Public domain edition.  The reason I chose this one is because I think it will be interesting to read the different authors takes on these stories.  By having a bunch of different authors, I am probably never going to have a hard time finding a good story to take notes on.

The first comic book is Rama: Retold from the Ramayana and the second comic book is Vali: The Downfall of an Arrogant King. The reason that I chose the first comic book is because I thought it would be interesting to have a comic set in a different part of Rama life. Instead of having a comic book that does random stories, a cohesive story timeline would be better.  I then chose Vali because i have always liked reading about the downfall about historical figures who thought that they were better than others.

The first video I chose was Rama's route to Lanka. The reason that I chose this one is because it intriguing to learn the route that Rama chose.  It brings up some good questions like, why did he go that way? Did he come across any enemies or any battle that he had to fight? The second video I chose was Indian and Greek Mythological parallels. The reason that I chose this one is because I have always wondered if there was any connection between Indian and Greek myths.  If there are what are they?

Indra. (ca. 1930)

Sudhansu Ajaudharany. Source: Blogspot

The reason that I chose this image is because I thought it looked like a god encased in an orb riding on water while holding a bow and arrow.  It also looks like he/she is about to into battle and fight.

Feedback Thoughts

The first article that I chose to read was A fixed mindset could be holding you back. I found this fascinating because it was basically describing the mindset that I used to have when I started college.  I used to always thing that I was a B/C student and that I would never graduate college yet here I am one semester away from doing just that!

The second article that I read was Silence the critical voices in your head.  This one was also a good read because it really laid out what I have been dealing with for most of my school life.  I have always had voices in my head tell me that I will never be able to graduate, or that I should just given up and stop trying.  I have been able to quiet those voices and have been able to push through to get to the point where I will graduate in fall 2020.

The most productive feedback I received in my life is when people tell me what I can improve on. Even though I may not want to hear it, I think that it is beneficial to hear constructive criticism. I am able to take the critique I have received and use it to better improve the area of my life I need to work on.

Feedback. (2020)

mohamad_hassan. Source:Pixabay

Growth Mindset

I have actually heard of Carol Dweck and the growth mindset.  We learned about it in the Mythology and Folklore class I took last semester. The one thing that has been most challenging for me since coming to OU is learning to budget my time for each subject that I am taking.  I find that too often I spend too much time on one subject and not enough on another.  I am working on setting out certain time periods during the day to devote to each subject.  What I have learned about myself since being at OU is that I learn best by writing the information down that is being presented to me.  Just listening is not enough, I need to be able to write it down so that way it gets engraved in my mind.  Since I learned about the Growth mindset last semester I probably wouldn’t be that interested in learning more about it.  My learning goals is to get all my homework and quizzes done before Friday so that way I can have the weekend to relax. The one class I am excited about it Gender and James Bond, because it is being taught by one of my favorite teachers.

Growing Brain. (June 24, 2011)

Xavier Vergés. Source: Flickr

Assignments

The assignment that intrigues me the most is the storybook one.  The reason for this is because I wonder how much different it is going to be than the one I did for Mythology and Folklore last semester.  It is unlike what I have done in most classes, because with film, we just have a bunch of readings and movies to watch.  Here, we have actual assignments that require time and effort to complete them.  Most of the stuff I do in my other classes are on paper or with worksheets but with this class everything is online.  The extra credit always grabs my attention but the one that interest me the most is probably the extra story ones.  I love writing stories so it would be easy for me to write one extra story a week.

Assignment. (NA)

Nick Youngson. Source: Picpedia

Technology Tools

I have taken many online classes during my college career.  I actually prefer them to real classes that happen on campus.  I think it easier to manage the work load and time when everything is due at the end of the week.  Doing online classes allow me to work at my own pace so I am not time crunching and trying to do get everything done in one day. This class is exactly like the Mythology and Folklore class that I took last semester, so nothing has really changed. There aren’t really any skills that I want to work on this semester. Having a online class like this one really does expand your computer skills and gives you strengths that you can use later in life.

Learning Technology Tools. (November 27, 2017)

Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Source: Wikicommons

Time Strategies

The first article that I read was The Important Habit of Just Starting.  I really enjoyed reading this.  I think this article is useful because it is kind of just like positive reinforcement that I should always have a great mindset when preparing for any challenges that might come up. I should be able to meet them head on.  Besides meeting challenges this article also helps when it comes to starting early on work or school. It reminds us that by developing good habits earlyh they will become traits in the future that we will do without even thinking about them.

The second article I read was Realist Study Plans.  What I got from this one was that we should always set reasonable expectations and goals, whether at work or school.  Trying to reach abov e and beyond what we know we are capable of will just end up hurting us and not do us any good. By planning out our week it allows us to be able to reach our goals that we have set for ourselves and not stretch ourselves to thin. By having a reasonable study plan it allows us to be better prepared for the coming weeks and months.

Time Management. (November 4, 2015)

NasimAhmed96$. Source: Wikicommons

Introduction to a Film Major

Well to start off, I am Andrew Albright.  I am a senior here at OU and am majoring in Film and Media.  Now when I say that most people think that all we do is watch films.  While this is mostly true we also look at the technical aspects of films such as costuming, blocking, lighting, and so on.  I have been in love with movies ever since I was very young.  I recently achieved my New Year’s resolution that I made for myself which was to have over 1,000 movies on iTunes and I was able to achieve that before the year ended.  I will graduate either this summer or next fall.   A fun fact is that I work as a Video manager for the OU football team and have been doing so for the past 4 years and I have enjoyed it immensely. 

The class that I really enjoyed taking last semester was the Mythology and Folklore class that Laura teaches.  I really enjoyed working at my own pace and becoming a better writer.  My biggest accomplishment last semester was making the honor roll for sure.  I never thought that I would make any type of honor roll because I have always struggled with school and never thought I was any good at it, so I was really proud of myself.

My favorite types of movies would have to be horror for sure.  My girlfriend does not like them at all, but I cannot get enough of them.  On top of horror I also enjoy pretty much any movie that can keep my interest or has Ryan Reynolds.  When it comes to tv I love all action comedy shows as well as horror.  My top shows are Psych, Blue Mountain State, The Witcher, and Carnival Row.  When it comes to music I am a metal head at heart but can listen to just about anything.

I honestly cannot wait to graduate and be in the real world again.  Before coming back to school in 2016 I worked full time for an oil company, so I got to adult for a bit.  I did enjoy it a lot actually. MY goal, when I graduate, is to work in the NFL being a videographer, write scripts, or go back to work at PSAV which is an audio-visual company.

Me holding the Big 12 Trophy after beating Baylor. (December 7, 2019)

Taken by Luke Phillips. Source: Me

Storybook Favorites

1. The first story book that interest me is Battle for Lanka.  What drew me to this storybook was how it was structured.  I really like the thought of making each person have their own journal as a way of telling their story.  It is a unique way to capture someone’s attention and draw them in.  I am not familiar with this topic so when I read the story book I really wanted to explore it more in depth and maybe choose this one and make it my own.  I thought the overall design was nice and that it was very each to navigate.

Sri Lanka. (February 2000)

National Aeronautics & Space Administration. Source: Wikicommons

2. The second storybook that I chose to look at was Music Stories.  I really enjoyed looking at layout and design of this one.  The introduction was a little bit confusing because it states that we will be learning about music but when you click on Ravana we get met by a beast that is apparently angry and blood thirsty.  Sure, the person does connect it to music but that was not a story that seemed to have cohesion.  If I were to do this one I would make sure that everything flowed well and that the story was happy.  With music we usually associate it with happiness not destruction.

Ravana. (December 27, 2004)

Henryart. Source: Wikicommons

3. The third and final story that I chose was A Hero’s Adventures.  I chose this one because I am big fan of action and heroic characters. This storybook took a different path than I thought.  I was under the impression that there were going to fights and death with the main character saving the woman but alas there wasn’t really any of that. I think the title could be a little misleading when trying to understand this book.  I thought the design and layout were a little bland and could have used some color.  Overall, I did enjoy the stories and will definitely keep it in mind when deciding on my project.

Kamadeva. (1820-1825)

Unknown Author. Source: Wikicommons

My Favorite Place: Midland, Texas

One of my favorite places to go in the world is Midland, Texas.  I know a lot of you are asking yourself, why would he choose Midland as one of his favorite places.  Well, I shall let you know.

One of the reasons that I love Midland is that all my extended family lives there and I have been going down there ever since I was born.  What I love about this place is that it is a small cozy town with the population of a big city.  While the city limits aren’t very big there is a lot to see down there.  When my family and I go down there we usually go visit my grandparents and my uncle.  My uncle owns a pretty big oil and gas company, so he lets us visit him in his offices.  I think it has become more fascinating to me as I have gotten older.  The reason that I say this is that as he tells me more and more about what everyone’s job is I actually understand what he is saying. As I have gotten older it seems that things that seemed boring have now started to interest me more.

After we have visited him we go over to my grandparent’s house.  What is interesting here is that all my relatives live within 5 miles of my grandparent’s house.  It makes it much easier to visit family members when all you have to do is walk a couple of minutes to their house.  Aside from spending time with family, Midland has a great movie theater called Cinergy that I spend a lot of time at.  The reason for that is I have been a movie fanatic since I was 7 and am a film major so I try to go movies as much as I can.  Besides having a great theatre there are a lot of good spots in town to eat.  The food in Midland is different than Oklahoma because there is authentic Mexican food and it just hits harder.  You can also go atv riding and go out to shoot guns/hunt if that strikes your fancy.  Overall, visiting Midland is just a fun time overall and it is cool to see how a small town has seen a lot of growth over 2 decades.

Midland County Courthouse View. (August 22, 2017)

Ahodges7. Source: Wikicommons

Test Post

This is a test post to make sure the blog is working.  I hope that it is otherwise, me writing this is going to be awkward.