Week 1: Introduction

Hi guys! My name is Marissa Dutton, and I am a Mathematics major who will be graduating in December. I honestly can not express my excitement any better than saying FINALLY! I feel like I have been in school forever (five and a half years), and at times, it seemed like I would never reach this point, but I have finally made it to the home stretch. In four short months, I will be a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, and I cannot wait! As far as work, I have no clue what I plan to do. Before transferring to OU, I was attending a university in Louisiana as a Math Education major, but when I moved here, I changed my major to Math. I think I will still let teaching be an option after graduation, but other than that, I really have no idea what I want to do. I guess I have four months to figure that out, so I better get on that!

For those who have never taken a class with Laura Gibbs, let me just warn you, you will love this class! I love the way the class is set up because you feel like you have so much control over the grade you receive. This is my second class I have taken with her, and I enjoyed her Indian Epics class so much, I had to come back for her Myth and Folklore class. I also needed another upper division elective, so her class was an obvious choice! Make sure you stay ahead on the assignments, even if it is just one day ahead. If at all possible, try working ahead so you can get done with the class early. That way you can focus on some of your other classes towards finals time. Laura is great with encouragement and feedback, so I hope you all enjoy this class!

I spent a lot of time with family this summer, including babysitting my little cousins. On of our favorite days was when we went to the zoo. They loved going into this area with the colorful birds. We were able to hold some of them, and this one liked me so much he climbed all the way to the top of my head using my hair as a ladder. I spared you guys the pictures of his climb to the top of my head because my facial expressions were not exactly the most attractive. I was afraid of him peeing on my head! Haha

personal photo from OKC Zoo 2014

 

Week 1: Storybook Favorites

Happily Ever After: A Prince's Perspective
This storybook caught my eye simply because of the picture on the homepage. I found it hilarious to see Snow White and her prince charming living in the real world, rather than the storybook fairytale we have seen in the movies. Snow White is seen holding a child on each hip with another child at her feet and one in the background playing, while prince charming is chilling on the couch watching TV. It is the complete opposite of the image that comes to your mind when you think of Snow White and her prince charming during the "happily ever after" part of life. It looks humorous!

Epic Wicked Women
I think the reason this storybook caught my attention was because it reminded me of my storybook I created last semester when I took the Indian Epics class. For my project, I also focused my storybook around important women from Ramayana and Mahabharata, so I liked seeing someone else have a similar approach to their storybook. My project was from the perspective of a toilet who got to sit in on all the gossip and girl fights between these women, but this story is centered around a therapy session. Although I did not read any of the stories, I think it would be funny and entertaining. How could a therapy session for four women not be entertaining?

Fairy Godmother: Diary Thief
This storybook drew my attention because I have seen many people use the diary approach to their storybook, but I like that this one added a little something to make it different. Rather than us just reading the diaries of many princesses, the fairy godmother, who stole the diaries, is the reason we are able to get a private sneak peak into these princesses' lives. I think I might use a similar strategy when creating my storybook for this semester. Also, I enjoyed the colors and layout of the storybook because they relate well this the topic and theme.

Week 1: Un-Textbook

Week 2:
Of course I have heard the story of the Trojan War and have probably read the Iliad in high school, but I forgot the major details, so I think choosing Homer's Iliad would be an easy way to start the weekly readings.

Week 3:
I think it would be a good idea to choose one story from each period rather than two from the same period because it adds variety to your reading. For this week, I would choose Bible Women. Again, I am pretty familiar with many stories about women in the Bible, and would love to be able to read over them more.

Week 4:
As soon as I saw the title "Arabian Nights," I knew that was the story I wanted to choose. I was in love with the movie Aladdin when I was growing up because I always wanted to be Jasmine (which I was for Halloween when I was 6 years old haha), so that was an easy choice for me.

Week 5:
For a little while I thought about Ramayana because I am familiar with this story from last semester, but I thought I would change it up a bit and choose Life of the Buddha. I recently took a religion class, and Buddhism was the first religion we learned about, so I think I would enjoy reading this story.

Week 1 Storytelling: How A Monkey Became A Dolphin

On Captain Jack Sparrow's most recent expedition at sea, he let his pet monkey named Aboo tag along to tell jokes, do magic tricks, and cuddle with him at night before he went to bed. After setting sail at Athens, Greece, they headed towards New Orleans, Louisiana for a Mardi Gras parade. They had heard about a dessert called King Cake that was in abundance during this Mardi Gras holiday, so they organized a trip just to try this famous pastry! Captain Sparrow and his crew knew this trip would be a long one, but they did not know exactly how long. They miscalculated the amount of food and supplies they would need to survive their journey to Louisiana. After two long weeks, the food supply was dwindling quickly, and Aboo was catching the eyes of some hungry crewmembers. Sparrow reassured Aboo not to worry, but that did not keep him from losing sleep at night. The next afternoon they could spot the port to New Orleans, but a horrifying one hundred and fifty foot wave flooded over Captain Sparrow's ship. After being tossed around and flipped upside down, Captain Sparrow's ship was destroyed, leaving Sparrow and his crew to swim to the shore. Surprisingly, the monkey had survived the storm. A dolphin witnessed this tragic incident and caught a glimpse of the monkey struggling to keep himself afloat. This dolphin had recently lost her husband and child, and seized this opportunity to find someone else to care for. Instead of helping the monkey back to shore, the dolphin kept the monkey for herself. She taught him how to hold his breathe for long periods of time, how to catch fish with his teeth, and many other dolphin useful skills. He became the furriest dolphin that ever did live in the sea!

Author's Note:
I decided to give names to the character, so I chose Captain Jack Sparrow for the sailor and Aboo for the monkey. I'm from Louisiana, so I decided to add that as a reason for traveling to Louisiana. Also, I did not like the sad ending of the monkey dying, so I changed it up a bit. The dolphin takes the monkey in as a child, and takes care of it, conforming the monkey to the ways of the dolphins!

Here is the original story: The Monkey and the Dolphin

Laughing Dolphin by Naotake Murayama



Source: Flickr

Week 1: My Favorite Place - Greece

In the summer of 2013, I went on a mission trip with a group of students from my home state, Louisiana. We spent most of our time in Athens, Greece where we did most of our mission work, but one day we were able to do some island hopping. One of my favorite islands that we visited was Hydra. It was unbelievably beautiful!

Personal photo of Hydra, Greece

photo from July 2013