Reading Notes: The Monkey King, Part B

(Sun Wu Kung)

Wow, Part B was quite the ride. I definitely felt like there was a lot going on. I wish, in both parts, that there were fewer stories and more details to each one. 

I think my favorite part was when he was finally taught his lesson. Obviously, it sucks that it took him being locked up for 500 years (did he have food???), but I thought that part was good.

I also felt like all the times he was like deceiving the gods and especially the Lord of the Heavens was kind of weird because I would think that they wouldn't be able to be tricked like that. I just felt like it was all too easy for him.

I don't really think I will use any of the material from this part for my retelling, I like the ideas from the first part better.

Bibliography: The Monkey King, from Wilhelm's Chinese Fairy Book

Reading Notes: The Monkey King, Part A

(The Monkey King, by Yoshitoshi)

This week I decided to read The Monkey King unit. I went ahead and read it all at once and it was so interesting! I really enjoyed it and am excited to do my own retelling.

This unit was a bit overwhelming just because I felt like so much happened in such a short amount of time.

I think my favorite parts in Part A were when Sun Wu Kung was being taught by the saint because I think he seemed the least conceited here. Until of course he wouldn't stop asking about immortality.

I also think that some of the story was confusing and that it could be better understood by someone in the culture at the time, or at least someone more familiar with the culture and traditions. I didn't understand why he was made of stone. How did he even move?

I also liked the parts where he was in the dragon realm, just because in a book series I've read that incorporates Indian mythology the five dragons were part of one of the books so it was cool to see something somewhat familiar though still different.

I think in my retelling I will use the time spent with the saint and have things end differently. I think I would like it better if Sun Wu Kung realizes he doesn't need immortality and moves on from that.

Bibliography: The Monkey King, Wilhelm's Chinese Fairy Book

From Alexandria to Arian controversy: Wikipedia Trail

Alexander the Great

Alexandria: I chose to start with this Wikipedia page because while on the class website I know noticed a RT in the Twitter Stream about some objects that had been recovered from ancient Alexandria. It said that part of the city had gone underwater, and I'd never heard about that so I decided to check it out. I had to read the ancient section of the main page.

365 Crete Earthquake: I was led to this page because I found the reason some of those artifacts were underwater was because of a tsunami that devastated the city in 365. It was caused by an earthquake whose epicenter is estimated to be Crete.

Ammianus Marcellinus: I got to this page about a Roman soldier and historian because he wrote a detailed passage about the earthquake/tsunami above. His work is titled Res Gestae and while he wrote a detailed history of Rome from 96-378, only the 353-378 sections survived over the years.

Arian controversy: Finally, I got here because the previous article talked about how Marcellinus was not a Christian but tolerated them. The controversy was over whether Jesus was fully man, fully God, or both. The trinitarian view won out, and is still supported by most Christians today.

Learning Challenge: Happiness Jar

Source

I am going to do the Happiness Jar challenge this week as part of the Learning by H.E.A.R.T. for extra credit. I plan to write something down every day in my notebook that made me happy that day.

I will update in a week with how it went and what things I wrote down!

Growth Mindset: Sparking Creativity in a Rut

Source

What is at least one thing that the article CONFIRMED for you that you knew already?

• This article confirmed for me the fact that when you first start a new job compared to when you've been there awhile, things are so different. Things are new and exciting and the creative juices are flowing. I also think it's because you have new bosses that you really want to impress and after awhile once you realize how they work, what things they expect from you, and what areas you can slack off with them, things change.

What is at least one NEW thing that you learned that you did not know before?

• I'd say the new thing I learned was that the patterns of thinking the article mentioned, and of course others it didn't mention, undermine creativity. 

What is the one thing you are now CURIOUS to explore (i.e. something you want to try in your life, something you want to research and learn more about, etc.) and what are you going to do in order to act on that curiosity?

• Something I am now curious to explore is "capitalizing on obstacles." I think this is something I could use more in my life because usually when I run into obstacles I get overwhelmed and anxious. So I think I need to start looking at ways to efficiently solve problems instead of just shutting down.

Tech Tip: Browser Typing

So I just tried the browser typing tech tip, and it's cooler than I thought. Usually I prefer Google Docs to type in, whenever I need to write down notes or anything. But also when I need to type something immediately I will use the Notes app on my phone.

I think I could use this sometimes just to have a big space to write in, but we will see.

Week 8 Progress

1. Am I happy with my progress so far? Honestly, no. I have been falling behind these last few weeks, and I don't think there's been a week where I was able to finish all of the weekly assignments. I'd say I'm most proud of my story, "The Downfall of Jupiter," and my choosing of "The Valkyrie" by Richard Wagner for my storybook. I do not have a good weekly routine, though I feel I did at the beginning of the semester. It has been hard to motivate myself to get things done for this class early, and oftentimes I miss the deadlines. I would say I enjoy the readings the most, though it is sometimes difficult for me to get myself to make the reading notes post. I have used some of the extra credit options but have not tried them all.

2. For the next half of the semester the changes I want to make are to make sure I'm getting not only the weekly assignments done each week but also a lot of extra credit. I will really have to put some effort into this, and actively choose to work on this class rather than have downtime.

Source

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

1. Overall, I would say I've been getting pretty good comments from others in the class, though I have noticed that I get far fewer comments than a lot of the blogs I have been leaving comments on. I think the most helpful ones have been ones that used one of the feedback strategies and the ones that were very specific that showed me they had really paid attention to my story/post.

2. I think I have been leaving some really good comments on other blogs. I think the most useful feedback strategy for me has been the WWW strategy: "Wow.. I Wonder.. What if.." And I do think I have gotten some good inspiration for my own writing as I read others, as everyone has such different ways of storytelling and retelling.

3. As far as having a sense of getting to know people at their blogs, I will say I'm kind of neutral on this question. On one hand, it sort of feels artificial, since we are being graded on our "getting to know" our classmates and the length and quality of our comments. However, I will also say that I have learned more about students in this class than if I were in a normal, in-person class. I would say I never learn very much about my classmates except a select few.

4. For the rest of this class, I definitely need to make more of an effort to do the feedback/comments every week, because I have been slacking on them.

"You can learn from criticism" from cheezburger

I chose this image because I think in order for feedback to have a positive effect, we must first learn to separate the negative feelings we get from constructive criticism from what we can actually do with that criticism.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

My Progress

As I look back at my progress so far in this class, I'm a bit disappointed. It's been harder than I thought to motivate myself in getting the work for this class done. Though I've taken many online classes before, this one by far has the most work to get done.

I think my main issue is that the Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday deadlines are also all the nights that I have weekly commitments to clubs or church. I really need to start getting them done earlier, because I definitely have the time but I've always been one to leave things to the last minute.

I am pretty happy with my blog, I don't care so much about how it looks than the quality of the posts. And I feel good about my project website so far, and I'm really excited to actually start writing those stories. Reading The Valkyrie for my project has definitely been my favorite thing to read so far, even though it wasn't assigned.

"Valhalla" (1896) by Max Brückner

This is an image of Valhalla, the realm of the gods in Wagner's The Valkyrie. I used it as the image for my storybook introduction, and I chose to put it in this post because I just think it's really beautiful.

Looking forward, I know I need to step up my game in this class and start doing every single assignment, as well as a LOT of extra credit to make sure I pass the class. I hope to become more organized in all areas of my life in the second half of this semester.