Week 8 Reading and Writing

          Writing has always been something that I struggle with. When I first read the syllabus for this class I was terrified because it is all about writing and that is one of my biggest struggles in school. I am really proud of how far I have come. My first set of notes that I took in this class were super detailed and I took notes over every story. After that, I realized that it is easiest to just pick my favorite story to retell and write detailed notes about that one story. For my me second and third set of notes. I basically just wrote a summary of the story I read, and when I retold it all I did was change the names of the characters. For the most part, I kept the same storyline with some minor changes. However, on my last set of notes, I took notes about the plot, the conflicts, and wrote down ideas I had as I read. I found this a lot more helpful because I had written down all of the main events. I decide to venture out with this story and instead of just changing the character's names, I decided to keep the names and change the setting of the story. My project is going well so far. The detailed feedback that we get every time we do a revision is extremely helpful and helps me understand my mistakes to make me a better writer. I am really enjoying this class because I am working on one of my biggest faults in college, but my grade isn't suffering from it. Instead, I am learning and becoming a better writer and I am not scared to change things up because I know that it will be a learning experience.

          My favorite story that I have read so far has been Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal. I thought this story was funny and clever, especially when the Jackal tricked the tiger into getting back in his cage. I enjoyed retelling it because rather than having the tiger trick the Brahman, in my story the lion and the villager became good friends all because the villager gave him a chance and saw the good in him despite what others thought. The image that I used for this story was also my favorite image so far.

Lion being fed in a cage;

Source: Pixabay

         This picture goes perfectly with my story because of how the lion looks so innocent and sad. You can draw the conclusion that he wants to be free and is tired of being locked up. Also, there is food hanging on his cage, so this could be the lion talking to the villager as the villager is trying to feed him. 

          In my future stories, I want to venture out of my comfort zone and get more creative. So far I have remained very close to the actual story, but moving forward I want to make more changes when I retell them.