Week 4: Famous Last Words

So far, this class has been a lot different from all my others as I am slowly but surely getting used to this whole blog thing. I am so used to d2L when doing online classes but have always kind of wanted to start my own blog so here we are! As the semester goes along, I look forward to getting to know more people through their blogs. I have already come across some people that I can really relate to in terms of their lifestyles, their interests, their major and future desired job, etc.  I have also noticed a lot of peoples writings and the creative ways they tell their stories and I look forward to implementing some of those tactics in my writing in the next few weeks!

One event that happened this week that was extremely sad was that the wife of an Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach died in a car accident this past Wednesday and was one of the bigger news stories of this week, and really of the month. Normally I do not like to talk or write about sad events like this but it really taught me a lesson of how to not take anything for granted and tell your family you love them each and every day, at every moment because you never know what could happen. I have always heard that but for some reason, it really meant a lot this week. I think one of the reasons was because there were so many athletes on TV who knew the coach and knew his wife who died and even the athletes you see every night playing basketball, people who you think are the toughest people on the world... were crying. For example, Kevin Durant was asked about it at practice and had to leave his press conference during the middle of it because he was so emotional. You see your parents cry, you see your friends cry, but rarely do you see athletes cry. People you don't look at as normal people were affected by this in a great way and it just goes to show you how special of a person she was and how she impacted everyones life. 

I thought this picture was perfect and the quote was something that was quite fitting for this moment...

Family

Storytelling Week 4: Revenge on Shahrayar

Revenge on Shahrayar

Shahrayar, a man who lived a happy life with a happy wife, a man who thought he had it all. Him and his wife Scheherazade did everything together and were known as the happy couple around town. People always saw them hugging and kissing and holding each others hands while always laughing and always having a smile on each others faces. He THOUGHT he had it all, until one day.

One day, he found out that his wife Scheherazade has been cheating on him and he decides to kill her the next morning because he is so betrayed. That was his way of dealing with betrayal and he decides that from that point on, when he marries a woman, he will kill them the next morning simply in fear of being betrayed by another woman like he was betrayed by Scheherazade.

Shahrayer eventually marries 3 women, all of which he killed the next morning because he thought he would or was being betrayed. He was so jaded from being lied to and betrayed by his former wife that he didn't know how to deal with many things. Almost like he didn't know what to do if he was happy and felt like he needed to make himself mad/sad by killing these innocent women, who thought they were happy with Shahrayer.

Eventually, a woman, also known as the fourth woman to marry Shahrayar despite her knowing what he did to all the previous women. She marries him and goes home with him that night, knowing what Shahrayar was planning on doing that morning. Shahrayar had no clue that she had caught on to his tricks long long ago and was expecting to go through with his plan just like he always does.

During the middle of the night, she decides that she is going to return the favor and murder Shahrayar. Before Shahrayar actually dies, she is able to tell him that this is revenge and justice for all of the women that he had killed before. Shahrayar, before he officially dies, says that he killed all these women out of fear and just wanted to be loved. He also said that he felt less betrayed by his former wife that cheated on him when he killed all of these women. Killing these women was like his therapy. The fourth wife had finally caught onto his tricks and fooled Shahrayar into a plan of her own and that was to KILL him before HE killed HER, just like the previous women who had been killed. Later on, it turns out that the fourth wife of Shahrayar had also previously killed 4 MEN because she was cheated on by her first husband. Turns out, Shahrayar and the fourth wife were living the exact same life, doing the exact same things but Shahrayar had no clue. So, did the fourth wife get pleasure out of this?? Yes, she avoided her own death by killing the man that would have killed her the next morning but what will she do now? Will she keep going on with her plan??

Scheherazade

Author's Note: There are many different stories in the series of Arabian Nights but all stories focus on the sultan, Shahrayar and his wife Scheherazade. Shahrayar finds out that his first wife is unfaithful to him and ends up killing her. He then decides he is going to marry a different woman each night, and then kill them the next morning to prevent any further betrayal. Scheherazade, his vizier's daughter, decides this pattern is absolutely cruel and she makes a plan to end this pattern. She marries Shahrayar, and then begins to tell him a story that night. However, she stops the story in the middle, so that he will be excited to hear the rest the following night. Then the next evening, she finishes the story and then begins another, following the same pattern for 1,001 nights, until Shahrayar has a change of heart and stops his pattern of killing women each and every morning. The picture above shows Scheherazade, the wife of Shahrayar. I chose this image because I like having an image of what the characters look like and in this case, this shows both Shahrayar and Scheherazade. As far as my story goes, I really like to look at ALL of the characters perspectives and think of ways that the story can be turned around and told by another side, which is why I chose to write my story where Shahrayar is the one who is killed instead of the women getting killed. 

Bibliography:
The Arabian Nights Entertainments by Andrew Lang (1898)

Week 4 Reading Diary: Arabian Nights

The Arabian Nights Entertainments by Andrew Lang (1898)

The Fisherman

"And he declared that he was quite sure that at bottom all women were as wicked as the sultana..."
This story started out with a bang to say the least, while describing a woman who deceived the Sultan and the Sultan discovered death and put her to death.


"I have only a year to live" the merchant said as he agreed to return to the genius in a year to be killed.
This part of the story also uses great imagery in describing the merchants journey with his horse.


"During this time she studied magic in order to carry out her wicked scheme" This quote shows how cruel the wife of the Old Man was as she did not want to kids and was creating some sort of wicked scheme while she was asked to take care of them while the Man was gone.
Later when the man returned, he was told that his "slave is dead" and she had not seen the child for months.


"At first I refused, but she begged so hard and promised to be a good wife to me, that at last I consented. I got her some beautiful dresses and after having married her, we embarked and set sail. During the voyage, I discovered so many good qualities in my wife that I began to love her more and more."


"This man is the most faithful and virtuous of men. If he wished to take my life, why did he cure me?"


"The bird replied: my good master, the lightning, thunder and rain disturbed me so much all night long, that I cannot tell you what I have suffered." The reason I liked this quote was because my plan for my storybook style is animal stories I found it interesting reading this right after I decided I might want to tell my story from an animal perspective.


"Take these fish and carry them to the Sultan, who will give you more money for them than you have ever had in your life..."


"Then this wicked enchantress changed the capital, which was a very populous and flourishing city, into the lake and desert plain you saw. The fish of four colors..." I like the style of this writing and will consider adopting it when writing my own story because of the detail.

Storytelling Styles

Topic: My topic will involve the Animal Stories of Jataka. The first story I am thinking about using is The Monkey's Heart  and another story I am thinking about using is The Language of Animals Both of these stories offer up a lot of detailed animal stories that I look forward to reading into even more than I already have. I feel like I can be very creative with these stories and this topic, considering it discusses the previous lives of Buddha in human AND animal form. This two interesting, detailed stories will help me put together a very creative story in my opinion.


Bibliography:
1. The Monkey's Heart  The Jataka, or the stories, of Buddha's former birth, edited by E. B. Cowell, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1895)
2. The Language of Animals The Jataka, or the stories, of Buddha's former birth, edited by E. B. Cowell, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1897)

The Jataka Tales of the Buddha

Possible Styles


OU Campus: I think using OU's campus as a prime setting for my story would be very easy because I am familiar with all the areas of the campus and there are so many different areas you could use for cool settings for all of the animals. This would also give readers a good image of the story, considering most readers would be students of OU who are familiar with campus. Maybe each animal could have a different home such as Dale Hall, Price, The Union, etc.


Story told by the animals: This of course would be story told directly from the animals, which would be very interesting cause I could make into some sort of "animal language" by creating my own language in some sort of way.


Detective Story: I think this would be a really funny way to tell the story. I love any movie or TV show involving detectives so I am familiar with the way they talk and act and could use some of those TV shows and movies to help me write my story.


Neighborhood Gossip: This would also be a funny way of telling the story as this could combine with animal's telling the story. All of the animals could gossip about what is going on and throughout the gossip could be the main story line. I also think this would be a lot more fun to read if it was told in a gossip type way.

Week 3 Storytelling: The Story of No Sin

The Story of No Sin

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

Once upon a time, there were two people in this world, a man and a woman. And the Almighty God, who created this man and this woman named Adam and Eve to live in a world of paradise. A world with nothing but positive things and happy moments. Adam and Eve were meant for each other. Adam and Eve traveled together, going on different journeys each and every day, experiencing different food and different sights across the world, while learning everything from the Almighty God. God taught them how to live, how enjoy life, how to do everything right, not to ever make any mistakes and live life without sin, which Adam and Eve never knew of such a thing called "sin." They lived a perfect life and eventually God created more men and women to follow the path of Adam and Eve. These men and women new to the world, would follow Adam and Eve's path and learn everything from them. They simply lived the same life as Adam and Eve, no lies, no mistakes, no sadness, no pain and no death. Everyone born in this world lived a life of eternity.  Everyone in the world lived a dream of happiness and lived with everything they could ever imagine. After a few years of traveling and living a life that everyone wishes to live; a life full of happiness and perfection, Adam and Eve decided it was time to part ways. The main reason Adam and Eve decided to part ways was because they felt like they had done everything that they could possibly do in their life. They had done everything together that they could possibly imagine... Traveled the world, ate all the great food they wanted to eat, met all sorts of new people without ever having a sad moment at any point in their life. What else is there to do?? You have lived life to the fullest, what more could make you happier? Adam and Eve did not know the answer to this question and decided that they would be better off going separate ways and starting a whole new perfect life with another person to travel with them, doing all the same stuff they did with each other. In a way, Adam and Eve felt life was getting boring and were somewhat getting tired of one another. In a way, they wondered, is this what life is really about? Everything we ever wanted, we have. Anything we want, we can get. Is there anything more for us to do??

Author's Note: 

My story is based on Adam and Eve and how they were created by God to be the first man and first woman. They were created to live a life of paradise on earth, however Adam and Eve eventually fell into the life of suffering and sin, living through ups and downs, constantly committing sins and begging for God's forgiveness. Fortunately for Adam and Eve, God was forgiving of their sins. This story lead me to think... What would life be like without sin? What would life be like without suffering and pain? My whole point of my story is that Adam and Eve had everything they ever wanted, but they never experienced any pain or suffering, allowing them to grow as stronger people. In my opinion, life is all about getting through your most painful moments and toughest challenges and Adam and Eve did not have any of this and it grew them apart. It was almost as if life was boring without sin and suffering. So my main questions from this story is... What do you think life would be like without sin and suffering? Would we grow as people? Would life be boring like it did with Adam and Eve?

Bibliography:

The Forgotten Books of Eden, Rutherford H. Platt, Jr. (1926)

Week 3 Reading Diary, continued: Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve, The Forgotten Books of Eden 

"And to the north of the garden there is a sea of water, clear and pure to the taste, like unto nothing else, so that, through the clearness thereof, one may look into the depths of the earth."
This is a goo quote describing the detail of the "borders of heaven" This uses great imagery. I also like the way the story is written with words such as depths, thereof, unto, etc. It definitely gives it a unique feel.

God approached Adam and told him something that Adam didn't understand at all (nor did i) but Adam was under the impression that the world was going to end in 5 days and begged and begged God to explain why. Adam later on learned that wasn't the case.

Adam and Eve in the cave 

Adam and Eve enter the cave, and prayed as Adam saw the rock and the roof that covered the cave so that he couldn't see heaven nor Gods creatures. He wept and wept until he dropped "dead." Eve wept and wept believing that he was actually dead. 

"But God looked upon them, for they had killed themselves through great grief. But he would raise them and comfort them." 

"They wept before him and sought mercy from him" Adam and Eve wept in front of God like he was one of their parents. 

"Then God, merciful and gracious, looked upon them thus lying in the water, and nigh unto death, and sent an angel, who brought them out of the water and laid them on the seashore as dead." God sends his word unto Adam and Eve and raises them from dead, once again proving the power of God. It is interesting throughout the story, the amount of deaths and sins committed not only by Adam and Eve but others, God seems to always be there. 

Garden of Eden 

This is also one of my favorite pictures, as it is colorful and in great detail as I was also wondering what the Garden of Eden looked like before seeing this picture. 

"All this misery that thou hast been made to take upon thee because of thy transgression, will not free thee from the hand of Satan, and will not save thee. But I will." God says Adam will not be ruined by Satan regardless of all the darkness he is experiencing but he will one day be saved by God. That Adam needs to experience darkness and that God will suffer for their salvation.

Adam throws himself from atop the mountain and Eve weeps and weeps and then later threw herself after him. This section was very interesting and kind of depressing in a way, as it showed a ton of emotion, but was really interesting to read. 

"Then Adam and Eve took stones and placed them in the shape of an altar, and they took leaves from the trees outside the garden, with which they wiped, from the face of the rock, the blood they had spilled" 

Week 3 Reading Diary: Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve, King James Bibe (1611): Genesis 1-2

The Creation of Adam by William Blake

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him. Male and female created he them."
"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea..."
I like this section and how it describes all that God creates. There is a great use of imagery and detail in this section as well.

Adam and Eve are introduced.. Eve got her name form Adam because she was "the mother of all living"
"Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil, and now lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever."

Adam becomes a man and not just a young child, he came from Gods hands fully developed. He was "gigantic, reaching from heaven to earth"
Adam was unique and not many men resembled him.
"I will breathe her into his nostrils..."  God reveals the whole history of mankind to Adam.

"They attempted to consume with him with fire, and he would have perished, had not the protecting hand of God rested upon him..." This proves the power of God and the protection he had over everybody. Satan is then introduced. I love how this story is written and overall theme that is used so far.

"Adam complained before God that the wife he had given him had deserted him, and God sent forth three angels to capture her. They found her in the Red Sea..."
This once again shows the power of God and what God will do and all he did for Adam. Also, this shows how much Adam somewhat relied on God. She comes back, but has to deal with her babies facing evil situations.

This part describes the creation of Eve and the difference God faces in the creation of males versus females. God actually created a wife for Adam before Eve, but he would not have her, because she had been made in his presence.

Stained glass in Sarthe, France

One of my favorite parts about the story Adam and Eve is all the colorful pictures that there are throughout the story. Not only are they colorful but they are in great detail and hold a lot of meaning. 

"At the same time, God wanted to give Adam the opportunity of repenting his sin..."

This quote is one of my favorites because it shows no matter what happens, God always gives an opportunity to redeem yourself.