Shea's Myth-Folk Blog

Pygmalion lived alone. He saw the flaws of all the women around him and decided it was better to live on his own than with any of  the corrupt women he could take as a wife. But Pygmalion was lonely, so one day, he decided to create the perfect women. He took out his easel, brushes, and paints, and drew a woman so beautiful, no man would ever doubt her perfection. He painted her clothes of fine silk, skin as white as ivory, and fine jewelry as gorgeous as she. Once she was completed, Pygmalion framed her painting and hung it on his wall, where he passed by every day. Every time he walked past her, Pygmalion would caress her cheeks or stroke her name, pretending the canvas to be flesh. And little by little, he added to her image, painting her a small gift every day. Rapidly, Pygmalion fell in love with her more and more, but grew more and more discontent with her lack of life. When the festival of Venus finally arrived, Pygmalion saw this opportunity to pray to the gods for a liv...

In the story Pygmalion, the title character creates a statue of ivory and falls in love with it. He prays to the gods to have the statue as his bride, and Venus, the goddess of love, hears his prayer.  She brings the statue to life for Pygmalion. He and the statue later have a son named Paphos. The story serves as an explanation for how the city Paphos got its name. I think it will be important to keep the basic story structure the same in retelling it: a man creates an inanimate object, falls in love with it, and it is brought to life. I think it would be interesting to have the object changed in my story, though, possibly either by changing the material the statue is made of or changing it to an entirely new object, such as a painting. The characters in the story all serve important roles, so I plan on keeping them all the same. Pygmalion is the reason the story has its name and is an important character in mythology. Venus is the goddess of love; the reason the statue comes...

I loved looking through all the options available in the UnTextbook! I actually think I will read more stories than required when I have extra time or after the semester is over. Looking through all the possible units, it was difficult to pick out just a couple that I was particularly intrigued by. Italian Tales stood out to me immediately as I began looking at the list of units. I am currently taking an Italian Lit and Culture class (where we are reading  Dante's Inferno and Decameron !) and I always love learning a bit more about Italian culture. In my Italian class, we examine how Italian literature has influenced Italian culture, so I think reading Italian folktales and fairy tales can give me better insight into how current Italian culture has been affected by these stories. I also think the Turkish Fairy Tales look interesting. If I do read these, I think I would like to read the facsimile book online to be able to see the accompanying illustrations. I think the illust...

For this class, I think what will be most helpful is setting "class times" for myself. Since there are no set meeting times, I can give myself times set aside solely for this course instead of just working on it during my homework time. The first article I read was Amanda Oliver's " Time Management Tips Just for Creatives ." While most tips in this article were written for creative careers such as artists or designers, many of them can be applied to an academic environment. A couple that stuck out to me that I think I will be able to use in my classes this semester are to manage your energy instead of just managing time and to start with the most daunting task while ending with your favorite task. I also read the article " 11 Ways Unsuccessful People Mismanage Their Time ." The best tips that are applicable to this course are to schedule and prioritize. The article that resonated with me most, however, was " How to Beat Procrastination ." Th...

As I have said before, I am not very tech-savvy, so I am looking forward to using different technology tools and learning more about them. I am somewhat familiar with Weebly, as I had to create a website for another class. I also have used WordPress before, but I am using Blogger for this course. I have used Mac Preview on my computer, but honestly do not know where many tools are on it and click around until I find what I need. For graphics creation, I am very familiar with Canva but have not used it in a while in favor of Adobe Illustrator. I will likely need to use the Adobe Suite in my future career, so I have been focusing on learning it. My previous online class only used Canvas, so this class will be a major change from that. I think it will be very helpful for me to be forced to use a variety of websites this semester. One tool I'd like to work on learning is Weebly; this is what I use for my "professional" website, so I think it's important I know how it ope...

I have only had one online class before, and so far it seems to be nothing like this course. Although the other class consisted of readings, videos, and commenting on others' posts, it was far less interactive than this class seems to be. I've had to blog for other classes before, but I rarely really used my blog besides a couple assignments. For this class, I'm excited about the storytelling assignment. I used to really enjoy writing, but have noticed I enjoy it less since arriving to college where almost all my writing assignments have been research papers. I am looking forward to being able to write creatively again. Honestly, though, the extra credit options seem the most interesting to me. I am particularly excited about the Tech Tips, Wikipedia Trails, and HEART options. I am not very tech-savvy, so I think Tech Tips will be beneficial for me. I think Wikipedia Trails looks interesting because there have been many times I have found myself clicking through links in a...

I had never heard of Carol Dweck or the growth mindset before this week, but I love learning more about personal growth and leadership development, so I really enjoyed hearing about the idea. I'd be interested to see how much of a different a growth mindset can make, especially in school or the work field. I feel as if I have a growth mindset at times, but a fixed mindset at others. Sometimes, when faced with a difficult task in school or extracurricular activities, I think of it as a growth opportunity, while I sometimes feel like I absolutely cannot do it and shut down because of my mindset. I would like to try to focus on having a growth mindset this semester, and know I will need to find specific ways to do this. I think this could potentially be very beneficial to me as I try to practice my Italian language skills even though I am not currently taking a language class. I know keeping up with the language and continuing to practice on my own will be difficult, but I can use t...

Hello! My name is Shea Penning and I'm excited to meet you! I am a junior majoring in Advertising and minoring in Italian. I was born in Texas, have lived in Nevada and California, and was raised in Edmond, Oklahoma. I don't know exactly what I want to do once I graduate, but right now I think I'd like to continue my education at a portfolio school and study graphic design. One of my favorite parts of college has been getting involved on campus! I got involved in Soonerthon Exec my freshman year in the Ambassador (aka fundraising) committee. I joined the same committee the next year as a team captain. If you are unfamiliar with Soonerthon, it is OU's official philanthropy for the Oklahoma City Children's Hospital Foundation and ends with a huge dance marathon in March. Last year, we raised over $1 million FTK (For the Kids)! Picture of me at Soonerthon 2018. Personal image. Soonerthon falls under Campus Activities Council, which is the programming branch ...

The first storybook that caught my attention was International Travel . This storybook was a combination of retelling old tales and personal accounts. In the introduction, the creator explained the idea behind her storybook: she was bringing readers around the world to a different location in each story. The three locations were the places from which she and her siblings had been adopted. Each story was a retelling of a tale from that place, but as a personal story. I enjoyed that I got to learn a bit about tales from around the world in the author's note at the end of each story, in which the author explained her reason for choosing that tale. I also liked that the stories were personal and true. I was drawn to the storybook Once Upon A Museum because I both enjoy reading fairy tales and love museums. Although I was drawn in by the name, what I enjoyed most about the storybook is the style of storytelling. The writer brings the audience to a different "exhibit" in ...

When I visited Europe with my dad a few summers ago, I thought my favorite country would be France. By the time we left, however, I found my new favorite country: Italy. I returned the next spring on a school trip and had a chance to see more cities throughout the country. On my first trip, I visited Rome and Venice; on the second, I returned to those cities and also got to see Florence, Assisi, and Ravenna. Although I can honestly say I love every place I've visited in Italy, the two cities that particularly stand out are Florence and Venice. "Firenze" and "Venezia" are both filled with history and culture, and yet they are vastly different from one another. I love them for very different reasons. Florence is filled with red brick buildings, random plazas, and Renaissance architecture. Venice, on the other hand, is filled with canals, bridges, and storefronts lining the small sidewalks. Thanks to my two trips to Europe, I have found my favor...

This is my test post