Feedback Strategies

Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset
I like that this article mentioned focusing more on the reader while giving feedback. Instead of trying to please the reader, it may be more beneficial to simply focus on the things the reader did. In this class, we can substitute "reader" for "writer" since we will be giving feedback to the people that are writing stories. I also liked when the article said to focus on the process and the work the author put in, because that goes a long way in understanding what the writer was trying to say.

Presence, not Praise: How to Cultivate a Healthy Relationship with Achievement 
This article was particularly interesting because it mentioned a study that tested which form of feedback improved students' abilities to solve problems. It was found that praising someone for their effort and hard work was more beneficial than praising them on their qualities (such as intelligence). I also agree with the article on the part where it said that if you praise someone for their qualities or tell them their creation is "the best," they won't ever try to improve. They will think they have created the best possible version of something, rather than trying to make it better. There is always room for improvement, so wherever we see fit, we should try to provide others with useful feedback :)

Some things I like to do when giving feedback is stating one thing I like, and that they should keep doing, and one thing that I believe they could change to make their story better. Sometimes I will ask a question if I am confused, but many times the suggestion can simply be a grammar mistake. 

Source: A quote from The Office; never apologize for trying to improve!

Topic Research

I am leaning more towards the "power" theme I had last week. I would like to base my overall project about that theme, while also incorporating the other themes into it at the same time. 

One story I could do is a backstory; some background information about why the two gods (or animals, or groups of people) are fighting each other. I could tell this story from a 3rd person omniscient view, where I overlook the entire scene, or I could tell this story from a first person point of view. If I were to do first person, I would have to split up the story between the two sides and have the main character from each side be the person telling the story, so that the people reading my story will have both sides of the background story before reading the rest of it. I could add in the creation story theme idea with some background information about why the two groups are fighting each other. For example, I could tell a short story about how a certain body of water was made, then say that two groups of animals are fighting over that body of water and who should be allowed to drink from it. A resource I could use is about Varuna, the God of the Oceans.

The second story I do could be about the actual fight, and what happened during it. I could have each side fighting for days, and could incorporate the Arabian Nights/Aladdin theme ideas by introducing a genie into the war. There could be a magic lamp that the groups are fighting for, or it could simply be another character into the mix of things, ready to help out wherever needed. I could even have one genie for each side of the war. When I thought of this, it reminded me a bit of the Mahabharata scene when Arjuna and Karna are about to fight and Krishna appears before Arjuna to guide him through his thoughts. The genies could be like Krishna, and help each side gain their strength back to fight. 

The third story I could do is a final recap and aftermath of the war. I could write about if the groups decided to end on good terms, or if one of the groups completely demolished the other, etc. If I wrote about the two groups ending on good terms, it could end on a tie, or a truce. Then, the two groups could merge and form their own city with everyone included. Here, I could incorporate the food theme idea I had last week by having the two sides taste and adapt to each other's main dishes. I could go into more detail about the type of food and what it consists of, while also showing how the two sides hated each other before, and now have come together and started trusting each other and eating each other's food.

Source: The genie from Aladdin; I could use the same one or incorporate a girl genie into the mix!

Reading Notes: Aesop's Fables, Part B

Birds
This section talks about peacocks in a few stories. I love peacocks and there is a temple in Austin, TX that has a lot of peacocks roaming about outside of it. Every time I go there I find it really peaceful and interesting to go out and find peacocks and see if they'll put their feathers up. One of the quotes that I like from the peacock stories is "one cannot be first in everything." I love this theme and would like to possibly write a story with that incorporated in it. Maybe I would write about a college student applying to graduate school and wanting to be involved in all the big organizations on campus as well as be in the top of their class. At the end, they would realize that they cannot be first in everything. There are some things they have to let go of; and even if they are not first in everything, they can still be successful.

Source: A picture from Aesop's Fables; peacock feathers are one of a kind. 

Frogs
I loved the story about the Frogs and the Fish, where the frogs really wanted a king, and when they finally got one, he ate them all up. The moral of the story was "better no rule than cruel rule." I found that quite amusing, and was thinking I could retell this story, but set it in a particular nation. It could be in the 15th-17th century, when many countries were just getting started. I could write about the United States, for example, and write about the communities that existed before British colonies were a thing. The communities could complain about not having a leader and not having laws in place, and when they get colonized by the British, they realize that no leader was better than a bad one. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, but it was just something that came to mind! I could use any nation, and even make up names of leaders! 

Another idea I have is to write my story in the form of a poem. If I cannot think of enough words for a poem to be 300 words (the minimum story word count), I might just add a short poem at the end of my story, just like it shows after every story in the Aesop's Fables collection.

Bibliography: Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs. 

Reading Notes: Aesop's Fables, Part A

I love that after every story, there is one quote that sums up the moral/theme of the story. The quotes apply to everyday life as well, which is why writing up a story about one of these stories could go many different ways!

Lions

I like that all of the lion stories portrayed the animal in different lights. It is easy to judge an animal or a group of people based on the stereotypes we see daily, but in reality, everybody is different. This is seen when each lion story depicts the animal in a different way; one shows him as cunning and frightening, yet others depiact him as weak or a friendly pet. If I did a story about this, I would try to pick an animal that is misunderstood. I would write two mini stories of the animal, each with a different personality than what everyone knows it by. For example, if everyone thinks snakes are venomous and dangerous, I would write a plot story in which the snake actually helps others get rid of poison, or another one where the snake gives little kids rides around a town. 

Foxes

In one of the stories, The Fox and the Lion, the moral of the story at the end is "familiarity destroys fear." If I were to rewrite this one, I would write about a common fear people have and how to overcome it through familiarizing yourself with it. For example, there have been many experiments done in which a person who is afraid of spiders is put in the same room as a spider in a box. Then, they are asked to move closer to the box with the spider. Slowly, they will ask the person to lift the lid of the box, to where the spider is exposed. Eventually, they will get to the point where the spider is on the person's arm. This example embodies the theme/moral that was at the end of the story. Familiarity with the spider soon destroyed the fear of the spider, once seen how harmless it is. 

Wolves

If I were to rewrite one of these stories, I might only retell the ending. I would change the ending to where the wolf was seen in a positive light. This kind of goes off of what I was saying in the Lions paragraph, about misunderstood animals. Maybe I could combine all my ideas!

Source: I really liked the quote in this picture from the fables about lions; "The story depends on the teller."

Bibliography: Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs.