Famous Last Words Week 14

I feel that overall the best piece of writing I did for this class was the portfolio piece. I think that this was my strongest piece of writing because I was really pushed to make each story better. I liked that we would get to rework a lot of the details in the stories. I think that coming back to the same story a few separate times is a great plan. I think that this is beneficial because you are then able to rework thoughts and ideas. I also think that it is beneficial because then you can come back each time to the story with a clear mind. I think that this class was so beneficial for me. I think that I have vastly improved as a writer this semester and I will take what I learned from this class and apply it to the other classes I take and then on in to the real world when I graduate.

Wow I really can’t believe that this semester is coming to an end so quickly. I think that this semester has truly flown by. I am nervous for finals that are just around the corner. Unfortunately I have four of my five final exams and a paper all during dead week. I am really not looking forward to this because I have to do a good amount of studying during my Thanksgiving break. On the upside however it will be very nice to get a lot of the stress out of the way before finals week. I only have one exam during the actual finals week and it is on the Monday so I will be done with my finals on the Monday of finals week. Then I get to head home to Colorado for the whole break a bit early!

Source: Flickr

Week 15 Writing

I really liked that in this class we could really be pushed. I have never been a strong writer so I felt I really gained a lot from this class. I decided to do the Portfolio assignment as my semester long project. I am very happy with my decision to do this assignment because I felt I was able to improve overall. I think if you are extremely creative then you should pick the storybook option. I feel it is harder to come up with stories from out of the blue. I really like that the commenting was a great idea. I think that we can really improve on our own writing through our peers comments and feedback. I felt comments that gave me advice on how to cut-down on my information were the most useful to me. I absolutely think that I absolutely did improve on my writing this semester. I think that I was really pushed and made to improve and I am very grateful for this. I see myself doing a lot of contract writing in my career. I have done one class focused solely on business writing so I feel that it is beneficial to learn things centralized to your career. Overall I think that this class was a great learning opportunity for me and that I really gained a lot from this!

Essay Week 14: Symbols

Symbols

This week I read stories from the unit ‘Czech Folktales.’ Because it was a very busy week I was unfortunately only able to do the first half of the reading. The first half that I did read however was very informative and I feel that I got a pretty good sense of the overall unit through it! I feel that it is so important to read stories from other cultures in order to broaden our knowledge. I also feel that you can gain a better understanding of the world around you and the history that is present. I feel that if we stop reading about each others history and culture that we will become even more different as a world society.

Source: Flickr

 One of the stories that I read this week was titled The Bear, the Eagle and the Fish. In this story there is a count and a countess that live in the forest with their three daughters. The count has gambled away the family fortune so he heads out in to the forest to hunt for something for his family to eat. He runs in to a bear and is lost so the bear tells him he will help him out if he gives him his daughter. The count agrees and she is gone. Then the following day he does the same thing again but runs in an eagle. The eagle demands his second daughter, he agrees. Then again he runs in to a fish and promises his third daughter. The countess grows lonely so they have a son and he sets out to find his sisters. He ends up finding them and they break a curse and the husbands turn back in to princes. Then they are all able to live happily ever after! I found this story to be very interesting and so I decided to look up what each animal represented.

The figure of a bear usually represents, grounding forces and strength. I then found that the eagle represents spiritual protection. Finally the fish represents fertility and happiness.

Storytelling Week 14: The Curse

The Curse

Once upon a time there was a very greedy count. He went by the name of Richard. He lived in the forest with his wife. The countess, Regina, and him lived a happy life with their three daughters.

Now the count had a problem though, he had gambled all of the family’s wealth away. Regina was very upset about this and told him that he needed to set out to the forest to gather food. So the next morning Richard set out to the forest to hunt for food.

He arrived just as the sun had come up. It was still a bit chilly out and the birds had just begun chirping. He wandered and wandered deeper in to the forest and before he knew it, the day was coming to an end. All of a sudden a wolf jumped out of a bush and scared the count! He explained he would only let him live if the count promised him his eldest daughter. The count was so spooked that he agreed. Days later a chariot arrived and the eldest daughter was taken away.

The following week the count went out hunting again. He once again found himself to have gotten lost and turned around. He looked around for help as he noticed that nightfall was just around the corner. All of a sudden a hawk came spiraling down at him! The hawk told the count that he would only spare him his life if he let him have his second daughter. Out of fear once again the count agreed and the hawk set off to fetch the daughter.

The next day the count went out hunting again. To no ones surprise he got lost in the woods one more time. This time a giant salmon popped out of the water and promised to help him out of the forest if he would give him his third daughter. The count agreed and she was his.

Now Regina was so depressed that her three daughters were gone so they decided to have another baby. To their surprise they had a boy. He grew to be a strong brave warrior. He knew the only thing that would ever truly make his parents happy again is to find his three sisters.

He set out and found them all within the same day! Each of the husbands offered the brother a symbol of them to help him whenever he was in danger. The bother faced many dangers but with the help of his sister’s husbands he found and destroyed the golden egg. Now this egg was what was controlling a spell that had been placed on each of the husbands. They changed at once in to handsome princes. All was well in the kingdom once again.

Source: Flickr

 Author’s Note: This week I am retelling the story of The Bear, the Eagle and the Fish. I really enjoyed this story just the way it was so I decided not to change any of the major details from the original. One of the only things I changed were to give both the count and countess names. The other thing I changed was what each of the animals was. The wolf was originally a bear, the hawk was an eagle and the fish was just a fish but I made him a salmon.

Bibliography: Czech Folktales Josef Baudis (1922). The Bear, the Eagle and the Fish

Reading Diary Week 14: Czech

This week I read stories from the Czech unit.

In Sleepy John, John is always sleepy and wanting to sleep everywhere. He finds a cart that belongs to a farmer and decides to lie down in a cask and take a nap. Then a wolf comes along to pester him. He is given a knapsack and was told that anything he would ever need would be found in it.

In Silly Jura, there are two brothers that are both very lazy and thieves. They had a third brother as well but did not like him. I think that the plot is really well told and explained. It is interesting to see the views of each of the brothers and the slave.

In The Bear, the Eagle and the Fish, there was a count that had three beautiful daughters. I feel that it is interesting to really hear about what the count feels and to see things from his point of view.

In Kojata, there was a king that only had one son. He set out on an adventure one day and forgot that it was the day his wife was suppose to give birth. The king returns home and is saddened by the result. I liked how the reader was really able to understand in great detail in this story what was going on.

In The Waternick there are two children that only have a widowed mother. She sends them out to the forest to gather water. They venture out so far that they have to stay the night in the forest. It was interesting to see how the children viewed all of the events from their point of view.