Wikipedia Trail: From Lotus to Brazil

Nelumbo nucifera: The lotus flower, or the Nelumbo nucifera, is a species of aquatic plants. I chose to start here because one of my recent stories, as well as the story I based mine on, included the lotus in the name of a place and I was curious about the meaning behind the flower. The species is sacred to Hindus and Buddhists. The flower is even featured on the flag of...

Macau: Macau is an autonomous territory in East Asia. Although the history is traced back to the Qin Dynasty, it wasn't a major settlement until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century. In November, they host the Macau Grand Prix, in which they convert the city streets to be similar to the racetracks of the...

Monaco Grand Prix: This Formula One motor race is held in Monaco every year since 1929. This race is one of three that forms the Triple Crown. Ayrton Senna has won the race more than any other driver, and he is from...

1929 Monaco Grand Prix

Brazil: This country is the largest in South America and Latin America. It is the only country in the Americas to have Portuguese as an official language. For the last 150 years, it has been the largest producer of coffee.

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Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part B

In the "Jingles" section of the Nursery Rhymes unit, there are several well-known tales. The first is "Hey Diddle Diddle." HEY! diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laugh'd To see the sport, While the dish ran after the spoon. The next is "Tweedledum and Tweedledee." TWEEDLE-DUM and Tweedle-dee Resolved to have a battle For Tweedle-dum said Tweedle-dee Had spoiled his nice new rattle. Just then flew by a monstrous crow As big as a tar-barrel, Which frightened both the heroes so They quite forgot their quarrel. Another is "Rub-a-dub-dub." RUB a dub dub, Three men in a tub: And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, The candlestick-maker; Turn 'em out, knaves all three! As I said in the other reading post about the Nursery Rhymes unit, I think it would be difficult to write my own jingles inspired by these. They are all fairly short and follow a similar rhyme scheme. Th...

Reading Notes: Ancient Egypt, Part A

In the story " The Death of Osiris ," Osiris's brother, Set, creates an ornate chest that match Osiris's exact dimensions. During a large feast, Set tells everyone that whoever's dimensions are a perfect match for the chest will be gifted the chest. All the guests tried fitting in the chest, but none fit. Finally, Osiris tries laying in it and fits perfectly. Before he can get out, however, the "evil followers" of Set nail Osiris into the chest, killing him. The party quickly becomes filled with sorrow rather than joy, and Osiris and his coffin are put in the Nile, which they float down until they set sail in the ocean. I think it would be interesting to tell a similar story to this one, in which people thought someone was doing a good deed for society, but it is secretly a sinister act. I could use the same basic premise by having someone create an object that is unknowably created for one specific person, people trying to win this object, and ...

Story Lab: Writers Write

I chose to look around the Writers Write website. It offers advise to writers, writing courses, and writing motivation. One of the articles I most enjoyed was " 45 Ways to Avoid Using the Word 'Very.' " I thought the quote it started with was very funny: "Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to use the word 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." -Mark Twain The article then gives a chart with adjectives commonly used after the word "very" and then gives a word that means "very (insert adjective)." Sometimes when I am writing, one of the harder parts is picking strong adjectives; this chart gives me a go-to list. I also liked the article " 20 Myths to Use as Writing Prompts ." The articles does not give specific stories to base your writing off, like I usually do for this class, but rather gives general myths to use as a starting point. A few of the id...

Shea's Myth-Folk Blog

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