Week 7: Review

Bird and Cage

Week 7 has been a busy one! Done with midterms and half way there! I also had the chance to finish up my storybook. Don't forget to review and back up all your work!

Check out the class announcements and stay up to date, Check it out.

Just like the bird and the cage. Do the homework to get the grade!

Week 7: Famous Last Words

Half way there! 

It is half way through the semester and midterms are over! I am pleased to say I am relieved. I am also excited that this semester is almost over. I can't wait for summer! It has definitely been an accomplishment to get through midterms. I was studying every day and working hard. I was really glad to finish my midterm paper for one of my classes. I even turned it in early. That's a big accomplishment for me! One of my semester goals this year was to not procrastinate as much has I have in the past. I think I am doing a pretty good job. I am also doing well managing my time. I have been working as well and still getting my work turned in on time. 

In this class, I have finally finished revising my story book. I am excited to continue onto the next story. I look forward to it and hope my readers do as well. Here is a link to check it out if you haven't, Ashlie's Storybook. The introduction was the hardest thing for me to write. It always is in any paper or story. Now I will be able to use other stories to help me. Kira has an adventure waiting here. 

Starting last week I started a competition with my friend. The competition is on the Nike run app. We are trying to run as many miles as we can. As of now I am two miles behind. Don't worry though it won't is for long. I plan on winning. I also plan on getting in shape for summer. I am highly looking forward to all my adventure I have planned. I can't wait to be back in my home mountains! 

Personally Taken, Alaska Basin, Wyoming 

Taken by Cory Helm, Grand Teton National Park

This summer I hope to be in the mountains on a hike every day I have off. I am also excited to get back to work this summer! See my friends from back home and enjoy the summer. 

Half way down and half way to go! 

Week 7: Reading Diary Continued: The Miraculous Mirror

Highlighted story The Miraculous Mirror by E.W. Champney and F. Champney (1917)

I choose to highlight this story because while reading it I felt a sense of urgency and excitement. I also took note that there were some great words used to describe things. Such as; rapturous, inner weft, firmament, auspicious, boisterous, and bountiful. I think the writer did a great job of using these words. It really adds to the detail of the story. I have learned that a few of the right strong words are better than a lot of little words. You can tell a great story with only a few words.

This is something I would like to work on. I am still struggling with the maximum length when writing my stories. I think that if I chose better words for descriptions it can help. One of my new goals is to create shorter stories. I want to be able to write a short story but still have great detail and a powerful message to it.

I also enjoyed that even though this story was just about a mirror there was a lot going on. I noticed that the mirror was never really mentioned until the very end of the story. Also, the Mirror is in the story title, it is the title. I like that the title doesn't really give anything away. The title lays at the very end of the story. I used to have a lot of trouble coming up with a title. I used to never come up with a title till the very end of the story. In a way, this helped me come up with a better title. Recently though I have been looking at pictures and basing my story from that. Just the same as with basing my story from my weekly readings. Now, I come up with a title and base the rest of my story from the title.

Miraculous Mirror: Wikipedia

Week 7: Storytelling : The Egg

The Egg 

Many years ago there was a Dragon King who lived in a cave in the middle of the ocean. This king had been around longer than anyone or anything else around. He kept to himself with his Dragon-Queen and lived a quiet life. Their cave was in the middle of the ocean where very few could even get to. Yet, no one knew how or why he was a king. There were a million different stories and rumors going around. No one knew the true story. Many had never even seen the Dragon-King. Some did not even believe he existed. The people would argue that if he was alive he wouldn't be hiding in a cave in the middle of the ocean. People would ask if he was a coward? Was the king even alive? Why didn't he ever leave his cave? How did he even become king? Why has no one seen him? Questions were rattled off each and ever day.

One of the popular stories that went around was the Dragon King never leaves his cave base of all the treasures he holds. The King had no reason to leave his home. This story brought many people out to sea in hopes of finding the hidden treasures. Eventually, people stopped trying because no man had come back alive. The monsters of the ocean were loyal to the king and helped protect his treasures.

Hidden Island Cave: Wikipedia

One day not far from the hidden island a girl was wandering around the mountains. She was scouring the side of rocky cliffs when she came upon a mysterious object. She had found a dragon egg. It was solid black without a singe scratch on it. The egg was about the size of a newborn baby. Finding this egg would change the girls life forever. 

The girl had only heard of the Dragon King but never truly believed in the stories until this day. The girl wanted no trouble and was afraid of what could happen if she was found even near this egg. As you can imagine Dragons are not known to be friendly creatures. This girl couldn't help but wonder what that egg was doing all alone. How could the Dragon King leave his egg unattended? The girl wondered if something had gone wrong. She was torn between fear and keeping the egg safe. 

The girl had come to the conclusion that no one else would find the egg and it should remain safe. The girl packed up her things and right as she was about to climb down the rest of the mountain, she heard a crack. It was the egg. The egg was beginning to crack. The girl froze, and to her amazement, she watched the egg hatch. 

It was the most magnificent creature she had ever seen. It was surely enough a baby dragon. The baby dragon was a metallic black with piercing red diamonds marked down his back. His wings had spikes on the tips and his claws were as sharp as blades. His eyes were a stunning deep purple and his teeth were fully grown. The baby dragon had soon spotted the girl sitting next to him. 

No one made a move. Until the small cliff, they were both sitting on began to give way. There was fear in both their eyes. Knowing the cliff edge was about to fall the girl grabbed the baby dragon and began to climb down. She made it down in the nick of time. The edge they were sitting on fell, crashing down into the fierce waves of the ocean below them. Once the girl was on the sturdy ground she set the baby dragon down. 

Frighted by everything that had recently occurred the girl took one last look at the baby dragon and took off running. The baby dragon let out a cry and started to run after her. The girl heard and started to slow down. She looked back and saw the baby struggling to keep up with her. The girl stopped running and the baby came running up to her and lay down on her feet. 

The baby dragon had become attached to this girl. The girl knew it too. She was no longer scared but now felt a sense that she had to protect this little dragon. As the days went on the girl and the baby dragon began to grow closer and closer. They had been together for almost a month now. The baby dragon was not so much a baby anymore. The dragon was growing fast. One day the dragon was big enough the girl was able to ride him. The dragon bowed down to her and she knew he wanted her to ride him. The girl took a leap of faith and got on her dragon. He took off and they flew up into the sky. The girl was amazed and truly happy she had found this dragon. 

The dragon started to slow down and make his way back to the ground. The girl noticed a little island that seemed to have a cave on it. This is where the dragon landed and the girl hopped off. The dragon looked at here with worried eyes then wrapped himself around her. The girl grew worried she knew something was going on. Then the dragon let out a call and a call back is what followed. Two other dragons came out of the cave. The girl looked at her dragon and she knew these must be his parents. 

The dragon had found his home and brought the girl with him. The life of the girl is now in the hands of what once was the baby dragon she had saved. The young dragon knew he would have to come home but couldn't leave the girl behind. This is the story of how dragons and humans came together. 

Author's Note: I based my story from The Dragon-King. In the story, there was a very powerful monkey that could overcome any element. The monkey was able to walk across water and get to the Dragon-king. The ape had travel to the king to ask him for a weapon that could suit his strength. Here the king presented him with a rod. This rod was able to adjust size and weight with the apes command. I was not a huge fan of this weeks reading I choose so I really wanted to mix it up. If I could have any creature as a pet it would be a baby dragon. This is where I got the idea once I read about the dragon king. The only thing I kept from the story was the cave the dragon king lived in and the treasures the king had. In the end, I wanted the dragon and the girl to become friends. I ended the story leading to the beginning of dragons and human friendship. In other words the first dragon rider. 

Bibliography: Story source- The Monkey King Unit, Story, The Dragon-King by, R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921.) 

Week 7: Reading Diary, Continued: Notch, Son of Li Dsing.

The second half of the reading was a continued story of Sun Wu Kung. My favorite story from the second half was Notch, Son of Li Dsing. This story was intense and exciting to read. It was a battle I was waiting for to happen. I also think this story is when a greater plan takes place.

In the previous story, Sun Wu Kung was summoned to Heaven. The Lord of Heavens apointed his as stablemaster. When first reading this story my thought was that this was to keep Sun Wu Kung out of trouble. He was first brought up to Heaven because he was becoming a rather evil dictator. Sun Wu Kung had too much power for his own good you could say. In heaven, the time was different than on earth. Sun Wu Kung soon found out that stablemaster was not a high authority position and became infuriated. He left the HEaven and went back to his apes. They through him a feast and welcomed him back.

Once the Lord of Heavens found out about Sun Wu Kung's absence he sent Notscha for him. He wanted Sun Wu Kung to be captured and put in prison. This is when the battle took place. There was shapeshifting involved as well as trickier. It kept me close to the story and on edge. In the end, Sun Wu Kung was too much. He was too strong to be beaten in battle. Then the Evening Star came into the story. It was said that no one was a match for Sun Wu Kung.

After the Lord and the Evening, star confessed they decided they would have to take in Sun Wu Kung another way. They had to be smarter than he was since they couldn't beat him in battle. They came up with the idea to give him an empty title of Great Saint.

After reading this story I was left wondering what would happen left. Most of the other stories kind of mellowed out and they just started back up into a new story. This story though left you with a hook at the end. It made me jump into the next story to find out what would happen. I was left asking myself, what was the master plan? Where are they going to capture him? Or would Sun Wu Kung be too powerful and take over the Heavens?

The Heavens: Wikipedia

Story Scourse: Part of The Monkey King Unit. Story source: The Ape Sun Wu Kung in The Chinese Fairy Book, by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

Week 7: Reading Diary: The Dragon-King

I have chosen to highlight the story of The Dragon-King as well as The Dragon-Queen.

Before I read this story I expected a much different outcome. Usually, when I think of Dragons I think of intense, strong, magnificent beats. Yet in this story, they aren't much of any of those. At least, it's not described. I had made a guess that the Dragon-King would be one to fight the great Sun Wu Kung. Instead there was no fighting at all.

Sun Wu Kung was on a mission to find a weapon that would suit him. So he traveled to the Dragon-King.  The first weapons presented to Sun Wu Kung he was unpleased with or said they were to light. Even though these weapons weighed thousands of pounds. At the end of this story, the Dragon-King is left frightened by Sun Wu Kung. The story continues with the Dragon-Queen.  The Dragon-Queen had come out and mentioned that the iron bar was lying in their sea. It was also glowing which meant it was ready to be taken. The Dragon-King was arguing this. He mentioned that it was the rod the Great Yu used to order the waters and determine the depth of the sea. The King thought it couldn't be taken away. Then the Queen convinced the King to let Sun Wu Kung see it.

This is where that story became exciting and more interesting to read. When Sun Wu Kung first approached the rod it was far too heavy and large to move. He simply wished it was shorter and thinner. Then the rod became shorter and thinner! The rod would adjust size and weight with his commands. It was magical. This was a weapon than would suit Sun Wu Kung.

Dragon-King By: Combpank on Deviant Art

I found this story interesting to read because I couldn't guess what was going to happen. It always kept me hooked with the next action. I was also fascinated by such a weapon. The things you could accomplish with such a weapons are unlimited. After reading these two stories I kept asking myself how is he able to control this rod? Will someone try to take it from him? I think a good story is one that always has you asking questions. It keeps the reader excited and interested in the story. It is also more interesting when you guess wrong. The reader is then caught by surprise and interest in what will happen instead.