Reading

Okay this is me just being goofy, but I had to use it as my reaction to the readings. I tend to get goofy when I don't know how to react to something, and that's how I felt on many readings. They went from happy to sad to funny. this is a very good thing though. The readings were diverse and need to stay that way! Exposure to diverse things is very important I feel.

I liked the Alice In Wonderland Readings the most. It laid the ground work, creativity wise, for my entire project. Imagination brings the thing most essential to existence, emotion. Everything we do is based on how we feel. Sometimes we act on emotions even when we shouldn't, but that's real life. That's is why I like Alice In Wonderland so much, imagination inspired.

Honestly, all writing strategies were helpful so I won't elaborate on those too much.

My main thing for balance on writing, commenting, and reading was that I feel there was too much commenting. What I mean is, I like the commenting, but I didn't feel like I could give a genuine enough comment with as many we did each week. So maybe just keep the 150 word comments and get rid of the 60 word comment ones? I like the focus more on the reading and writing. This way we aren't so overwhelmed with reading a ton of comments and this balances out the comments we get from our professor. :) We just have more time overall to really dig into the comments this way without spending the majority of the time reading every other comment we have. So, keep commenting, but just decrease it a little bit.

My only advice would be to jump into the reading. Come with an open mind!

Reflections

This picture sums up my semester. I just got this headshot taken for my acting for camera career I'm pursuing. This class has made me believe in the imaginary and belief in dreaming more than before. I have learned to bring things to life in my portfolio and in turn, my real life. No joke my character development has sky rocketed. This is why I am most proud of my portfolio stories. I didn't have as much time as I'd like, but I dreamed huge. I made an epic storyline and was more creative than I have ever been. I think people saw that. I left so much out due to time constraints, but you may see this in the future. Who knows! I feel like I created something truly original. Obviously, there'd be trouble with a script like this in real life for copyright purposes, but I feel like I created something like never before. This is why I am most proud of my portfolio stories. 

My most valuable take away from this class is knowing professional structures. What I mean is, if you want to be a professional writer, know all of the rules. If I want to be an actor, I need to know the ins and outs. A person needs to know all of the essentials so they don't mess up on something elementary. Then expand from there beyond your wildest dreams. Know the rules and then expand your horizons.    

The End

(God 

Beowulf yells, "Close the gate!"

The whole town runs around in fear. Beowulf, Adam, Eve, Mr. Rabbit, and Alice all run to the top of the front gate as fast as they can. They all are knocked left and right from the sporadic crowd. Beowulf, Adam, and Eve make it to the top of the front gate. Alice and Mr. Rabbit get separated from them. 

"What do we do?" Adam and Eve cry to Beowulf. 

Beowulf picks up his sword and says, "WE FIGHT. Do not be afraid. God is on our side."

Then he yells, "Come on! Archers get ready! Fire when I say so!"

The army of devils approaches quickly. They are all in a dead sprint toward the castle. 

Beowulf tells the archers, "Wait! Wait!"

The army is nearing the castle about four hundred feet away.

Beowulf continues, "Hold! Hold!"

The men's arms get tired from holding their bows. Their aim gets more difficult. The army is two hundred feet away now. 

Beowulf gives the order, "Send these beasts back where they came from! Fire!"

Arrows knock down devil troops left and right. It looks like their attack is failing, and the castle is holding! Beowulf's army's hopes are short-lived though. The army makes its way for the castle door's main entrance. 

Eve yells, "We must make for the gate!"

Beowulf nods in approval. He and Adam follow Eve to the gate. 

Adam yells, "To the gate, men! We must fight for our lives!" 

Boom! The gate rattles. All on the inside stand behind the gate ready to give their lives. 

Beowulf looks at the men and women. They all have fear in their eyes. 

Beowulf raises his sword."With God as my witness, we will win this battle today. We shall save the town. Ready your arms and do not fear. It is time to show them what real power looks like!" 

The whole army cheers in agreement. The gate booms again. Men, women, and children cry, holding onto their last moments. One more shot at the gate and it will fall. 

A loud boom rings out as the last hit to the door clangs.  The army rushes in. They start tearing through the crowd. Beowulf, Adam, and Eve fight, keeping the battle focused on them in the middle. All of a sudden, they see a portal open up and out come Mr. Rabbit and Alice with the evil Queen of Heart's army from Wonderland. The Queen's army of cards seeks to deal the enemy a different hand this day. 

Mr. Rabbit yells, “Charge!”

Alice yells, “After them!”

The Queen of Hearts yells, “If anyone is going to cut someone's head off, it will be me Satan!”

All smile and look above the portal as it closes. They all see God winking back at them. Satan’s army is getting pushed back!

Beowulf leads the charge with his sword that magically starts flaming. He takes it and stabs it in the ground as hard as he can yelling, “Thou giveth and thou taketh away!”

Boom! A line of fire is set between Satan’s army and the castle. Satan’s army flees from the castle.

The crowd and Lord’s company are yelling shouts of joy. The whole castle can finally lay down their weapons.

God appears suddenly and says, “Beowulf, Adam, Eve, Mr. Rabbit, and Alice, you have finished your duties. It is time to go back to your homes now. “

Beowulf says, “I don’t know if I want to.”

God replies, “What?”

Eve replies, “ Yeah, I’m with him. We’ve been through too much together to call it quits now."

Eve smiles. Adam, Mr. Rabbit, and Alice nod in agreement.

God says, “ Okay then, I will watch after you. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me.”

God disappears and the heroes turn around to face the town. Cheers ring out and a large festival begins.

Author's Note: In the original story Suicide and Salvation,  Adam and Eve both decided to die because of their sin against God by listening to the serpent. The serpent told them to eat the fruit from a tree that they are not allowed to eat from. Adam and Eve, disgusted with themselves, took their lives. However, God brought them back to life and took all of their sin and put it on himself. So, God then destroyed their sin and forgave them. 

In my story, God saves our characters from death as well by bringing an army from Wonderland. I chose to write it in third person narrative because it helped me develop the story better with different voices and views of people. The goal for this story was to have a surprise moment where everyone is saved from Satan's army. I thought that was pivotal and would make for a very entertaining short story. I built the story up to have this massive ending so I figured I needed a miraculous surprise. I wanted Alice and Mr. Rabbit active. I believe they were the biggest surprise of all. My last goal was to bring the message from Suicide and Salvation into the story. In essence, I wanted to show God saving the day in a small way. I didn't want him fighting the battle for them, but to assist them. 

Bibliography: Suicide and Salvation, The Forgotten Books of Eden, Rutherford H. Platt, (1926)

Essay: Our Fears

(The Two Corpses)

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The Two Corpses had one fear that is completely universal to all humans, death. Two corpses chase a soldier through a cemetery. The soldier has to choose between the two most common reactions humans would have in this situation, fight or flight. What I mean is, people either will either fight back or cave in under pressure. The soldier runs into a church and waits. The two corpses get into a fight and then the soldier sneaks out untouched. The soldier was smart and fought back waiting for the opportune moment to escape. The source of the fear in this story, and really any scary story, is how unsettling the circumstances are. Then naturally, a person reading this puts themselves in the character's shoes. So, when someone sees or reads a story like this with outrageous circumstances, most of their immediate thoughts are "Oh my gosh that would suck," which leads to "What if that were me!" The source of fear is in the unsettling circumstances that make it feel real. 

In The Witch Girl, death also is the fear displayed. Death itself isn't what makes it scary though. The fact that the death comes by a Witch, evil mythical forces, is what makes it scary. In the story, a witch comes by every house in a town at night time and kills whoever she wishes. The people never know when she will strike though. The setting, nighttime, makes it really scary. No one has any idea when she strikes. So, this one has a happy ending though with a guy that cuts her arm off leaving her useless. The guy who did this, like above, fought back in challenging circumstances. People want to overcome evil and these writers did a good job playing to that. I do not know why people like to read or watch stories like this. I guess the only logical conclusion is that people liked to be scared. 

Storytelling Week 14: Corpse Brothers

(Soldier)

One day a soldier is walking to his pickup location after the war is over. He finally can go home! It is a cold night and he is walking by himself when he suddenly hears something. It sounds like a voice. 

"Ohhhhhh naaaaaoooooo!!!!!," the voice yells. 

The soldier looks around, but sees nothing. Suddenly, he hears footsteps behind him. Before the soldier can turn around he is knocked to the ground. He sees it is a corpse that has come to life that knocked him down.  The corpse stick out its long tongue as it gets closer to the soldier. It keeps getting closer and the soldier has to make a move. He kicks the corpse in its leg causing it to fall. Boom! The soldier gets knocked down again by another corpse. 

This new corpse says, "Brother are you okay?" 

His brother responds, "Yes, just trying to catch us some supper."

They both look at the soldier and smile. 

The soldier looks at them and says, "Bring it."

The corpses run at the soldier, but he clotheslines both of them. They get up ready for more. They both jump at the soldier and tackle him to the ground. The soldier punches one in the face and kicks the other in the stomach. He makes it to his feet and both corpses let out a shriek that would rattle the gates of hell. 

The soldier gets a bewildered look on his face. Suddenly, all of the graves start shaking. One by one, corpses rise from each grave. The two corpses look at the soldier with a smile. The soldier now has a limp due to the beating he took. He turns around and makes a dead sprint for his camp he just came from. He's got a mile jog to out run the corpses. 

The soldier is running and looks behind him to pure terror with hundreds of corpses chasing him. 

The soldier yells to his camp, "Help!!!!! Help!!!!!" 

Nothing happens from his yelling. He is about one hundred yards aways. The soldier falls down. The corpses are feet from him. The soldier reverts to the fetal position. 

Instantly, corpses are getting shot down. 

The soldiers lieutenant yells, "Come on run! We have cover fire! Men fire at will!"

The soldier gets up and runs crying and screaming. Corpses inches from grabbing him, but getting shot down. 

The soldier yells, "Nooooo!!!!" 

He keeps dodging bullets and explosions. 

The corpses keep falling like domino's. The soldier makes it to camp  and jumps over the wire fence with a corpse still behind him. The corpse jumps after him, but the lieutenant shoots it in mid-air with a shot gun blowing it back to hell. The soldier made it and will wait to leave with his whole company to head home.   

Author's Note: I chose the third person narration style because its just easier for me truthfully. It feels more natural for me to write that way. My main goal for this story was to keep the happy ending with the soldier ending up alive, but make it much more difficult and dramatic for him to escape. 

In the original story,The Two Corpses, a soldier walks through a cemetery and gets chased into a church by a corpse. The corpse that chased him runs into another corpse in the church and they end up in a fight killing each other. Thus, the soldier escapes free easy. So, as stated above, I changed everything after the soldier's first confrontation with a corpse.  

Bibliography:The Two Corpses, Russian Fairy Tales, W. R. S. Ralston, (1887)

Reading Diary B: Russian Folk Tales

(The Witch Girl)

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The Witch Girl was such a great story! Wow, I never thought I would see what they were writing about. The most interesting thing I found about this story is the people's resiliency. A witch would come into a house and all would fear knowing a witch is coming at some point. The witch comes silently and kills. So, I wondered why the people just let this continue to happen. Their resiliency was very low. This made the hero, the Cossack, even better though! The witch comes in and he listens to his natural instincts, which is to protect everyone in the house he is staying in for the night. The witch came in and the Cossack cut her arm off. Everyone was alive and they went to search for the witch and found a little girl missing an arm. Finally, one person stood against her and ended this dreadful streak! I couldn't believe it took so long for someone to do that.

The Two Corpses was a very interesting story. Its about a soldier that escapes two corpses that come alive and chase him. The corpses end up getting into a fight and fall lifeless leaving the soldier to leave safely. The most interesting thing I found about this story was the shock value. The story was flowing like normal and all of a sudden you hear that a corpse is chasing the soldier. That freaked me out pretty good. Could you imagine anything worse? You are headed home in the dark and get chased by a corpse? It would be terrifying. I thought the writer did a very good job in making this a frightful piece. 

Reading Diary A: Russian Folktales

(The Dead Mother)

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The Dead Mother was a very depressing story. A mother dies giving birth to a child, but then comes back as a ghost feeding the baby every night. The baby cries all day long and is soothed by the dead mother at night. The husband sees this and then finds that the baby is dead. What I find most interesting about this is that someone chose to write about this topic. Who would want to write about this? I think its someone trying to express their pain they have experienced. That's what I find most intriguing. I hope, whether the story is true or not, that individual who wrote this has found peace in some way. 

Friday had a happier ending thank goodness. A mother did not honor Mother Friday resulting in a consequence. Mother Friday came into the mother's house and filled her eyes with dust to where she couldn't see. The mother then passed out and woke up in shock. She cried out to Mother Friday for a pardon and Mother Friday cleared her eyes. I chuckled a little bit reading this because it seems like someone got in trouble with their mother! That's what's most interesting to me! How even a story about filling someone's eyes with dust can be frightening if your mother is involved in the punishment. If mom isn't happy, no one is happy. 

Both stories were polar opposites, but I think held great value. It is amazing what people will write about. I especially wonder what inspired many of the writings.