Feedback Thoughts

The first article I read about getting feedback was called Silence the Critical Voices in Your Head. I chose this article because it resonated with the perfectionist within me. I tend to be hard on myself and would rather focus on negative feedback so I can make necessary adjustments to improve whatever is wrong, but this article stressed the importance of taking time to look at the positive and embracing your positive aspects that you can bring to whatever situation you are in.

The second article I read about getting feedback had some similar themes of focusing on the positive qualities you possess and the valuable aspects you know you have. I thought it was so interesting in this article, Why rejection hurts so much - and what to do about it, when it said that the majority of the damage done by rejection is self-inflicted. It talks about how people seem to have a need to over-analyze the criticism given by others and thus causing even more damage.

(Think Positive)

The first article I read about giving feedback was Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset. I liked this article because it gave specific ways I can give informative feedback that will encourage and actually help the other person grow as a writer.

The second article I read about giving feedback was 7 Key Characteristics of Better Learning Feedback. I chose this article because it gave clear and outlined points. I am a pretty black and white kind of person and I like it when things are just laid out in steps like this. It talked about the importance of specificity and giving information that the writer can actually put to use.

Week 2 Storytelling: How Death Gave an Old Man New Life

There once was an old man named Nicholas. Nicholas had been working as a laborer since the ripe old age of 11; his father had died from pneumonia and because he was the oldest and only boy in his family, that meant he was now expected to provide for his mother and three younger sisters. However once he started working, Nicholas never got to stop. Nicholas was not given the privilege to attend school like other children his age, even though he had a love for learning. His mother taught him how to read when he would get home from a hard day’s work. Nicholas would often drift off to sleep while pretending he was in a far off place somewhere else with the characters of his books and free from all the responsibilities of his real life

Nicholas is now approaching his 92nd birthday and still has the books his mother gave him when he was just a boy. All those years of working hard labor jobs have visibly taken its toll on Nicholas’s body, he can barely stand up straight and his eyesight has begun to fail. His mother and sisters have long since been dead and with their passing also went Nicholas’s zest for life. He feels as though he has no one left in this world and often wishes it would all just be over.

One blustery day Nicholas went out to the woods behind his house to gather up some sticks to keep his fire going and his house warm. He was getting to the point where even menial tasks such as gathering sticks was increasing difficult, he thought about the state of his life and felt so hopeless that he threw down the sticks and begged to just be dead. He shouted out to the trees that if Death were out there it would be a perfect time to come swoop him and take him anywhere but here. He was in such a state he didn’t even really know was he was saying; he fell to his knees and wept. Nicholas missed the family that was so dear to him and did not think he could continue on this Earth alone any longer.

(Death)

All of a sudden the wind started blowing and the trees started violently shaking, and when Nicholas looked up through tear-filled eyes he saw a skeleton-like creature wearing a black robe standing in front of him. The creature reached out his bony hand for Nicholas to go with him, but Nicholas, who was filled with terror and frozen with fear, could not move. He then realized that his was Death and he had come to take him away into the abyss. Nicholas stumbled to his feet and apologized for the inconvenience of making Death travel so far when he surely had such a busy schedule, but that he was in fact not yet ready to die. Death just shook his head and in the blink of an eye was gone.

Nicholas was in awe of all the events that had just transpired. He heard a branch break in the distance and was afraid that Death had come back for him despite that fact that he was not ready. The noise was in fact made by a young boy named, Abe, who was trotting through the woods and when he saw the old man he stopped to offer to help him pick up sticks. Nicholas gladly accepted the help, for he was now a changed man and had resolved to live what little he had left of his life to the fullest. Abe told Nicholas that he was an orphan whose parents had just died and he was coming through the woods to find work in the nearest town. Nicholas took Abe in and treated him as his own son. He taught Abe to read and shared the books that his mother had given to him as young boy. The two become the closest companions and Nicholas was able to spend his final days in peace because he was once again in the company of someone he loved.

Author's Note:

I took some liberties and added the details about the old man's family, I wanted to give some reasons as to why he was so miserable and wanted Death to come find him apart from the fact that he was old and his body was breaking down. So I took on the heartache angle to give him family members that he missed and wanted to be reunited with. I also wanted to include ages so you can get a sense of just how long he had been working and that his body was literally about to give out on him. In the original fable the old man did not want to die when Death actually comes so I kept that the same, but I added in a lot more that was not present in the original to give it more depth and create a hopefully somewhat interesting story. I wanted to give him a child so he would have someone to care for him and someone he could teach and pass down his love of reading onto. I also wanted it to end happily and I didn't want to him to die sad and alone. 

Bibliography:

This story is based on the fable The Old Man and Death in Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: Aesop's Fable's by Jacobs, Part B

The Fox and the Crow:
-have a variety of ways the fox appeals to the crow's ego
-change the cheese to some other kind of food
-moral is to not trust the flattery of others

The Tortoise and the Birds:
-expand on how the tortoise's friends told him not to trust the eagle as a mode of transportation
-the tortoise was too impatient to travel on his own time because he was so slow
-it proved to be his downfall in the end
-impatience and trusting the wrong kind of people

The Ant and the Grasshopper:
-the ant carrying all different kinds of food
-come up with several ways the grasshopper tries to tempt the ant into playing with him and wasting time
-the grasshopper teaches his children to be like the ant and not live foolishly like he has

(The Ant and the Grasshopper)

The Man and the Serpent:
-it was the farmer's only son and heir so now he has no one to take over the farm when he dies
-the cows are his livelihood so when the serpent seeks his revenge by killing them off he has to make amends or his family will starve
-the farmer takes his story to the nearby town and tells how the serpent ruined his life and murdered his son and now everyone is on the hunt to kill every serpent they encounter

The Wind and the Sun:
-for ages they had been debating which one of them is better
-finally they decided to test it out
-the sun was the smarter, trickier one and he knew it so he picked a test that he knew he would win
-kindness effects more than severity
-true strength doesn't have to be harsh

The Old Man and Death:
-expand on how hard the old man's life was and how he had worked from a very young age
-when he has a face to face encounter with death he comes to appreciate his life and is determined to make the most of what he has left
-he finds a young boy in the woods whose parents have just died and who needs a guardian
-they end up helping out each other and becoming close companions
-hope can be found even in the dark places

Bibliography:

Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: Aesop's Fables by Jacobs, Part A

The Sick Lion:
-the lion who was once so mighty and strong now the tables have turned because he is weak and dying
-all the animals come to enact their vengeance when he is too helpless to fight back
-maybe expand on how the betrayal of everyone would be even worse than death

Androcles and the Lion:
-always help someone in need
-sometimes your good deeds can come back to you
-maybe expand more on the bond between the lion as "man's best friend" of Androcles

The Lion and the Statue:
-things are always biased by the people who tell the story- story depends on the teller
-people represent things the way that they want them to be
-objective truth is hard to come by

The Four Oxen and the Lion:
-elaborate on the fight the oxen have
-develop the devious nature of the character of the lion and how he foreshadows the oxen's fight to come and taunts them with it

The Fox Without a Tail:
-never trust someone who is telling you to do something because they have a vested interested
-come up with all the ridiculous reasons the fox whose tail got cut off comes up with for the other foxes to cut their tails off too
-the fox without a tail learns that it is okay to be different and that you need to love yourself the way you are

(Aesop's Animals)

The Wolf and the Crane:
-create a list of different animals the wolf goes to for help to dislodge the bone in his throat
-come up with creative rewards for each different animal that is specific to them
-maybe even change the ending and have the crane throw the bone back in the wolf's throat for vengeance

The Fox and the Cat:
-the fox lists out his many plans and ways of clever escapes
-taunts the cat with how much better he is but in the end he fails because he cannot make a decision
-skill and practice is better than head knowledge

The Horse, The Hunter, and The Stag:
-the horse used the hunter for his own purposes
-the horse is happy for the help but he bucks the hunter off and escapes back to freedom

The Hare with Many Friends:
-the hare learns that have multiple friends doesn't equate to having true friends
-she leaves the town she used to live in to search for true friendship

Bibliography:

Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs