Online Education Review

This is my second, I think, fully online class that I have taken. My first online class was when I took General Chemistry II online one summer and it even included an online lab. I think I lucked out a little bit on that. So that makes this my second fully online class I have ever taken. I have really enjoyed online classes. It gives you a chance to choose when you will do the learning instead of having to be at a designated classroom at a designated time each week. It also gives you a chance to work at your own pace a little bit. In both my experiences you could work ahead if you wanted. In this class you had the freedom to work way ahead where in my Chemistry class it was mostly you could finish the week early if you wanted.
I think I would have taken more online classes if given the chance. I have had lots of lecture classes where these "lectures" were just the teacher essentially reading a slideshow that had been uploaded online already. It would have done me just as well to just stay at home and go through the slideshow myself. Obviously, some classes need a setting where the instructor can go over material and then have students ask questions or have discussions. It might be of benefit for some classes such as this to have an online portion and an in-person portion of the class as well. The teacher could upload material and homework each week or month and have a designated time slot each week for students to come by and ask detailed and prepared questions over the material. Overall, I've enjoyed my online course experience.

Typical setup for Mythology & Folklore work (Pixabay).

Extra Reading Diary: Lang's Fairy Tales II

I decided to do an extra reading this week. I chose Lang's Fairy Tales (II) unit because all the stories seemed to be a little lengthier. I liked them because the detail in the story was greater than just a one page fairy tale. I kept some notes over my favorite stories as always and they are found below:

Half-Chick

I found this story to be very amusing. At first, I found myself thinking this is a story where I will end up rooting for Half-Chick to break away from his mom and family to become a great chicken despite only have one leg, wing, ear, etc. After he spurned all those asking for help on his way to Madrid and the King, I found it funny that they all ended up spelling his demise in the end. It would have been interesting to see what Half-Chick would have done had he been spared and if he would have changed his ways.

Medio Pollito atop the tallest church in Madrid, illustrated by H.J. Ford (1982).

Seven-Headed Serpent

In fairy tales such as this its always the must unsuspecting source that gives the answer needed to slay an evil beast. The old nun gave a very intricate plan to slay the seven-headed serpent. I thought the fact that the only sword that could slay the beast was hanging above his bed was also a sword that regenerated itsself. Seven times it would regenerate to cut off all seven heads. The plan to kill the serpent sounded like it was the last level of some intricate and difficult video game.

Storytelling Week 14-The King's New Catch

There once was a great king who loved to fish for giant and rare fish. He traveled all over the world and many seas to fish and catch his beloved trophies. No man in his kingdom could catch a fish better than he. Not that any would dare claim it if they did.

On one fishing trip, the king brought with him a few of his closest confidants to enjoy the trip with him. The king usually did not invite people with him on his trips, except a few select servants to answer his every need. If they were lucky enough to be invited it was just to keep the king company. Never did they actually cast a reel.

On this trip, however, the king was feeling extremely generous this trip and let his confidants enjoy the actual fishing with him. They set out early one morning in the pursuit of rare and exotic fish. The hours dwindled by without so much as a nibble on a line. The king grew impatient quickly, as you can imagine, and was nearing the point of quitting when there came quite a commotion from the other side of the boat they resided in.

A confidant of the king's had caught the most beautiful and large fish that anyone had ever seen or even dreamed of. The king couldn't believe it. Here he sat all day and not one nibble on his line. It was all for nothing as someone below him on the power scale had caught the fish. Who did he think he was? With that, the king had an idea.

As everyone was cheering on the other side of the boat, the king quickly ran and picked up his reel and started pulling with all his might. Or so it seemed.

"Look at the size of this one! And the colors too!" exclaimed the emperor as he fell back on his seat.

He rose up his hands above his head acting as if he held the largest fish that had ever been caught. He wore the biggest smile as he marveled at the size and appearance of his "fish". His companions sat staring at him with looks of confusion on their faces.

"Can you not see it? If not, you must be unfit to see a creature of this size and beauty," reasoned the king.

With that, one by one, the king's confidants started to cheer and exclaim how great his catch was and how much better it was then the other fisher's catch. Later on that day, back at the kingdom, the "fish" was paraded through the streets for all to see. It was eventually hung in the king's chambers, above his throne, where he would proudly tell the story of his mighty catch to all that would listen.

A sunfish caught in 1910 weighing almost 3,500 lbs (Wikipedia).

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Author's Note: This story's inspiration came from The Emperor's New Suit found in Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen and translated by H.P. Paul (1872). In the original story, an emperor is obsessed with expensive and fancy clothes. Two con artists come to his city and claimed to make the most marvelous clothes that money can buy. They told the emperor that the cloth they spun would be invisible to anyone unfit for the emperor's office. Of course, the emperor paid them both large sums of gold and no one could see the cloth because there was none. Everyone, including the emperor, faked being able to see it because they did not want to be seen as unfit for his office. I wanted to follow something very similar which is how I came up with the fake fish caught story. I removed the swindlers and just made it where the king himself knowingly was faking it to make everyone still think high and mighty of him. 

Reading Diary A: Andersen Fairy Tales

I decided to read the Andersen Fairy Tales unit this week for my reading diary posts. I found all the stories to be very entertaining. They provided a nice relaxing read in the middle of a crazy week! I took notes over a couple of my favorite stories I found in the first half of the reading. They are found below:

The Princess and the Pea

I really liked this story because I remember reading this story or book sometime in grade school. I remember being very amused at the fact the princess could tell she slept on something as small as a pea even under 20 mattresses! It was also amusing to think the prince had his pick of all the princesses in the land but chose one that came to the castle in the middle of the nigh looking anything but a real princess. 

The Emperor's New Suit

This story was actually pretty funny to read. I liked how all the people pretended to see "the beautiful cloth" to save their dignity in case they were actually just unfit to see it. It was even funnier that the emperor walked the streets wearing nothing thinking he was wearing the greatest clothes that gold could buy. I have to wonder what I would do in that situation. One would not want to the only person to not be able to see the emperor's grand suit! It was very fitting that an innocent child would be the one to point out what everyone else was actually seeing. Hopefully the weavers were long gone by then!

The Emperor admiring his new "clothes" (Wikipedia).

Extra Reading: Brothers Grimm (Ashliman)

I decided to do an extra reading this week in addition to my earlier reading. I chose to read the Brothers Grim (Ashliman) unit because I saw tales I am familiar with such as Little Red Riding Hood and Rumpelstiltskin. I kept notes on which stories I had the best time reading and these are found below.

The Cat and Mouse in Partnership

I have read a story similar to this in an earlier unit that follows the same plot (I even wrote a storytelling post about it). The difference was that the characters were supposed to build a shelter together and one kept running off and eating the spoils that were supposed to await them when they were finished. My favorite part about that story and this one was the names the cat came up with for all its godchildren when it would run off. I found it amusing that they correlated with how much fat was left in the pot!

Cat and Mouse in Partnership by Walter Crane (Wikipedia)

The Singing Bone

I liked this story as it reminded me somewhat of Cain and Abel. The younger brother killed the wild boar on his own because he was honest and pure in heart. The brother tricked him into walking ahead where he struck him dead. The older brother then took the boar to the king and acted as if he had killed it himself. It was refreshing to find out that the act was figured out in the end and I thought using one of the younger brother's bone as a horn that sang its own song was a very interesting way to solve the "mystery".

Storytelling Week 13-Riding on Geryon

Hadn't I already been through enough? As if having to travel through Hell wasn't excruciating enough, now Virgil is making us ride down to the eight circle of this evil place on the back of the most monstrous creature I've ever laid eyes upon. To describe him does not do it justice but I will anyways.

The first thing you notice is the gigantic wings that spread out from the monster's back. They looked as if they belonged to a bat, but instead sprouted from Geryon. The next thing you notice is the arms. Huge, muscled arms that have knotted hair up and down them from years of disregarding hygiene. Although this is terrible, the worst may be what is attached to the ends of these disgusting arms. Claws like that of a hawk and sharp as swords lay at the end of each arm waiting to swoop down and grab anything Geryon's heart desires.

The body. Geryon posseses all the features mentioned before and then some. His body is like that of a great dragon. Scales that glimmer in the glow of the boiling crimson. Glimmer because they are covered in a thin sheer coat of slime or some substance equal to it. As if this did not make the beast hideous enough, there is one thing that makes him scarier than all. His face is that of a man. Not just any man. His face is that of an honest man making him seem harmless except for the monster's body he was attached to.

Dante and Virgil riding the monster Geryon (Wikipedia Commons).

Virgil talked me on to Geryon's back as he turned to the beast asking for him to travel slowly so as to not throw his passengers off. We took off slowly from the edge and descended deeper into hell as Geryon flew in slow, wide circles. Part of me wished the beast would hurry and get us to our destination. The other part of me knew if he used just a tiny bit of his strength we may no longer be attached to his back.

As I turned to look behind me, I noticed something I had not before. His tail. It looked like a giant scorpion's tail had been attached to this beast and it swung wildly in the air as he continued his path to the bottom. I could no longer take the thought of what was now occurring. I grabbed with all my might onto Virgil's back and vowed to never let go until this journey was over.

As I had my eyes closed for the rest of the trip, I was suprised when we finally reached our destination. When I saw where we had landed, however, I greatly wished I had just kept my eyes closed for the rest of eternity.

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Author's Note: This story came from the stories The Old Man of Crete and Geryon and Descending on Geryon's Back found in Dante's Divine Comedy translated by Tony Kline with illustrations by Gustave Dore (2002). I was really intrigued by the monster Geryon when I did my reading for the week. In the original story, Geryon transports Virgil, the guide, and Dante down to the eighth circle of Hell called the Malebolge, or "evil trenches". I did not change the story really as it was just a short bit of the story. I just felt like I could really tell a story about how scared and miserable Dante was riding on such a monstrous creature's back down to an even scarier place. I got a majority of the description of Geryon from the first story I listed and then the actual journey on his back came from the second story listed.

Reading Diary B: Dante's Inferno

I finished up the reading for Dante's Inferno for this reading diary. I felt like I had a better understanding while reading this half of the unit than I did when I first began reading. Maybe it was the break I took between the two but whatever it was I comprehended what was occurring a little easier. I once again took notes on my favorite stories or what peaked my interest and these are found below.

The Harpies and Capaneus

I felt like this chapter of the story gave rise to the familiar scene of hell seen in movies and such. The "crimson boiling" is what I pictured to be fiery lava or something similar. Dante describes how there are people are submerged in this in varying degrees: some up to their necks and others just with their feet completely in the boiling. This is what I would expect to see in a movie scene of hell. Dante learns that these people are guilty of extreme violence against others.

Descending of Geryon's Back

This scene seemed a little crazy not only to me but apparently also to Dante. He has to climb onto the back of Geryon, a monster with wings, paws, a man's face, and a dragon's body. Virgil and Dante ride him down to the eighth circle of hell. The way Dante describes his fear while riding the monstrous beast is very detailed and I don't blame him!

Jason and the Demons

In the first chasm, pimps and seducers were tormented. Within this story, the tale of Jason was told where he abandons Hypsipyle, who he impregnated. He is tormented by his overwhelming guilt for leaving her with child after he seduced her with his charm and gifts. This seems like it would be a good story on its own regardless of being mentioned within Dante's Inferno.

Dante's Inferno theatrical poster for the 1924 film (Wikipedia).