Wikipedia Trails: From Electron Microscope to Atlantic Ocean

I started with Electron Microscope because my roommate is using one in his research,and from there I went to vacuum as in the space vacant of matter, and from there I went to tropical cyclone also known as a hurricane, and from there I went to the Atlantic Ocean.

Electron microscopes are used in biology to see the structure of very tiny things. They can magnify things up to 10 million times.

A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. It is sometimes used in physics to show how things would work if they were not affected by air resistance making them work in ideal conditions.

A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm that bring heavy rain and can cause flooding in places close to sea level. They can be called tropical cyclones, hurricanes or tropical storm depending on the severity of the storm.

The Atlantic Ocean is on the East side of North and South America extending all the way to the West side of Europe and Africa. It is the second largest Ocean just behind the Pacific Ocean. It covers around 20% of the worlds surface.

Tropical Storm Wikimedia Commons

Feedback Thoughts

Feedback can be very helpful even though at times, you do not want to hear it because it makes you uncomfortable and can seem demeaning. In the 5 Tips for Taking Feedback like a Champ, it talks about how when receiving feedback you should think of it as room for improvement. Meaning that you can get better at whatever you are doing and still have a lot to accomplish by improving those areas. The first step in Using Harsh Feedback to Fuel your Career is to embrace the emotions and vent it all out and then wait until they have passed to move on and try to use the feedback. I think this is really important because sometimes you have to just let it out before you realize that they are just trying to help you out and push you forward. When I used to play competitive tennis, my coach would sometimes give me positive feedback this part of my game or negative feedback that part of my game and I would get frustrated with negative feedback. But looking back the negative feedback is what pushed me forward and really helped me improve. This made me realize that even though feedback can frustrate you and make you upset, the only reason it's there is to help you improve.

Criticism Flickr

Topic Brainstorm

Noah's Ark caught my attention because it is a biblical  story I grew up getting told in elementary school. I know the general story line, but never got into details of what happened while everyone was on the ark. I am interested to see what happens after the flood as well. I would like to retell stories of what happens to the animals and people on the ark for over 40 days. The inmates of the ark.

Homer's Odyssey is about the journey and dangers coming back from the Trojan War. There are a lot of different dangers he faces when traveling back and I think it would be easy to retell these stories. I would also like to reread them since I haven't read them since middle school. Retelling how the cyclops were defeated by changing how he tricked him into getting drunk.

Cyclops drinking Wine Flaxman

I randomly clicked on twenty two goblins and thought it would be easy to retell the stories because they are their own separate twelve stories that are told to a king. I have not heard of these stories until today, but I like stories end in a riddle. I could change The three lovers story by changing what each lover does to mourn for her and how she gets revived.

The Tales of the Parrot seemed interesting to me because the parrot has to tell a different story every night to keep his owner's wife from going to see her lover. The stories are trying to teach the wife a lesson as well as keep her from cheating on her husband. All or some of the characters could be changed in The Goldsmith, the Carpenter, the Taylor, and the Hermit and could create something else to teach a lesson about shame that could be brought by going to see her lover.

Week 2 Story: Bear, Man, and Wizard

Once upon a time, a bear was thrown into jail for being the town drunk. He tried and tried to get out, but he could not. 

By chance a poor man walked by.

"Let me out, I got thrown in here for getting too drunk," cried the bear.

"No way," replied the man, "you will probably eat me."

“No I will not,” pleaded the bear, “I will be very grateful and be your protector and guard.”

After hours of sobbing and pleading to the man, he finally yielded to the bears request and opened the gate of the jail. Jumping out of the cell and grabbing the man, yelling, “You fool! I haven’t eaten in months, what is going to stop me from eating you now?”

Pleading for his life he cried, “Please do not hurt me, I have done nothing wrong. What can I do to convince you to let me live?”

“Well if you could somehow get me some Budlight I would forgive you and let you go in peace,” the bear said.

Not knowing how he could come up with the request, the man walked towards the town. Along the road, he stumbled upon a wizard. The man told him his story and the wizard told him to take him to the bear.

The bear screamed, “I am going to have to eat you now since you did not come back with any budlight,” as the man and the wizard walked up to him.

The man bursts out, “You are mistaken, the wizard can turn anything into budlight with just the flick of his staff.”

The bear then asks for the wizard to turn his jail cell into Budlight. Without hesitation the wizard points his staff at the cell and turns its all into Budlight.

The bear cheers, “Dilly, dilly”, at the site of endless beer and goes back into his cell happier than ever. Letting the man walk away in peace. 

Bear attacking the man Wikimedia Commons

Author's Note

The story above is a modification of the Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal with different characters and a change in the ending. I used the wizard from the recent Budlight commercials in placement of the trickster. 

Bibliography

Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations from John Batton.

Reading Notes, Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal

Stories of tricksters have been around since the beginning of story telling. As any trickster story I focus on the trickster of course and in this case is the Jackal. Brahman walks by a tiger stuck in the cage and does not want to let him out because he will eat him. After sobbing and pleading, Brahman finally lets him out and as he's telling this to the jackal, the jackal seems very confused. He asks him to repeat it multiple times and tells him to take him to the cage where the tiger is. The Jackals confusion manipulates the tiger into getting back into the cage causing him to be trapped once again.

Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal by John Batten

I wonder if there is another way for the jackal to trick the tiger other than pure confusion. Could he use some sort of magic to convince the tiger to get back in the cage?

Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal by Joseph Jacobs (1912)

Reading Options

Robin Hood caught my attention because I grew up getting these read to me as a child and then reading them and I would like to revisit them in this class.

Robin Hood shoots with sir Guy Wikimedia Commons

King Arthur caught my attention because I know the story and would like to read a more in-depth version rather than just seeing the movie. 

Noah and the Ark caught my attention because I grew up attending a Catholic school and hearing this story every year.