As a person who is already overly self-critical, feedback can be scary. I have always been told that feedback is just a chance to improve, but it is still difficult to accept that it is not the same thing as negative criticism that implies I have failed. Reading "A Simple 5-Second Habit to Rewire Your Harshly Self-Critical Brain" gave me a wonderful tool to use for dealing with feedback, which is "REBS" (reality-based self-congratulation). It mentions treating yourself for every small step you take, and picking yourself back up after dealing with a setback. I hope to apply this to feedback by not allowing comments to get me down but instead realizing that it is only there to help me. By congratulating myself for the small steps, I feel like I will grow in confidence and be able to better deal with criticism. The other article, "Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt in Creative Work," mentioned problems that I struggle with and know I need to solve. The one that stuck out to me the most was that you should not compare yourself to others. This just creates more self-doubt that does not do anything good for anyone. It can make you jealous and arrogant, and it can end up hurting both you and other people.
It can be easy to avoid or ignore feedback. What I have found, though, is that when I do this, I end up missing out on opportunities to be even prouder of my work. Feedback gives us the opportunity to see our work in a new light. Oftentimes we become close-minded with our work because we have spent too much time around it. We become limited to only what our brains allow us to see. Feedback helps us to cut down our time on our work: rather than having to put our work away for a day when we can look at it with fresh eyes, we can instead have someone look at it with their already-fresh perspective.
Over my years as a student, the most productive feedback experiences I can remember are the gentle and inspired ones. Many times, this would be feedback given by a teacher or peer I greatly admire. Their comments on my writing or project would be encouraging and positive, but they would also add in suggestions that were kindly worded and sounded excited about my topic. They would avoid any kind of judgemental tone or wording, and they would always seem genuinely interested in the subject matter. The most negative feedback experiences I have had were ones that were obviously meant to be hurtful and embarrassing towards me, with harsh words and nothing positive to say at all (it's no wonder I'm so self-critical and a perfectionist after traumatic situations like that!). Feedback that has helped me grow as a learner at work, sports, and hobbies have been very hands-on. Rather than telling me what to do, the person I worked with would show me and work with me until I got the idea.
I absolutely love that this course is set up to separate a number from feedback. As a student, it is so easy to not even care about what feedback says when you can just look at what grade you got. We do not learn and grow from experiences like that, and I am so glad that this course recognizes that. Now I can focus on improving my writing for myself rather than a better number/letter/percentage.
1. My first idea is to combine the world of Alice in Wonderland (story here) with fables by using frame tales. Our professor helped me think of this one and I really love it! I have always been a lover of the obscure nature of Alice in Wonderland and how it shows the progression and confusing aspects of childhood. I also absolutely adore fables and any story with a moral (examples: the "Tongue-Cut Sparrow", "The Tortoise and the Hare", and "the Man in the Moon"). So the idea is this: Characters (the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, and the White Rabbit) from Alice in Wonderland would be telling fables to a boy who fell into the world and is in need of a few life lessons. I would use common fables but twist them in a way that is unique to each storyteller. With this idea, I hope to learn how to better use frame tales so that I can apply them to my writing outside of this course.
2. Another idea I have is to have a character (potentially from a show, book, or folktale) take a trip through the underworld with Hadeswho is showing a character how different people died and why they are receiving punishment. I would use stories from fables about greed, anger, etc. The TV show The Good Placehas really instilled in me a desire to understand what could happen after death, what it means to actually be a good person, and if any individual truly deserves to be punished for eternity. I would love to explore this and come up with my own opinions on the matter. Plan A for this idea would be to write deceased characters who you would not expect to be in hell and do not deserve the fate they were given (i.e. they were a good person but just did a couple of bad things that landed them in hell). Plan B is to write actual evil characters who "deserve" they fates they were given.
3. My third idea concerns the backstory of the Seven Dwarfs. I would pick a few of them (if not all) and apply folktales/mythology to them that serve as their backstories. For example, Grumpy might be the way he is because of a story in which a character loses everything he loves (I'm depending on what I learn this semester in this course to give me ideas for stories to retell and apply to this). I am interested in this topic because I always wondered why each dwarf was the way he was when I watched Disney's Snow White. This would be a good opportunity to come up with my own backstories for them. From this, I hope to learn more about how to creatively write backstories because that is something I struggle with immensely.
4. My final topic idea is twisted and unfair endings. For this one, I would use stories that are supposed to teach people a lesson (like Aesop's Fables), but the endings would favor the antagonist. For example, in "the Tortoise and the Hare," the hare would end up winning the race because the tortoise is too slow and the hare's ego does not get in the way. Putting stories in this light show the harsh realities of life and can bring attention to the fact that life is not always fair due to advantages and opportunities that some are lucky enough to have. I am interested in this topic because I grew up always hearing happy and seemingly impossible endings, and it would be nice to read something realistic, albeit frustrating and negative, for once. They would be more in line with nursery rhymes like Jack and Jill or the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. From this I hope to learn how to avoid writing to please the reader and instead write for the sake of a story.
(After writing these out, it seems that the most important part of this project for me is that I use stories that can teach a lesson. I am most interested in using Aesop's Fables and Japanese folktales. Whether they are about greed, kindness, anxiety, or other issues, I really hope to convey some type of message. With the exception of the third idea, this is the general pattern of my ideas. Even with the fourth idea, I would still be applying life lessons to my writing, even if they are not happy ones.)
Once there was an average boy who grew bored of his average life. He complained that it was monotonous and he was unhappy.
A magician came along and wanted to help the boy. The boy asked to be given all the riches in the world so that he could do whatever he wanted with his days.
For a while, the boy found happiness in the money. He purchased whatever his heart desired. After some time, though, he grew bored and could not find fulfillment in spending rather than earning. He asked the magician to instead show him the opposite life: He wanted to work hard for his money and feel like it was well-earned.
After a while of an impoverished life, the boy grew exhausted and bored once again. He told the magician that he did not enjoy such a hard life. Maybe if he lived somewhere else with his average life he would be happy. The magician granted him the wish.
The boy enjoyed his new home for a while but soon grew bored of it. "I want to go home and go back to my normal life," said the boy. The magician granted the wish, and the boy was content.
A few years later, the magician came again for a visit to see how the boy had grown. The boy was delighted, as he had been growing weary of his monotonous life yet again. He asked the magician to be given a new life of adventure and riches. The magician was shocked and said, "Have you learned nothing? You have seen the best and the worst of life, and yet you still lack the ability within yourself to be happy in spite of your circumstances."
So the magician turned the boy into a bird and said, "Now it will be in your nature to be content with life, as animals live day-by-day and never ask for more."
The bird flew away and found a joy he was not able to find as a boy.
Author's note: For my story I used "The Man in the Moon" and kept the general pattern of a discontented person asking for change, but I altered the details and ending. I wanted to write a story about how easy it is for a person to forget how good they once had it as well as how difficult it is to be content with yourself. I appreciated how the the original story was very simple, but I saw potential in it for a more complex story that had multiple layers.
Bibliography. "The Man in the Moon" from Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson. Web source.
The Man in the Moon from Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson
Reading stories that share wisdom brings me immense satisfaction. "The Man in the Moon" gives advice to those of us who cannot seem to settle and be accepting of what we have. The plot is so basic, but it ends up speaking volumes. Everything that the man chose to turn into--a stone, the sun, the moon, a cutter--was beautiful or reasonable, and yet he found something that did not settle well with him about it. The specific transformations do a wonderful job of illustrating how something "perfect" in one person's eyes can be seen as imperfect in another's. Every transformation was chosen carefully and acts as a grounding tool to make the plot and meaning stronger.
While the story is beautiful, the ending is dissatisfying to me. I am not one to prefer sad endings, and as a person who frequently seeks change in life, I was sad to see that the Man in the Moon did not end up getting his final wish of being returned to a blacksmith. I was hoping to see and have closure with his final character development. As the story progressed, I found myself rooting for him and wanting him to find peace in being a blacksmith. While I can see why the author did not do this, I believe that I would have ended the story with the final wish of him returning to his original state.
My favorite part of "The Three Roses" was the significance of the character contrast. The first two daughters were presented negatively, with traits of greed and overindulgence. The following sentences emphasized the third daughter's goodness by her simply and gently saying that all she wanted, if possible, was three roses. Her character is already set up so that the reader only expects good from her. If the first two daughters had not been mentioned, the reader would have barely noticed the heart of gold the third daughter had. I adore this style of writing in which supporting characters are used to stress the importance of and contrast a trait in another character. I also noticed that there is not just one greedy daughter, but two. This high quantity of negative characters even more so plays up the third daughter's good nature. It leaves the reader realizing how much easier it is to be a negative character in this fictional world. Characters should all have a reason for being present. Otherwise the reader gets lost in the content and forgets what is important. This is something I hope I can bring into my own writing.
One unit I am really excited about is the Asian unit. I have always wanted to learn more about Japanese fairy tales and stories, but I have never known where exactly to look for them. Being able to read them for a class is wonderful because it is something I have been wanting to do in my free time anyways. There were not any topics I can think of that were not covered, but I am sure that as the course progresses I will be able to think outside the box more and will think of other topics I'm curious about.
One story I grew up knowing (thanks to the Disney movie) was Beauty and the Beast. Tales like this really ignited my love for stories and they made me into the person I am today.
Time management has always been tricky for me. My mood and energy levels typically dictate how I manage my time. Sometimes I have endless motivation and I am able to accomplish a ton of work ahead of time. Other times I procrastinate until a few hours before the deadline and have to use adrenaline and stress to fuel my work. While I have always managed to get the task done, my mood and energy levels make it difficult for me to plan. I admire those who have wonderful time management skills that are not based on anything except their own will power. I hope I can achieve that someday, and the tips in this assignment really help me understand how to get there.
I have never been a part of a course that tells me about how long an assignment should take. This is a wonderful idea that not only motivates me to get the work done but also helps me to know if I am spending too much or too little time on something. A time management strategy that has always been beneficial to me is looking at the class calendar at the beginning of every week. That way I can stayed organized and at least hope that I will allocate the time for each assignment listed. Also, working ahead has always been a favorite strategy of mine. Even if I eventually stop working ahead, the initial jump start puts me ahead and gives me the peace of mind that I will be fine if there is an emergency of some sort down the line. I would love it if other courses allowed for this.
The main three articles I read were "11 ways unsuccessful people mismanage their time", "3 Steps to Recapture Time", and "How to Beat Procrastination." While they listed information I have heard from TED talks and read in time management books, they also listed new information that struck an interest in me. One tip in the "11 ways" article was to schedule in "fun time." I have found this to be very necessary for myself. Sometimes I tell my roommates I can't watch a movie with them because I am too busy and stressed, but I end up procrastinating anyways. The time spent procrastinating would have been better spent with friends. If I do not allow myself the time to relax, my exhausted brain seems to force me to do it anyways. The "How to Beat Procrastination" article gave a tip I have never heard before but now realize I used to use all of the time. The article says you should "visualize how great it will be to get it done." Thinking about the feeling of accomplishment and the clear schedule I would have afterwards is definitely something that appeals to me. Instead of thinking about the task at hand, I need to retrain myself to think about the aftermath. A final favorite tip of mine that this article gave was pre-committing publicly. This is a great one, as I hate to let people down and have noticed how much more driven I am if I told someone I would do something.
Based on last semester's courses, I think my biggest time challenge will be making use of small bits of time throughout the day. Instead of having to use an entire morning to finish an assignment, I could have used ten free minutes 5-10 times per day. I really hope I can make this change because I have never liked using random slots of time where I have enough time to start something but not enough to finish it. I want to be able to use that time for something! As the image states, time is a resource. I want to use it in the best way possible.
A time management strategy that works well for me is where I tell myself I only have to work on something for 1 minute and then I can stop. (This might sound contradictory to the previous paragraph but it's an entirely different idea since in this case I have enormous amounts of time to get work done.) My short attention span loves this rule but I actually end up getting so absorbed in the work and feel that since I have already started, I might as well finish." I only skimmed "The Important Habit of Just Starting" but I believe this is what it discusses.
The technology tools I am most familiar with are blogging sites (weebly, tumblr, etc.), bookmarking, and image editing. I have never heard of Twine, though, and it seems like it will be a great tool to use. This course is definitely a good mix of familiar and unfamiliar concepts, and it has certainly chosen a different road than my other courses. I have taken somewhere around 7 online courses in college, and I have never been a part of one like this. The online courses I have taken would only make use of Canvas and textbooks, which made the courses predictable and monotonous. This course really branches out and makes use of so many fun and unexpected tools, so I do not believe I will have a chance to get bored. Either way, though, I love a course that allows me to stay in bed while also getting work accomplished!
One skill I would like to work on this semester is keeping everything online organized. With so many tools, pages, and links, I usually end up forgetting where I saw something and it takes me forever to find it again. Figuring out a system to bookmark important content would be a skill that could help me in so many other aspects of life.
The assignments I am most intrigued by are the storytelling ones. As mentioned in an earlier post, I am excited at the idea of writing again. I am a bit anxious, though, as I am not confident enough in my writing for others to read it. I have not put creativity to use in a long time so we will have to see how it goes. These assignments will be unlike what I have done in other classes because I have never had to write my own version of a story. Normally I either have to come up with a completely new idea or I write an analysis over a story. Using someone else's basic plot and idea will be something to get used to (assuming I am understanding the assignment correctly), but I think it will help fuel my own creativity in the end.
The extra commenting and Wikipedia trails extra credit options grab my attention the most. For the extra commenting, I am looking forward to seeing how others interpret assignments and readings, and it will be nice to interact with them a bit about potentially differing perspectives. For the Wikipedia trails option, I have never heard of an assignment like this and being rewarded for something that sounds so fun will be wonderful to be a part of! This image ties in nicely with the idea of Wikipedia trails, and I think it is something many of us can relate to.
While I had not heard of the phrase "growth mindset" before, I have heard of similar ideas such as "grit" (perseverance and pushing through challenge). This way of thinking is a wonderful idea that many people need to hear. Academia can be extremely discouraging when a person receives a low grade, and it can make anyone feel inadequate. I have definitely been affected by this, as I have always been praised for the results I get rather than for the amount of work I put into my process. Carol Dweck does an incredible job of describing how important this is. She mentions that we need to reward kids for the process--improvement, strategies, perseverance--rather than intelligence or talent. This is vital in ensuring that children develop to have a good understanding of their worth and abilities. We want them to know that they are valued for so much more than what they can produce. Building a character of perseverance and curiosity can create a generation of people who are inspired to help improve the world. Right now, I feel like we have a world of people who are discouraged and doubtful of their abilities.
Something I have thought about recently (and something I have seen others my age discuss) is that many of us were labeled as "gifted" when we were children. We were told we were grades ahead of our peers and we were given more challenging work. We were praised for being gifted. Eventually, though, everyone else caught up to us and maybe we even got behind. We started feeling unintelligent and we realized we were just average. This was very difficult for us to accept because we thought our intelligence made us unique. Without that, what are we? Many of us now have problems with procrastination, motivation, and ambition. I believe we grew up with a fixed mindset because we were heavily praised for getting answers right and not having difficulty with assignments. If we would have instead been praised for our process we might not feel the way we do today.
In this video, Tiffany Ferg does a wonderful job of explaining being "previously gifted" (which is also the name of her podcast).
It is so incredible what a mindset can do, even for those who are given fewer opportunities in life. Dweck mentioned that children on a Native American Reservation put the growth mindset to use. When they did this, they went from the lowest performing students in their area to the top. The power of the mind and confidence in one's own ability can completely transform lives. With the growth mindset, effort becomes something intriguing and exciting.
This idea of the growth mindset is very inspiring for me. I have a tendency to fall into the trap of thinking I am not enough if I get a low grade. If I receive a failing grade, I feel as if I should just quit because I'm obviously not cut out for the work. But if I instead read "not yet," I know I would feel like there is still potential in me. I would feel more driven and excited to work towards yet. There are so many subjects in school that I have given up on because of poor grades. I just assume that I am worse at those subjects than others, and I stopped trying a long time ago to be better at them. If someone would have just told me "you're not there yet, but you'll get there if you keep trying", I would be stronger in every school subject. Instead, my past experiences and grades have discouraged me and have served as a reminder that my talents do not lie in certain areas. This has hurt my confidence greatly. This meme does a wonderful job of reminding us that that is not the path to follow. The past is the past, and we should only use it to be better next time.
Then again, I do have the criticism of the growth mindset that it is not always effective. Some things my life I have worked extremely hard for but have still not been able to achieve (for example, I have worked hard enough in certain college courses to get an A but instead I got a B or C). This makes it difficult to want to work hard in other areas of life, but overall I would say that sometimes you just won't get what you worked so hard for because it was not meant to be. That does not mean you shouldn't try in other areas of your life.
Woo! That was a lot. It seems I have a lot to say on the topic. I'll leave it there for today.
Hello! My name is Brooke and I am an Anthropology major (edit: This has changed and I am now a Community Health major!). I am also doing pre-nursing but I am not sure whether or not I will end up going that route. I am really excited about this course because I used to love writing but stopped as my classes got busier over the years. I am hopeful that being forced to write this much will inspire me and help improve my writing.
I spent this summer taking two courses: Human Physiology and Primate Evolution. They were both really enjoyable but took up my entire summer. All I had time for was those courses and my dog, Yumi. She's a 1-year-old toy poodle, and I spend way too much time spoiling her.
(Personal image of my dog Yumi, July 2019)
Recently I have been going through a Harry Potter phase that has no end in sight. In May, I went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida which only served to intensify my love for it. I had read the series as a child but did not realize the magnificence of it until I re-read the books in January this year. They have reignited my love for stories and fictional worlds, and they are pretty much all I think about these days. Also, I have just started reading a series called The Raven Cycle, and I have a feeling I'm going to adore it just as much.
My future is unclear in spite of my junior/senior status (I took a gap semester last fall and am now confused about my status). Most of my friends already have their careers planned out while I only recently settled on a major due to my indecisive personality. Nursing is my current plan until I can find something that suits me better. I will be happy if that is what I end up doing, though, because taking care of others is something my heart finds immense joy in doing. My dream job would be creating a cartoon/animated show, but I have not yet found any doors/opportunities for that route. All I know is that cartoons have always brought me happiness, and I would love to be able to spread that same kind of happiness to others.
Good luck to everyone and here's to a great semester!
As a lover of Spongebob, I was excited to see that someone took the plot and used it for their storybook. They used the plot and characters very creatively, and I was able to easily see how they connected a myth or fairy tale to a Spongebob-related story. The introduction does a good job of preparing the reader for unexpected stories that will diverge from a normal Spongebob story, and it stays in character very well. The layout of the page is simple but fun, which is a great set-up for the stories. I appreciate how easy the navigation is to use and how the videos are short and fun to watch. Overall, the flow of the web page is very nicely done and gives me an idea of how I might want mine to look.
I really appreciated how this storybook focused not just on the story but also on the dialect and wording. Much of the story was shown through the writing style and "flowery details" (as the author mentioned). I am interested in the possibility of writing a Japanese-focused storybook so this was a wonderful introduction to the potential that holds. I also really loved the images the author chose, including this one of an art piece which adds to the character, culture, and meaning of the story.
Once Upon a Museum starts out with a beautifully worded introduction that I hope I can imitate in my own project. I really loved the way the author told the story of Rapunzel. She focused on changing the way it was told by making it sound like a crime show, and that intention was immediately clear when I started reading. The images were obviously carefully chosen so as to greatly enhance this idea and completely immerse the reader. The layout was very elegant and fits a museum atmosphere perfectly.
Image Information
Yama from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, from Wikimedia Commons
Okinawa Prefecture is a Japanese island that I have only been able to visit twice in my life, but I have grown extremely fond of it. A quarter of my family lives there and being able to see the island as both a tourist and a resident has made it an intriguing and lovely place for me. It is filled with beaches, castles, and Okinawa-specific food (my favorite being sata andagi, which are Okinawan donuts). Many people see Okinawa as an almost separate entity from Japan because its culture and food are so different from the main land's. Here you can see that it is a long but small island.
My favorite part of visiting is just walking down the streets. The atmosphere is very calm and friendly. Here is a picture of one of the streets I walked dozens of times on my last visit.
(Personal image of an Okinawa street taken December 2017.)
This elephant trunk-shaped cliff is a popular tourist destination and a really beautiful place to visit.
(Personal image of the elephant rock at Cape Manzamo, taken December 2017.)
Okinawa has many castles, but the most popular one is Shurijo Castle. Here is a picture taken from inside the walls of the castle.
(Personal image from Shurijo Castle taken December 2017.)
