Famous Last Words
I know it is only the second week, but the assignments for this week were my favorite! I loved the unit I got to read (Cupid and Psyche), which was amazing. I was able to challenge myself to recreate the story as well as try to fit the entire re-told story into 1000 words. That was the most difficult task of this week but it was still quite entertaining! I think my favorite part of this class is being able to express myself through the stories that I get to retell. I have always loved to write little stories here and there. Some based off of dreams, some that just come to me randomly in the day, either way, I love writing! The problem has always been that I am not really a great writer. I have a hard time getting my thoughts to the written world. But with these assignments I only have to be original to a certain degree. The basic plot is there as the bones, I just have to recreate the skin and muscles of the story around them.
I also love being able to read through everyone else's stories and see how they interpret either the same stories that I read or how they interpret other stories. Going through other stories and sources where the stories were found, it helps me find books that I might want to own or stories that I want to read. It also helps me to broaden my interests. I am not particularly interested in biblical stories but if there is someone who recreates it well enough, it might spark my interest enough to check out the original story.
I am definitely very excited to see what stories are produced over the next several weeks and how everyone grows in their storytelling abilities!
Oh I read Cupid and Psyche this week as well. Reading their story inspired my storybook. I am doing it all about Cupid. Cupid and Psyche has been one of my favorite stories I have read in this class. I agree with you I like that there is a structure to the stories we are to retell but then we get to make them our own. This class and Epics of India have been my favorite classes I have taken in college and I am a 5th year Senior. I hope the class is still going great for you and good luck with the second half.
ReplyDeleteI did not read the Cupid and Psyche unit but it seems like you really enjoyed it! I also struggled with keeping my first few storytelling posts below 1000 words but have since gotten better about deciding when I need the full 1000 word limit and when I can shorten the story to make it more concise and simple. I love your analogy of the original story being "the bones" and you just have to recreate the "skin and muscles." I never thought of it this way but it is a great way to think about the storytelling. I also agree with you that some units do not interest me, but if I read a storytelling post for the week that interests me I consider that unit for the next time. I did not pick to read the Laos unit but from reading other people's storytelling and storybook projects I think it is one I would really enjoy.
ReplyDeleteHey Sage,
ReplyDeleteThe Cupid and Psyche unit was one of my favorites so far this semester! At the beginning of the semester, I definitely struggled with the word limit. I was always a little short. Now it is a completely different story, I have to make sure it is less than 1000 words. I really have the biggest problem with it in my storybook project. I want to add a lot of detail but I do not have enough room! I also agree that it is much easier to recreate a story than create a totally original piece.
Sage,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you liked the Cupid and Psyche unit. It was definitely one of my most favorite units that we have read in this class too! Reading the stories of our classmates is so cool and hearing how they interpret stories is something that is just really cool so I'm glad that you feel the same way. Have a great rest of the semester!
Another person who did the Cupid and Psyche unit! I really loved that one too, it was a lot of fun. And yes, limiting yourself to one thousand words is most certainly the hardest part of the assignment. I write a lot (hope to be published one day, but first we have to see if I can actually finish writing anything lol) and tend to be long winded so the word count maximum has been really hard for me to do. But having the bones of the story really does help in making things up, I totally agree.
ReplyDeleteI've also loved seeing how everybody else rewrites their units - I've even decided to do a reading unit because of it once. It's so neat to see how creative everyone is! Here's to the second part of the semester!
The openness to creativity in the assignments we are given is one of the main reasons I love this class. I took Laura Gibbs' Indian Epics class last semester, and I fell in love with her class. I was so excited to find out she taught another class in the same format, so that is why I am in this class now. I'm glad you are enjoying it, and you should look into taking her Indian Epics class!
ReplyDeleteI also read Cupid and Psyche; I thought it was a wonderful unit! Your comments about it made me interested in reading your storytelling post for that week, and I thought you did a really great job recreating the story! It is sometimes difficult to articulate your thoughts on paper; I thought I was a decent writer in high school but when I got to college, it hit me that I was pretty awful. Taking writing intensive classes like this though has helped me alot!
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