Reading Notes: Aesop's Fables, Part B

These notes come from the Aesop's Fables unit written by Roger L'Estrange and other authors (see link for other authors).

Goodness, there are so many wolves and dogs in this part B!

My favorite from this section is by Sir Brooke Boothby:

The Gnat and the Ox

Cries to an Ox a little Gnat,

As perch'd upon his horn she sat,

"My weight fatigues you, Sir, I fear."

Says Ox, ''I knew not thou wert there.''

It is simple and requires no thought. Just talks about a gnat that thinks he is heavier than he really is. I also like how it flows in a way that rhymes do. It's just a little sing-songy. This is the way I would write my Aesop's fable. I think the theme of this one would be something like, "you aren't as important as you think."

Caption: See the Gnat?

Link

Reading Notes: Aesop's Fables, Part A

These notes come from the Aesop's Fables unit written by Roger L'Estrange (any relation to Bellatrix L'Estrange perhaps?) and other authors (see link for other authors).

Of all the stories, the story about the donkey's wish is fun. It goes through the thoughts of this animal on the different seasons and how he is always wishing for the next.

Aesop stories seem to be mostly about animals, some of people. There is often a moral at the end of the stories as well.

Caption: Work, Work, Work, Work, Work

Link

Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part B

These notes come from the Nursery Rhymes unit, Part B written by Andrew Lang.

The Accumulative Stories are quite a bit longer than the other nursery rhymes.

From reading this section, you can see that rhymes can be any length. Some of them tell a tale, while others just mention something about a random character. A story based on these Nursery Rhymes would need to rhyme, again, obviously. I think I would go more on the route of the accumulative stories because the writing has to be at least 300 words long.

Caption: An Old Woman and Her Pig

Link

Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part A

These notes come from the Nursery Rhymes unit, Part A written by Andrew Lang.

This unit obviously includes rhymes. They are all pretty short on the order of five to ten lines.

My favorite section was that of the proverbs. Specifically, the sneezing rhyme was my favorite:

"IF you sneeze on Monday, you sneeze for danger;Sneeze on a Tuesday, kiss a stranger;

Sneeze on a Wednesday, sneeze for a letter;

Sneeze on a Thursday, something better;

Sneeze on a Friday, sneeze for sorrow;

Sneeze on a Saturday, see your sweetheart to-morrow."

Caption: On a Monday

Link

Tech Tip: Embedding YouTube

This is my embedded YouTube Video:

This is my favorite video from the Phantom of the Opera movie.

You can find it here.

Reading Notes: Alice in Wonderland, Part B

Bibliography: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Caption: The Cards on Alice

Link: (illustration by Arthur Rackham)

This half of the story really focuses in on the courtroom appearance of Alice. Again, this is very similar to the Disney movie. A story based off of this reading would be neat. Honing in on one of the non-Alice characters would be pretty easy. Another option would be to show the story from the King of Heart's eyes. Oh, or the eyes of the March Hare; that would be interesting.

Reading Notes: Alice in Wonderland, Part A

Bibliography: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

This story is so similar to the Disney movie. In the movie, though, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are the ones who quote Old Father William. I remember reading this book as a child, and I know that I certainly did not understand what a "hookah" was at the time.

If I was to write a story based off of this section, I would write a backstory on the Caterpillar: why he asks "Who are you?" all the time, and why he is so insistent on recitation.

Caption: The Caterpillar

Week 12 Story: Anti Aunt

Authors Note: This story is based off of the reading The Jealous Uncle from the Native American Hero Unit. In that story there is an uncle who kills all of his nephews. This story is about an Aunt who kills all of her nieces. It is just barely shy of 300 words on purpose. The brevity of the story adds to the mystery of it all. Is the Aunt killing the girls? Is all this made up in the young child's mind? Is anything even real? Please enjoy.

Caption: Only for a little while

Link

Swing, Swing, Swing

Little girl swing

Up you go

and down you fall

Swing, Swing, Swing

- Anti Aunt

Sally is going to our Aunt's house today. She has never met Aunt Nel before, but I have. She is a beast of a woman with long painted fingernails. Her shoes always point a little in. Her hair always sticks a little to the left. Her eyes always look a little up. My point is that nothing about our Aunt Nel seems quite right. Everything is a little off.

Sally is now four years old. She keeps to herself, but is good at sharing. She likes to snuggle in a blanket with me on nights when it gets cold. She will even pick up my toys after she is done picking hers up. She laughs a sweet, tiny laugh when I do something funny. She loves our mom and dad, and they dote on her. I always find them holding onto her as if her life depends on it. I actually think it may.

I used to have a big sister, you know. She was quite like Sally if only a little louder. I can barely remember her except the last day I saw her. You know when that was? The day she turned four. I was three. I can just recall her walking out the front door by the kitchen to trek to Aunt Nel's house. After that... I never saw her again.

Sally is leaving now. Dad is clutching onto mom's shoulder. I think I saw mom shed a quiet tear.

Goodbye sister. It has been a real pleasure knowing you. Hopefully, next time, mom will have a boy.

Reading Notes: King Arthur, Part B

King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang
Reading B

This story has such a tragic ending. A brave hero like Arthur must have had an obituary. Many shared words for him for his funeral, but a story based on this reading could  do well with putting all Arthur's followers words together for him.

Caption: Here Lies the GREAT King Arthur: Killed by his nephew

Link

From Chess to Hyecho

1. Chess

- two-player, 64 squares
- believed to have its origins from India
- many notations and strategies to record moves

Caption: 64 squares

2. Gupta Empire

- founded by Sri Gupta (Indian Empire)

- great cultural developments under Chandragupta II

- very into animals

3. Faxian

- a Chinese Buddhist monk

- traveled on foot to India from China

- had three brothers 

4. Hyecho

- studied esoteric Buddhism

- travelled the "five kingdoms of India"

- took four years to complete the journey

From Microprocessors to Java Virtual Machine

1. Microprocessor

- works with a computer's central processing unit
- register based, and has instructions in its memory
- has made other computer forms pretty much out of date

2. Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC)

- digital computer
- communicated with astronauts to control modules like the Lunar Module
- first integrated circuit computers

3. Opcode

- used in computer architecture to differentiate between instructions
- stands for operation code
- intended for software interpretation

4. Java Virtual Machine

- an abstract computing machine
- has a hierarchy for a process

Caption: JVM hierarchy

- an extremely abstract virtual computer

From Watercolor to Villanella

1: Watercolor painting

- referred to as scroll painting in East Asia
- originates in mainland China
- It spread as an artform during the 18th century
- Part of a well-rounded 18th century education
- Water color is something that Elaine, my good friend from China, and I have in common. I have been curious whether or not it was originally from her culture.

2: Society of Dilettanti

- Scholars encouraging study of Greek and Roman art (Art appreciators)
- Led by Francis Dashwood who drank more than he should have
- 60 members

3. Italian Opera
- originates in Italy (of course) in the 1600's
- Dafne by Jacopo Peri considered the earliest Italian opera

Caption: Jacopo Peri

- Monody is designed to express emotional content

4. Villanella

- light Italian vocal music from Italy (hence Italian opera)
- Rustic, comic, or a satire
- One of the most popular genre in mid-century Italy