Famous Last Words: Happy November!

This week was definitely a busy one, but lately I've felt that way about every week. I have been extremely busy in all of my classes! We're nearing the end of the semester already, which sounds crazy but it's also exciting.

My writing this week was below average. I had a chance to complete both of my reading notes, but failed to complete my story for the week. I hate when I don't complete an assignment, so I was a bit mad at myself for not finishing my story. This was a revision week for my project, and after doing that I'm very happy with the result, making it my best writing for the week,, My story was 1,200 words after revising it, which I never thought would happen. I had to delete parts of my story to get the word count down. I also read some interesting stories this week on other people's blogs and sites.

My other classes are starting to get more difficult. Everything seems to be due around the same time, and professors are cramming assignments into the last two months. This is why I dread this time in the semester, but that means it's almost over. Halloween relieved some stress this week for everyone. I had class and then work all day, but everyone was in the spirit making the day a lot more enjoyable.

This week I hope to stay on top of all my homework and do as much extra credit as possible. I want to finish my homework early in the week so I can have a relaxing homework-free weekend. I am about 20 points behind from having an A, so I need to do quite a bit of extra credit this week and the next few. I just have to push through for a month and a half longer!

Hello November

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Typing Test Tech Tip

I wanted to do a typing test for my tech tip this week because I wanted to see how fast and accurate my typing is. I feel that I type rather quickly without many errors and my test results reflected that. I type 78.2 words per minute and have an accuracy of 98.1%. I would like to type a bit faster, but I think if I did I would surely be less accurate.

I used the key hero.com website to test my typing. I did the test three times and my results were mostly consistent. I chose my best trial numbers to be the ones listed above. I sometimes still look at the keys when I type, so I hope to improve enough that I rarely have to. I notice that I mess up frequently when typing, but usually the autocorrect fixes it for me. The only time I've specifically worked on my typing skills was when I was in high school and one of my teachers had us practice typing in one of our computer classes. Autocorrect makes it harder to improve typing because the computer fixes the mistakes for you. I think typing is important because you use it daily when in school. Most people will use it after school also for a job at one point or another.

Reading Notes: The Wanderer's Song, Part A

This week I wanted to do some extra reading and did some exploring in the Un-Textbook. I found some interesting stories but focused on the Beowulf Unit. The story that I chose to take notes over was titled The Wanderer's Song. This story came from The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs.

If I were to rewrite this story I would change a few things. First, I would change the wanderer to a beautiful young woman instead of a wise old man. They still believe that the woman has seen many things and been on various adventures. When the woman would sing, everyone would be mesmerized by her voice. They were all entranced by her voice so much that they would believe everything that she said.

She will speak of all the things she has seen throughout her life. I want to change the ending though. Towards the end she uses her hypnotizing voice to take over the minds of all the men. She tricks them into obeying her. By doing this, she convinces them to allow her to be the new queen. No one stops her because they are all amazed and entranced.

She is now the new queen, and anytime someone questions her judgement or decisions she knows that all she must do is start singing.

Female Wanderer

Source: Pixabay 

Reading Notes: How the Rabbit Killed the Giant, Part B

For Part B this week I finished reading the Great Plains unit stories and focused on the story titled How the Rabbit Killed the Giant. This story is from Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. I enjoyed this story because the rabbit kills the giant and basically saves the whole town. A creature so small takes initiative to save everyone else.

The thing that I did not like about this story was the way that the rabbit killed the giant. The rabbit had an insect bite the giant, making him sick and he later died. Technically, the insect saved the town but they recognized the rabbit. If I were to change the story I would have the rabbit stab the giant when the giant attempts to steal the deer, and that way it seems more heroic and dramatic than a simple insect bite.

Another thing I could do, is have the rabbit kill the giant when he goes to have a feast with him in the beginning. I would change the plot to where that happens last though. The other animals are tired of sharing their food and going hungry so when the rabbit arrives he is the only one who is strong enough to defeat the giant. They ask him to do it, and he is more than willing.

I may also change the character of the rabbit. I could stick with the insect being the main character and killing the giant by biting him. Or, I could use an entirely new character. The way that the character kills the giant, somewhat reminds me of the biblical story of David and Goliath. I could try to incorporate that into the story also.

One last idea I had was telling the story from the Giant's perspective. Maybe making it easier to see why the giant does the things he does, whether it is wrong or right.

The Giant

Source: Wikipedia

Reading Notes: The Creation, Part A

For this week's reading I read the stories from the Great Plains Unit. My favorite story was The Creation from Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. This story contains two different stories from different groups. They are a little bit similar but if I choose to rewrite this story I will focus more on the first story by the Wazhá zhe group.

I've been wanting to change the setting of a story to outer space. So in my version of the creation of the world I will focus on life being created for all of the creatures on the moon. Some story elements will be the same, but I want to create new ideas that I think would be important for a story set in outer space.

Rather than having animals from earth, I think I will have the characters be aliens. There will be different types of aliens, like those that are suited for water and those that are suited for land. The aliens will all have different abilities like creatures of earth do. In the beginning, they will be floating in space and go to the sun to ask where they come from. The sun will say, "I am your mother, and the moon is your father." They are from outer space, but when they are tired of floating they must settle on the moon and create a home. So they will rely on both their mother and father.

When the aliens get to the moon they have a problem. They won't stop floating because there is no gravity yet, so they aren't able to land on their home. When they ask the sun and moon for help, they hear nothing. As a lesson, they are supposed to figure out what to do themselves.

Outer Space: Source: Wikimedia Commons