Storylab Week 12: Myth Crash Course

For my story lab this week I chose to watch the three Mythology Crash Course Videos. Below, I have written. my thoughts on each video. 

What is Myth? Crash Course World Mythology #1
   The biggest takeaway is myths are stories. Not necessarily false stories, but stories that have significance and survive for a long time. Myths usually deal with the creation of the world, and folktales/fairytales are lumped into them now. I wish this video was suggested/required at the beginning of the course because it would help clear up a lot of confusion are certain subject matters within this course. He then covers the myth of Persophone and how it explains seasons, and science has sort of built on this and derived theories from it. 

Theories of Myth: Crash Course World Mythology #12 
   He covered the definition of mythology and how myths are studied. Plato started the rumor myths are lies or made-up. A whole lot of history about how we have derived religious myths. Anthropology comes along in the 20th century, and studied how myths are a direct expression of its subject-matter and people. A lot of other -ology fields turned to mythology to build on their theories. 
Myths hold a lot of structure in culture. 

The Hero's Journey and the Monomyth: Crash Course World Mythology #25
   He jumped into stories of heroes and their journeys (monomyths). Campbell was expectantly sexist. "We are all heroes struggling to find our way through our adventures." Campbell was a little insane. He walked through the general three-part monomyth structure. 

Caption: An iconic hero with a classic journey. Obtained from giphy.com 

One Polar Bear Shot, Sir.

It was an unusually slow Friday night in the Eskimo Bar. The bartender was cleaning the iced countertops when a frail old woman walked into the bar. Another unusual sight for the Eskimo Bar. She sat at the end of the bar with her hands in her lap and her head down. The bartender wiped the counter down and made his way to her. 

"A shot for your thoughts?" he said with a small laugh. 
"Uh, yes I would like one Polar Bear shot," the woman replied. 

Taken aback by this request, the bartender nodded and retrieved the woman's shot. He slid it the shot in front of her and she picked it up and raised to the ceiling. 
"
To letting go," she said and threw back the drink. Her face scrunched and she began shaking her head. The woman picked up her purse hanging on her seat and fumbled in it for a few moments. She set her purse on the counter and sighed. 

"Sir, I am terribly sorry, but I don't have the money to pay for this," the woman said. 
The bartender sat for a moment and thought about her predicament. Usually, he wouldn't be forgiving of this, but seeing her state he felt she deserved some slack. 

"I will let you off, but on one condition. You tell me your story of what brought you in today," he said. 

The woman smiled and took off her jacket. 

"Well, I better take off my jacket because we will be here awhile," she replied. 
The woman proceeded to tell the story of how she had been fostering a large wolf-like dog she found on the side of the road. She loved this dog as if he were a child. She walked him, fed him and bathed him. Although the dog was sweet and protective of her, the dog was vicious to others. One day the dog broke out of the backyard. He charged around the neighborhood and attacked a man and left him severely injured. As a result, the dog had to be put down, but before putting him down she released him to the woods to find a pack of his own.

"So that is how I ended up here. To take a strong shot of something to let go of the only being that did not remind me how alone I am," she said and looked back down at her hands. 

The bartender now felt even more guilt than before. He sighed and swung the towel over his shower. 

"M'am, I'm sorry about your dog and tell you what. How 'bout every week you stop by for a Polar Bear shot on the house. You can tell me about your week or whatever," he said with a smile. The woman nodded. 

"Thank you, sir. You are very kind and I look forward to it," she said and gripped his hand. 

The end. 

Caption: Wolf by Simon Rae. 

Author's Note: I chose to do The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son. I changed the bear to a dog and had her tell her story a bartender. I didn't want to alter the story too much, and I wanted to keep it simple. I wanted to keep the same emotion, but give the old woman a happy ending. Without the dog, she wouldn't have met the bartender. Another thing to note is a Polar Bear shot is one part chocolate liqueur and one part peppermint schnapps, and I felt it fit the Eskimo vibe. 

Bibliography: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

Week 10 Story Lab

This week I decided to watch the TED talks over storytelling and stories. I enjoyed both videos, and here are my thoughts for them. 

The danger of a single story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

   I thoroughly enjoyed this TED Talk for a number of reasons. Firstly, I enjoyed Chimamanda's approach to telling of her story, and how she wasn't attacking or being vengeful in her argument. She made it a universal problem, one that everyone can work on. I feel this was an overall eye-opening TED Talk. 
   Secondly, I remember when I took Discoveries of Archaeology, we often discussed the racism among common myths, legends and conspiracy theories we have today, an argument that I feel can contribute to this TED talk. For example, a wild conspiracy out there is aliens actually built the pyramids, not the Egyptian. There are books, reddit threads and several t.v. shows that claim this. Although not pointed and obvious racism, to claim this is stripping the Egyptians of an incredible accomplishment that spurred technological and cultural advancements. I think this follows along with only reading a single story. The consequence of reading a single story is stripping a person or collective group of earned merits and accomplishments. 
   Lastly, I was raised in a diverse neighborhood. On my right was a Hispanic family, on my left an African-American family, two doors down was a Yemeni family, and then there was my Irish-catholic family right in the middle of the cul-de-sac. Due to this, I never felt I had one single story of any background because I got to see several different cultures engage in the same experiences as I did. This doesn't mean I haven't mindlessly stereotyped or (shamefully) jumped to conclusions about people, but I have grown to be aware of the dynamic backgrounds people have. I liked how she called herself on it, too. Overall, one of my favorite TED Talks to date. 

Caption: What happens when you only read a single story. Obtained from giphy.com

Imaginary friends and real-world consequences: parasocial relationships | Jennifer Barnes | TEDxOU

I enjoyed this TED talk as well! It is funny though because I began zoning in and out, but when she started talking about Taylor Swift and Olivia Pope (a.k.a my queens) I was zoned in. I experienced, what she later identified as, a social facilitation effect. I enjoy psychology and the cognitive behaviors which lead us to do the things we do. Overall, I enjoyed this video, maybe not as much as the first, but it was very interesting and informative. 

Story Lab Week 6

   For my story lab this week I decided to poke around Writers Write. I have always been a strong visual person. If I don't see something done, I probably won't remember it. I would rather go deaf than blind. I love music, but mainly because I have synesthesia, which allows me to basically see certain colors as I listen to it making it a more visually appealing. I find poetry to be boring and I prefer to paint my feelings rather than write them. It's not that I don't enjoy writing, I just have always found it more stressful and personal to me. I don't like treating public forums as personal diaries and my social media always stays on the lighter side. I remember I attempted to keep a journal and I would try to write it when I was stressed or upset, but then I would read what I wrote back and just laugh at how overdramatic I was coming off. There's never a satisfying ending to a book and I never think my writing is good enough. 
   I was hoping to poke around Writers Write and find some helpful tips on writing and maybe become more confident in it. I was right I enjoyed reading about how to strengthen my antagonist in Use The 7 Deadly Sins To Strengthen Your Antagonist’s Motives. I always find it hard to create a good bad character, so these helped. I also learned how to strengthen my characters in general with 5 unusual ways to round out characters. Overall, I think this website will be helpful in strengthening my own story. 

Caption: Elijah O'Donell on unsplash.com

Week 5 Story: Aladdin's museum

   "Find your partners! Buddy up everyone! We just arrived at the museum!" Ms. Loretta exclaimed across the crowded school bus.
   It was field trip day at Lincoln Memorial Elementary School, and all the kids had been excitingly waiting to get to the museum. The kids followed Ms. Loretta off the bus and she halted before entering the museum.
   "Now, need I remind all of you we are entering a museum. We must follow closely with our gracious tour guide and remain polite and courteous as to not to disturb other museum-goers.  I am looking at you, Alex," Ms. Loretta brows furrowed and her crows-feet covered eyes fell to the seemingly angelic child by her side. Alex appeared to be a sweet and innocent child, but he was truly a chaotic ball of energy. So much in fact that no other child was allowed to be his field trip buddy. Ms. Loretta assumed the role so she could keep her eye on him.
   The class entered the museum and immediately the kids fell into a state of amazement. Light cascaded through the large skylight above them and fell upon the enormous Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton sitting the main lobby. Standing directly below the T-rex was a man in a navy-blue blazer and a stiff bow-tie covered in little mummies. He stood with an enthusiastic grin plastered across his face. His voice pierced Ms. Loretta's ears and echoed throughout the corridor.
   "Welcome Lincoln Memorial Elementary School to the American Museum of Natural History! You are visiting us on a special day. Not only will you be getting to participate in our usual thrilling exhibits, but you will also get to enjoy our NEW Arabian Nights exhibit, which is only here for a limited time," he recited as if he was reading it off a hidden teleprompter, "now, before moving into our first exhibit let me remind you of a few museum rules, which if followed carefully will give everyone a more enjoyable museum visit-"
   Before even getting to the first rule, Alex had already climbed on the T-rex and was attempting to pull the large leg off. Luckily Ms. Loretta pulled him off quickly enough before any real damage was done but suffered a large run in her panty-hose. She hand remained gripped around Alex's arm as Michael proceeded to run down the list of extensive museum rules.
  "Now, let's jump back in time and rediscover our pasts!" Michael did a small animated jump he had rehearsed a number of times before.
   With every exhibit they entered Michael would lower his voice, and glide slowly through every row of artifacts neatly laid out. And with every exhibit, Alex would attempt to disrupt Michael and provoke Ms. Loretta. In the paleontology exhibit, he climbed into the caveman exhibit and swung from the stage vines. In the oceanography exhibit, he managed to jump into a display pool of fake fish. By the astronomy exhibit, he was on lockdown. He was forced to sit between Ms. Loretta and Michael, and if he moved one step out of line he would be sent straight to the bus.
"We are now entering our final exhibit of the day. Our Arabian Nights exhibit. Discovered by archaeologists over the past several years, we have collected A TON of ancient artifacts and are excited to share these stories with you," Michael began on a long-winded monologue of every small piece they walked by. As Michael excitedly yammered on about every small piece, whether it had a significant backstory or not, Alex slowly drifted away from the group. He wandered across the exhibit where he stumbled upon a small bronze lamp. 
   "OH. It looks like someone has gotten away from the group," Michael said coming up behind Alex," Even though he was told specifically to not wander off," he said under his breath.
   "What is this?" Alex questioned.
"That is a genie lamp once belonging to the mythological Prince Aladdin. It is said he was a scrappy young boy who caused nothing but trouble, sound familiar?" Michael joked, but Alex was not amused. "Um anyway, according to the legend a genie is said to live in the lamp, and one day a man tricked Aladdin into hunting down the lamp and risking his life to get it. He refused to give it to the man, so he left Aladdin for dead in a cave. However, when Aladdin rubbed the lamp this great genie flew out it and granted Aladdin any wish he desired. He wished to go home where he fell madly in love with a princess. He then wished to be a wealthy prince so he could marry her. But the princess was promised to another the Sultan's right-hand man's son. It angered the Sultan's right-hand man when his daughter ran off with Aladdin, and the vizir didn't trust Aladdin had come from all this wealth. Then the man who tricked him into getting the lamp appeared, so he could take the lamp back," Michael was antsy to get through the tour and rushed this words. "So he stole back the lamp and wished Aladdin's palace and princess away, but through a lot of fighting and trickery Aladdin won her and his palace back and they lived happily ever after. The end," Michael turned ready to wrap up the tour.
  However, Alex excitedly went to rub the lamp for he needed to know if the genie would appear, but Michael was quick and halted him before he could reach it.
"Woah, woah now. Although this is a thrilling legend it is just that a legend. It's not real. The lamp is however very old and should not be touched."
   Then as Michael stood up he knocked the podium and the lamp came crashing to the ground. Alex lept at it, but instead of vigorously rubbing it he handed it back to Michael. Michael took it and carefully placed the lamp back on the podium.
"Whew, that could've ended very dif-"
Before Michael could finish his sentence the ground began to rumble and the museum shook. Smoke poured from the lamp and out came out a large and frightening genie.

"What wouldst thou with me? I am the Slave of the Lamp, and will obey thee in all things."

To be continued...

Caption: Aladdin with the Genie obtained from mythfolklore.blogspot.com

Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898)

Author's note: I pulled inspiration from the Aladdin story mixed with kind of a Night at the Museum storyline. I wanted to add some humor to the story, and also kind of recreate another troublesome character like Aladdin was when he was young. 

Story Lab: Creative Style

I chose to do a Story Lab over creative style. 
The power of creative constraints- This video truly spoke to me. I work at Lindsey+Asp as an art director, and I loathe being handed a loose creative brief with no guidance. For my creative process to develop properly, I need some form of guidance to achieve what a client wants. I have come to love copywriters because their copy will give me some constraints to produce good work.  
What makes a hero?- This particular Ted Talk started off being a little over-dramatic to me, but in the end, I found it helpful. I am constantly doubting myself and running away from adventures, even though I've been offered several fun opportunities recently. Maybe I'll take this as a sign to face those head-on. 
How to build a fictional world- This video reminded me I really need to watch the Matrix. This one is slightly over-dramatic as well. Of course, imagination is vital to developing a good story and an alternate universe.

  

Caption: Spongebob summarizing how to be creative. Obtained from tenor.com

What Orwellian Really means- I've never read 1984 but I remember Animal Farm was kind of trippy. This entire video is trippy. 
What makes something "Kafkaeque"- This video was very dull, in my opinion. 
How to write descriptively- There are several books that frustrate me because they are only visual engagment. They don't involve all my senses, and they never dig deep with any of the characters emotions. A lot of stories leave me asking for more. It's funny too. Before I was an advertising major I started in journalism. I've take numerous journalism classes where we are trained to write at an eighth-grade level. They trained us to not write too descriptively, unless it was a feature piece, as we would not want to come off as bias. I was always nixed on my descriptive writing. 
Beware of Nominalizations (AKA zombie nouns)- I like the graphics in this one very engaging. This video reminds me of two phrases K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid) and omit needless words. Both I think can improve writing without drying it out. 
The poetic pattern- I'm not really into poetry. I always feel they try too hard in a weird sense. My friend I a have this joke where something lowkey sappy and cinematic happens we turn to each other and say "POETIC MOMENT." This video just covers the basic of poetry structure. 

Week 3 Story

Portfolio link: https://sites.google.com/view/sammiesmythportfolio/home
There once was a young boy named Dru. He was a quiet boy who always liked to watch the sky. His mother, who raised him alone, always believed the Gods blessed him with special abilities. There was a glimmer in his eye the night he was born that told her he holds powers no one else has. She watched him very carefully as he grew up. She noticed he always knew when to step out of the way, when something was about to fall or when someone was coming. Everyone believed he just had amazing reflexes, but when she asked him about how he quick he was he would simply say "the sky warned me." He claimed the wind would whisper to him to gaze up at the sky and it would show him a picture. He would just see something others did not. Sometimes it was a clear constellation, and sometimes he would just see long lines connecting the stars. Some connected to the same star and some ran along the sky from east to west not touching anything. Dru saw the sky speaking a foreign language and felt he could easily translate the sky. 
As he got older, he found the sky had started to talk to him less and he feared he might be losing his abilities. However, the sky actually began giving him more challenging puzzles, which would lead him to bigger realizations about the future. They took more of his energy and more time to solve. Dru would spend many sleepless nights charting the stars and constellations and attempting to decode the messages. He spent many years charting the stars and constellations. 
The other villagers called him crazy. He called himself an Astrologer.

Caption: A web of stars obtained from unawe.org

Author's note: This story is the origin tale to Aesop's Fables (Winter): The Astrologer. I wanted to give the Astrologer more of a backstory, and allow him a moment to explain why he believed he could see the future in the stars. I really wanted to try to go in a completely different direction than my story from last week, so I decided to keep in the same era and genre as the original story. I used the name Dru because it meant "vision" in ancient Greece, so I thought it was fitting. 

Bibliography" Author unknown, The Aesop for Children, with illustrations by Milo Winter (1919). 

Week 2 Story: Breaking News Report

Breaking News Report: Intoxicated Man Arrested at Local Carnival  

Anchor 1: Jenna Schapiro here on Channel 6 News. We have breaking news at the local circus where a man was arrested earlier today on public intoxication and reckless endangerment charges. Over to Willie Downs with the story. 

Bystander Interview Clip (17 seconds): Yeah he just came up to me and my daughter screaming about how he was going to uncage the tiger, and the tiger was trying to trick him. He started yelling at the ground and trees. My daughter was terrified. You know I thought I was taking my kid to a family-oriented place, and now she's scared for life. 

Willie: That was Joseph Jacobs recounting the dramatic scene that unfolded today at the circus where a local youth pastor by the name of Brahman attempted to set free a stage tiger. Brahman was seen screaming at the tiger– who was being kept in a cage for the closing show– and attempting to open the cage door.  We have a clip of the moment where Brahman is seen talking to the tiger in the cage and attempting to tear open the locked cage door. 

Beginning of Clip: 0 seconds 

Willie: After struggling with the door he believes he had successfully set the tiger free and begins pleading for his life claiming the tiger had tricked him. He then runs to bystanders begging for their opinions on the situation. We then see security and the K9 unit step in to restrain him.

End of Clip: 33 seconds

Willie: What is not shown in the clip is Brahman began begging one of the dogs to hear his story. After a minute, he then begins to thank the dog for making all right in the world again. That is when police arrest the man on public intoxication and reckless endangerment charges. They later found traces of psilocybin in his system. A drug commonly found in "magic mushrooms." Back to you Jenna.

Jenna: Wow. Thank you, Willie, for that rather insane moment. The circus representatives released a statement earlier today stating they "try to make the circus fun and enjoyable for all attendees, but want to ensure safety above all else. [They] will be working to investigate this issue to ensure it does not occur again." Jenna Schapiro Channel 6 News. Thank You. 

Caption: Brahman helping tiger. Obtained from mythfolklore.blogspot.com 

Author's Note: I was inspired by the story The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal by Joseph Jacobs. I have a background in journalism, so I envisioned this story as a "how would a news reporter explain this incident. What would that sound like?"
Bibliography: The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal by Joseph Jacobs 1912.