Week 6 Story: Survivor Season 36: Castaway

(Survivor Bermuda Logo: Wikimedia Commons)

“Welcome back to Survivor Season 36. I am your host, Captain Jack Sparrow, and we are down to our final three contestants. We have been through several challenges and only the strongest have survived. First, we have Jack Dawson, a starving artist from Wisconsin who was one of the survivors of the infamous Titanic wreck. Next, we have Chuck “Wilson” Noland, a systems manager and high school volleyball coach from Memphis, Tennessee. Last, but not least, we have Sindbad, a sailor from Baghdad, Iraq. For all of you new viewers joining us this week, let me run over how the show works. It is the same rules as previous seasons of Survivor, but with a twist. Instead of voting contestants off of the island, the contestant with the most votes against them are left stranded on whichever island we are currently on. Tonight, we will find out who will make it to the finale and who will be left stranded.”

Camera zooms in on Chuck and Jack privately discussing their votes for tonight

“I don’t know Jack, Sindbad is a nice guy and he’s my friend. I feel bad teaming up against him like this behind his back.”

“Chuck, it’s him or one of us. We have to stick together and vote for him. He’s already rich from his long run on Jeopardy!, it’s our time to shine.”

Sindbad is facing the camera for an interview

“I honestly don’t know who I’m voting for tonight. I have grown to like both of them throughout this experience. Chuck is a great guy, but he does tend to talk about volleyball way too much. Especially how superior Wilson volleyballs are to other brands. Jack is cool too, but he did almost lose our team the challenge in week two when we realized he wasn’t a strong swimmer. This is definitely going to be a tough decision.”

Camera is on Captain Jack Sparrow in the middle of the beach

“Who’s going to get stranded tonight and miss out on the chance to win one million dollars? Find out after these short messages.”

Commercial break

Author's Note: The original story that is the basic of this retelling is Sindbad's Second Voyage. In this voyage, the sailor Sindbad goes to various islands with a group of merchants. However, one day they end up on a nice island where Sindbad decides to relax and go to sleep. He wakes up and realizes that the ship has left and he is stranded on the island alone. Sindbad now has to find a way to get back home. Later on, Sindbad meets up with the ship that left him and finds out that is was an accident. I changed this story and turned in into the reality TV show Survivor. I included Jack Dawson from the movie Titanic, Chuck Noland from the movie Castaway, Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. This retelling changes the way Sindbad was left on the island since it is now a competition on who will be left stranded. 

Bibliography: Sindbad: Second Voyage by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898). 

Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sindbad, Part B

(Sindbad Plots Against the Giant by Maxfield Parrish: Wikimedia Commons)

I like how Sindbad just decides to build his own ship and travel even though he has gone through so many terrible experiences already.

Whenever their ship gets destroyed by the Rocs, I think it would be funny to see everyone freaking while Sindbad is calmly floating with his driftwood because he has been through this scenario plenty of times.

It was extremely weird reading the part about the old man that forces Sindbad to carry him around. However, it is actually a pretty funny scene which I could use in my retelling.

My favorite part so far of this entire unit is when they throw rocks at the monkeys because they know they will get mad and start throwing coconuts at them. I can just picture this happening and someone next to Sindbad saying, “Watch this,” as he throws the rocks at the monkeys.

Whenever Sindbad the crew get shipwrecked this time I would like to change it to where he is like on a phone or something while the captain and everyone else is freaking out. They see Sindbad on his phone playing a game or something and he just looks up and says that he’s bored and he’s been through more exciting adventures.

It would be funny if the people of Serendib prank Sindbad once they realize he’s harmless. They hear him speaking in Arabic to himself and they decide to pretend like they’re savages or something to scare him. They let this prank go on for awhile and then reward Sindbad with treasure for being a good sport.

It seems as though Sindbad really does not want to go back to see. I’ll change it to where he secretly does and puts up kind of a fight against the Caliph’s wishes. However, he’s secretly excited about going on another adventure.

Everything seems to go fine at first during the first few days. I would like to see Sindbad just constantly looking over his shoulder or something just waiting for something bad to happen since he’s so used to it now.

In my retelling, Sindbad will be relieved when he sees the pirates because it wouldn’t be a voyage for him without something terribly wrong happening. Sindbad will be like, “Oh no, pirates,” but say it in a tone to where you can tell he’s not scared.

I found it interesting how the elephants decided not to kill Sindbad. In fact, they showed him where an abundance of ivory was even though he had killed so many elephants.

Sindbad’s whole story kind of made me think of the movie “Groundhog Day” because he’s sort of reliving the same day over and over again, but with different adventures. I could possibly incorporate something like that into my version of the story. 

Bibliography: The Voyages of Sindbad by by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sindbad, Part A

(Sinbad's third voyage. Encounter with a man-eating giant: Wikipedia)

It is interesting to me how Sindbad was able to see that he was managing his money poorly because I feel like a lot of people do not realize that until it is way too late.

It’s crazy how everyone mistook a whale as an island. I think I could retell this part to have someone question the legitimacy of the island before a huge group of them get on it.

Sindbad being stranded in the ocean and luckily getting on shore to an island reminds me of the movie “Castaway.” I will probably have Tom Hanks as the main character in my retelling.

I think it would be funny if Sindbad had to something outrageous or tell a secret that was only between him and the captain before the captain believed it was him.

I like how Sindbad ended up better off getting thrown off the whale and landing on that island. In my retelling, I will talk more about the stuff that he bought when he got home and will include expensive items that are just unnecessary.

When Sindbad said he was bored, I imagined him doing really mundane activities and I found it comical for some reason because of his earlier story.

It would be funny if the merchants Sindbad was traveling with were pranking him when he thought they had left him. They are hiding and watching him freak out, but then he gets a ride from that huge bird and they realize that they made a terrible mistake.

The snakes around the diamonds made me think of Indiana Jones because of his travels and his fear of snakes. I could incorporate some aspects of those movies into my version of this story.

The way the merchants got diamonds by throwing meat so that the birds would get it is so bizarre, but I love every part of it.

Sindbad seems really calm when the bird is coming to pick him up. I will change this and have him thinking or saying stuff that will show how scared he is.

Once again, I love how he came out rich by going through some terrible events.

Although they were savages, I don’t like how easily the dwarfs took control over Sindbad and his fellow travelers. I think it would be better if the dwarfs thought they were stronger, but Sindbad and the rest of the crew easily handled them.

I will retell it as if Sindbad and the rest meant to land on the island with the giant on it without having any clue what was on the island.

It would be funny if Sindbad was like, “Don’t worry guys, I read this in the Odyssey,” and devised a plan like Odysseus to escape the giants.

It’s hilarious how he met up with the crew of his second voyage which had left him stranded. It would be funny if Sindbad had acknowledged that this had happened to him before.

This part took an unexpected turn and I did not think Sindbad was going to kill people for their provisions. I will probably try to retell this in a lighter way.

Bibliography: The Voyages of Sindbad by by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Week 5 Story: Rocky 7

(Rocky Balboa: Alatele fr, Flickr)

Rocky Balboa, and his lesser known brother Bullwinkle, were gifted fighters at a very young age. Rocky, who was only sixteen, was destined to become a champion when his time came. One day, the retired fighter Apollo Creed came to visit Mick, Rocky’s trainer, to ask for a favor. Apollo explained how gang members were vandalizing his gyms across Philadelphia and he needed Rocky’s help to beat them up since he would go to jail for assaulting minors. Mick did not want Rocky to get injured, but Apollo was one of his closest friends so he agreed to let Rocky go with him. Apollo also insisted on bringing Bullwinkle in case there were too many gang members for Rocky to handle on his own.

The three of them drove to the only gym that had not been vandalized yet. They waited in a dark alleyway which had a good vantage point of where the gang members would most likely target. It was around midnight when Rocky and Bullwinkle sprung into action after seeing suspicious shadows moving around the gym. There were five gang members dressed in all black holding cans of spray paint about to deface yet another one of Apollo’s gyms. Right when they were about to start, they heard the thunderous footsteps of Rocky coming towards them. At first, they couldn’t see who it was, but soon they realized it was Rocky, the greatest fighter in Philly, and all of them decided to run away except for one.

The brave soul who decided to stay and fight was by the smallest and youngest of the group. He couldn’t have been older than twelve years old, but he pulled out a pocket knife and rushed towards Rocky and Bullwinkle. Seeing how young the boy was, Rocky and Bullwinkle decided to dodge the attacks instead of throwing any punches themselves. This went on for awhile until Apollo screamed from the car, “Finish him already!”. Bullwinkle punched the boy in the stomach and Rocky struck him with a mean left hook. The boy was instantly knocked out, but still breathing since Rocky didn’t want to kill him. Apollo came up to Rocky and Bullwinkle and gave them praises on how well they defended his gym. The next day, Apollo bought Rocky all the best boxing equipment that money could buy to help him on his journey of becoming a world champion.

Author's Note: For this week, I chose the story of Ramayana to retell. Rama is the reincarnation of the god Vishnu. Rama, the prince of his city, is loved by all his people and a very talented fighter. One day when Rama and his brother are young, a sage named Vishvamitra asks Rama's father if he can take Rama to help save his hermitage that is being ravaged by demons. He takes the two brothers to a jungle where they encounter a female shape-shifting demon. Since she is a female, the brothers hesitate to kill her. They eventually work together to kill her though. Vishvamitra was happy and summoned celestial weapons for Rama. I changed Rama to be Rocky Balboa, the fictional boxer, and Vishvamitra to be Apollo Creed who is also from the Rocky movies. I changed the demon to be a young gang member whom Rocky and his brother would be hesitant to beat up since he was so little. Apollo is happy and rewards Rocky with state of the art boxing equipment. I also changed Rama's brother's name to Bullwinkle because it was funny and I couldn't think of any other name that would work. 

Bibliography: Ramayana by Donald A. Mackenzie

Reading Notes: Ramayana, Part B

(Sita Longs for the Golden Deer: Wikimedia Commons)

I like how Surpanakha immediately fell in love with Rama. It just shows how amazing Rama truly was since everyone, including the sister of Ravana, loved and admired him.

I found it funny how they first attacked Rama with fourteen demons but then increase it to fourteen thousand demons. If I retell this part I will probably include a ridiculously high number of demons to attack Rama.

The battle between Rama and the demons could be made longer and more epic so the reader could truly appreciate Rama’s superiority in combat.

I could make Maricha change into something else like a really nice car instead of a golden deer to make the story more modern.

The scene where Ravana talks to Sita caught my attention because it seems like Sita is bragging about Rama’s power and then Ravana retaliates and tries to build up his own reputation. This could be made more comical by making them keep exchanging words on how the other is better.

I don’t like how much Rama grieves for Sita. I know that he loves her, but I would rather see him being bloodthirsty and destroying everything in his path to get her back.

I found it funny how Ravana is trying to hit on Sita but he can’t do anything about it since Brahma cursed him a long time ago.

Instead of all of these different animals, I could retell it by replacing them with military items like planes and stuff like that to go find Sita.

Once again, Ravana trying to get with Sita is a part that could be retold in a more comical way.

The part where Rama gets mad and starts basically attacking the ocean was funny to me. It shows how badly he wants to see Sita, but at the same time he is shooting arrows at a body of water. I know that it isn’t exactly just a body of water, but not knowing the god of the ocean would react to this makes it funny in retrospect.

If I retell the part of the war beginning I will be sure to include epic battle scenes and possibly some gruesome descriptions.

I found it interesting how Ravana cried for his son since he is a demon. There are many instances in this story that give Ravana human emotions that you wouldn’t normally associate with demons or evil spirits.

The way that Rama defeats Ravana wasn’t as climactic as I expected. I will probably make it more intense if I retell this part.

I thought it was kind of messed up how Rama basically accused Sita of sleeping with Ravana. I don’t like how this scene progressed so I will leave it out.

The ending was completely unexpected and I was not a fan of it. I will change the ending to make it more of a happier ending because I feel like how that’s how the story should’ve ended. 

Bibliography: Ramayana by Donald A. Mackenzie

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part A

(Painted cloth depicting a scene from the Ramayana: Wikimedia Commons)

There have been some words that I don’t know and names I can’t remember in this story. In my retelling, I will most likely keep it simpler as to not confuse the reader.

I like how they explained the city, but I think it would be interesting to completely change it and make it into a wasteland.

Instead of a horse sacrifice, there could be something funny or bizarre that has to be done because I am not a fan of the sacrificial ceremonies.

It is interesting how Ravana can be beat by men and apes. In my retelling, I will probably replace apes with something completely different.

I like how they went through so much trouble to figure out why Rama was crying. It was funny how it ended up being such an easy fix.

If I retell this part, I will focus more on the Rama’s education in combat, archery, and other areas like that because I feel like that would be the most interesting to talk about.

The scene where Rama gets celestial weapons is awesome and I will try to incorporate that in my retelling by making the weapons more high-tech and modern.

I like the idea of the unbreakable bow, but I would like to make it a different weapon. Also, it would be funny if Rama struggled at first and then was able to break it after several attempts.

I really don’t like how Manthara was able to manipulate Kaikeyi. I usually do not like when stories have these kinds of people in them, so I will most likely not retell this part or completely change it. I would have Dasaratha just let her drink the poison or trick her in some way where she does not get her way.

I would probably have Rama call upon his celestial weapons and threaten Kaikeyi with them after she tells him what she has his father to do.

I like how Sita and Lakshmana are willing to go into exile with Rama. It shows how great of a person Rama is if people are willing to sacrifice their own lives just to be with him.

The scene that describes how Dasaratha was cursed is extremely emotional. The parents of the boy he killed cried out for him and said a lot of things that are depressing to read, but it made it a powerful and memorable part of the story.

I really like the fact that Bharata wasn’t evil like his mother. It is nice to see that he didn’t accept the throne and wanted Rama to have it.

At first, I didn’t like how Rama wasn’t going to go back to the city because I thought it was a matter a pride. However, he made good points as to why he has to stay in the jungle and I will keep that ending in the retelling

Bibliography: Ramayana by Donald A. Mackenzie

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Week 4 Story: Circe and Coke

Updated Version: https://sites.google.com/s/0BwNBfRJVQpXFZFQ5VUxlaUtVWjg/p/1pmh3roT7niytqROySMVTPY2JlK04QHgU/edit


(Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus: Wikimedia Commons)

The tracks of the beaten up Kia Sorento tear across the asphalt of a residential street as they come to a final stop. "Finally", explains Evan from the back seat. We've spent the entire evening trying to find a party and it looks like we may have just lucked out. Calling the residence in front of us a house was an understatement, it was like an island of its own. From the street, the lights of the house lit up the entire street and it was evident that a party was going on. Rather than just barge in and invite ourselves to the party, I sent Evan, Chance, and Mike in to check out the party and relay back to us. After thirty minutes, only Mike had returned. He was frantic, beads of sweat lined his worried face. He reported back that the party was incredible, however, Chance and Evan indulged in a drink called "Circe-Roc" it was a matter of minutes before they started acting like pigs. They were customarily the most respectful friends of ours, but this drink seems to have corrupted their minds. They were all over girls, asking them for their Snapchat, telling them to "hit them up on Kik" and even worse, they started DMing girls. At this point I realized that I had to go in myself and get them out of there. "Please Dave, don't go in, you'll end up just like them after one drink" pleaded Michael, but my mind  was set. As I made my way in the house my senses were overwhelmed by the smell of E-cig juices and Lil John lyrics. Despite the obvious revulsion to the situation I was experiencing I pressed on. After wading through what felt like a sea of people I finally caught wind of Evan and Chance. I went up to Chance and he had a full bottle of "Circe-Roc" in his hands. Everyone was drinking it. Rather than refuse and get forced out of the party I had to do as the Romans do. As I took my first swig I realized this was the best drink I have ever had. I went back out to the car and grabbed the rest of the guys. We stayed till the break of dawn. 

Author's Note: The original story is about Odysseus and his men landing on Circe's island after escaping the land of the Cyclopes. Odysseus splits up his men and they explore the island. One of the groups finds the goddess Circe's house and it is amazing, but also guarded by wolves and mountain lions under Circe's magic. The men are scared, but they are lured in by Circe and giving drinks that she had drugged. The men turn into literal pigs, but Eurylochus had a feeling it was trap and doesn't go in the house. He goes back to Odysseus crying and Odysseus decides to go save his men. Before he goes, Hermes warns Odysseus and tells Odysseus how to save his men and not end up like them. Odysseus successfully avoids Circe's attempt to trap him and his men get turned back into normal. I chose to tell this story from my point of view with my friends as the other characters. Instead of Circe, I chose an alcoholic drink named "Circe-Roc", inspired by Ciroc, to be what causes trouble in the story. Instead of the ending in the original where Odysseus doesn't fall for Circe's trap, I chose to make myself succumb to "Circe-Roc". The movie "Project X" also helped inspire me to write the story this way since it was about a big house party. 

Bibliography: Homer's Odyssey: Circe's Magic, as translated by Tony Kline

Reading Notes: Homer's Odyssey, Part B

(Teiresias Foretells the Future to Odysseus: Henry Fuseli)

I find it interesting how basically every time we see Odysseus and his men in a new scene they are always crying or grieving. It is understandable, but I just think it is odd that the story always points this fact out.

It is sad when Elpenor’s ghost talks to Odysseus and tell him what to do with his body. He is ghost now, but he still has concerns with his body on Earth. It is even more sad when Odysseus sees his mother’s ghost since he didn’t know she had died. This would be a terrible way to find out your mother is dead and this is a very emotional part of the story that I will keep in the retelling.

It is amazing how Teiresias is able to tell Odysseus’s future in great detail. For the retelling, I could possibly add in some funny acts that Odysseus has to do in order to return home safely.

Odysseus talking to his dead mother is the most powerful part of the story. You can feel the raw emotion especially when he tries to hug her. I will definitely try to keep the essence of this scene intact in the retelling because of how memorable it is.

It is really cool how Odysseus got to talk to all of these famous ghosts and learn more about them. The most interesting was Jocasta because I read “Oedipus Rex” in high school so I knew what she did before Odysseus explained. I will keep her character in the retelling.

Seeing Agamemnon in this state is weird because he was just a power-hungry character in the Iliad. I like the contrast in his character now as it shows a different side to him.

Achilles is one of my favorite characters in Greek Mythology and hearing him basically say he would rather be a slave and alive on Earth than dead is interesting. However, it is not surprising because he only joined the Trojan War again to avenge Patroclus. I do want to include the part of Achilles leaving extremely proud of his son because that is a nice moment for Achilles that he can hang onto in death.

I don’t like how Ajax doesn’t say anything to Odysseus because he’s still mad at him. I will change that to where Ajax forgives him and they have a nice reunion like the other people Odysseus talked to.

The Sirens scene could be told in a more comical way. Odysseus could be trying to plead with his men and trying to negotiate to untie him and everything.

The last part with Scylla and Charybdis could be longer since it is such an epic scene. I feel like it was rushed and I didn’t get the full effect of what happened. 

Bibliography: Homer's Odyssey, as translated into English by Tony Kline

Reading Notes: Homer's Odyssey, Part A

(Cyclops and Odysseus Vase Painting: Wikimedia Commons)

I really like the description of the Cyclopes. There are basically savages that are still blessed by the gods. It would be interesting to maybe replace them with a group of people that could be considered lawless in today’s society.

I find it interesting how amazing the landscape is around the Cyclopes. I think I would like to change that to where they’re living in a barren wasteland to show a reason why they live the way they do.

Instead of goats coming to them willingly to be slaughtered I would like them to be attacked by a different kind of animal and they have to kill them to survive.

Instead of wine, I would like to replace it with another drink or something entirely different.

The cave should be filled with half eaten items and trash all over the place instead of cheeses and other stuff that would be worth stealing.

Originally, I was planning on making this Cyclops a nice one so that there would be a contrast. However, I think I am going to stick to the original story and have him be hostile and kill Odysseus’s men.

Once again, instead of Odysseus giving the Cyclops wine he should give him something else to drink or eat. Or he could just have a completely different plan on how to kill the Cyclops instead of stabbing his eye. Also, I need to figure out what I am going to replace the Cyclops with in my retelling in order to have Odysseus think of a different plan.

Although disturbing, I liked the image of the Cyclops throwing up wine and human parts.

I love the imagery used to describe Odysseus and his men stabbing the Cyclops in the eye. It really paints a vivid picture of what is going on. I also like how Odysseus plans ahead by telling him  his name is Nobody.

I think it is brilliant and hilarious that Odysseus tied himself and his men under rams. I want to keep this kind of comical event in my retelling of the story.

The conversation between the last ram and the Cyclops is funny to me because Odysseus is just tied under that ram and listening while hoping he can still get out. I think Odysseus taunting the Cyclops will come back to bite him, but I like how he still bragged about escaping. He just keeps egging him on and I will definitely include that in my retelling.

I found it interesting how the Cyclops’s prayer was answered and Odysseus will be punished because of his bragging.

It was interesting that Circe had wolves and mountain lions under her spell. I will change the animals to even bigger and more ferocious animals if I retell this part.

In retelling, I will probably keep the fact that she turned the men into pigs because of the irony.

I love how Hermes tells Odysseus that Circe will turn him into a pig and ways to stop her tricks, but tells him that he needs to sleep with her. It is just kind of a bizarre scenario.

I will change Moly to something different in my retelling. I am not a fan of the name of the herb.

I honestly was not expecting it to go as smoothly for Odysseus as it did. I will most likely add some drama into the retelling, but will keep the ending of him having to go see Hades.

Bibliography: Homer's Odyssey, as translated into English by Tony Kline  

Topic Research: Dante's Inferno

(Divine Comedy Illustrated by Sandro Botticelli: Wikipedia)

Story Option #1: A Modern Retelling: Instead of having Dante meet with the characters in the original story I could have him meet people from recent history who would most likely be in Hell today. I could have him meet Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, or even Jeffrey Dahmer. This would help give the story a modern feel and the readers most likely wouldn't have to look up the people he meets since they are so notorious in modern day history. Overall, I would be keeping the structure of the original story, but changing most of the characters. 

Story Option #2: A Different Kind of Hell: Instead of Dante traveling through Hell, he could be traveling through his own personal Hell. For example, it could be the education system and instead of circles of Hell it will be grades in school. This retelling would be more of a comedy and much lighter than the original. The people he meets throughout the story could be former teachers or classmates. 

Story Option #3: Retelling in the Form of Video Game or Action Movie: Instead of Dante being led through Hell, he could be trying to escape and win his soul back. Virgil could still be the one guiding him, but Dante would have to fight his way through the circles of Hell as each circle gets progressively more difficult to get through. Lucifer would be the final boss in this story. It would be a classic video game in the sense that Dante can die several times, but has a limited amount of tries until he has to permanently stay in Hell. Update: There was a video game like this made in 2010, but the plot is different. Dante's Inferno Video Game

Links:

Wikipedia

The World of Dante

9 Circles of Hell

Feedback Strategies

Presence, Not Praise: How To Cultivate a Healthy Relationship with Achievement: I found this article to be interesting because it is straight to the point when calling out the culture of praise our society has created. I agree with the idea that praise can basically make people complacent because if you do something and get praised for it then there really isn't a point in trying to do a better job since you already got results. I found this to be true with myself in high school and in my first years in college. If I wrote a paper and got a good grade on it with a comment saying "Good job!" or something like that I would just try to get the exact same quality on the next paper even if it wasn't the best quality. I also agree that being present is much more effective. When I played football in high school, our coaches would be present when giving feedback especially when we watched film. It allowed all of us to learn and grow as players instead of getting big egos from getting constant praise.

The Difference Between Praise and Feedback: I feel that this article shares the same theme as the previous one I talked about above. It is basically saying that we need to be present instead of praising which can have negative consequences. I found it interesting how Deci disagreed with Dweck and her methods, but I think Dweck defended her position on the subject well. I also agree that parents will always praise their kids no matter what. I don't have any kids right now, but if I do I feel like it will be hard to not praise them if they do something I am proud of them for. However, being present instead of praising is something I want to start working on.

(Sticky Note - Good Job: NOGRAN s.r.o, Flickr)

Week 3 Story: You Never Had Me

Updated Story: https://sites.google.com/view/davidrportfolio/you-never-had-me

(The Fast and the Furious, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker: BagoGames, Flickr)

Ancient Los Angeles, 2013, near the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

As Rick Yune stands next to his Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle, he contemplates if it was the right move for him to destroy Vin Diesel’s green Toyota Supra considering Paul Walker, who now owes Vin Diesel a five second car, is coming after him. Paul Walker zooms in driving Vin Diesel’s dad’s 1970 Dodge Charger with one thing on his mind: REVENGE. He gets out of the car, removes his sunglasses, and looks Rick Yune right in the eyes. Rick Yune realizes his grave mistake, hops on his motorcycle, and pops a wheelie as he speeds away. Paul Walker, unconcerned, gets back into his car and spins his tires as he enters hot pursuit. The chase continues, but Rick Yune’s motorcycle runs out of fuel. By the grace of god, his crew rolls up and give him one of their street bikes. After a seemingly endless amount of laps around the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Rick Yune becomes delirious from exhaustion and thinks his crew has come back to support him. He stops the motorcycle and faces Paul Walker.

“Paul, can’t we work this out? You're a reasonable man right? I’ll give the pink slips to all my motorcycles and we can call it even” Rick Yune says to Paul Walker trying to negotiate his way out of certain death.

Paul, unwavering in his thirst for vengeance says nothing but pulls out his Colt .45 and aims it at Rick Yune's face, “Any last words?” Paul Walker says.

“The treasure is buried…” but before Rick Yune can finish his sentence, Paul Walker unloads a round of the most powerful handgun known to Californians right between his eyes. Paul Walker blows the smoke from the barrel of his gun, walks towards Rick Yune’s body, and says, “Almost had me?” (Thompson, Bergquist, and Ayer)

Bibliography: Homer's Iliad: The Slaying of Hector (Retold by A. J. Church); The Fast and the Furious written by Gary Scott Thompson, Eric Bergquist, and David Ayer. Dirty Harry 

Author's Note: Homer's Iliad: The Slaying of Hector tells the story of how the Greek demi-god Achilles avenges the death of his friend Patroclus by killing Hector the prince of Troy during the Trojan War. Hector is basically regretting facing Achilles and when Achilles shows up Hector runs away. Achilles chases Hector around Troy and the god Apollo helps Hector while the goddess Athene ultimately cause Hector to stop because she favors Achilles. Hector tries to plead with Achilles and offers him everything Troy has to offer, but Achilles does not accept. They battle and Achilles comes out victorious. Achilles then takes Hector's body, ties it to his chariot, and drags him away. My retelling changes the characters and setting of the story. I incorporated characters from "The Fast and the Furious" but kept the actors' real names. I also changed the setting to Los Angeles instead of Troy. Furthermore, instead of a chase on foot, they do their chase in vehicles. Ultimately, I made these decisions because I was inspired by a YouTube video of two guys trying to get a Paul Walker memorial statue in their city. I gave the story a much cheesier and funny feel to it as opposed to the original story which was tense and dramatic. The line "the most powerful handgun know to Californians..." was accidentally inspired by the movie "Dirty Harry". 

Reading Notes: Homer"s Iliad, Part B

(King Priam at the feet of Achilles: Wikimedia Commons)

I found it interesting how Hector defended his actions of running away from Ajax by basically saying he fears Zeus and the fate he has in store for him if he challenges another strong warrior to a battle. Yet, he puts on Achilles armor which makes Zeus really mad at him.

The scene with the horses crying over Patroclus is touching will be a great part to retell and show the intelligence and emotions the horses have.

Achilles has one of the best scenes in the story because he is able to make a whole army back down by just showing his presence and yelling at them. Even the horses feared them and I could add a lot more drama when retelling this part of the story.

The part where Apollo tricks Achilles could be retold in a more comical way. It could be comic relief in a time of the story that it extremely tense. I could also make Achilles find the humor in this situation as well instead of getting angry at Apollo.

The chase scene between Achilles and Hector could also be retold to be more comical. I picture them just running around the city as everyone watches them while having their own conversations of what is going to happen. It would also be funny to have Achilles yelling at Hector while he’s chasing him and Hector just looking back with a scared look on his face.

Once again, the movie “Troy” differs from the actual story because at first Paris has to fight Achilles and then he backs down. Then, Hectors steps in to protect his brother. I do not like how they portrayed Hector as a coward in this version of the story. So retelling it I will probably make Hector seem more brave even though he knows he is about to die.

I think I could make the part where Priam goes to see Achilles more intense by not letting him have protection from the gods. I could retell it as him being extremely sneaky and having some close encounters of being caught.

It was interesting to see that Achilles actually showed compassion when King Priam came to see him. What surprised me the most was that Priam ate and drank with the man who had just killed his favorite son. In my retelling I think I would have Priam immediately leave after Achilles accepts the ransom. 

Bibliography: Homer's Iliad (Retold by A. J. Church) 

Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad, Part A

(Achilles Statue, Hyde Park: Wikimedia Commons)

I think it is amazing that Achilles was classified as the bravest and strongest man in Greece because I’m sure there was a lot of competition for that title.

It seems that Agamemnon is feared by nearly everyone except for Achilles. Which makes sense since he knows he can kill anyone he wanted to in a battle.

It’s crazy how one prayer caused Apollo to come down and start killing things off.

It’s interesting to see how Achilles tried to negotiate with Agamemnon and it seemed like he was trying to console him. Then, he just gets enraged and it shows how fast Achille’s emotions can change.

The goddess Athene appearing and calming Achilles down is a great aspect to this story because it shows Achille’s favor with some of the goddesses and shows that he respects them.

The part where Achilles tells Agamemnon he will kill if he touches anything he owns is a really powerful and dramatic scene in my opinion.

Achilles is an extremely complex character because he goes from being completely enraged to voluntarily giving Agamemnon’s heralds Briseis and then he cries for his mother.

The part where Thetis asks Zeus to help is intriguing to me because she goes to him humbly, but the words she says to him when asking for the favor seem like she’s manipulating him and she knows that he will have to say yes to her request.

When Hera’s son talks to her about how he couldn’t help her if Zeus were to attack her and then proceeded to talk about when Zeus physically threw him out of Heaven can be retold in a much more comical way.

Helen seems calm and laid back with everything happening around her. This is interesting to me since she is basically the main reason there’s even a war going on right now.

The conversation between Hector and Andromache is one of the saddest ones in this whole story because Hector is so confident in his abilities and want to protect her and their child. However, deep down Andromache knows that he will die soon and that she will be a widow because of his pride.

I find Odysseus to one of my favorite characters when he takes over and tries to convince Achilles to come back to battle. He knows exactly what to say and he knows that Achilles loves and respects him.

Achille’s reply to Odysseus is surprising because you would think he might consider going back to battle, but he actually shows growth as a character by saying he cares about his life more than fame which is a complete change from earlier.

The movie “Troy”, which I have referenced before, tell this part of Patroclus differently. First, he takes Achilles armor without asking. Second, he is not cocky or arrogant as he is in the story. Lastly, Hector, not Apollo, kills him by slitting his throat thinking he is Achilles. I think I prefer the movie’s rendition of that part of the story so I will retell it like that.  

Overall, I think I would like to retell the story with characters of a different era. The character I replace Achilles with needs to be a great warrior with a complex psyche.

Bibliography: Homer's Iliad (Retold by A. J. Church)

Feedback Thoughts

6 Bad Mental Habits That Sabotage Your Success: This article was extremely relatable to me and my previous experiences. In the past, I have had the bad habit of thinking of what-if scenarios and thinking of the worst that could happen. This is still somewhat true when I think of ideas for potential business ventures, I think of everything that could go wrong which deters me from actually pursuing ideas that could end up working out. However, my entrepreneurship courses here at OU have helped me stop thinking of all the negative things that could happen. The mindset I have acquired is being prepared for every situation, but not worrying about all those things because that is counter-intuitive.  

Why rejection hurts so much — and what to do about it: This article is also relatable to me and can help me in the future with my businesses. I usually tend to let rejection get the best of me which leads to bad decisions moving forward. I also tend to criticize myself too harshly especially when I'm doing bad in a video game. However, I know that I will be rejected plenty of times in the future especially since I want to start a business and not everyone is going to want to be a customer of my business. Letting that rejection get to me will surely hurt me and will ultimately lead to many failures. Being able to handle rejection and not let it get in my head will be a vital key to succeeding.  

I think feedback as a whole is tremendously helpful for anyone pursuing basically anything. Feedback lets you know how you can improve and evolve as a person. Not being able to take feedback only causes a person to not grow and potentially continue on a path that will lead to failure. When I was younger, I didn't like getting feedback because I felt it was a personal attack sometimes. However, going through football in high school helped me realize how good feedback can help me achieve my goals. I have also received important feedback here at OU that I needed in order to be where I am today.

(Get Feedback, Use Feedback: Aaron Goodwin, Flickr)

Topic Brainstorm

Ghost Stories: Horror is one of my favorite genres for film, television, and literature. In my opinion, ghosts and paranormal entities are the most iconic figures for this genre. Although I am not familiar with a lot of classic ghost stories, I am familiar with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Woman in Black. I actually re-watched the movie version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow the other day and it just had such a classic ghost story vibe the whole time. I would like to read other classic ghost stories and also research their origins because seeing the origin of those stories can be great reads as well. I think I would like to retell stories that have sinister entities in them because those are the ones that scare me the most. I would retell them like how remakes of horror movies these days do it and give it modern twists that make it more realistic for readers today. http://www.castleofspirits.com/classic.html

Urban Legends: This topic caught my eye because of my fascination with these types of stories. My previous knowledge of urban legends range from Slenderman to Bloody Mary. I have also watched the movie Urban Legend a long time ago which is a horror movie where the characters get killed in urban legend like ways, but it is actually just a serial killer that is making their deaths look like that. I would definitely like to read about more urban legends from the US and from different countries because I have seen some foreign ones before and those can be terrifying. I would like to retell some of the scarier urban legends because those are the ones that are most memorable to me. I think it would interesting to change the setting of these stories to make it more personal and ultimately more frightening for the reader. http://urbanlegendsonline.com/

Dante’s Inferno: I read Dante's Inferno when I was a senior in high school so I am very familiar with this topic. As I have said in previous posts, this story is one of my favorites due to how vivid it is and how it sticks with you. However, it has been some time since I last read it so some of the details are hazy. I would like to go back into more detail and especially research some of the people that were mentioned since it only gave small descriptions of the people in the version I had. I would ideally want to make this story more modern by incorporating historical figures that came after the original publishing since it is a very old story. I feel that having more recognizable individuals in the layers of Hell could make the story slightly more enjoyable for readers who might have not liked the original. http://www.worldofdante.org/inferno1.html 

The Greek Titans: Honestly, this topic grabbed my attention mostly due to the fact that I do not know much about it and it has a cool name. The only name I recognize from the titans is Cronus. However, I think I would enjoy learning more about them and what role they played in Greek mythology. I think researching how they were overthrown would also be fun to learn about since I am familiar with the gods who did it like Zeus. The stories I would want to retell would most likely be related to the war of titans and how that all went down. Possibly creating a story of the Olympians and their dialogue and "behind the scenes" moves they made to overthrow the titans would be something that would be enjoyable in my opinion. https://www.greek-gods.org/titans.php

(Oceanus at Trevi: Wikimedia Commons)