Mythology and Folklore

Comparing the story of Adam and Eve in the King James Version and the Ginzberg version shows a difference in presentation of the genesis story. While the King James version was more difficult to read, it did align more with the true content of the story as the Ginzberg version was written through a Jewish perspective. Although the plot is well known and it can be difficult to comment on religious stories, I think it it is interesting to analyze the characters of Adam among the two versions. The King James version is not as "hyperbolic' in the description of Adam as compared to Ginzberg. This may due to Ginzber's story being quite longer than the King James version. Nevertheless, Ginzberg presents Adam as supernatural before his downfall, having a height that reached the heavens. He is also described as having celestial clothing that prevents him from being seen as naked. Additionally, Ginzberg makes use of much personification in his stories, The moon, sun, and Earth are ...

This week's content of mythology and folklore really made me excited for what is to come. Making my schedule for the year exposed me to the wide selection of stories that I will be able to read, and I am more than ready to delve into reading. My favorite story I read while exploring was the one of the The Brahman, tiger, and jackal. I love short stories that have witty endings such as this short story where the jackal outsmarted the tiger. In addition, I was also able to experiment with commenting on my classmates' blogs. I really enjoyed being able to learn about the other students taking this class especially because this is an online class where I cannot really interact with others. Nevertheless, I look forward to being able to communicate with my classmates on our blogs! Also this week I was able to generate some ideas for my storybook. Reading the storybooks of past classes really inspired me to come up with unique ways to present the stories, and I believe I have four sol...

The article " A fixed mindset could be holding you back — here's how to change it " really appealed to me as it examined the fixed concept among physicians, my career aspiration. Physicians are often surrounded by life and death scenarios where an adaptable mind is needed for constantly changing situations. As I have gained experience shadowing physicians and understanding the medical world, I  too have realized the significance of having a growth mindset and using constructive feedback. The most productive feedback I have received involved criticisms that acknowledged the drawbacks of my work, but also gave me a path to learn from my mistakes and evolve my growth mindset. Learning from model examples or demonstrations are two types of feedback that I consider to be effective. On the other hand, feedback with the intention of disparaging the work for any little reason really provides no value or incentive to improve. The other article, "Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt...

Some ideas for my storybook! 1. Olympus Sports League My previous knowledge of Greek mythology comes from my experience reading the Percy Jackson  series in elementary school. I was fascinated by the numerous personalities of the deities, especially how each god had their unique relationship with each other god/goddess. I am interested in exploring the relationships between the numerous gods by establishing an Olympus sports league of some sorts. The ancient Olympics as well as other ancient Greek sports could help me choose what sport to base the league on. Additionally, I could take a modern interpretation and incorporate modern sports into the league. For example, each god could be considered an owner of a team with many demigods/heroes consisting of the team. My research would focus on the relationship, feuds, and stories between the many gods as they vie for the championship at the end of the season. Link: https://www.theoi.com/greek-mythology/olympian-go...

One day a Brahman happened to be walking through the sultry jungles of India. While on his walk through the thick forage, he came upon a tiger stuck in deep hole. The tiger was in much distress and was crying out to the Brahman to help him out. Yet, the tiger's sharp teeth and fierce appearance caused the Brahman to hesitate. The Brahman stood in his tracks and pondered in his thoughts: "Why should I help this tiger? He's only going to attack me when I let him go." However, the tiger started crying, "Oh please please please let me go!". "I'll do anything anything!". The tiger kept on going for a quite a while, and the Brahman began to get annoyed. "Okay tiger, I'll get you out", the Brahman said grudgingly. Using a nearby stick, the Brahman pulled the tiger from its place deep in the Earth. The tiger landed on the ground with a loud thud and immediately grabbed the Brahman onto the ground. "How dumb you are! There is nothing ...

The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal  Reading this Indian fairytale reminded me of the many other short stories that I have read where the cunning animal defeats the powerful adversary ( Hare and tortoise for example).  My immediate imagery from reading this short story was similar to that of The Jungle Book. The collection of animals such as the tiger, monkey, buffalo, and jackal created an image of a hot, Indian jungle. Additionally, the author uses specific examples such as "pipal-tree" to help conjure this image. In regard to the characters, the Brahman was an easy figure to support in the story. My research of a Brahman revealed that they are normally priests or teachers of the Indian caste system which helps explain why the tiger labels the Brahman as being "pious". It is clear that the Brahman's greatest strengths are his virtue and integrity, but in the story, they prove to be his weakness initially. However, despite being held captive by the tiger,...

My plan for the semester! Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4. Week 3: Gospel of Mark Week 4: Jewish Fairy Tales Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6. Week 5: Ramayana Week 6: Indian Fairy Tales Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.] Week 7: West African Folktales Week 9: Filipino Popular Tales Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11. Week 10: British North America Week 11: Tejas Indians Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13. Week 12: Beowulf Week 13: King Arther Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15. Week 14: Dante's Inferno Examining the Un-Textbook made me excited for what is to come in the semester. I am interested in reading a variety of notable stories that I kind of understand or heard of, such as Beowulf and King Arthur, but do not truly know. These are stories I always wanted to read due ...

Time management. This seemingly innocuous concept has been the thorn of many college students, including me. Like many college students, I am caught in the constant battle of balancing my school work, outside work, personal health, social life, and so many other aspects. While I believe my high school experience greatly prepared me for the college life, there are many times where I could be more productive. However, I have found my own ways to plan and prioritize, as mentioned by Aine Cain's "11 ways unsuccessful people mismanage their time" article, that have allowed me to complete my required work. I am a big fan of making sure I know all of my assignments due for the week, and I record all of this on an app I bought before I began college, It is called iStudiez Pro and has been tremendously helpful. I simply record the assignments for my week into the app, and the app sends me notifications of when they are due as well many other reminders such as my class times, exam ...

Taking this online class has not been too weird for me. I took a psychology online class the previous semester, and I am accustomed to the in and outs of an online class. However, like I touched on my last blog post, I do not have any previous blogging experience. Blogging will be a interesting endeavor, and I look forward to sharing my thoughts to the online world. Who knows, maybe this is an experience I continue on after the class! In regards to the other technology tools, the only one I do not really have experience with is the graphics creation. Learning this tech skill will hopefully make me more adept in incorporating media into my future works, and I cannot wait to try that out! Picpedia : Taking the skills I learn in this class into the FUTURE

During the 2019 spring semester, I was browsing some of the classes I could take for an upper division humanities course. While I was looking through all of my  options, I noticed the class "Mythology and Folklore".  Now when I was younger I loved reading the Percy Jackson series, so I immediately I thought this would be an intriguing g class to take. Yet, I saw that the class required a blog throughout the course work and I was kind of unsure of what to think about that. Flash forward to one week into school, and I can say that writing this blog has been a worthwhile experience so far. It is refreshing to be able to just write about my thoughts on a consistent matter, and I cannot wait to read some stories and reflect on those as well. I am excited to do the story book project after reading some examples, and I think the "Famous Last Words" will be a great way to end my week. All in all, I am ready to tackle some myths and folks!  Flickr : Percy Jackson Movie Po...

Growth Mindset is a concept that was familiar to me due to my previous experience in psychology classes. While I had not heard of Professor Dweck, my understanding of the concept was essentially the same as hers. My experience with the Growth Mindset has certainly evolved over years. Growing up, I was accustomed to putting the worth or value of things I did into awards and achievements. I think part of that mindset was due to being naive and not really understanding what was truly the best way of approaching my life. Grades and achievements are still important to me, I won't deny that, but my use of the Growth Mindset has definitely "grown" over the years, including my time in OU. My failures and setbacks are now more of an opportunity to learn and grow rather than as a validation of any type of worth. A specific example of the Growth Mindset while in college was the second semester of sophomore year when I took biochemistry. The class had notable reputation of not being ...

Wow. It is crazy to think that I am already back in Norman for my junior year. While my first two years were full of unique experiences, I never imagined that I would be a writing a blog to begin my third year! To start off, I am psychology major on the pre medicine track. Ever since I took psychology in high school I found studying the mind and the way people act so interesting. However, I always had the goal of becoming a physician which explains the pre-med track.  Although I am an OU student, I still consider myself a proud Texan. I come from a relatively small town in East Texas where high school football is king and perhaps the most famous thing is that Matthew Mccounaughey graduated from my high school (he even came to our high school graduation this year to give a speech!). Wikimedia Commons : Longview High School Now some other facts about me. I am a huuuuuuggeeeeee tennis fan. I have been playing tennis since I was 7 years old, and played through out high schoo...

Asking Anubis : Before reading this storybook, I had little knowledge of Egyptian mythology as well as Japanese folktales. However, I did recognize Anubis as the god with a jackal head thus I was interested in finding out more about this god. The title was unique in that it was similar to columns seen in newspapers or magazines where readers ask questions about life advice. I thought this was a clever way of introducing the style of the storybook as Anubis was portrayed as a being a life advice expert. The introduction was captivating and did make me want to read the rest of the stories; I enjoyed how Anubis was the host of his own radio show, and would be giving advice to various people/deities. It was also distinct how Anubis did not only take "calls" from Egyptian gods but also characters from Japanese folktales. Overall, I really enjoyed the layout of the storybook. Clicking the link to the storybook led me to a page giving me a short description of Anubis as an advice...

A Christmas trip to Barcelona following my first semester at OU introduced me to a city that captured my heart. Because of my previous experience in highschool taking art history, I was engrossed in the modern architecture of the city, mainly of the work of acclaimed architect Antonio Gaudi.  Moreover, the night life and unique Catalan traditions conveyed a city with a blend of modern and traditional tastes.  Finally, as a huge soccer fan I was amazed by the sight of Camp Nou, the home of Barcelona FC and one of the cathedrals of soccer. (La Sagrada Familia; personal image) (Local food market; personal image) (Max Pixel:  Camp Nou , Home of FC Barcelona)

Ready for some myths and folks!