Catching up with Carly

 There was once a young mother who adored her children. She had four children, two boys and two girls. They absolutely adored the outdoors. Each day, they would spend hours and hours out in the yard, running through the dirt and laughing with one another. They were not kids who enjoyed watching TV or playing nicely with toys. They wanted to be loud, dirty, moving, and in the sun. Always. This happened to work out perfectly for their family because they lived out in countryside. They were constantly surrounded by animals and nature, which made all of the kids very happy.  One day, the young mom came home from work with a very sad look on her face.  "What wrong, Mommy?" the kids asked, noticing she was not herself.  "I have to tell you guys some bad new," she started, hesitating as she saw their concerned faces. "We have to move away for my job. We have to move to an apartment in the city," she explained.  The kids did not say much. They were disappointed, b...

  The King's White Elephant Carpenters lived on a river bank near a forest They noticed a wounded elephant They tended to the elephant, and he was so grateful that he helped the carpenters with their work He would bring them tree trunks, fetch their tools, move logs into the river and more As the elephant grew older, he started bringing his son with him to show him the ways of the work One day the king spotted the beautiful white elephant The king paid the carpenters a lot of money to keep the white elephant for his own                                                                                         Wikimedia: White Elephant 

  How the Turtle Saved His Own Life A king built a lake in his backyard for his sons to swim and play in The boys swam and sailed their boats in it The king then asked some of his workers to put some fish into the lake The sons ran to the lake to see these new additions and they noticed something they had never seen before, a turtle  They thought it was a demon so they got scared They ran back to the their father and the king ordered for the turtle to be killed  when the workers caught the turtle and brought it back to the house, the boys ran away from it and cried  The king, very empathetic of his sons, demanded that the turtle be killed  The workers thought of many ways to kill it  Pound it, back it in hot coals, or throw it into the lake  The workers agreed to throw the turtle into the lake where it will be smashed to pieces by the rocks The turtle hearing all this talk, thrusted his head out of the shell  He demanded to know why they would do ...

 For my lab this week, I explored the Writers Write website. The website includes many different articles and tips on how to enhance your writing. My favorite article was " 7 Things You Can Do With Dialogue In A Story ." I found this particular article interesting because dialogue is something I have been trying to work on with my own stories in this class, and especially with my portfolio. It is much easier to write a story without dialogue. It is a lot faster and simpler to just tell an entire story in the third person. However, dialogues greatly enhances storytelling and makes the story much more interesting. Dialogue helps the reader get to know the characters and feel like they are being pulled into the story. The article covered this, as well as many other points about dialogue. The article informs the reader that dialogue advances the story, makes you show instead of just telling, introduces conflict, reveals character and setting, gives information, and increases the ...

The Fairy and the Hare A young hare lived in a small forrest between a mountain, a village, and a rive and was the sweetest hare of all  He was friends with a jackal, a water-weasel, and a monkey Every night they would meet to talk and the hare would teach them many things One day, the hare said that they should not eat but instead give the food they find to others The jackal found a piece of meat and a jar of curdled milk The water-weasel found the hiding place of a fisherman and took his golden fish The monkey found some ripe mangoes The hare did not find anything, and was sad because he had nothing to offer Then he decided he would give them himself to eat An all-knowing fairy lived nearby and changed herself into an old beggar man She first went by the jackal, who offered her the stolen meat and milk  She then walked by the water-weasel and the monkey, who offered her their food ...

The Guilty Dogs A king drove through the city with a horse-drawn chariot  When he returned, the horses were returned to the stable and the chariot was left in the courtyard Everyone was asleep in the palace and it was raining, so the palace dogs wanted to have fun They went to the courtyard and chewed up the horse's harnesses  When the King learned what they had done, he ordered all of the dogs in the city to be killed All of the scared dogs in the whole city went to the chief dog for help The chief dog vowed to make sure only the palace dogs got punished  The chief dog marched into the palace and told the King his order was unjust  The chief dog told the King to bring the palace dogs to him and feed them kusa and buttermilk When they did this, they threw up the leather from the harnesses  The King was impressed with the chief dog and ordered all of the ...

Lily and her mother were incredibly poor. They were all on their own, living in downtown New York City, with no family or friends nearby. Lily's father had left when she was only a baby, and her mother had trouble keeping a job. She had never gone to college and did not have much experience in the working world. Therefore she typically had to work at least two jobs just to make ends meet. They lived in a small, dirty apartment behind a hamburger restaurant. It always smelled of grease and drew in bugs and rodents. Lily knew they were poor, however she loved her mom and knew they would be okay. She often went to school in clothes that were far too small. The other kids often made fun of her for the way that she looked or the way that she smelled. These things hurt Lily, but she never complained to her mother because she did not want her to feel bad that she could not provide for them.  One day, the owner of the hamburger restaurant caught a glimpse of Lily coming home from school. ...

  The Golden Goose  There was goose who had golden feathers The goose lived near a mother and a daughter who were very poor He thought to himself that he would sometimes give them one of his feathers to sell and they would be able to live comfortably Time went on and the mother and daughter sold the feathers and lived comfortably The mother feared that one day the goose would never return and they would go back to living poorly Therefore the mother devised a plan to pluck all the goose's feathers the next time he came When he came, the mother held him down and pulled out every one of his feathers Little did she know that if the feathers are plucked out against the goose's wishes, they turn white and no longer carry value  As time went on, the goose grew more feathers but never returned again                                              ...

 Maya and her brothers came from a very strange family. They were very close with their mother, however they had never really known their extended family. Their mother had told them for years that they should stay away. Their family had many secrets and it was not safe. Maya never really understood what this meant. She wanted to know where she came from and what her other family members were like. Therefore, as she got older, Maya began to do some investigating. She would spend hours searching on the internet, looking for some sort of connection to her family members. One day, after many failed attempts, she finally found someone. She had found a distant uncle! Fearing that her mother would be angered at her secret search, Maya kept this to herself. She began to chat with her uncle online, learning more and more about where her mother had come from. After a few days of these online conversations, Maya agreed to meet her uncle in person. It was at this point that she knew she had to...

  Two armies faced each other on the day of the war The conch shells and battle trumpets played to dictate the start With shouting and roars, both sides rushed to meet in the middle The Pandavas and the Kurus fought like demons as family fought family The heart of the battle was where Bhishma, the leader of the Kurus was No warrior he struck could survive Darkness came and both sides withdrew for rest  Days went buy and it became clear to the Pandavas that as long as Bhishma was alive, they could not win On the 10th day, the war ceased Bhishma died and Drona was appointed the new commander Under Drona, the Kurus won The Kurus main focus was to capture Yudhishthira because Drona made a vow to the Pandava king to do so The Pandavas only goal was to personally defeat Drona  Wikimedia: Battle

  10 days into their stay with the people of Benares, Purochana tells the Pandavas of a great house outside the city they are welcome to stay  He describes it as a mansion, but it is really known as haunted Yudhishthira went with his mother and brothers to check it out Upon reaching the house he smelled tar and oil all over Yudhishthira tells Bhima that he believes this house is highly flammable and that they out not to return But they decided to stay so that they did not look suspicious to Purochana  While in their new home, their uncle Vidura, came to visit He told them that on one night this house would be burned to the ground He told them that they should dig a tunnel in order to escape  The Pandavas agreed and started quickly to build this tunnel The Pandavas did so and spent their days hunting and gathering in the forests nearby and always slept with locked doors and their belongings close by Wikimedia: Haunted Mansion 

 I am definitely very proud of my progress. I am most proud of the fact that I have managed to stay at least two weeks ahead of schedule in this class the entire time. Doing so has totally relieved me of any stress and allowed me to work at my own pace. I enjoy the story writing assignments the most. I am able to do my own thing instead of following strict guidelines and I am able be creative. I have only used a couple of the extra credit options, but so far I have not need to because I have not missed any assignments. Things have been going well in terms of developing my portfolio and I am happy with my progress. So far there is not really anything I want to change moving forward. I like how I have been doing everything and am looking forward to the next half of the semester.  Pixy

 Overall, I have been receiving some really good feedback from other students in this class. It is most helpful when they ask questions about my story that get me thinking about what I could change or add and how to explain things better. Some people just compliment my stories, which is very kind, but it is more helpful when they give their own suggestions or say whether or not they were confused by something. I also think that I have been giving pretty good feedback. I make sure to point out what they are doing right and what I like about the story the most. I could definitely work on giving more suggestions and being more helpful, because sometimes I forget to add anything other than compliments. Reading other people's stories definitely does help me with coming up with my own ideas. I love seeing all of the different styles that people use and all of the ways in which they change the reading into their own unique stories. I definitely have felt like I have gotten to know some of...

 So far, I am very happy with my portfolio and my blog posts. I definitely think my writing has improved throughout the past few weeks. My stories have become longer and are beginning to include more details. I really appreciate the comments that we get from the teacher each week because I am able to better adjust my stories to her expectations. So far, I really like how my portfolio is coming together. All of my stories are sort of light and almost child-like in nature, which I really like. I feel like I am writing a kid's book! I have been able to base all of my stories off of my reading notes while still making my stories original. I like having those reading notes as a guide for my reading. Looking forward, I need to work more on my reading and reading notes. I much prefer writing to reading, therefore it is harder for me to get through the reading and engage with the reading. I need to work on enjoying the reading more and letting myself be captivated by the stories.  ...

 There was once a beautiful, colorful female bird that flew amongst all of the other birds in the rainforest. While most of the birds were simple shades of brown, her feathers displayed a beautiful rainbow of colors. She knew that she was far more beautiful than the rest of the birds, and therefore demanded to be treated as such. She knew that every male bird wanted her and that every female bird wanted to be her. As a result of this, she demanded to be crowned Queen of the sky. Although the other birds thought that she was obnoxious and full of herself, none of them objected. They knew that if any bird should be the queen, it should be her.  However, soon after she was crowned queen, the other birds became annoyed with her rules. They began to conspire with another on how they could get rid of her, or at least humble her.  "We could start an uprising," one bird suggested.  "That will never work! She will simply punish us all!" replied the others.  "We have to ...

  The Forest and its Ghosts Many years had passed and a day came when Yudhishthira and his brother and their wife Draupadi adventured to the homage of their elders  They found they were there to save Vidura who had departed to a sacred place on the banks of the Ganges River to wait for Yama, the god of death Many people went to find Vidura but when they came to him, he was aged and starved  They all waited beside him while died and mourned tougher  The great sage Vyasa then appeared and said to the people that if they should bathe in the river at sunset, their dead loved ones will appear throughout the night  As the sun went down, they chanted mantras and went into the river  The waters began to heave and foam, and Vyasa spoke holy words and called out the names of the dead All of the heroes who had been slain appeared one by one  Drums and trumpets were sounded and it looked as if the armies of the Pandavas and Kauravas were once again ready for battl...

  Riddles at the Lake While in exile, the Pandava brothers thought to leave the forest However before they could leave, a strange adventure awaited them  One of them climbed a banyan tree to look for water They found a pond nearby and Yudhishthira sent Nakula towards it Nakula went and a voice said to him that he should answer some questions and if he does not he should not drink the water Nakula was so thirsty and afraid that he drank the water anyways Nakula died instantly  Sahadeva followed him and was confused why his brother had died, he also did the same thing and fell dead Arjuna and Bhima repeated the same  Yudhishthira was next to approach the pond he was smart and responded to the voice, agreeing to answer his questions  Yudhishthira got all the questions right and the voice revealed himself in the form of Dharma: god of wisdom and justice  Dharma granted Yudhishthira two boons  He wished for his brothers to be restored to life and that they ...

 Mason rolled his eyes as he walked down the halls of his high school, hearing the same loud cheering that he heard nearly every week. The football captain, Charlie, had won again. He had won every single game all season, and yet everyone still cheered and went wild like he had done something new. Mason just did not understand it. Why did Charlie get all the praise? Why did everyone love Charlie so much?  "Football is not even that hard." Mason would say to his friends out of jealousy. "All he does is throw the ball. He does not even tackle anyone." he would continue.  Charlie was the quarterback, which meant that he was the most popular guy in the whole high school. Every guy either wanted to be his best friend, or wanted to be him. No one was ever rude to his face and he got whatever he wanted. He was bad at school, but even the teachers gave him extra help so that he could play each week. His girlfriend was the cheerleading captain of course, and also the most be...

  The Gambling Match Duryohdhana was in a jealous rage when he saw others being praised for the trump of the Pandavas He set up a gambling match to prove he is also worthy of praise He went before his father and asked if they could invite the Pandavas - Yudhishthira  The Pandavas agreed despite not knowing how to play and knowing the game may be played unfairly Duryohdhana practiced with his uncle, a renown gambler, to ensure that he wins  When the gambling match started, Duryohdhana asked his uncle to play and they both conspired to play together: one would roll the dice and one would place bets Because their team was unstoppable, Yudhishthira lost everything Even after he lost all of his possessions, money jewelry, chariot, cattle, elephants, slaves, slave girls etc., he bet in Draupadi  Yudhishthira lost yet again and Draupadi was handed over the Duyrohdhana as a slave Birth of Draupadi  When Drupada lost half of his kingdom, he sought to do whatever it takes...

  King Shantanu and Ganga King Shantanu marred the goddess Ganga  Ganga agreed to be the human mother to the Vasus and cast them into the Ganges as soon as they were born so they could return to their celestial state  Ganga made each of them promise an eighth of their power to her son who would stay human She gave birth to the first son and casted him into the Ganges, which horrified the  king  This continued seven more times The king was disgusted by his mouth and broke his vow  She eventually came back to bring the king their one son named Devavrata  Vyasa and Ganesha The king Chedi, uparichara, scared other gods into thinking he was going to steal their power The gods sent Indra to bribe him with a flying car  He was flying one day and his semen fell into a river A female fish swallowed the semen Ten months went by The female fish was caught by a fisherman and two children came out also The fisherman tells the king  The king take...