No Rain Checks

Looking Back I am very happy with my progress and my ability to work ahead so far this semester. I make sure to work ahead in this class whenever I have free time, and it has paid off! After looking into the progress chart, I am at 252 points in week eight. This is already very ahead because I have done all the required assignments and various extra credit projects. This will prove to be well worth it when finals come around and I have one less class to stress about! My favorite class assignments are probably the stories, because I like the challenge of changing original stories and making them my own. This is difficult for me sometimes, but it's fun to channel my inner creativity. Looking Forward For the second half of the semester, I'm going to make sure to plan out my last two stories for my story book super clearly before writing. Before writing my intro and story one, I knew my main goal, but thought up the supporting details as I went. This caused me to have a lot of ...

Feedback In Some of the comments I received on my introduction were helpful, while others seemed to be redundant. The comments that include a "WWW" help a lot more than just general suggestions, so I'm glad that this was a requirement in some of the project feedback assignments. The comments I find most useful is ones that ask me to clarify a portion of my story. Sometimes others' feedback on continuing the story confused me, but when they told me a part could be strengthened it made much more sense! Feedback Out Since I get the most out of the "WWW" feedback technique, I try to include one of the three W's in my feedback comments. Additionally, I try to ask clarification questions like I mentioned above so that they can strengthen specific portions of their story, rather than changing the route of the story altogether. Other people's writings have given me inspiration to try writing dialogue and explaining the setting more, which I wouldn't ...

We have now come to week eight and there are only nine weeks left in this semester. Time to reflect! Looking Back After reviewing my previous reading and stories from this semester, I would have to say my favorite stories to recreate were First Voyage and Down the Rabbit Hole . These stories were very intriguing, and super easy for me to put my own spin on! As the semester went on, I can definitely tell from my reading notes that I was able to help myself plan for my stories much better. By taking notes during my readings, rather than after, I was able to find many more ways to make stories my own. My best strategy is to open two windows and read while taking bullet point notes, then close the original story to develop my notes further. That way, I'm not directly copying the story but am able to take key details to include in my own recreation. So far, I'm proud of my story book. I plan to put a lot of thought into my next two stories so that I can produce my best work, sin...

For this extra credit reading, I chose to read "Down the Rabbit Hole," "Down the Rabbit Hole (cont.)" and "Down the Rabbit Hole (end)." Down the Rabbit Hole These three stories tell the original Alice in Wonderland story of Alice following the rabbit to the rabbit hole. I wanted to reread these stories so that I could brainstorm ideas for my storybook project! Alice was having a boring day until she saw a white rabbit that was in a hurry. Because she was so bored, she was extra interested in the rabbit. The rabbit took a watch out of his pocket and spoke that he was going to be late, which Alice didn't know if she imagined. So she followed the rabbit as it ran away. Alice followed the rabbit right into a rabbit hole that she didn't see, and fell down the long tunnel whether she wanted to or not. Down and down it went, and Alice wondered when she'd ever hit the ground... And where'd she'd be when she did. Down the Rabbit Hole (con...

Another week has gone by, but this one was much more fun than the others this semester! This week, we got about 2.5 snow days. I'm a junior here at OU and have never had a snow day, so I was way too excited for this to happen! On Tuesday, campus was closed at 12:45 p.m. I was in my 12:00 class and had just braved the freezing rain to get there, so that was a little upsetting. I was not upset about the other two day cancellations, though! My roommates and I watched a whole lot of Netflix this week, and decided to use this time for lots of homework. We are all preparing for Cabo for Spring Break, so we're working out a lot and trying to eat healthier. This is almost impossible on snow days - I always want cookies, hot chocolate and brownies when it's cold! My other classes are going well. Last week, I had two tests: one in sociology and one in media law. Both of the tests went well, and I'm glad I spent so much time studying for them. At the time, studying suck...

For this extra reading, I chose to read " Advice from a Caterpillar " from one of the Alice in Wonderland stories. Advice from a Caterpillar In this story, Alice comes across a Caterpillar. The Caterpillar wants to know who she is, and Alice is still shaken up from all of her adventures. She tells him she feels different, but he does not understand. The Caterpillar was irritated with Alice not answering his questions, so Alice tried to leave. But the Caterpillar lured her back in by telling her there was something important he had to say. Advice From a Caterpillar (cont.) In this continuation, the Caterpillar begins a poem and Alice finishes it. She knew the entire dialogue. Once she finished, the Caterpillar criticized her and told her it was not said right. Alice acknowledges that there are some changes, but he still believes it's all wrong. The Caterpillar asked Alice what size she wanted to be, in which she answered 3 inches. She was rapidly shrinking, and the C...

One day, in the heart of South Africa, there was an Elephant. Elephant was extremely dehydrated, and he had been searching for water for days. Elephant begged the Earth to rain, but had no luck. He eventually set out to find someone or something that could get him water. South African Elephant.  Photo from Wikipedia. Elephant talked to many animals that could not help him. Once he spoke to a Crow who cast lots to produce rain, rain fell into lagoons. Elephant was overjoyed, but quickly saw that the water supply was not nearly enough. He needed to keep this water while also continuing to search for more. The Elephant came across a Tortoise near the water. He asked the Tortoise to watch over his water supply and to not let any other being have it. The Tortoise agreed, scared of the Elephant's size. As the Elephant searched for more water, he didn't find any luck. He went back to the lagoon to drink what he had left, but when he arrived there was no water. Tortoise explai...