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Week 12 Lab: Write Microfiction

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The Princess and the Pea A long time ago, there was a kind prince who wished for love. However, he searched all over the country but could not find a lady he liked. One night, he met a young beautiful lady in his dream, and he had a nice time with her in that dream. Her skin was so soft. She could even feel a little pea under the thick mattress when they slept... Suddenly, the prince waked up, and he felt a little bit upset. As time goes on, the face of the lady in his dream blurred more and more in his mind. The next moment, his door had been knocked. He went to open the door. A new maid stood before the door, and there was a shallow welt just like a pea on her neck.  The Little Match-Seller The winter was freezing and the wind was howling. A little girl sat on the corner of the street and tried to sell some matches. She lost her grandparents when she was a baby, and she was abandoned by her parents. All pedestrians on the streets were lower their heads and walked quickly. No one want
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Reading Notes: Hans Christian Andersen Part B

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This story is part of the Andersen Fairy Tales unit . Story source: Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen , translated by H. P. Paull (1872). In this part, I have read the story about the little mermaid. I am familiar with the plots since I have read it many times when I was a child. When I read the English version, I found that it is so important for me now. Let's see only one sentence. "She could see the moon and stars shining faintly, but through the water, they looked larger than they do to our eyes." In this sentence, it uses the word "faintly" to describe the light of the moon and stars which is so vivid and elegant. I believe that sometimes a good adverb or an excellent adjective could endow the sentence with a special atmosphere. This atmosphere could help readers to imagine some beautiful scenes in their minds. That is also the key to make a story attractive and absorbing.  Besides, I feel so sad about the ending of the story. Little merma
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Reading Notes: Hans Christian Andersen Part A

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This story is part of the Andersen Fairy Tales unit . Story source: Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen , translated by H. P. Paull (1872). It is so exciting that I got a chance to read Andersen Fairy Tales in this class! I had read the Chinese version of the storybook when I was a child. All stories in this book are impressive and attractive.  For me, The Princess and the Pea would be one of the most preferred stories. The plot setting for this story is elegant. The author tries to describe a princess in that. However, there is no depiction of the princess's appearance or emotion, but only the sensitivity of her body. She could even feel the existence of the pea which is placed under twenty mattresses. At this point, all readers would accept that woman would be a princess cause she is such unique. I could also use this strategy when I write my own story. If I want to describe a character or a place, writing each aspect that is related to that person or place may n
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Week 11 Story: A Dream

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A few days ago. I made a dream, in that dream, I went and indulged in a fantasy world. A huge beach pea grew in the world. A man fell asleep in the pod of that beach pea. I was surprised by the peace of this world since there are no animals in my vision. Trees, brooks, and breezes were full in the area.  At the time that I was curious about why this place has no other lives. A raven had appeared. As the raven stopped, he lifted one of his wings and pushed up the beak, as though it were a mask. Suddenly, the raven changed to a human. He looks just like a gentleman, kind, and sagacious.  He smiled and asked, "Hi traveler, welcome to ancient Alaska."  I replied, "Who are you? Are you a spirit?"  He said, "No, I am the god of Alaska, my name is Raven. My job is to create creatures and laws for this area."  "Wow, that would be a defiantly amazing job. However, I think you will face many problems as you do what you need to do." I share my idea with him
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Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends Part B

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This story is part of the  Alaskan Legends unit . Story source:  Myths and Legends of Alaska , edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). In this part, different stories do not have many connections with each other. For example, the first story, it tells the origin of the Chilkat Blanket while the second tells the story about the origin of women. In the former part, stories are coherent. Two different writing strategies exist in one storybook. I think both of them would be a good strategy to build my own project.  For now, I prefer the second strategy cause I want readers to find some relationships between different stories when they read. Also, I do not think that those relationships should only be some simple factors such as characters appear in one place. But, different characters with various emotions and personalities may confront some similar situations. They would react diversely, and their reactions would lead to disparate outcomes.  Besides, I enjoy the plots of the  Origin of t
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Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends Part A

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This story is part of the Alaskan Legends unit . Story source: Myths and Legends of Alaska , edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). This part of the story told us a story about Raven created the world. It is very interesting since people see the Raven played a role just like God in the Alaskan Legends. Raven created people, other animals, and the world.  Although Raven had a similar power with God, differences still existed, Raven did not punish any people, he taught and instructed. In my view, this is definitely a part of Raven's charming. As the man who created the world, he did not show emotions such as anger or cold-blooded, but he showed patience and concern. This is very important for all of the legends I think, such a character could even influence the culture internally. If we assume that Raven is a spiritual leader, he would definitely transmit several positive values to people who live in the Alaskan.  We always could find that myths would be connected to many religiou
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Week 10 Lab: Storybook Research

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 Resources: 1. Introduction of Hundun (Dijiang).  / Wikipedia (Chinese Version) 2. Hundun lived in the  Celestial Mountain . Description of Hundun:  Hundun is one kind of divine bird, was like a yellow sack with an aura of cinnabar; People described it as bright red. It had six legs and four wings, but it has no eyes or facial features, living in a perpetual state of confusion. It was also fond of singing and dancing. It homeland called Celestial Mountain in ancient, now, people called that Tien Shan mountain. One of the biggest mountain ranges in the world.  About the plot:  According to the information from the Classics of Mountains and Seas and Wikipedia, I realized that Hundun is one kind of creature that represents fierce and scary, although they look lovely. In my storybook, it would stand at the opposite side of the Peach Blossom Paradise. For the citizens who live in the village, they uphold virtue, peace, and kindness. They hold totally different values with Hundun. I plan to
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