Wikipedia Trail: Tattercoats to Pharisee and the Publican

Wikipedia Trail

So this week I decided to try out the the Wikipedia trail extra credit assignment. I wish that I had tried this assignment sooner because it actually turned out being really interesting. Anyways for this assignment I started by looking up the term "gooseherd" on Wikipedia because it was in the story,Tattercoats, that was in my reading for the week and I had never heard of a goose herder. This search led me to the actual Wikipedia page for tattercoats.

Tattercoats Page

The page about Tattercoats basically gave a synopsis of the original story that was written by Joseph Jacobs. Since this name was familiar from all of the reading I decided to go to his Wikipedia page next.

Joseph Jacobs

On this page, I learned about the life of Joseph Jacobs and how he has done extensive work writing folklore. From this page I chose to go to the page on "publicans" because I wasn't exactly sure what it meant and Joseph Jacob's father held that position.

Publican

On this page I learned that a publican was someone who collected taxes, which is not what I expected at all. I also found out that in the Jesus told the story of the Pharisee and the Publican so this is where I went next.

Pharisee and the Publican

On this final page I found out more about this biblical story. The story actually had a great moral that I really enjoyed. The moral of the story was to be humble and to not depend on pride to survive.

(Pharisee and Publican: Credit to James Tisso)

Review: Thanksgiving Edition

Backup and Review

So this is the first time this semester I have backed up my blog, so it was a long time coming! Other than that based on the progress chart I am ahead of schedule and should be finishing the class a bit sooner. This is great because it will give me a bit extra time to study for my finals. Anyways, I was glad I looked through the class announcement page because it gave me some useful information on finishing up with the class. The link to that day is here. I also enjoyed this meme about  Thanksgiving.

(Thanksgiving, credit to Laura Gibbls.)

Famous Last Words: Week 13

Famous Last Words

This Class

So this week in the Mythology and Folklore class I chose to read about English fairy tales, and ended up writing one of my favorite stories of the semester. This whole semester I was excited to read about fairy tales so when this unit came up I immediately knew I wanted to use one of the stories in the unit as inspiration for a story in my storybook. In the reading there were a few versions of Cinderella so I decided to do my retelling of one of the Cinderella stories. The retelling, This is Ever After, ended up being one of my favorite stories that I have written this semester and I am excited to get feedback on it!

Other Classes

In my other classes I have had a lot of success. Usually at this point in the semester I am freaking out about my grades but by studying more consistently over the course of the semester I have no less than a B in all of my courses. In fact, this past week I received all of my midterm grades back and I was pleasantly surprised. One course that I am really enjoying is my intro to drumming class. Although the class was not required for my major I am really glad that I chose to take it. Since I already play piano and some guitar I was very surprised at the difficulty of drums but even though it has been challenging I have learned quite a bit! 

(Drumming, credit to Heyme at pixabay)

Outside of School

Outside of my coursework I have tried to focus more on my hobbies since they usually get pushed to the side for schoolwork. Specifically, this past week I tried to spend time playing the banjo that I got for my birthday in October.  Since the banjo is a six string banjo it has been an easier transition that I expected.

Week 13 Story: In the Ever After

Update: This story has been added to my portfolio! Follow the link to see the revised version.



"Another hard day," August asked with a smile as he climbed into the giant bed.

"Well, I must say raising three crazy kids is way more difficult than herding sheep," chuckled Ella.

August leaned to give Ella a kiss on the forehead but before he could reach her he heard the pitter patter of tiny feet running down the hallway. "Uh oh" he sighed, falling back into his pillow. "It looks like we have another nightmare victim on our hands."

Before he could even finish his sentence their youngest daughter Amelia came flying into the room and jumped on the bed.

"The monsters are back daddy!" she exclaimed as she hid her face in his chest. With a laugh Ella onc explained to her daughter that there is no such thing as monsters and there was nothing to worry about at all.

"Let's get you back to bed sweetie," August said.

"Noooooooo,"  Amelia yelled. "Not without your story, Mommy!"

"Ok, fine" Ella responded lightly. "I suppose I can tell my story."

Once upon a time there lived a happy couple in a great castle. The couple was deeply in love and through the years tried to have many children, but only had a single daughter, Amelia.

"That's my name!" squealed Amelia.

"Yes, sweetheart. Amelia was your grandmother" August said before taking over the story.

Anyways, for years the family lived in the palace full of love and joy. Eventually Amelia fell in love with a young man, and  they married. Shortly after the marriage they announced that Amelia was pregnant, and everyone in castle was elated by the news. While her husband was away, Amelia gave birth to a baby girl. Unfortunately the delivery did not go as planned and even though she did not live to see her only daughter she had time to name her. In grief, Amelia's mom died of a broken heart and the Lord refused to accept his granddaughter. He said that she was the reason for the death of his wife and his daughter and that she was not welcome in his castle. In his anger he told Amelia's husband not to come back to the castle, since nothing was left there for him.

Luckily for the baby girl,  Ella, Amelia had a loyal nurse that took in Ella and tried to feed her and clothe her as much as she could afford.

This worked for years, but in her old age the nurse died before Ella was fully grown.  Ella continued to live on the streets but never became discouraged by her situation. Ella was very generous and she often gave what little she had to other people in need. In fact, one evening Ella was walking through a nearby meadow when a stray sheep came her way. Being kindhearted, Ella leaned down to pet the sheep and told it that she would help it find its shepherd. It took a full day of walking nearby meadows but finally Ella spotted young shepherd tending to a flock of sheep.After Ella returned the sheep to the relieved shepherd they began to talk. The young shepherd explained that he was an orphan and offered Ella a job, helping him with the sheep. Overjoyed with the opportunity, Ella accepted and within the next few weeks the shepherd and Ella became great friends.

One day they were walking through a country town and heard of a grand ball that the King was hosting. Ella, never having been to a ball, greatly wanted to attend but was embarrassed of her shepherds clothes. The shepherd was quick to reassure her and insisted that they go together. "Who cares what we wear?!"  he exclaimed. "We will have fun nonetheless!"
Reassured, Ella and the shepherd began the two days journey to the castle. Not an hour into their journey they stumbled upon a strapping young and gallant man mounted on a grand white stallion. Might I add that he was quite handsome!"

Ella started laughing at her husband's retelling of the story. Giggling she said, "Oh really, he was all that handsome? I remember him looking rather confused and lost. I will take it from here."

So anyways, Ella offered help to  handsome young man. She gave him food and water and suggested that they travel together to the castle. There was an immediate spark between Ella and the man. Even though he was clearly wealthy he was not too proud to ask a commoner for help or to travel with a flock of sheep.

When they reached the castle the young man said he must go, but hoped to see them both at the ball.

After tending to the sheep Ella and the shepherd gathered the courage to enter the great ball, remember that they are still dirty from the fields and smell of sheep. As soon as they walked in the lords and ladies all began to snicker and laugh at these commoners. In embarrassment, Ella turned to run to the door but before she could make it she heard a familiar voice yell, "Wait!" As soon as she turned around she recognized the young man from earlier, only now he had a crown on! She assumed that he was wealthy, but a Prince!?

He ran to her and gave her an embrace before turning to the crowd to explain to them that Ella was more kind than all of them, and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Ella was impressed at the Prince's reaction, but before she could say a word the shepherd stepped forward.

"I have seen this woman choose kindness over bitterness again and again, and now her inner beauty will match her clothes.And as for the Prince, he has proven to be a kind and understanding man. The two of them will have countless blessings"

In an instance Ella's shepherd's clothing was transformed into a beautiful dress and the shepherd disappeared.

Although they never saw the shepherd again, the two truly did live happily ever after.

"Well, it looks like she has passed out," August said while looking at his sleeping daughter.

"I guess it is just that good of a story," Amelia said with a smile.

(Castle Beyond the Meadow, credit to slipdem)

Author's Note
In the original story, Tattercoats, an old lord loses his daughter when she was birthing his grand daughter. He was so upset at the loss of his daughter that he swore to never look at his grandchild and he neglected her. The grandchild had a nurse maid that took care of her but was ultimately forced to live on the streets where she befriended a goose herder. In the end she makes it to a ball with the goose herder and the Prince falls in love with her even though she is poorly dressed. The goose herder then turns her tattered clothes into a beautiful dress. In my version of the story I really wanted to emphasize that Ella truly had a great personality and won over the Prince with more than her looks. In accordance to this, I wanted the Prince to be appreciative of her personality and to be kind as well. Even though this is a fairy-tale I was inspired to create a version of the story that shows the happily ever after, rather than eluding to it. By adding a small narrative of a "here we are now" theme to the beginning of the story, I hoped to capture this.

Bibliography

More English Fairy Tales, Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1894) link

Learning Challenge: Sleep over Studying

Learning Challenge

This week for the learning challenge I chose to read the article Why Sleeping May be More Important than Studying written by Katrina Schwartz. To be honest there has been many times that I have stayed up late to cram for an exam and I have many times felt like going into the exam exhausted does more harm than good. This article definitely confirmed my idea by describing how a good nights rest can be even more beneficial than a late night cram session. The biggest surprise from reading the article was the suggestion that school should start at 10 a.m. to ensure that students have enough sleep. That would be great!

(Sleepy Student, credit to Love Krittaya)

Learning Challenge: Happiness Jar

Learning Challenge

This week I chose to do a Learning by H.E.A.R.T. challenge. The challenge that appealed to me the most was the Happiness Jar challenge since I read about classmate doing the challenge while doing the commenting assignment this week. The premise of the challenge is to write down something that makes me happy every day and then reflect on the writings at the end of the week. I feel like this will be a great challenge because it would make me more aware of the positive things that happen to me during the week. I look forward to this challenge!

(Happiness Jar, credit to Marta Z on flickr)

Growth Mindset: Week 15

Growth Mindset

For this growth mindset post I chose to find some growth mindset cats on pinterest that I really could relate to. The first meme that I enjoyed was the "Study hard, and then take a break" meme. Being a chemical engineering major here at the university I often find myself studying for hours on end and only recently have I found a better system. I found that the way of studying that works best for me is to take a ten minute break every hour so that I do not get overwhelmed.

(Study, Study, Study. Credit to Laura Gibbs)

The second meme that really spoke to me was the "There are many paths to success." Going into college I thought that I was for sure going to graduate in four years, and when I found out that I needed to take five years I was devastated. The idea of my plan being thrown off by an entire year was very scary and I felt like I was a failure in some ways. After some time I realized that taking an extra year really helped me to mature and taking less hours decreased my stress level significantly. This meme reminded me that there really are multiple paths to success and my plan was not the only plan that could lead to success.

(Path to Success, credit to Laura Gibbs)