Week 14 Essay: My Writing Memories

(Image information: "Notepad" by Sam (2009.) Web Source: Flickr.)

Writing has always been a very important aspect of my life. It has been the outlet for my creativity, emotions, thoughts, and more. In a way, it is an art form of its own league because there so many styles and paths you can take with writing. I have noticed what I write now is so much different than when I first started.

I began writing poetry at a young age. My first solid memories of writing come about 9 or 10 years old and my mom would always submit those to those national books and whatnot. I would write poetry about love, family, my country, and more. Over time, especially when I got to my teenage years, my poetry became much more symbolic. It was about religion, my beliefs, my emotions, and my future. When I was in high school I started writing stories. My stories were always about romance and fantasy, which is something I still continue to write about today but with much more talent.

For me, writing was a way to funnel my creativity. There would be times I could dream up something awesome and write down the ideas as soon as I woke up and from that I could find ways to dream a new story, literally.

Style is something that has changed for me over time. When I was young, my style was not very defined. I wrote in simple sentences and used simplistic language. My writing was bland. Now, I try to make my stories flow and use language that helps describe situations, the environment, and to really help bring the writing to life. It takes practice and a lot of dedication to improve, as any art form does and classes have helped my writing tremendously. Classes in college have shaped my writing and I absolutely love each memory of it!

Week 5 Essay: My Reading Memories

Reading has always been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. As of right now, I have shelves and shelves of books of all genres and that does not even include my electronic media! As early as I can remember, my mom and my grandpa would read books to me, but one small book in particular was my favorite as a kid. It was The Three Little Kittens by Mother Goose. I would read it over and over and eventually I could recite it by memory. As a small child, I remember reading books from my school library. I would read anything I could get my hands on!

Little kittens.

(Image Information: Torti Kittens by Nancy Wong (2013). Source: Wikimedia Commons.)

From there I started to get into reading the fantasy genre, such as Harry Potter. They were my favorite series for the longest time because I really felt like I could immerse myself into the world of magic and mythical creatures. When I would get the next book, I would spend hours reading it and the only time I would put it down was to sleep! Of course, the magic of Harry Potter stirred my interest in more than just wizards.

As a young adult, I started to read a lot of Vampire and Werewolf genre books! They were my favorite and still are today because I love the idea of double lives! I am huge into The Vampire Diaries and a book series by Christine Feehan, which is more in the adult romance genre but her books have very good in-depth plot!

I think that because my family started reading to me when I was just a baby and kept me interested in stories, I was really able to find my love in reading as an adult. I read stories all the time, whether they are short stories online or novels. It really is a good way to keep my imagination going and to find myself in worlds that are not reality!

Week 4 Essay: Facing Our Fears

In the Turkish Fairy Tales unit, several stories from Ignacz Kunos's Forty-Four Turkish Fairy Tales depict many obstacles that are what is considered pretty common fears in the modern day. While none of the stories reminded me of the horror genre, the fears the characters face make the plots very interesting to read because they are so easily able to relate to.

For instance, the first two stories Fear and Fear (cont.) address a character that is unsure if he knows what fear is. He goes through several situations that remind me of ghostly stories people tell to try to frighten one another. The situations include confronting ghosts, aggressive people, and monsters. While many of the fears are irrational, people still share these fears in modern day. People are weary of ghosts, harmful people, imaginary monsters under the bed and in our nightmares. These are just a few examples that from the fairy tales of this unit.

The monster in the sea.

(Image Information: "Perilous Position of HMS 'Terror,' Captain Back, in the Arctic Regions in the Summer of 1837," by William Smyth R.N. 1800-1877. Source: Wikimedia Commons.)

Another example of modern fears comes from The Wizard-Dervish (cont.). The couple is running from the woman's mother because she is a witch and does not approve of their marriage. Often enough in modern life we run from the people that do not approve of us or our decisions. This story is a good example of a very rational fear. In The Fish-Peri (cont.) story, the man is afraid of losing his wife to another man with more power, more money, and more fame.

Each character overcomes the fears and the obstacles eventually in their own way. That is very inspirational.

There are many more examples of fear that can be compared to our own in real life from these stories of this unit. I think by reading this unit, it is easy to relate and I really enjoyed reading them because I could compare them to situations happening. I believe people enjoy reading stories that make sense or they can relate to and that may be why this unit is very fun. Frightening stories can really make the experience thrilling. For some people frightening stories can heighten their sense of fear, but for others it can calm them, which is why I think the topic of fear as a plot is easily expanded on.

Bibliography:
Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos with illustrations by Willy Pogany (1913). Web Source: Fourty-four Turkish Fairy Tales.

Week 3 Essay: Reviewing Jewish Fairy Tales

The Jewish Fairy Tales unit consisted of many different kinds of stories, ranging from Biblical plots to animal legends such as the cat and the dog. I had several favorite stories from this unit, such as The Giant of the Flood and The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog. 

The cat and the dog.

Image Information: To Agree Like Cat and Dog (1490). Acquired by Henry Walters in 1906. Web source: Wikimedia Commons.

I liked these stories especially because they included a lot of mythical beings, which really appeals to me with the fairy tale genre and keeps me interested. The unicorn and the phoenix are two of my favorite mythological creatures.  There were a few stories that I did not understand, such as The Sleep of One Hundred Years. I think it was just a little too odd for me.

Overall, the unit was good and I enjoyed most of the stories. It was easy to relate to a lot of them because the Biblical stories reminded me of ones I already knew about. The language is easy to understand and each story is a good read. The information provided was good and I feel that it was enough, but tips on storytelling for this unit would be a good idea. I struggled a lot with choosing a story to retell and it proved to be a bit of a challenge. Any advice on storytelling with units that have a lot of detail would be excellent.

I am enjoying sticking to fairy tales, because it is really linking all the units together for me and that is something I want to continue doing for my units. Since this is a mythology class, I think the fairy tale genre makes the most sense in order to read about the magical creatures, gods, and goddess that really encompass the mythological realm.

I would recommend this unit, because the legends about the characters have different twists and it is fun to read about subjects we might already know. It really brings a new depth to the characters because it is so unique. I learned a lot of good information about Jewish legends and storytelling!