Feedback Strategies

 

Feedback graffiti sign. (Source: Pixabay )

For one of this week's assignments, we looked at feedback strategies. This week was really helpful to me because I typically fall into the pattern of "Amazing!" or "Good job!" without actually giving good feedback. I read two articles called "The Trouble with Amazing: Giving Praise That Matters," and "Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset." Both of these articles talk about what I struggle with: giving good constructive feedback. I really like how a growth mindset helps me to focus on the effort someone is putting into it, other than on the person themselves. This is actually way more beneficial and I will be using this strategy more in other areas of my life also. 

As I was looking through the feedback gallery, the ones that really caught my eye were the comments that actually had thoughtful suggestions. If there was something missing or wrong in the story, they suggested a correction or a new strategy, they did not just give criticism and then move on. For me, that means that someone was actually paying attention to my work and took the effort to suggest something that would actually help me make my work even better. It makes me feel like someone thought my work was worth putting the effort into to comment back and make a helpful suggestion, too. I really think that this class will help me with my feedback strategies and help me give better advice and praise in different areas of my life. While I don't have many strategies for feedback myself, I am sure I will learn more as the semester progresses. I can not wait to learn more about growth mindset and how it can change the way I think about myself and my effort in class and work. 

Topic Research: King Arthur and the Zodiac

King Arthur and His Knights' Battles Against the Stars

For my stories, I would like there to be an overarching theme of King Arthur and his knights battling the zodiac. I thought maybe doing it by trails or battles so that they can prove themselves worthy of some treasure or achievement. 

King Arthur- Battle with Leo (Nemean Lion) 

I thought to have King Arthur battle the sign of the Leo, which is represented in Greek mythology by the Nemean Lion. I think it would be good to mention that Heracles (Hercules) battled the Nemean lion before him and won. This could be a measure to see if he is strong enough to be king. 

The sign of Leo. (Source: Pixabay )

Lancelot- Libra (Scales of justice) guilt of affair with Guinevere

For this trial, I thought to have Lancelot do the second one. He is the best friend of King Arthur until the affair in a lot of the stories, so I thought it would only be fitting to have him as part of the story. I thought to place this before it is revealed that he has an affair with Guinevere. In facing him before the Scales of Justice is testing his loyalty to Arthur and the crown and his own heart. 

The sign of Libra. (Source: Pixabay )

Gawaine and Gareth- Battle against Gemini (Castor and Pollux) Chariot race? Joust? 

Since Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology usually represent Gemini, I wanted to pair them up against a pair of knights. Gawaine and Gareth are said to be brothers in the legends. I thought to have them maybe do a horse race or joust against Castor and Pollux, because of the Greek myth that Castor and Pollux are good horsemen. 

The sign of Gemini. (Source: Pixabay )

Each of these stories will probably be told in the third person because I think I will be able to better describe the scenes and tell the story if I'm not switching perspectives. I also thought the setting of the story might be in some heavenly realm that they travel to or something. 

Sources

I used the same sources for all the stories. Mainly Wikipedia and the Arthur Unit from the class materials. I also found a great website that I thought maybe a good resource. 

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_and_Pollux

-http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/Unit%3A%20King%20Arthur

-https://kingarthursknights.com/

Week 3 Story: 3 Sides To Every Story

3 Sides To Every Story

The Banishment of Adam and Eve (Source: The Fall, by Michelangelo )

A lot of you readers have heard the Biblical creation story of Adam and Eve. You've heard it taught and preached from pulpits and Sunday school classrooms. But what you have never heard is the different perspectives of Adam, Eve, and the serpent…

Adam:

So here's what really happened: It all started when one day I was sitting by the river Euphrates talking with the animals that had come to tell me about their day. Besides the animals talking, it was a peaceful and happy time. My animal friends had just left when Eve ran up to me with an emotion on her face I had never seen before. (We never had experienced any negative emotions or anything, so how was I supposed to discern what she was thinking?) She came to me saying in her distress, "Oh I've done something sinful, husband! You must partake in it with me so that the Lord has mercy on us! You are his favorite creation! He will listen and forgive you!" So, because I hated seeing her that way, I took a bite of the fig. I mean I knew God said to not eat it, but he gave me her as another responsibility to look after right? So I did it. But, as soon as I bit into the sweet fruit, I knew something had changed and was wrong. I looked down and then looked to Eve in disgust and shock. We were NAKED!!! Why did we never realize? Afterward, we tried to find some leaves to use for clothes, but all the other trees were afraid to help us since we disobeyed God. The only tree that would help clothe us was the one we weren't supposed to even be around! Well, we put on the leaves and then of course we hid. I immediately started thinking of ways we could hide what we did from God. It was strange because I would've never had those kinds of thoughts before. Well, obviously God found out what we did. You know the rest of the story. What I find insane is that the very person who was supposed to HELP me dragged me right down with her. So yeah, you could say our marriage is kinda on the rocks right now...

Eve:

Yes, I know. Adam blamed me for the whole thing, didn't he? Nevermind that it was HIS job to be looking after me and keeping an eye on the slippery serpent. Every other creature knew he was no good. Well every other one except us, I guess. That day all I was trying to do was look for some grapes for Adam and me. They are his favorite. So there I was, minding my own business when the serpent walks up to me (this was when he still had legs) and tricks me into eating of the fig tree. You should've heard him though. He sounded so SMART. He definitely sounded smarter than Adam, who never tells me anything anyway. So if he sounded smarter than Adam, then he's probably as smart as God, right? Wrong. As soon as I ate the fig, I knew something was wrong. The sky seemed to kinda darken and the other trees kinda bent away from me, so I wouldn't touch them. So I did the only thing I could think of doing, I picked up another fig and ran to Adam. Surely, if he ate it, God would forgive us! Adam is His FAVORITE creation! So, I got him to eat it too. I had these thoughts in my head that told me I could easily convince Adam to do whatever I wanted him to do by showing my beauty and helplessness to him. Where did those come from? Well, as soon as he ate, we discovered we were both NAKED. I was mortified and rushed to try to cover myself with fig leaves. Then, we tried to hide from God, but it didn't work. He punished us for what the SERPENT did. If you ask me, and no one ever does, he was the only one responsible here. He knew exactly what he was doing. But I'm sure no one will agree with me. All I hope is that Adam can realize that it's NOT all my fault!

The Serpent:

Yes, yes I know. "Here comes the bad guy of the story." That is what you all are thinking, right? Well, you couldn't be more wrong. I'm the only VICTIM in this whole scenario. I was a beautiful, gorgeous, wise, and respected creature, till those two idiots got me into trouble. Sure, I may have suggested to Eve to eat of the tree. But she didn't have to. That was her choice. Besides, God always favored them above everyone else. I made the suggestion to prove a point. Any wise creature would've done as God commanded and not eat it no matter what someone else told them. But that's the point. Neither Adam nor his ridiculous wife is wise or capable. It's not fair that we should pay lip service to two lowly creatures such as those humans. To top the whole thing off, I got punished along with them for what THEY did. I got kicked out of Eden too, but does anyone else care? No. My children and descendants are killed on sight by Adam's and no one bats an eye. The angels even cut off my beautiful limbs!!! I used to WALK along the ground. I had glorious color to my body. But my punishment did not stop at banishment, oh no. God had his angels MAUL me. So now I must slither in the dirt like so much trash. If you ask me, Adam and Eve deserve every suffering thing they are going through right now and more!

So, as you can see reader, there are more perspectives to this story than you thought. Who do YOU think was in the right and wrong?

Bibliography

English Standard Version Bible (2016): Genesis 3 

Author's Note

I chose to read the story of Adam and Eve as my story for this week. There was so much to the full story from Jewish legends and I was really intrigued. The story starts with the creation and goes through the traditional Biblical story of how God created everything, the creation of man, the fall, etc. But the Apocrypha goes into a lot more detail about what Adam is like, the angels, the fall of Satan, Lilith (Adam's first wife), the creation of Eve, the fall, what happens after the fall, etc. There is so much content to go through and it's all so interesting! There was honestly no way I could ever write a new story that would encompass the whole thing in just 1000 words. I was really stumped because I had no idea what to do. Then as I thought back to my old Sunday school days, I remembered how Adam, Eve, and the serpent all blamed each other for what happened to break the one command God gave. But it's only a few verses and we only get Adam's and Eve's excuses, we never hear from the serpent. So I thought to give each of them a little more voice to talk about what may have really happened from their side of the story. 

Reading Notes From Adam and Eve, Part B

 Reading Notes: Adam and Eve, Part B

A dark cave. Very much like the one Adam and Eve could've been banished to, except less light. (Source: Tysmiha on Pixabay) 

-God created the garden of Eden on the third day of creation 

-there are clear distinctions of the garden's borders and what is on each side 

-"God created the sea of His own good pleasure.."

-"Lest the transgression they had committed.." repeated often 

-Cave of Treasures- Where God made Adam and Eve dwell after having to leave the garden

-"similitude"?- semblance or image 

-"One would come and save him and his seed..." (a reference to the Messiah?)

- covenant- an agreement, usually formal, between two or more people to do or not do something 

-"Strengthen thy heart, therefore, and abide in the Cave of Treasures."

-Adam's comparison of the Cave of Treasures to the Garden of Eden is very dramatic and descriptive

-"he wept and smote heavily upon his breast" Adam and Eve consistently committed suicide because of their sorrow 

-Eve pleads with God very poetically to restore Adam and bring him back to life. 

-The word "transgressed" is used many times in all parts of the story

-thou, thee, thy, and other language like it used is the main form of the language, most like the Old King James Version of the Bible

-God continued to raise Adam and Eve back to life after they committed suicide

-The still continued to drink from the water from the Tree of Life

-Adam repeats "O Eve!" very often when lamenting his sorrows about how he misses the garden

-When night falls, Adam and Eve are both very afraid of what the darkness could mean. God tells Adam that he created the day for Adam and his seed to work and the night for the beast and man to rest. 

-Every time that God stopped talking to Adam the story says "And God ceased to commune with Adam. 

-The serpent is just as was described right after having received punishment. The description sounds like a cobra when coming after Eve. 

-The serpent was swept up by the wind and taken to India. 

-"merciful God, good and lover of men...."

-"He smelt the sweet savour of their offering, and showed them mercy."

-They built an altar to God and made a burnt offering of the blood they had shed during their attempted suicides. 

Story Source

The Forgotten Books of Eden, edited by Rutherford H. Platt, Jr. (1926).

Reading Notes: Adam and Eve, Part A

 Adam and Eve Notes

Adam and Eve eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Source:Jeffjacobs1990 on Pixabay )

- Read Genesis in the ESV translation

- I like how the story starts with "In the Beginning.."

-In the Genesis parts, there is a clear timeline, followed with the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh days. 

- Uses very good descriptions

- Repetition is present by calling things good and very good

- "each according to its kind"

-"greater light and lesser light"

-"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." 

-"have dominion over"

-God rested on 7th day

-"a mist was going up from the land"

-Eden

-directions, specific timelines

-names are important and a lot of times have meanings with them in the text

-Woman- taken from man

-serpent was more crafty- uses convincing language with Eve

- "Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day"

-Eve-mother of all living

-Adam was "fully and completed developed" when he was created 

-Adam possessed "extraordinary size and physical perfection"

-the word "see" repeated in different forms

-soul referred to as "her"

-Adam- created out of Adamah, dust of the earth 

-Adam a prophet

-Adam "aroused the envy of the angels"

-"God flung Satan and his host out of heaven."

-"Give adoration to the image of God!"

-marriage- used to make a difference between God and man

-"Ineffable Name"

-Lilith was made in the same way as Adam

-Lilith refused to submit to Adam

-Eve was made from Adam's body while he was asleep

-Lilith demon children

-Lilith preys on infant children, must put token on child of 3 angels who caught her 

-God when creating Eve- "Be chaste!"

-"for God longs for the prayers of the pious"

-"He who lusts after what is not his due, not only does he not attain his desire, but also loses what he has!"

-Sanhedrin of 71 angels

Bibliography

Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1990) : Volume 1

English Standard Version Bible (2016) : Genesis 1-2