Improvements

I really like the idea of the writing tutorial videos! That would definitely be useful. I'm constantly watching Lynda videos to learn how to do specific graphic ideas, and I would have watched writing tutorial videos if there were any. It would help writers block! I can see that as a great extra credit opportunity.

Reading Notes: Hans Christian Anderson, Part A

Awake in bed by pixabay

A prince is looking for a princess, weird cause I feel a lot of the stories the girl is looking for a boy. A storm came and a beautiful princess stood at his gate. His mother put this princess to a test to see if she could sleep with a pea in her bed. Only a real princess is sensitive to that. She was real.

This emperor has a shopping problem, and so do I. Relatable. He spent endless amounts of money on high end clothes. He wants to look the freshest of fresh.

I feel like I’ve heard some sort of versions of these stories before. Not the exact same story, but definitely a form of it. All soldiers were alike, except one. He fell out a window. Rode a boat away. He melted away in a stove into the shape of a heart.

The prince was wicked. He thought he was all that and had a huge head. He wanted to conquer God. But he couldn’t even face gnats.

A little girl was cold and not covered up. She was hungry and poor. She thought burning a match would keep her warm. All the matches she lit brought up a new place or thing she imagined.


Bibliography: Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen

Reading Notes: Inferno, Part A

Darkness by Edgar Jimenez

I honestly love how this starts off. There’s a mysterious dark ominous feeling. Virgil is his guide through hell. There was an intense quote on the outside of the gate. This is one of my fears. To end up in hell and full of sadness and punishments for all my wrong doings. There is so much despair. Another thing is being naked and afraid. Which the spirits in hell seem to possess that quality as well.

Charon is the demon with burning charcoal eyes. He is on edge. In a limbo. But they keep on moving. Even heroes and philosophers end up in hell. All the broken hearted and heart breakers are here. What a world full of pain…

Cerberus is a great worm? A monster of some sort. Plutus is an evil wolf. I keep thinking the name Phlegyas is the word phalanges, bones in the fingers, haha. Aw, fallen angels in hell. Didn’t think that was a possibility.

I chose to read this because of the captivating title, but I’m not sure if I should have picked it. I don’t like to think about this option as an afterlife because I'm a weenie… but it was a really interesting read!

Bibliography: Inferno by Dante Alighieri

Reading Notes: Europa's Fairy Book, Part B

Mountains by Pexels

This hunter easily sounds like a serial killer and not an animal killer. There’s a trend with cloaks changing people into something else, or just something with robes in general. The women always seem to be beautiful and radiate. The mountains have unique names. Crystal Mountain. Mountain moors.

There was a lion. The way he moved is explained in great details. Androcles is a slave. The slave was set free. The lion was set free.

I assumed a weary tramp was a girl. But it is a man from Paris. The lady is a bit confused. There is a lot of conversations back and forth. A robber broke in. There was a quarrel. They thought the sky was falling.

I like the title of this one. Inside Again. Why did the man life up the stone. Why would he check for a black snake. He’s a hungry snake. They are in a pickle on if the man deserves to be eaten or not for saving his life. They bargain the whole time.

There was once a poor farmer and his family. He let his sons starve in the forest. They found a place covered in candy. The old lady is sketchy. She welcomed these boys into her home and fattened them up. The lady drank all of a stream and burst, I thought she tried to eat them.

This woman wants a baby boy. Her beans turned into babies, and only one survived. He was tiny. A robber came into the home.


Bibliography: Europa’s Fairy Book by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: Europa's Fairy Book, Part A

Cinder-Maid (Cinderella) by BagoGames

I like when it starts off like a typical fairy tale. I feel bad for the Cinder-Maid. No one cared for her when she was sad. I just realized this is a twist on Cinderella! The honey at the bottom of the stairs is a new part that I don’t recall in the original? Ah, how are the step sisters so clueless to not recognize someone whom lives with them? The story ends in the shoe fitting, marriage, and living happily ever after.

Beauty and the Beast is such a classic. Love rid him of his beast form and then they lived happily ever after as well.

I don’t understand what a dozen at a blow means… Throughout this whole story I’m lost. There are a lot of animals mentioned, and I think he’s hunting them. There’s some sort of marriage mentioned. He was a hero. Happily ever after ending.

A miller had three sons. They refer to the Earl of Cattenborough by his full title and not just his name like the rest of the characters. This story does not end in a happily ever after, instead it ends in death.


Bibliography: Europa’s Fairy Book by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Crane), Part B

Snow White and Dwarfs by MediumHero6

So many stories include some sort of deal with forced marriage. I’m not fond of those stories… why can’t they just magically fall in love upon meeting somewhere instead of it being a deal breaker. The new wife hates her husband’s former children and turned them into swans out of jealousy. She was a nut job.

This next story is about a girl being too good for anyone. She was too picky. Her father made her marry a ballad-singer, and she was horrified. If she wasn’t satisfied why didn’t she just refuse? Unhappy marriages seem to be the common thread here.

There aren’t really names of characters so far.

Growing up, I was not fond of the story of Snow-White. I was forced to take hand me downs from my cousins and dressed like her for Halloween one year. Eh, let’s just say I was not a happy trick or treater. I forgot a lot of the story, so it’s nice to read this again. The dwarfs and their personalities are my favorite part. The queen has such terrible intentions.


Bibliography: Brothers Grimm (Crane) by Lucy and Walter Crane

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Crane), Part A

Cottage by STVIOD

I love stories that deal with the sea. There’s just something about them that are interesting to me. I like how you can’t really tell what decade this takes place in. He caught a flounder and the wife wants him to go back and ask the flounder for a cottage. The fisherman then says a little chant. She is not satisfied and keeps asking for more. First a cottage, then a castle, then a request to be king, emperor, pope. She is frankly asking for too much. The flounder had enough of her shenanigans and left her back in their hovel.

The next story starts off sounding sad already. Stories that start off with death just makes me not want to continue. I like how there is like a verse or chant occasionally. Rhymes are the best, but hard to comprehend sometimes. Go and shoe does not rhyme?

The next story also has a verse that is repeated throughout. This is very descriptive of the actions happening. It’s easy to imagine. “The robber, who during the story had grown deadly white, sprang up and would have escaped.”


Bibliography: Brothers Grimm (Crane) by Lucy and Walter Crane

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part B

Goose by Diliff

The story starts off with a word all in caps. Henny-penny is so upbeat and fun to read. The names Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Goosey-poosey and all the others are cute. It’s such a play on words. The names however did start to get confusing to read after a while. The ending reminded me of Chicken Little.

Oh gosh, the illustration set the mood for the rest of the story. These stories start off in a generic way. Once upon a time. One day. Etcetera. Actions seem to be repeated for emphasis. The dialect for Molly is unique. Would be interesting to make a modern twist on this story.

Why doesn’t Mr have a period after it? I’m bothered by the lack of it. I like the message throughout this. Be bold. Be bold, but not too bold.

The only person who has a name is Johnny-cake in this story. Very descriptive of his actions. Dialogues are giving the characters a lot of personality. Redundancy in his words.

I honestly love how this story starts off. It reminded me of Santa Clause immediately. Next, story about a queen, princess, and magic. A lot of unique titles for places and people. I like how the story after this refers to the guy as a lad. That word alone makes me imagine the type of person he is.

Fairy ointment? The word ointment… bleh. What are pixies in this sense? She got into a house of pixies. Wow, she was hit in the eye and was blind till she died… that is tragic.


Bibliography: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

Tech Tip: Pinterest Board

Pinterest Logo by Michael Deal and Jean Carlos Pagan

Here is the Pinterest Board I made for the class.

I use Pinterest alot! I like to look up recipes and DIY projects. I never thought I would use it for a class, so this is pretty cool.

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part A

Cat and Mouse by Niels Hartvig

Oh my gosh, the first image that you scroll down to… I don’t know what to feel. The characters are written with distinguishable accents. She was embarrassed and made her daughter out to be someone else. The girl got married to a guy that was impressed by a quality she did not possess. Someone offered to help the damsel in distress. She had to guess the name of the someone/something that helped her. The name was Tom Tit Tot.

The intro was very descriptive. It was easy to imagine the girl. She had to sing a song over and over again.

The writing in this is very confusing to keep up with. Too many run on sentences. There were many animals involved. Rats, cats, dog, ox, and pig were mentioned.

A harp was made out of Binnorie. The harp sang, then it snapped and broke.

The cat and the mouse are talking with repetitive words. “The cat came and ate it, my lady, my lady. The cat came and ate it, my lady.”

The legendary three little pigs is always fun to read. This is definitely a class story many people know and have heard before. There is an ominous feeling for the last story, and I like it.


Bibliography: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part B

Jack and Jill by Dorothy M. Wheeler

Jingles: Deedle is very cute. It’s simple and easy to understand. Other stories are quite a tongue twister and plays with your thoughts. Oh, I know Hey Diddle Diddle! There are a lot of unique words being used such as deedle, jiggety, and tweedle.

Love and Matrimony: Ah, I like how the first one is the infamous Jack and Jill. There are a repeat in actions, possibly to put emphasis on it. What is a minikin pin? The rhyme about Jack Sprat made me giggle. They even each other out in their flaws and preferences haha.

Natural History: The first illustration is adorable. Good use of a dog as the spotlight of the rhyme. Every rhyme so far has a great flow. Not too long of a sentence. Good length of a verse. More dialogues in these kinds of rhymes. Oh my gosh, the next page starts with a dog as well. I love animals in case you can’t tell. I think I knew Baa, Baa, Black Sheep as a hand game/dance.

Accumulative Stories: I like how each part builds onto the next. It’s a good way to make it cohesive and not all over the place.

Relics: I read most of these with a tune in my head. Overall, many of these have a certain flow to them that make it easy to hum to.


Bibliography: Nursery Rhymes by Andrew Lang

Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part A

I LOVE rhymes. Being an ad student I love play on words, alliteration, and rhyming. I know quite a few nursery rhymes already, but I enjoy reading more.

Tales: there are many that follow the AA - BB - CC pattern. Element of nature and outdoors. The crooked man is fun to read. The fat man of Bombay is very imaginable. I can put some sort of a spin on the three men of Gotham. Writings that include the sea always intrigue me. The events on certain days of the week in Solomon Grundy would be a great starting ground for a story as well.

Proverbs: There is a redundancy in actions. The sneezing proverb could also be used for a story since in incorporates action on certain days too.

Songs: I looked up the beat to some of these songs because I wanted to sing it (Little Bo Peep in particular). Songs are always fun, they’re easier to remember because there is a beat to it. I sang Sing a Song of Sixpence for middle school choir! I remember most of it instantaneously! Four and twenty blackbirds~ Baked in a pieeee~

Pie by Jessica Spengler

Riddles: Long legs, crooked thighs, little head, and no eyes. Haha, I had no idea that was a pair of tongs. These are very clever. I do not possess the cleverness for this. It’s mindboggling at the same time.

Paradoxes: All these nursery rhymes are very long to get through. Since it’s not in a story element, you have to really think it through as you are reading.

Charms and Lullabies: Oh, Peter Piper. The butter one does not make sense to me. The swimming rhyme messed with my head so much.

Games: The Jack be nimble rhyme reminds me of the Geico commercial! That was an intelligent twist to the original version! They added an extended version of what happened to Jack. Some of these include noises instead of words.


Bibliography: Nursery Rhymes by Andrew Lang

Tech Tip: Google Timer

Time by Brian Dixon

I never knew this was possible! Google the word "timer" and you can set a simple timer. I’m not sure why I’m so surprised though… Google does everything and it’s amazing. In high school, I read somewhere that it’s good to take short breaks every 25 minutes while studying. I don’t necessarily think that’s true, but I try to do it anyways to not get burnt out! This timer will be useful.

Tech Tip: Youtube Playlist

I have been meaning to make a studying music playlist, and never got to it. This was the perfect time to finally do it! With all the exams and late night studying coming up, I am now ready to take it on with these jams. 

Reading Notes: Alice in Wonderland, Part B

Cheshire Cat by Wikipedia

Alice is quite sassy. There's a lot of dialogue. The characters are having an analogy debate. More caps is being used for emphasis. Everything said is very inquisitive. The choice of words are written in a specific and unnatural style of speaking.

The intro starts off descriptive. It is very easy to imagine the entrance of the garden. Here the characters are named after numbers. Two did this. Five said that. The queen wants to behead people. The only person that has a name is Alice. Everyone is just named after their titles. Rabbit. Queen. Cheshire Cat.

This jury is very irrational. Everyone is so quick to judge. There's a variety of long paragraphs and short ones. Yelling equals all caps. The illustration of the Alice and the cards is cool to see.

Bibliography: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Tech Tip: Quotemaker

Made on canvas.com

Tech Tip: Quotemaker

Made on quozio.com

Reading Notes: Alice in Wonderland, Part A

Alice and Caterpillar by Dawn Hudson

I chose to read this because I know the general idea of the story already! I’ve read a bit and watched the movies. I feel like it should be mostly the same right?

There are emphasis on words like VERY. Descriptive of feelings and actions. For quotes there’s only ‘ instead of “ ? Alice fell and is confused where she went. She went down, down, down the rabbit hole. I can imagine the movie at this part. Accents are prominent and words are typed like they sound, “Dinah” for dinner. It is very easy to imagine everything happening, and the illustrations are spot on. Everything is odd sizes or a little off. A table only has three legs. The door is tiny. She drank the potion. It was not labeled poison so she felt it was safe.

Fast forward and she ran into a caterpillar. More word EMPHASIZED. There are many quotes to keep the story interesting and cohesive. The caterpillar gave her some advice. He is very inquisitive like a therapist. She was attacked by a pigeon who thought she was a serpent.

There are parts I do not recall in the movies. The Footman seems new to me? But the Cheshire Cat is familiar! His distinctive smile. She ended up taking care of a pig, which grunted a lot. Again, the illustration is amazing.


Bibliography: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll