Tori's Thoughts

(Image Information: Wikicyclops; Web Source: Wikimedia ). The ship was blown off course in the nighttime and crashed. They were now beached at the land of the Cyclopes. Odysseus told his crew, “It’s too dark out here. We must sleep here on the beach tonight, and we can restore the ship in the morning.” His men lay down and went to sleep. In the morning the men fixed the ship, by the time they were finished it was around lunch time. They were all very hungry, so they decided it would be a good idea to go hunting. They hunted and hunted, and when they were done they feasted. The crew feasted on ten goats for lunch and fifteen for dinner. As they were sitting there eating dinner Odysseus tells his men that he would like to look around the island more. He says to them, “I am curious about the inhabitants of this land, so tomorrow let us go explore this place.” At sun rise Odysseus and his group of men left to explore. They sail to the other side of the island where Odysseus and...

The Odyssey, Part B (Image Information: Island; Web Source: flickr ). 1. Ghosts of Erebus    -The sailors found the land that Circe had told them about. 2. The Ghosts of Elpenor and Teiresias    -They beached the ship and deboarded to find Teiresias. The land was filled with ghosts and they encounter their friend Elpenor who has passed away. His ghost told Odysseus and his men to sail back to the land of Circe and bury his body and to not forget about him.    -Afterwards the Ghost of Teiresias appears and tells Odysseus of the unkind journey ahead; "Poseidon is angry with you because you blinded his son, so you must be apologetic and humble. Praise him and make sacrifices to him or you will never make it to your homeland, Ithaca. You will die at sea. But, if you do as I say then you could make it home. 3. The Spirit of Anticleia    -Odysseus sees the ghost of his mother and speaks with her. 4. The Ghosts of Famous Women...

                                                                                             The Odyssey 1. The Land of the Cyclopes: -The sun was about to set as the sailors passed the land of the Cyclopes. In the Land of the Cyclopes, there are no laws. They live in caves. There were an excess of goats on the island. The land was perfect: rich and fertile. -It was too dark too see, and their ship was misguided and the sailors had no sense of direction. Next thing they knew their boat was beached. They could not do anything about it since it was dark, so they lay down and went to sleep -hen it was morning they woke up, hunted goats, and feasted -Odysseus was curious about the inhabitants of the land, so him and group of his men went exp...

PROJECT IDEAS! Greek Mythology:  The Olympian Gods One idea for my storybook is to choose a few Olympian Gods/Goddesses and create a few tales to tell about each of them in my storybook. The web link above has information about each Olympian God, so that would be very helpful when writing my stories. Zeus This storybook about Zeus would involve his multiple loves. I think it would be fun to make my storybook into a modern and fun romantic comedy about Zeus and his romances. Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales Many of these fairy tales have been made into Disney movies, and so many of these fairy tales remind me of my childhood. I would love to choose one of the fairy tales and put a personal twist on it to make it my own. Shakespeare I have always loved Shakespearean plays and would really enjoy writing a storybook about one of them. When I was in middle school, every spring semester my Literature class would learn about a new Shakespearean play. These were some of my favorite...

I believe feedback and constructive criticism are key components for improvement. When I was younger I did not enjoy receiving criticism, but as I got older I began to realize the importance of feedback and how beneficial it is especially for my job performance and school work. Before a person can receive constructive feedback, I think it is necessary for a person to have challenging but realistic expectations set for himself/herself. “14Signs Your Perfectionism Has Gotten Out of Control” (Image Information: Thumbs Up; Web Source: flickr ). This article was a little frightening for me, and this is probably because I feel that many of the descriptions in the article are aligned with my own behavior, actions, and beliefs. In the first part of the article it mentions that if you’ve ever cried about getting a B+ or ending up in second place, there’s a good chance you’re a perfectionist. Some other parts of the article stood out to me as well, and it even discusses adaptive a...

For my reading notes I am going to discuss the plot, characters, and settings of a few of my favorite stories from the  Myth-Folklore Anthology . (Image Information: Forest Walk; Web Source:  flickr ). The Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi  by  E. W. Champney and F. Champney: This story is a heroic tale as it involves a quest to slay the serpent in order to save  Kushinada-hime (Wondrous-fair Princess) . The setting is mountainous area surrounded by a sea. The characters are not regular humans; they are related to gods.  The Indian Who Wrestled with a Ghost by Katharine Berry Judson: This was a s scary story filled with action and ghost encounters. The main character was a traveler who experienced a few ghosts during his nights in the woods. I am wondering, how did the man wrestle the ghost since the ghost is not physically there? Also, how could the man kill a ghost? If it is a ghost isn't it already dead? These are some...

The Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi Susa-no-wo was traveling through the forbidden mountains when he encountered an old man who had long gray beard. The old man was with an older woman and a young woman. The man and the older woman were both sobbing while young woman was trying to console them. 
 Susa-no-wo walked toward them and said, "This is the first time I have ever seen others in this mountainous area, humans normally cannot handle this environment. Are you all human?" The old man stopped crying to say, "I am the son of the Mountain-God. This is my wife and my daughter; my daughter's name is Kushinada-hime. Susa-no-wo said, "I am the brother of Amaterasu the Goddess of the Sun, Heaven-descended ruler of Yamato. It's nice to meet you. Sir, may I ask why you and your wife are crying?" The old man replied, "My wife and I are mourning the loss of our eight daughters who were murdered by the serpent. Also, we fear th...