Week 12 Review

Poster: Patience

This is was my favorite piece from this week's Class Announcements. I think it is essential to allow ourselves to indulge in nature's clock and adapt a "go with the flow" type of attitude, so we do not get so caught up with life's happenings that it controls our each and every thought/movement.

Portfolio Guide

Overcoming the Odds:
     This is a story of a boy who wants to make his dream a reality. He is willing to do anything and everything to accomplish his goal, but will the opposition push him in the wrong direction and make him walk away from his dream? That's something you will find out when you read.

You Can't Trust Everyone:
    This is a story of a boy who worked hard to get to the position he is in. He is in the middle of making a big decision that will affect his future. The only thing that stands in his way is someone who is extremely close to him and changes the outcome he is headed. What could it be that affects this boy's future? That's something you will find out when you read.

Ball is Life: 
    This is a story of a man who dedicated his whole life to the game of basketball. The life of consisting of basketball has finally caught of up to him and has put him in an unpredictable place. Will he able to overcome what has happened to him? That's something you will find out when you read.

The Teammates Who Took It All Away:
    This is a story of a guy that had it all it took to become the next big thing in his sport. The spotlight and media were always surrounding him, due to his success, while his teammates never received anywhere close to the same amount of attention he did. This rubbed them the wrong way, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. How did they go about doing that? Well, that's something you will find out when you read. 

Week 12 Reading Diary, continued

Aesop’s Fables: Part Two

The Lion and the Mouse

·       The Lion and the Man: This story shows that the lion is quite able to hold a conversation with man, but that does not mean the lion is able to do everything that a human can. In this case, lions cannot create sculptures.

·       The Lion and the Bulls: This story shows the lion is the more devious and treacherous creature, and used the strategy of "divide and conquer" that lead to trouncing the bulls.

·       The Lion and the Goats: In the previous fable, the bulls fell victim to the devious and treacherous lion, but in this fable the goats proved to me a little too wise for the lion.

·       The Lion King: The lion puts everything around him in danger because it confirms that both telling the truth and telling flattering lies are both fatal. Luckily for the lion, it is the fox that controls the situation by finding a solution to the problem at hand.

·       The Lion and the Mouse: In this famous fable, you are able to see a better side of the mighty beast, which we know as the lion.

·       The Wolf and the Lamb: The sheep in this fable is falsely accused by the dog and the wolf, but cannot win the fight against them, even though the gods get involved to offer justice into the situation at hand.

·       An Agreement between the Wolves and the Dogs: The Wolves and the Dogs could not get along, which in return cause havoc. We all know that a house divided cannot stand alone.

Aesop’sFables: Roger L’Estrange & Sir Brooke Boothy

Week 12 Reading Diary

Aesop’s Fable: Part One

·       The old experienced Lion gave some advice to his son, this piece of advice was that he should never contend with a man. He says if you do, then you will be Worsted.

·       The little lion listened to his father and put the advice in the back of his mind, but never got to his heart. When he grew up, he became very strong and vigor, which led him to looking for a man to wrestle with.

·       The grown lion approached a yoak of oxen and asked, “Heark ya Friends, are you men?” The oxen responded by telling him no, but their master was a man. This led him to asking a horse the same question, but the horse said no and told him as did the oxen that his master was a man.

·       He continues to move along until he runs into one that was cleaving of blocks, in which the lion asked if he was a man, where the man told him that he was one.

·       This prompted the lion to ask the man if he dared fight the lion and the man agreed to fight the lion. The man tricked the lion into sticking his foot into a gap, where it got caught and the man got the better of him. The lion eventually got back and went straight to his father. He had to tell his father that he did not follow his advice.

·       The exert at the end is “Disobedience to Parents is against the Laws of Nature and of Nations, Common Justice, Prudence and Good Manners; and the Vengeance of Heaven, Sooner or Later, Treads upon the Heels on't.”

The Grown Lion

Aesop’sFables (English), Roger L’Estrange (1692)

Week 11 Storytelling: The Road Less Traveled

          

           There was a young man named Shane Lowry; he was a very conscious person who thought more than the average individual did on a daily basis. His mind was a constant roller coaster and one day, it finally got to him. He believed in a spiritual entity, but did not know what its’ role was in his life or in the world. Shane decided to set out on a journey to find out the meaning for his existence and the truth to life.

            He sat out on a journey to find the answers to all of his questions. After a few days of traveling by foot, he decided to stop and sit down at a tree. Shane looked around and what he saw really caught his attention. In front of him was a enormous and beautiful cathedral. He rested for a bit longer, but eventually decided to enter and examine the ruins of this abandoned cathedral till he arrived at the altar. There were four objects at the altar, the Bible, a piece of bread, a bottle of wine and a glass of water. All of this confused Shane; he tried to figure out what these certain objects were for.

At that moment, a great beam of light shined on him and a mysterious voice called his name, “Shane, Shane, Shane.” He tried to shake his head to clear his mind from any thoughts because he believed he was hearing things until the voice told Shane to pick up the Bible and turn to Matthew 26:26 – 26:28 and begin to read. It read, “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” 

 

Communion

Shane looked down to the altar, took the bread in one hand and the glass of wine in the other hand. He followed the same sequence of which he had just read in the Bible. He did not feel any different than he did before he consumed the bread and wine. The voice returned, ordering Shane to pick up the Bible again and turn to Matthew 3:13-17, which is when John the Baptist baptizes Jesus in the river of Galilee. The voice said, “Shane, take the glass of water and repeat these words with me… Heavenly Father, In your love you have called me to know you, led us to trust you, and bound our life with yours. Surround this child with your love, protect it from evil. Fill it with the Holy Spirit and receive it into the family of your church that it may walk with us in the way of Christ, and grow in the knowledge of your love.” After saying this prayer, Shane felt at peace.

This sequence of events led to answering all of the questions he has always had. Finally, he found the truth and the true meaning of his life in the world. 

Bibliography: KingArthur, How Sir Lancelot Saw A Vision, Andrew Lang (1902)

Author’s Note:

The story I chose this week was How Sir Lancelot Saw A Vision from the storybook of King Arthur. He arrived at a stone cross which laid next to it was a block of marble. He tied his horse up to a three, hung his shield there and looked into the chapel. The altar of the church was covered with silk and a candlestick that had six branches made of silver. There was a great light that beamed from it in which prompted Sir Lancelot to enter it, but he could not. He went back to where his horse was and laid down to rest. Two white palfreys stopped at the stone cross and the Knight said, "O sweet Lord, when shall this sorrow leave me, and when shall the Holy Vessel come by me, through which I shall be blessed? For I have endured long, though my ill deeds were few." As he spoke these words, the candlestick from the chapel stood before the cross and brought with it a table of silver and the Holy Vessel of the Graal. The Knight moved toward the Holy Vessel, and prayed, his sickness went away. The Graal, the light and the candlestick entered back into the chapel. Sir Lancelot wanted to follow them, but the weight of his sins weighted him down. He knew that he was in deep sin that he has never confessed of. "My sin and my wickedness have done me this dishonour, for when I sought worldly adventures for worldly desires I ever achieved them and had the better in every place, and never was I discomfited in any quarrel, were it right or wrong. And now I take upon me the adventures of holy things, I see and understand that my old sin hinders me, so that I could not name nor speak when the Holy Graal passed by."

Week 11 Reading Diary, continued

King Arthur: Part Two

·       He stopped when he arrived at a stone cross which laid next to it was a block of marble. He tied his horse up to a three, hung his shield there and looked into the chapel. The altar of the church was covered with silk and a candlestick that had six branches made of silver. There was a great light that beamed from it in which prompted Sir Lancelot to enter it, but he could not. He went back to where his horse was and laid down to rest.

·       As he lay there, he witnessed two white palfreys go by. They stopped at the stone cross and the Knight said, "O sweet Lord, when shall this sorrow leave me, and when shall the Holy Vessel come by me, through which I shall be blessed? For I have endured long, though my ill deeds were few."

·       As he spoke these words, the candlestick from the chapel stood before the cross and brought with it a table of silver and the Holy Vessel of the Graal.

·       The Knight got up and on his hands and knees he moved toward the Holy Vessel, and prayed, his sickness went away.

·       The Graal, the light and the candlestick entered back into the chapel. Sir Lancelot wanted to follow them, but the weight of his sins weighted him down.

·       The Knight acknowledged Sir Lancelot lying at his feet with his eyes shut. He knew that he was in deep sin that he has never confessed of.

·       "My sin and my wickedness have done me this dishonour, for when I sought worldly adventures for worldly desires I ever achieved them and had the better in every place, and never was I discomfited in any quarrel, were it right or wrong. And now I take upon me the adventures of holy things, I see and understand that my old sin hinders me, so that I could not name nor speak when the Holy Graal passed by."

Sir Lancelot

How Sir Lancelot Saw a Vision, Andrew Lang (1902)