Week 15 Review: Grammar and Cats

"goofy cat"

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I thought the picture of the grammar check was hilarious. There have been countless times where I have noticed people using the wrong form of your, and you're. I am a culprit of these at times, but I blame autocorrect. The cat picture made me laugh too, but in all honesty, it is true. I thought it was funny how a silly picture of cats can actual have a meaningful saying to caption. Other than finals week coming up, I think you covered the upcoming events!

Improvements

I think your idea about changing some review weeks to planning weeks is a great idea. I found that it was a little difficult to get started in the class due to the lack of familiarity with the software. I felt that I needed more time to adapt. In the end, I ended up getting the hang of it. However, a little more time to train and figure out a schedule would be a nice addition to the already nice schedule.

I also think creating more audio recordings would be awesome. I used the recordings for every reading I could and it helped me immensely. I find myself more focused, but I have always liked listening to a story rather than reading one. An option for better quality recordings would be to get a USB mic such as the blue yeti. It is a reasonably priced microphone with sound quality that would be plenty for these type of recordings. Whether your voice is radio ready or not, it will sound fine!

Famous Last Words: Thoughts on Classes/Future

"writing"

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As the class comes to close there are a few things I have noticed. This class has IMMENSELY helped with how much I write and how creative I am in my writing. I used to have a lot of trouble splurging out words onto a piece of paper. Now, it comes so easy to me that sometimes I write far too much! I have another online class that I am enrolled in that also requires a lot of writing. I have found that because of this class, the writing assignments for my other class are a piece of cake. I cannot be as creative in that class, but the effects of writing quantity are still in effect. In summary, both of my online classes are going great. 

In both of my online classes there is a lot of social interaction among the fellow classmates. For example, in my other online class I am required to comment on other student's discussion posts every week. It is similar to commenting on blog posts in this class. That sense of social interaction among the classmates seems to be a universal aspect of online classes. Other than that, this class is definitely higher in the creative aspect. My other class is all facts and research whereas this class I can have a lot more freedom in my writing. That has become one of the aspects I love most about this class. The creative possibilities are endless. I find it fun to create interesting stories out of older plots. 

I have seen such an improvement in my writing that I am honestly scared of losing it! I feel like the only way to remain this way is to keep writing. So, that is one of my hopes after graduating. I would love to keep writing so I do not lose this skill I have achieved. 

Portfolio Index

1) Agent Kai - This is a story about a secret agent tasked to save a fellow agent from their archenemies.

2) The Businessman - a story about a rich businessman, his lover, and their children.

3) The Fisherman - This is a story about a young fisherman who finds love in an unexpected way.

4) Oh The Irony! - This is a story about innocent students framed for something they did not do.

5) Just Deserts - a story about a mobster and his lying cousin.

6) The Fall of the Dark Lord - a story about a noble king and his battle with a fierce enemy.

Week 14 Storytelling: The Fall of the Dark Lord

"kingdom"

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Long ago in a far away land, there was a king who ruled all of Cydonia. He was a strong and noble king. All of his subjects adored his leadership and felt greatly protected. One day the king left his kingdom to tend to matters in another kingdom far from home. He left his son, the prince, in charge until he returned back to rule again. Little did the king know, darkness was coming to the land and there would be no one there to stop it.

With the king gone, the kingdom became vulnerable to the enemies hiding in the shadows. A dark lord from the kingdom of Darkshire heard of the king’s leave of absence. He journeyed to the kingdom of Cydonia to take advantage of this rare opportunity. He was met with much resistance at the gates of the kingdom, but the soldiers were no match for the dark lord's immense power. 

The dark lord made it to the steps of the royal castle, but was soon confronted by the king's son, the prince. The prince and dark lord battled fiercely for what felt like days. In the end, the dark lord got the upper hand on the prince. He cast a curse and sent the prince away to a pit of never-ending darkness. With the prince gone, there was no one standing in the way of the dark lord and his will to claim the kingdom of Cydonia. 

Months after the epic battle, the king finally returned to his homestead only to find ruins of the kingdom he once knew. Infuriated, the king marched to the castle doors to find his queen. He found her being held hostage by none other than the dark lord of Darkshire. The king was out of options. He had to rescue his queen and escape the kingdom until he could devise a plan to destroy the dark lord. The king used his wits to gain just enough time to rescue his queen and escape before the dark lord could cast a spell on them. 

The king and queen quickly escaped to old castle ruins just outside of the kingdom. There they began to devise a plan to avenge their son and regain the kingdom. After hours of discussion, they decided they had no other choice. They had to burn down their own castle in order to preserve the kingdom. The dark lord was so vain of his achievement in conquering the kingdom he would not notice the flames until it was too late. 

The king and queen hastily made their way back into the kingdom gates. They grabbed torches from the nearby stands and began to set fire to the wood support beams outside the castle gate. Eventually, the entire castle became engulfed in flames. Despite their hopes, the dark lord realized their plan and began to make his escape through the tallest window of the castle. As he was flying away, lightning bolts from the sky appeared and struck the dark lord. He fell dead to the ground. With the dark lord gone, his curse was lifted and the young prince returned to his home from the pit of darkness. As the king and queen were reunited with their son, they were greeted with cheers of joy by their subjects. The king and queen returned to their thrones and ruled the kingdom in peace for the rest of eternity. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE

My original story was based off a story by Dutton titled The Sparrows and the Snake. In the original story, there lived two sparrows in a nest. I decided to change the sparrows into a king and queen living in their own kingdom. I felt that made the story a little more interesting. The two sparrows had a young hatchling. While the father was gone from the nest, a snake ate the hatchling. So, in my original I made the snake a dark lord. I believe that snakes convey evil characters. Also, I made the hatchling the prince of the kingdom. Instead of the dark lord eating the prince like in the original plot, I had him banish the prince to a different dimension. In the end of the original, the two sparrows decided to burn their nest down in order to kill the snake. The snake realized what was happening and tried to escape, but was later killed by the human who lived at the house. I kept the aspect of burning down the nest (kingdom). I also thought this was an interesting way to incorporate God into the story. The lightning from god that killed the dark lord could be considered the human who killed the snake. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Sparrows and the Snake by Dutton

Reading Notes: The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking

"turtle"

~~

This story is exactly about what the title states. A turtle meets two birds that promise to fly him to their home, just as long as he does not say anything to anyone. The turtle agrees, but he end up talking while in flight to a group of towns folk. The birds end up dropping him from the air and the turtle falls to his death. 

This type of story really reminds me of an opera I have watched called Orfeo. I could write my original plot similar to that. In my original story, there could be a man who has a wife that passes away. However, he can travel to the underworld to save her. Once he finds her he can have her, but there is one condition. She will be following him on the way back to the living world. While they are going back, he can not look back at her to check if she is actually there. Eventually, he would break this rule and look back at his wife. He would see her and be very happy. However, he would soon realize the mistake he had made. He would  lose his wife and return to the world of the living with no success. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking by Babbitt

Reading Notes: The Sparrows and the Snake

"dark lord"

~~

In the original story there are two sparrows who just had hatch lings. While the father is away, a snake enters their nest and eats the children. This leaves the mother crying out in despair as the father returns to ask what has happened. Once he finds out, he decides to burn the nest down using the human's lit torch on his house. The snake realizes the nest is on fire and tries to escape, but not before the human stabs him in an attempt to destroy the nest and prevent the fire from spreading. 

I thought this story could serve well as a medieval war-like story. The two sparrows could be a king and queen. While the king is off on a journey in a neighboring kingdom, a dark lord could take over the kingdom and kill the prince by throwing him in mystical well where no one returns. When the king returns he would find out what happened and devise a plan to get rid of the dark lord. He eventually decides to burn the castle down that the dark lord has resided himself in. The dark lord would eventually realize what has happened and attempt to escape. However, he would meet his end with a lightning bolt from the sky. The human in the original story could be changed into a 'god' like character similar to Zeus. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Sparrows and the Snake by Dutton