Catching up with Carly

  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.  ...