MYTHOLOGY & FOLKLORE BLOG, SPRING 2021

  Negative Feedback, via  Glia Why It's So Hard to Hear Negative Feedback Conflict, specifically in the workplace, is something I dread more than almost anything. While I know the people who are above me care both about me and the office, when negative feedback is given to me I feel like I am being directly attacked and have let everyone down. However, this article showed me that I need to train my mind to crave these experiences. As I said, I know these people care about me and also give me positive feedback, so why am I so hung up on the few times I get corrected? If I know I have good intentions with my work, and that they are also working in good faith and trying to correct the mistake for next time, I should take that C graded performance, and turn it into an A graded performance for improvement. Why Negative Feedback is Better than No Feedback The picture used above is from this article I found while browsing the internet. It gave me a different but also h...

  A Sea Monster, via  Medium Topic 1:  Sea Monsters     This would be a very interesting topic for me because I feel like it is so open-ended. I have always loved stories that might be a little  eerie, and it doesn't get much better than unknown monsters. With sea monsters being masked by the water, they are often not as easy to picture as one could picture Bigfoot or Frankenstein. This leaves so much room for creativity when it comes to the monsters themselves, whether I told a twist on Moby Dick, or an unknown story of the Pirates of the Caribbean.  Topic 2:  The Lovers of Zeus     I wrote about this one initially when we first started exploring storybooks, and I had to revisit it. A story in this format would be so fun to write about, as my love for greek mythology goes back to my elementary days. However, the twist from this story is what makes it so appealing. The intense personification of the gods...

 The Masked Bandit was one of the most elusive burglars the world had ever seen. In and out, no detection, no witnesses, ever- until one cool fall night.  The burglar wore his big puffy black jacket this cold night, easy for stuffing any extra loot not fitting inside his duffel. It was his good luck charm, at least he thought so. Another perfect heist, the priceless jewels of the biggest museum in the world, all his... until at the last second his jacket got caught in the safe. The undetectable man, trying to free himself from the restraints he put himself in, was detected. The on-shift security guard came upon him on one of his rounds and began to laugh at the fool caught in the safe. "Oh how silly you look!" mocked the security guard, "you have done my job for me!" "Please!" the burglar pleaded, "If you help free me from these restraints I will split them with you, we will both be rich!" The security guard paused, not expecting such an intrigui...

 This reading was a good opening story to go with because it shows the importance of personification in some stories: - this story allowing any animals and object to talk opened up more clarity to the situation - repetition, native jargon, and expressive adjectives are good in writing as needed - any character, no matter when introduced can have immense importance - giving the audience a clear protagonist, antagonist, and hero helps capture the audience, as I was sitting here reading and rooting for the Brahman and happy that he had a hero in the jackal  - backstory is not always needed, if the story has a good hook - the clear outline of this story was an individual helping another, getting betrayed by whom he helped, then having an outside party make it all right again The Tiger, the Brahman and the Jackal  illustrated by John D. Batten Source:  Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912)   Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Ja...

Choose from  CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units  for Weeks 3 and 4. Week 3: Noah and the Ark Week 4: Homer's Odyssey  Choose from  MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units  for Weeks 5 and 6. Week 5: Ancient Egypt Week 6: Sinbad Choose from  ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units  for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.] Week 7: The Monkey King Week 9: Brer Rabbit Choose from  NATIVE AMERICAN units  for Weeks 10 and 11. Week 10: Mississippi/Great Lakes Week 11:Hero Tales Choose from  BRITISH and/or CELTIC units  for Weeks 12 and 13. Week 12: Aesop's Fables Week 13: Beowulf Choose from  EUROPEAN units  for Weeks 14 and 15. Week 14: Inferno Week 15: Czech I decided to start off the first 2 weeks with 2 stories I am very familiar with. I wanted to use these stories as a way to ease into these assignments, getting my grounding from stories I already know. However, this will also give me a chance to dive back into these stories and maybe pi...