Feedback Thoughts

General Feedback Opinions

(Feedback, credit to pixabay user geralt)

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to job shadow a manager and engineer at a drilling company in Houston, Texas. During this week I knew I would learn about industry for engineers, but I was surprised to learn even more about management techniques and work dynamics. While I was there the H.R. department was setting up and online and anonymous system in which a worker could give honest and constructive feedback to their boss or coworkers. When I asked why this system was being introduced to the company, the H.R. representative said that feedback can make the entire company more efficient and happier by optimizing individuals work, but only when the feedback is taken seriously. Because of this experience, I am very excited to learn more about feedback and to even be receiving it later in the semester. Everyone has room to grow and I am interested to see what improvements I can make.

Article Opinions

I really found the article, 5 Tips for Taking Criticism Like a Champ article by Megan Bruneau to be both relatable and helpful. I have always considered myself a perfectionist and I agree with the article in that as a perfectionist, my performance is an integral aspect of my self worth. The tips were all doable and my favorite tip that I hope to utilize is to take feedback and consider it a way to improve, rather than a permanent negative aspect of myself. Since growth should always be the goal, this tip helps remind me that change is important to becoming the best version of myself, and traits can be developed.

The Using Harsh Feedback to Fuel Your Career article by William Tresender was  interesting and reminded me of my experience over the summer with job shadowing at Precision Drilling. Just like the H.R. representative said when implementing the feedback system, in order for feedback to work people must take it seriously, and in order to take feedback seriously one must not stay mad or defensive forever. In the article I found it interesting that the author encouraged readers to feel their emotions when they receive negative feedback, but ultimately get through with being upset before going forward with improving whatever was critiqued. I know that as a person it is easy to get offended or hurt when someone says something negative, and I hope through this class I can learn how to effectively receive feedback.

Topic Brainstorm

Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales

As I mentioned in my introduction post, my favorite novel of all time is The Picture of Dorian Gray, written by Oscar Wilde. Just from reading this novel, it is obvious that Wilde has an amazing ability write clearly and eloquently while still maintaining creativity and imagination. Because of this, to me it is an obvious choice to consider The Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde as a project topic. Oscar Wilde has two fairy tale books and I am more interested in The Happy Prince and Other Tales because The Happy Prince is about a sparrow that travels to Egypt and meets a statue of a prince and I have always had the dream of going to Egypt and I am very interested in the culture and history. Below is a picture of a collector's edition version of The Picture of Dorian Gray from my personal book collection.

(My Personal Copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray, personal photo)

Ancient Egyptian Myths

After speaking about my interest in Egyptian history and culture, it should be clear why I have an interest in Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories. In my Reading Options blog I talked about how I have a life goal of seeing the Great Pyramids in Egypt, and I think that experience would only be enhanced by having a knowledge on the Egyptian Myths that the pyramids and other great structures were built upon. On Freebookapalooza there are many resources on Egyptian Myths and I am confident I could find many stories that are interesting to me. Specifically, I would be interested in telling stories about Goddesses because I love the idea of empowered women. 

Arabian Nights

For years, every Christmas or birthday I have asked for books as a present. Because of this I have been able to acquire a beautiful collection of books, including Arabian Nights. Although I have not been able to read all of the stories in the book I have read and enjoyed a few of the more popular ones like Aladdin and The Wonderful Lamp. Since I already have a physical copy of Arabian Nights, I think that it would be a great topic for a project. If I were to retell a story I would possibly do Aladdin since I already have knowledge on it and I think having the power to retell such a well known story could prove to be exciting. 

(My person copy of Tales from Arabian Nights, personal photo)

Alice In Wonderland

If you haven't been able to tell already, I like the idea of using a book as my basis for a project since I enjoy reading so much. Although I do not own a personal copy of Alice in Wonderland, there are many resources such as the Project Gutenberg which has many free books to download. (This is also a great resource for my other project topics) Although I do have previous knowledge on the Alice in Wonderland story, there is so much more to learn and being able to tell the stories from a different perspective would be very interesting. 

Week Two Story: The Man, The Moon.

Portfolio Link:

https://sites.google.com/s/0B9KPoiJoit0jX2JyYndWZjhHWWc/p/0B9KPoiJoit0jNHR1ZnN5bW42TEE/edit

The Man, The Moon.

     Once Upon a Time, there was a humble blacksmith living in a small village at the base of a great mountain. Every day the blacksmith took a break from his tedious labor by the fires to get a drink from a stream that flowed from the mountain near his shop. On this break the blacksmith would admire the cool and rigid stones of the mountain."How strong and cold the mountain is," the blacksmith would sigh; "If only I were as strong as these stones my labor would never tire me, and if I were as cool, I would not need to rest so often."

     One hot summer day a young girl was walking by as the blacksmith took his rest, and  she overheard his sigh. After hearing of his admiration of the mountain she approached the blacksmith and said "It saddens me to see you tired and weary, I only wish that you could be the mountain: strong and cool." In that instance the blacksmith was transformed into the stone of the mountainside, and the girl was gone.
   
     Years went by and the blacksmith remained stone, unable to speak or move. One fall evening the girl returned, now a young woman. She walked to the stone by the stream and reached a hand out to feel the cold rock. "I see that you are still cool and strong, blacksmith, how does this mountain suit you?" The mountainside rumbled as the blacksmith found words, "I am strong and I am cold, but I miss my labor. Day by day I admire the stone-cutter and his purpose, as he chisels and carries large parts of me to home-builders and artist."
"I understand that you long for your labor," the woman replied, "I will turn you into the stone cutter so that you can work once again and find purpose." Once again the blacksmith was transformed, and once again the woman was gone.

     A few more years passed and the blacksmith continued to labor as a stone-cutter, until one winter day the woman returned again. "Hello, old friend." said the woman, "I see that you have found purpose in your labor, how does stone-cutting suit you?" The blacksmith thought for a second before he replied, " I have found purpose, but this labor is hard and I have aged into an old man. Every day I climb high on the mountain to cut stone and I look to the sun for warmth." The woman replied, "The sun is warm and good, so the sun you will be." and was once again gone.

     More years went by and the blacksmith thought he would never see the woman again, until one spring day she returned, now an old woman. "I see that you are still filled with the warmth of the sun, blacksmith, but how does being the sun suit you" the woman said tiredly. The blacksmith almost did not want to answer, since the woman had already done so much for him but he knew he had to be honest. "I do enjoy being the sun and encompassing it's warmth, but warmth alone cannot sustain me." The woman thought for a moment before replying, "I have grown old, and in my age I have grown wise. For years we have tried to find the perfect version of you and it has never been so clear. Now you will be the moon, you will be cool and strong, yet warm on the side the sun touches you, you will have purpose in pulling the waters of earth without the labor being too hard." For the final time the blacksmith was transformed, to where he is today, the moon.

(The Man, The Moon. Credit to rkarkowski at pixabay)

Authors notes:

This story was based off an origin story from southeast Asia about a fickle man who could not decide what he wanted to be, and after switching many times a wise man chose for the man to stay the moon. It seemed to me that the story could be improved by making the man grateful for being able to change, and wanting to change out of respect and admiration for something else. Essentially, this story is about trying to find the best version of yourself and adding positive characteristics as you travel through life. 

Bibliography:

"The Man in the Moon" from Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson, Web Source

Readings Notes: The Moon

The Moon:

Before reading all of the stories on the Myth-Folklore Anthology I was sure that I would choose to retell a story that I enjoyed, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. The story The Man in the Moon originated in Southeast Asia and is about a very fickle blacksmith whom constantly wishes to be something else until a wise man decided that the blacksmith will stay the moon. In my opinion, this story is meaningful and beautiful and deserves more detail than it was given in this telling. In accordance to this, the writing style of this story was short and choppy and could be more eloquently written.  I look forward to retelling this story with more detail and a different perspective!

(Man on the Moon, credit to Dunk at pixabay)

Reading Options

Reading Options

Never have I ever been in a class where I can choose what I would like to learn about, and I must say I am excited! The UnTextbook has so many options and resources that it is definitely going to be a challenge to narrow down which I am  most interested in. 

Readings of Interest

After browsing the types of readings I have found a few options that I believe I will really enjoy reading.

The first section that caught my attention was the Brothers Grimm units because Grimm's Fairy tales are already something I am familiar with. I am particularly interested in the Ashliman unit of the Brothers Grimm section since it is translated into contemporary English and has both familiar and unfamiliar stories.

(The Brothers Grimm, by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann)

The second unit that caught my attention was the Robin Hood unit. The story of Robin Hood is familiar, but it will be interesting to read, and even listen to,  the ballads that inspired the legends of Robin Hood.

Unlike the other two units that caught my interest, I am not as familiar with Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories. It is one of my life goals to visit the Great Pyramids of Egypt so I think it would be a great experience to read and learn about the Myths behind Ancient Egyptian culture.