Week 3 story: The World of Dogs

God wanted to create the perfect world for dogs. He set out to make everything perfect. God wanted the dogs to be the rulers of the earth. So he set out to create the perfect world filled with toys, treats, and water for them to drink and play all the time. It took six days of nonstop work and creation to finish this beautiful dog world. On the seventh day when God had finished everything, he decided it was time to take a break, relax and make that day sacred. He created the first dog from dust and named him Mylo. That dog was the first living soul in this doggy world. He was going to be the ultimate leader, the dog that they would eventually all look up to. The Lord needed a place for Mylo to live, so he created the dog park of Eden and that is where Mylo was to live. The dog park had everything the dogs would need, such as treats growing from trees, food raining from the sky and water in the river than ran across it. There were many trees and in the very center of the park, there was a huge tree that stood out named the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Mylo was to care for the dog park and that would be his home. God said to Mylo, "You may eat treats from any tree in the garden, but you shall never touch or eat the treats from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or you shall die." He also said, "You should not be lonely so I will bring others unto you." Once God said that he started creating creatures out of dust and bringing them to Mylo so that he could name them. Whatever name Mylo gave them was the name that would stick forever. Then he put Mylo in a deep sleep in which God took one of his ribs and created another dog named Skye. They both happily coexisted in the garden of Eden.

Picture of two dogs coexisting and playing with a toy;

Source: Pxfuel

Author's Note: This story was derived from a story in the bible called The Creation. This is the story where God created the world and on the seventh day rested and sanctified the seventh day. This day is now known as Sundays and that is why we go to church on Sundays. He created and Adam and put him in the Garden of Eden where he was to care for it, and he could eat from any tree as long as it was not the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He created animals and brought them all upon Adam so that he could name them and any name that he gave them was kept. God then put Adam to sleep and took his rib to create Eve. They were naked and not ashamed. I kept the same story plot but instead of humans, I used dogs. the names of the two dogs in this story are the name of my two dogs.
Bibliography: The Creation, King James Version Chapters 1 and 2. Source: Sacred Texts Archive

Reading Notes: Adam and Eve Part A

The Creation
God created the world for 6 days and on the seventh day when he finished, he took the day off and sanctified it. God then created Adam and told him that he was to live in the Garden of Eden and he told him that he could eat any fruit from any tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or he would die. God told Adam he was going to get him help and took one of his ribs while he was asleep and created a woman naved Eve. They were both naked around each other and were never ashamed.

The Fall
The serpent convinced Eve to take a fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent convinced her that she shouldn't die and it would open up her eyes to good and evil. She gave Adam some and when God found out he punished Eve by giving women the right to bring forth children into this world. Since they could now see good and evil they could now see each other naked so God made them clothes to cover up.

The Ideal Man
Adam was fully developed with extraordinary size and physical perfections. The later generations of men all had one of his characteristics, but they were not like him. He had a perfect soul and he created names for mostly everything on earth.

The Fall of Satan
Satan was jealous of how blessed Adam was and attempted to consume him with fire, but the protection of God did not allow that to happen. God made Adam and Satan basically have a standoff by asking them to name animals and the one that named them correctly was to be superior to the other one. Satan refused for humans to be superior to him and so God threw him out of the heavens onto the earth and from that moment on there have been problems between Satan and humans.

Lilith
Lilith was given to Adam as a wife but did not last long because she wanted full equality with her husband so she vanished into dust. When Adam told God he sent three angels to capture her and bring her back. They threatened her that she would lose a hundred of her demon children daily by death and she still refused to come back. She takes her revenge by injuring babies.

Eve
God made Eve from Adam's ribs because he did not want her to have any faults that she would have had she created her from another part of the body. However, it turns out that women have all of the faults that God didn't want them to have. The physical function of women is also different than that of a man because they have to be able to give birth to a child. The intelligence of a woman also matures a lot faster than that of a man. Men need women and that is why they got a rib taken from them. God made Eve when Adam was asleep because the last time he had made a woman in front of him in his presence he repelled her. When he woke up and found Eve the way that she was he found her very beautiful.

Paradise
In order to get to paradise, otherwise known as Heaven, there are seven portals that you must pass through before being admitted into Heaven. There are also 6 basic commandments that one shall follow and not break.

The Fall of Man
The serpent tricks Eve into eating a fruit from the one tree that they shouldn't eat from because she would be easier to convince than Adam. This led to the fall of man. When they ate the fruit they heard God from up above tell them that they were warned not to eat that fruit. The first thing that happened was that they saw each other naked and try to find some leaves to cover themselves up.

Picture of Adam and Eve with fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil;

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Punishment
God started punishing Adam by making shorter than what he originally was. Adam and Eve now get scared when they hear God's voice because they know that they have sinned. They hide in the forest so that God cannot see them. He punished the serpent by making it have to move on its belly rather than being the king of all animals and standing tall.

Moral: there are consequences for all of your actions.

Bibliography: Adam and Eve by Genesis and Ginzberg

Project Topic Brainstorm

Topic 1: OU Ghost Stories 

I have always been interested in ghost stories and have once been on a ghost tour when I was in Saint Augustine in Florida. I really enjoyed learning about ghosts and seeing how into it the ghost tour guides get. When we did the assignment over storybooks, I read one over ghosts at OU and it really got my attention. As a student that goes to OU, I feel like learning about the history of OU even in ghost stories would be very interesting and something I am looking forward to. When retelling these stories, I would probably change the plot just a bit and add more details to the stories.

Topic 2: Dogs

Dogs are my absolute favorite animal in the entire world. The amount of love and happiness that a dog can bring into your life is unreal. I experienced it first-hand last year when I decided that I need a dog. This project would be fun because I would get to research things and stories about my favorite animal. With these stories, there are endless possibilities on how you can change them up to create your own. A good way to change them would be to either change the plot or change the location of the story and modify the story accordingly.

Topic 3: The Little Mermaid

This topic catches my interest because growing up I loved watching The little mermaid. It is awesome how things evolve as time passes. Mermaids evolved from sirens in the Odyssey that were half-bird and half-human. Now we have mermaids which are half-human and half-fish. I read some of Hans Christian Andersen's story of the Little Mermaid and I loved it. My idea to create my own story for the little mermaid would maybe be to change the personalities of the characters or maybe switch the characters as a whole and create new ones following the same storyline.

Topic 4: Nursery Rhymes

Nursery rhymes are always so much fun because they all rhyme and you can sing along to them. Some of my favorite memories in kindergarten and some in grade school are singing nursery rhymes together as a class and all just having so much fun. I even have memories of singing these with my parents and they once bought me a huge book full of nursery rhymes and bedtime stories that I loved. This topic would be fun to play with because I feel like you can go anywhere with this. I could change the characters and create a nursery rhyme with different characters or I could easily keep the characters and change the plot in the story.

Picture of the clock that the mouse runs up in Hickory Dickory Dock 

nursery rhyme; Source: Wikimedia Commons

Week 2 story: A lion and his villager

Note: This has been added to my portfolio. https://sites.google.com/view/hiddenmorals/a-lion-and-his-villager

There was once a lion and a villager. The lion was locked in the cage and the villager was in charge of feeding it every morning. 

One morning the lion said to the villager, "Please let me out of this cage as I am tired of being locked up and I want to be free." 

"I'm afraid if I do that you will harm me or my fellow villagers," replied the villager.

The lion sighs and says, "I promise if you let me out of this cage, I will be nothing but good to you."

The villager thought it through and replied, "I am giving you one chance, or I will find a way to lock you up again."

Lion being fed in a cage;

Source: Pixabay

So, the villager lets the lion out and they go about their day, but the villager was extremely worried that something would happen. He started asking others what they thought about the decision that he made.

He stopped to ask a tree and the tree replied, "I always give people shade and even though I get nothing in return except for people breaking off my branches it makes me feel good because I can help others."

The villager listened to what he had to say and said, "Thank you, I had not looked at it from that perspective" and went on his way.

The villager then kept walking and when he got to the road, he stopped to ask the road what his opinion on the matter was. The road replied, "I am always supporting people and all people do is trample all over me, but I know that they need me, so it feels good to be able to help." Once again, the villager listened and the went on his way. 

On his way back home, he came across another villager and asked him what he thought of the situation.

 The villager replied, "I do not feel like it is safe for everyone, but if you think it was the right decision then trust your gut." 

The villager said, "Thank you, I believe he deserved to be free" and went on his way again. 

When he got back to the cage, the lion was roaming around near it and was very happy to be free.

The lion thanked the villager and told him that he would help him out anytime he ever needed it.

The villager continued on with his daily routine, still giving the lion food every morning. The lion had not done any harm to anyone and just enjoyed his day roaming and being out of his cage. A few weeks later the villager got into some trouble and called for the lion's help. As soon as the lion heard he jumped up and went to the villager. He helped him get out of trouble and to this day they remain best friends. The lion kept his work to never harm anyone and be nothing but good to the villager. The villager realized he made the right decision and they lived happily ever after. 

Author's Note: My story was based on the "Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal." I kept most things the same except that I used a lion instead of a tiger and the plot was a bit different. Instead of the Brahman, the Jackal and the Tiger tricking each other, in my story the villager and the lion ended up being good friends. I also wrote the story to have a different moral than the original one. The original story's lesson was that you can do things to help others out, but never get anything in return and that you really can't trust anyone. My story had a different lesson which was that you should help people because it feels good and right to you and not to expect anything in return. 

Bibliography: Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

In the story of Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal several people were fools. The tiger made a promise to the Brahman that he would not harm him if he let him out of the cage. At the beginning of the story, the Brahman eventually felt bad for the tiger and let his emotions override him, which led him to open the cage for the tiger. Of course, as soon as the tiger was out, he basically betrayed the Brahman and told him that he was still gonna eat him and he was a fool. When the Brahman asked a tree, a buffalo, and the road what they thought about the situation they basically asked him what he expected. They help everyone and never get anything in return.

I feel like that was a lesson or moral of the story. This relates to real life and I like how the author put a moral in the story. The tree is always giving shade, yet people always break its branches off. The road is always useful to everyone and everything, yet people only trample on it and wear it down. None of the three people/things that he consulted ever got anything in return for the things that they offered for others.

On the way back to the tiger's cage, the Brahman met a jackal who asked how the Brahman was doing. The Brahman started to tell his story but the jackal acted like he did not understand anything that the jackal was saying. The Brahman kept retelling the story to the jackal the whole way back to the cage and the jackal still acted confused. After retelling the story several times and the jackal "not understanding," the tiger got frustrated and went back in the cage to show him how the whole story started so that he would understand. When the tiger went into the cage, the jackal shut the cage and locked it. He tricked the tiger and the Brahman into thinking that he did not understand the story so that he could lock the tiger back in there and the Brahman would not get eaten.

What I got from this story is that tricking people will eventually come back on you and you will get tricked as well. In a sense lying and not keeping your word is not a very smart thing to do because someone out there will outsmart you just like you outsmarted someone.

A picture of the Brahman, the tiger, and the jackal;

Source: illustration by John Batten

Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal
By: Joseph Jacobs

Week 2 Reading Overview

Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3: Adam and Eve

Week 4: Cupid and Psyche

Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6.

Week 5: Twenty-Two Goblins

Week 6: Tales of a Parrot

Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.]

Week 7: Brer Rabbit

Week 9: Jamaica

Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11.

Week 10: Apache

Week 11: Cherokee

Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13.

Week 12: Nursery Rhymes

Week 13: Robin Hood

Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15.

Week 14: Hunt

Week 15: Ashliman

I am excited about all of these units, not just one! I tried to take mythology almost 3 years ago and it has just never worked out with my schedule. It is something that has interested me for years and that I want to learn more about. If I had to pick one I would say that I am most excited for the Native American unit only because Native American tribes are such a big part of Oklahoma and its history. For week 12, I chose nursery rhymes and I also excited for that one because of how much I loved nursery rhymes as a kid ad still do. Most of the nursery rhymes that I do know are in Spanish, and there's very few that I know in English so I am interested to learn more about them. 

Cartoon picture of Humpty Dumpty sitting on a wall;

Source: Pixabay

I chose a picture of Humpty Dumpty because this is one of my favorite nursery rhymes that I remember from when I was a kid. It is also a very popular one that most children know. 

Reviewing Different Time Strategies

Time management is something that I personally struggle with because of how busy my schedule is. It is not easy to juggle a full-time job with school because of how much time school requires. These past few years I have made a schedule for myself so that I can get all of my things done. I have been pretty successful, however, I barely sleep in order to make sure that I have everything done and that affects my performance. My goal this semester is to really fine-tune my schedule to get everything done in a timely manner and still have time for other things.

The first article that I read was "How Checklists Train Your Brain To Be More Productive And Goal-Oriented."I learned that dopamine is released from our brain when we experience small amounts of success Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is linked to feelings of pleasure. Checklists are a great way to get things. Speaking from experience, I love making checklists and they really help me get things done in a timely manner. When I see a checklist my goal is to prioritize it and get that done first. This helps with my procrastination and once I start checking things off it motivates me to keep going and get it done.

Picture of a checklist;

Source: Flickr

The second article that I read was "How to Build a realistic Study Plan That You'll Actually Stick to." From this article, I learned that a good way to plan time for your classes is to make a realistic schedule of your other activities such as work and things you do in your day-to-day life. Then in the free time that you have, you can start to fill in and make time for your classes. I am more likely to follow a schedule if I have it written down somewhere that I will see it every day. I have found that using planners really helps me and I stay organized. It is also important that you give yourself enough time to finish your assignments and are not rushing so that you can do quality work. 

How to build a realistic study plan that you’ll actually stick to

How to build a realistic study plan that you’ll actually stick to

Technology Tools Review

Technology is something that is used so often. This generation of kids grew up with technology and know so much about it. While I too grew up using technology, I didn't use it as often as other kids because I used to spend my time reading books and painting. I am excited to learn how to use different tools that are available on the internet and being able to learn more about blogging. I am already comfortable using the bookmark function of my browser because I have been using it to bookmark things for years now.

I am most excited for the website that we have to create for our project in this class. The last time I created a website was in 8th grade when I took a computer class. I really enjoyed it but to be honest, I do not remember any part of it. It will allow me to use my creativity to design the website for the project. 

 A technology meme;

Source: Flickr

Assignments Review

So far, I really like the way that this class is structured. It's a very different structure than the rest of my classes. It is very interactive, which I like because I feel like I learn more. I am very excited about all the readings that we are going to be doing in this class and I think what I am looking forward to the most is the storybook project. After reading some of the storybooks earlier this week I believe that is going to be a fun project to be creative with. Overall I am very excited about this class and believe that it is great that so much extra credit is offered.

Quote about learning;

Source: Flickr

My Thoughts On Growth Mindset

I had never heard of Carol Dweck or growth mindset before. However, I really enjoyed those videos and share a lot of the same points of view as her. In my opinion, this generation and a lot of young adults and kids today have a fixed mindset. When they come across things that they do not know or that challenge them, they just freeze. It is like they don't know what to. They have some kind of mental block for things that challenge them in any way and I believe this has a lot to do with the way that parents raise their kids nowadays.

I see myself as having a growth mindset when it comes to just about anything in life. When it comes to school, I want to take that hard class that is going to challenge me and where I know that I will learn something and further my knowledge. I do not see the point in paying money for a class that is going to be a breeze because I know everything. What is the point in that? Well to me, it is a waste of my time when I do that because I am not getting anything out of the class nor am I getting any better. Like I said, I believe that the kind of mindset people have has to do greatly with how they grew and how they were raised. My parents were very hard on me growing up and always pushing me to be the best that I could be at everything and to not stop until I was. With that being said, I am not the best at everything I do, but that's the goal that I set for myself every time and I aspire to get as close to that goal as I possibly can. I work a full-time job while going to school full time and at times this can be very challenging because I feel like there are not enough hours in a day for me to do everything that I need to and still have time to rest and get some sleep. When this challenge came along tho, I had to figure out how to fix it and I learned all about time management. The way that I live my life is very different than how I see most kids nowadays living their life. If I come across a challenge or something that I do not know, it makes me excited because I see that as an opportunity to get better and to learn. I will not stop until I conquer that challenge and figure it out, but I feel like most kids just see that as, "Oh I don't know how to do this so I am just not going to do it and move on." That's the difference between having that growth mindset where you always want to learn something new and having a fixed mindset.

Watercolor Drawing of a brain lifting weights to symbolize growth mindset:

Source: Flickr

Now knowing that growth mindset is a thing, I would like to do more research on it and learn all about it. I have not yet read articles that critique Carol Dweck's growth mindset theory, but that is something I will be doing in the near future as I found this very interesting.

Graphic of growth mindset with vivid colors and fixed mindset with dull colors;

Source: Flickr

Introduction to a Dog Mom

Hi Class,

My name is Gabriela, I am a sophomore speech pathology major and have my minor in psychology. I want to be able to use my degree to work with kids with autism and help them with their speech impediments. I have always been interested in mythology and have been wanting to take the class for a few years now, so I am very excited to finally be able to take this class. A little fun fact about me is that I was born in Bogota, Colombia and we moved here when I was five years old. I am a complete workaholic and when I am not at school or doing schoolwork then I am more than likely at work.

Last month for Christmas break my family and I went on vacation to Washington DC and it was such a fun trip. I am a complete history nerd and getting to see all of the monuments and go to several museums in the National Mall. My favorite part was getting to go to Mount Vernon. We got to see George Washington's house on the Potomac River and it was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. They had slave burials and we also got to see Martha and George Washington's tomb. The tour of the inside of the house was also lots of fun and I was amazed at how well they have preserved it.

George Washington's estate on Mount Vernon in West Virginia.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

I also love dogs. I go crazy when I see any kind of dog, but I am completely and utterly obsessed with my two Shih Tzus. I only had one up until 3 days ago when I decided that my dog needed a friend, so I had to go get another one. These dogs are my whole life and by far the most important thing to me. My oldest is one year old and his name is Skye. The newest addition to the family is Mylo and he is 11 weeks old. They love to play and are extremely spoiled. I am completely in love with my two baby boys. To be honest, my camera roll is filled with more pictures of my dogs than pictures with me in them. 

Personal photo of my oldest dog Skye;

photo from January 2020.

Personal photo of Skye and Mylo;

photo from January 2020.

Personal photo of the Mylo the day we got him;

photo from January 2020. 

Storybook Favorites

OU's Haunted Halls

The title of this storybook fits it perfectly. Just by reading the title I already had a good idea of what this storybook was going to be about. The author did a great job on the introduction of this storybook. The combination of the black background he chose for the wording and the picture behind the header of the page makes it spooky. The way he wrote it draws you in so that you want to keep reading. I like how he used different techniques when telling the four different stories. He wrote the first story in the form of a diary so that you know that the student made it safely back to her dorm room to write about this experience. The second story was written in the form of an interactive story and as the reader, I got to make some critical decisions that meant either life or death. By getting to interact with the story it made me feel like I was a part of it and experiencing it. The third story he told as a conversation on the phone between two brothers. In the last story, he just retold a story that was published in a 1940 edition of The Oklahoma Daily. I really like how he used four different techniques to tell the stories because it keeps the reader interested and doesn't let them get bored with stories that are all in the same format.

The Bizzell Library at OU where the fourth story took place.

Web Source: Flickr 

Nursery Rhymes Gone Wrong

The title for this storybook draws me in because it makes me curious about how a nursery rhyme can go wrong. I like how the author made up a story for the introduction and mentioned how Betty, the main character, was going to visit friends and the friends were the characters in famous nursery rhymes. The font that was used for the title of his storybook tells you that it's kind of creepy and not going to go the way it was planned. Each story starts out with the original nursery rhyme being told and then the story is told with a twist from the author.  The author chose to tell these stories by telling us what happens after the nursery rhyme ends and how their lives planned out. Overall, the design of this storybook was pretty simple. It was more about the context in the story than the design. Unlike the previous storybook, he did not change the design to fit the story but instead kept one design for the whole storybook. 

The Trickster of OU

As a student from OU, reading this title really draws me in because I wonder how they pull off tricks like these at a university so big. The introduction was very creative, especially the way that he distributed his letter to students by having them come out of the air vents in each building at OU. This storybook was very funny and I am very impressed by how the author made these stories from original stories in mythology. They did a great job and were extremely creative. I can't imagine going to class and having these things happen while I am on campus, It would make these days fun and exciting. The design of this storybook is red and white, which matches OU colors. As far as the layout tho it was pretty basic, but the stories were so good that people probably overlook the design. 

Washington DC and Siesta Key are My Favorite Places

It is so hard to just pick one favorite place when I have so many, so I went with my top two favorite places. 

My absolute favorite place is Siesta Key, Florida. I went with my family for our summer vacation. We decided to go here because it was rated the best beach in the US at the time. I love being on the beach and getting to just lay in the sun and tan while taking in the beautiful views of the ocean. The sand was pearly white and it was so soft. We have been to many beaches, but out of all of them, this was definitely the beach with the softest sand. Overall Siesta Key was such a beautiful place that I probably would not know of had I not seen the TV series "Siesta Key" on MTV.

Most of our vacation was spent at Siesta Beach, which was the main beach. On our fourth day, we decided to go to Turtle Beach to view the sunset. It was such a beautiful view. The picture does not even do it justice. I love being able to watch the sunset as the gulf breeze hits my face. To me, being on the beach is the happiest place on earth and nothing makes more content. 

 (image information: Personal photo of a Siesta Key Sunset;

Photo from July 2019)

The water was also very clear. It was nice and cold so after laying in the sun for a while it felt good to get in the water and cool down for a bit. The way the water looks when the sun hits the water is breathtaking. The whole week we were there I was in my happy place. 

   (image information: Personal photo of a Siesta Key Sunset;

Photo from July 2019) 

My second favorite Place is Washington DC. Over Christmas break, we spent some time in Virginia seeing family for the holidays and they live very close to DC. We went to downtown DC many times because there is so much to see and sadly we did not even get to see it all. The first things we saw were the monuments: The Washington Monument, The Lincoln Memorial, and The National World War II Memorial. We went in the evening and they are so much prettier at night because of how they are all lit up. The next day we went to see several museums including The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and The National Museum of American History. These were so fun to visit especially for someone like me who is a big history nerd. The National Museum of American History was my favorite. They had a section that was all about the white house and all of our presidents and it was so unique. I got to see all of the dresses that the First Ladies wore at the Presidential Inauguration. They also had many cool videos with interesting facts about all of our Presidents. I plan on going back to DC sometime soon to visit the rest of the monuments and museums that we were unable to visit due to time restraint. If you have not been here I absolutely recommend going at least once. You won't regret it.  

(image information: Personal photo of the Washington Monument:

Photo from December 2019)

Lincoln sitting in his chair at the Lincoln Memorial 

in Washington DC. Source: Flickr

Test Post

My name is Gabriela Pineros and I am really excited for this class.