Wikipedia: From St. John's College to Horsepower Taxes

Last Wikipedia trails assignment I decided to scroll through the class announcements, so this time I decided to begin my trail from something that I had written about. This is where St. John's College came into play.

I posted an image of St. Johns in my week 13 storytelling post where a college was the setting. I chose St. Johns because I had actually been there and I have a huge infatuation with England (check out my favorite place story if you don't believe me). St. John's college is located at Cambridge University in the UK. It started way back in the day, 1511 to be exact. After looking through the facts of St. John's I stumbled upon the pictures of the place and that led me to my next link, the Bridge of Sighs.

(Personal Image taken on the River Cam in 2016)

The Bridge of Sighs is one of Cambridge's most photographed landmarks. It was built in 1831 over the River Cam based off the Bridge of Sighs. I had the opportunity to be punted along the River Cam and went directly underneath the Bridge of Sighs. Rumor has it that students hoisted a car underneath it as a practical joke. This led me to my third link, the Austin 7.

(Image sourced from Wikimedia)

Austin 7 is one of the raddest cars on the market back in the 1920's. The Austin 7 was on the market from 1921 until 1939 produced in the UK. This car was licensed and produced in countries all over the world under other names, but the same model. After researching the Austin 7 I came across the horsepower tax.

I found this intriguing because I thought how in the world is someone going to place a tax on horsepower. According to this article, the tax was deciphered by an equation. This equation was set into place during 1910 by the RAC at the British invitation. It was put to rest in in 1948 when another tax was set in place.

Week 13 Review: Thanksgiving

(Image sourced from Week 13 Class Announcements)

This was my favorite post underneath week 13's course announcements. I believe that this is was a fitting quote for the holiday season that we are now in the middle of. There should always be room for more people to come and join in community around food. There is no better way to get to know someone than over a nice dinner. Being around a table breeds authentic conversation and that is showcased in this quote and in the image itself.


Link to online course announcements.

Reading Notes: Denslow's Mother Goose

(Image sourced from Denslow Mother Goose)

I sat down to do my extra reading and for some reason the typical reading links did not work for me. Instead, I decide to take advantage of the free book option and read up on some mother goose rhymes.

I read from the beginning and then all the way to Little Miss Muffet. Many of these rhymes were familiar to me and others did not ring a bell. While reading through these stanzas I thought how strange it is that growing up we were taught these rhymes and there were hundreds if not others that were not as popular. It made me wonder, who and why was it decided that we will pass down some and not the many others that we’re beautifully written.

In addition to learning about other rhymes that I had not heard of before. I enjoyed looking at the multitude of illustrations that covered the book. I wish I had the ability and the eye to draw in the way that others can.

Bibliography:

Denslow's mother goose, link to online reading.

Famous Last Words: Moving Forward

(Personal Image taken in November of 2016)

I feel like the assignment title famous last words is fitting for these next few weeks. This semester has been full of lasts, last semester, last OUTX weekend, last football game, last class, last time all my friends are in one place during the same season of life.

I am about to embark on the greatest adventure yet, the real world. On New Year’s Day, I hop on a plane with two suitcases in hand and a new life ahead of me. I’m on the threshold of starting over in New York City. I’ve accepted an offer from my dream agency and have purchased my one-way ticket. As I look back on what I’ve accomplished in this semester and throughout my time at college there are mountains and valleys. I hope that when I graduate in a few short weeks that I feel as if I had done my best, that I was intentional in every and all relationships, and that I wore my heart out on my sleeve and left it all on the table.

Oklahoma, you’ve taught me what it meant to love others well, what it looked like to pick up the pieces of a broken heart, and what it felt like to rely on the Lord throughout it all. New York, I’m looking forward to molding and growing within the concrete jungle, to finding myself on long walks through Central park, and to building a new life from the ground up.

Thanks for the foundation Oklahoma, now it is time to move forward.

Story: Tricky Students and Wise Professors

(Image of St. Johns College at Cambridge sourced from Wikimedia)

Young trickster Flora was a wizard at cheating her way through school. She had the peripheral vision of a wiz and she was a class act in academic misconduct. She could hack the internet for answers, she could see others tests from miles away, and she even could mark up her arms with answers undetected. Flora was the integrity council’s worst nightmare. She had managed to cheat her way through high school and now her final test was fooling a college professor.

Old Professor Smith was known to be a stickler on grades. He taught financial accounting and allowed for not a single decimal point to be misplaced. He was ruthless in marking X’s in red ink and relentless in making sure all of his students were honest in their work. He valued determination, authenticity, and the truth. He was the poster child for top notch professors. Flora had met her match.

Flora had a financial accounting test coming up quick and she came up with the plan to fool Professor Smith. Flora's plan was perfect. She decided to test out the water bottle method. She wrote all of her notes and answers on the back of a water bottle label and then reattached the label seamlessly. “Professor Smith is going to have no idea what hit him,” Flora brooded to herself.

Test day rolled around and all of the students were on edge, except for Flora. Flora couldn’t foresee any problem. Tests were passed out, the class went silent, and the scantrons were pulled out. Flora was taking peeks at her water bottle and everything was going according to plan until she undid the cap and took a sip of water in hopes of making people less suspicious. As Flora was setting her bottle down to get back into the groove of things her classmate knocked it over in the process of holding up her hand. Water spewed from the bottle and landed all over the floor. The bottle was emptied, classmates were now wet, and Flora’s answers were exposed.

Old Professor Smith quickly came to the soaked situation and discovered the answers hiding behind the facade of an empty water bottle. Professor Smith looked up at Flora and smiled and then proceeded to say, “Finish your test.” Flora felt sick. She had never been caught before nor did she expect this type of outcome. “Wasn’t he supposed to scream, holler, and kick me out?” she thought to herself. Flora found herself sweaty and nervous. She could no longer write because her hands were shaking uncontrollably. She went up to the front of the class, turned it what she had and walked out only to receive an email in her inbox from Professor Smith that read, “See you in my office tomorrow at noon.”

Many nightmares later and a breakfast that was quickly stomached, Flora headed to see Professor Smith. She knocked on the door promptly at 12:00 o’clock and the wooden door slowly creaked open to reveal Professor Smith with a frown on his face. Panic seeped into Flora’s veins. She had never felt such guilt, she knew what was to come. Professor Smith gestured for Flora to take a seat and she reluctantly did. Before Professor Smith could utter a word Flora burst into tears and profusely apologized. Professor Smith’s face did not change and Flora fell silent as he began to speak. “If we ask anyone what cheating is, that person may tell us that cheating is an act of dishonesty. Based on this answer, we have to ask ourselves, whom exactly we are lying to.”

Flora sat in disbelief as her tears dried. She began to critically think. It didn’t take long for Flora to realize that she had been lying to herself all along, she was the one who had been fooled. Professor Smith had watched her come to this realization and then gave her a second chance to take her exam the following week. Flora thanked him and walked out the door with a new wave of motivation. As the door shut, Professor Smith's heart grew softer as he knew he did his job well. Professor Smith guided the way for Flora to be sprung into what education is supposed to look like: honest, truthful, and hard work.

Author's Note:

I chose to base this story around the Fox and the Stork from La Fontaine's Fables. This particular story stuck out to me because I knew I could somehow put a creative spin on it and make it relatable to the audience. One of the storytelling prompts was to somehow make it relevant to OU students, which is exactly what I did. I felt as if that prompt was fitting for this story and for me as it is my last semester here at OU. I wanted to add a deeper meaning than the original one, which is why I chose to keep the professor's honesty intact and guide Flora with his own wisdom to see what was right and what was wrong. In the original, the fox just walks away with his ears burning in defeat and the stork is gleaming with pride. You can't fight fire with fire so I wanted to change it to something that had more depth.  The picture I chose was of St. Johns college in Cambridge, where I had the pleasure of visiting. I thought that this particular photo eerily resembled some of OU's buildings so I snuck it in there.  

Bibliography:
The Fox and the Stork, link to the online reading.
Fables of La Fontaine, link to online reading.

Cheating quote sourced from Dinara Kairbayeva.

Reading Notes: Fables of La Fontaine Part B

(Image of La Fontaine sourced from Wikipedia)

La Fontaine continued his use of humanizing animals and song-like sentence structure throughout Part B of the readings. For the most part, the stories remained similar in writing style. However, this time when I read the stories I began to really take notice of his use of imagery and the language he used.


The adjectives and verbs he chose to use in his stories allowed the reader to better understand the plot line. I think when I write I often forget that every word I use should further the plot in a meaningful way. As writers, I think we get stuck in a rut and use the same words over and over again because they are comfortable and we know that they work. I think I need to stretch myself and some research on verbs and adjectives that go much deeper than what I have been writing.

Bibliography:
Fables of La Fontaine, link to online reading.

Reading Notes: Fables of La Fontaine Part A

(Image sourced from Flickr)

I chose to read Fables of La Fontaine because I wanted to stretch myself. I want4ed to go far beyond the fairytales that I was already familiar with and dive into the unknown.


After reading through Part A, I realized that these stories are shorter in length and because of that every word holds power. Every single one of these stories had an animal as a character, including the readings titled “Foolish People.” The verbiage used in these passages allowed for a smooth flow of sentence, it was easy for the reader to read because it was almost written like a song.


These tactics will be used in the stories that I write.

Bibliography:
Fables of La Fontaine, link to online reading.

Learning Challenge: Empathy

(Image sourced from PostSecret)

I had never heard of PostSecret before this evening. It was actually incredibly intriguing and also sad in a way. I found it shocking that there were so many secrets waiting to be shared. I think it was heartbreaking to know that there are millions of people out there who feel like they can't say what they want to. I know we as humans all have something we don't want to share but it is my personal belief that we shouldn't live in fear. We should live in a world that breeds acceptance and understands the value of peoples words. Scrolling through PostSecret has made me realize that I too need to be more accepting of others and that I need to be a listening ear to those who need it.

Growth Mindset: Create your own Meme

For this growth mindset challenge I decided to create my own meme that is tailored to my passions. I have a deep seeded love for travel and I believe that my creativity is fueled by my travels. Experiencing culture and diving into to a new place allows for growth. It pushes you to be a better version of yourself and to get out there and learn new things. For that very reason I put the quote "Creativity knows no boundaries," I believe that creativity isn't confined by walls or borders but that it can be found anywhere in the world. Go out and find it.

Tech Tip: Twitter Widget in Post

Tweets by AmandaLeighC85

Week 12 Reading Notes: Lang's European Fairy Tales I Part A

(Puss in Boots Image sourced from blog)

I chose to read Lang’s European Fairy Tales I. This unit specifically caught my attention because the readings came from all over Europe; Europe holds a special place in my heart. I’ve read a majority of these stories before doing my childhood but reading them at 21 years old allowed me to read them in a new light with a different perspective.

After reading through Part A, I realized that these stories are longer in length and hold great detail. There is also more dialogue between the characters than in past stories. The verbiage used in these passages allow for detailed imagery that furthers the plot.


These tactics will be used in the stories that I write.

Bibliography:
Lang's European Fairy Tales I Part A, link to online reading.

Reading Notes: English Tales Part B

(Personal Image taken in London, England 2016)

After reading all of Part A and moving into Part B of the English Tales I noticed that there were many similarities and just a few differences.


Mythical creatures were still relevant and animals such as chickens and hens were giving the ability to talk. However, I paid more attention to the sentence structure and rhyming in each of the stories. I came to the realization that each of the stories was almost song like. The variety in sentence length gave them a new sort of depth that I hadn’t noticed before.


This is something that I could work on in stories of my own. I often like to stick to parallel structure and I don’t use much differentiation in sentence length.


Bibliography:
English Tales Part A, link to online reading.

Reading Notes: English Tales Part A

(Personal Image taken in London, England 2016)

Every day I wish that I could be back in London, England so it’s only fitting that I would choose from the list of English Fairy Tales to read.

I noticed that the stories mostly begin with those four famous words, “Once Upon A Time.” After reading the multitude of stories I came to realize that just about every story has some sort of riddle or theme that is vital to the plot line. I enjoyed that many of the characters included mythical creatures or animals that we’re humanized. Animals and creatures could talk, smell, and feel things which were portrayed through imagery and great detail.

I can utilize the themes of mythical creatures, animals, imagery, and detail. I am looking forward to writing a story that encompasses all of these things and allows me to relive some of my favorite memories in England. Of course, my story will start with "Once Upon a Time."

Bibliography:
English Tales Part A, link to online reading.