Week 12: Famous Last Words

Well, these last 3 weeks have been absolutely insane. I had the wonderful opportunity to have a little vacation to Cabo during Spring Break, but as soon as I came back, I had to hit the ground running. I've had nothing but papers, tests, and projects in all of my classes, and it's seeming like it's never going to end. Luckily, there's a light at the end of the tunnel! Exactly one month from today, I will be graduating! And let me tell you, it's a super bittersweet feeling. I definitely can't wait because I'm excited to see what exactly the future holds, but I also am terrified because...well the exact same reason!

Since I'm there so many times a week (because I am a server),
I decided to include a picture of Chuy's.

As far as this class goes, I admittedly have not been able to commit as much time I was able to in the beginning of the semester. I am hoping to use this weekend to get caught up, and hopefully get ahead to where I am able to finish the course. I have really enjoyed all of the readings throughout each week, and I've really gotten to see a new perspective and style of teaching than I've ever had at OU. I'm so glad I decided to take this course because it has allowed me to use a little more freestyle writing than what I am normally used to in my other classes. This week, I unfortunately missed the deadline for the storytelling, but as I mentioned above, the g
oal I have set for myself is to try and catch up on everything this weekend.

Adding a little bit of excitement to the mix, my mom and sister are coming to visit Norman next weekend, so I am really excited for that! I definitely need a much needed break from school and work. I haven't seen either of them since Christmas, so it'll be fun to get to catch up with them.

Extra Reading Diary: Welsh Fairy Tales

For the extra reading this week, I decided to check out the Welsh Fairy Tales because it was one unit I knew absolutely nothing about. I really enjoyed these stories, and I liked how easy to read they were.

One of the stories that stood out to me as a favorite in this unit was March's Ears. I thought it was a really funny concept of the man to have horse ears. I really liked how that the story had multiple humorous parts to it, particularly the mere fact that "march" literally means "horse" in Welsh. I also thought the statement "March would undergo ridicule, which is certainly a serious thing: but the barber would undergo decapitation, which is much more serious" was hilarious and added a bit of humor to a rather dark idea of the story. Obviously having your head chopped off is going to rank on a MUCH higher scale of horror than being ridiculed for having horse ears. The only part I wish the story would have changed would be the ending. I feel like the ending was a tad bit undeveloped, and it would have been cool to see a little more of how the March changed his opinion about the ears.

(Bala Lake)

Another story I enjoyed was Bala Lake. I thought it had a very peaceful voice, and it was really easy to read. The idea of the bird leading the harper to the lake was really cool, and I think it tells a great story of how the lake was founded. The only part I was a tad bit confused on was the purpose of the bird whispering "vengeance". I'm sure I am probably just missing a minor point, but it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. However, despite that minor detail, I still really enjoyed reading the story.

Reading Diary A: Robin Hood Ballads

This week I was originally going to read the Alice through the Looking Glass, but as I was looking through the different options, Robin Hood Ballads stuck out at me because of the way the stories are told. I really enjoyed that the stories were more of poems and songs, which made them really fun to read.

Robin Hood and Little John meet for the first time

One of my favorite stories in this unit was Little John. Although I'm not super familiar with all of the minor details of the story of Robin Hood, there are many things about it I do remember from watching the movie and hearing the story when I was younger. The name "Little John" was one of the first familiar names that I recognized, so I was naturally drawn to that particular episode. There was a minor little statement in this ballad that made me laugh "Bold Robin Hood said to his jolly bowmen". This is a very similar name that Robin Hood's men are now known by, "the merrymen", which would explain where the merrymen idea came from. I also had no idea that Little John's name was originally John Little. I love that Robin Hood and his men used that play on words (as well as his enormous height) to give him the ironic name of Little John. I thought it was cool that although Little John was the one who won the fight, he still decided to join Robin Hood and his men.

Another ballad I really enjoyed reading was Robin Hood's Delight. I found it really interesting that in both of these stories (and many others), the initial interaction between the characters was to fight and be violent. However, the end result of the story was the men that Robin Hood fought because apart of his crew, or they at least engaged in friendly conversation. I thought it was really interesting that the fighting in the story was almost pointless. They fight and fight for a few hours and then when he tries to call a truce, they refuse. However, shortly after, he tries to be friendly with the men, and they end up drinking for days.