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
Hi Shea!
ReplyDeleteI really like your storybook concept. I'm always a fan of Greek myths, and telling them from the point of view of a constellation is a creative approach to a topic that has a tendency to be done too much. Perseus did get up to some crazy adventures.
I am a little confused about what your story will focus on specifically, though. Is Perseus going to tell the stories of other constellations? Or is he telling his own story? And will you be focusing specifically on Greek constellations (it seems like that from your introduction)? Or will you have stories about constellations from different cultures (for example, the Big Dipper is also the Big Bear and the Plough, depending on the culture)? Either has the potential to be really exciting, but it's not completely clear in your introduction which one you're doing. Either way, I'm excited to read more of your storybook!
Hi Shea! I think that your approach to greek mythology story telling is super unique. I remember when we were assigned to reading other semester's stories, I noticed most people told stories about greek mythology but none of them took this really cool approach to it. I almost forgot that constellations had to do with greek mythology. Is this book from the perspective of Perseus and what story specifically is he telling? Is he telling many? I think it would be cool to literally go from constellation to constellation and tell stories about the greek gods or goddesses that revolve around there.
ReplyDeleteHi Shea! I loved your introduction to your storybook. Greek mythology has always fascinated me, so I've enjoyed reading other people's takes on it as well. I really appreciated the little details you've put into your introduction, such as the definition and the star songs. They make it clear that you've put some good thought into your project. I liked the way you introduced Perseus as the narrator of the storybook. It made me interested to learn more about the tales you'll choose and how you'll tell them. I was curious if you're planning to add anything to the home page description? It shows that it's a project, but doesn't really tell a whole lot else. I love the photos you've picked for the two pages. They make it clear what you're talking about. I wondered where you got your definition of constellation? You may need to cite it, as it's a direct quote. Overall, lovely introduction. I'm excited to read more!
ReplyDeleteHi Shea! I absolutely love the topic you chose to do a storybook on! the way you chose to do your introduction by first giving the definition of the word and then by putting a song at the bottom just goes to show how much effort you put into this storybook already. I am already someone who is intrigued by space and especially stars so this was very fun for me to read. you did a great job by providing information on who was telling the story and what storied are going to be told in the future. Your introduction definitely left me wanting to read the future stories that you are going to tell. Greek mythology has been something super interesting to me as well so i like the idea that you are using the stars and connecting them to the Greek stories. Is your character going to tell the different stories of the other characters or will they be telling their own stories from their point of view? either way great job, your introduction is great!
ReplyDeleteHello Shea,
ReplyDeleteFirst, I love your intro. You did a great job in paying attrition to the detail explain the constellations. I love how you keep me guessing until the end on who is describing the stars. At first, I thought Hercules, but I was wrong. Something that is throwing me off a little. Is where your intro is leading. You say this is going to be Perseus’s star stories. Maybe explain what the star stories are about to come or what they are. At the end I was confused on what the stories are going to be about with out this key detail. After adding this to the intro I believe it would be whole and you would not need to change any other things about it. Also, in the into definition. Capitalize the a at the beginning and put period at the end for it is a sentence even though it alone by itself. I like what your doing keep it up.
Hi Shea,
ReplyDeleteI really love that you are writing about constellations, I have always been fascinated with the stars. I think it is very interesting that you have decided to write the stories about the constellations from the constellation's own perspectives! Side note: I hope you write something about Orion, he's my favorite one! Anyway, I am a bit confused on whether or not the constellations themselves will be telling their own story? Or if Perseus will be telling his story as well as the rest of the stars'? Regardless, I am sure that it will be a fun read.
A couple suggestions: maybe put the video with the song towards the top? I did not realize that there was supposed to be music playing for the intro until I got to the bottom, so maybe list it at the top so that people can play it as they read downwards. Also, at the top where you have broken down the pronunciation of constellation, it says "känstəˈlāSH(ə)n/Submit" which I think the random "Submit" in it is an accident and should be removed.
Hi Shea!
ReplyDeleteYour take on telling Greek tales through star constellations sounds interesting. I felt like the introduction was a tad short though. I found myself wanting more information for an introduction. I like how you gave definitions at the beginning so the reader will have some background on what you mean when you say constellations. Will this be a theme throughout your storybook? I also agree with Julia that the "Submit" should be removed. I am curious to see if Perseus will tell the stories of others or his own stories. I was wondering who the narrator was while reading the introduction, made me laugh a little bit on how he introduced himself at the end. I am slightly confused by the YouTube music link/video though. Does it need to be playing while we are reading? Is there away to have it start playing when we open the page? Or even if you could just get the music not the lyrics playing that would be better. I am easily distracted while I am reading, the lyrics will make me lose track on what I am reading.
Hi Shea. I love how personal and conversational your introduction is, but it took me a bit longer than I would like to admit to know who was talking, for a minute I thought it was the sky itself and it was not until a few sentences into the 2nd paragraph that I figured out that it might be one of the constellations! I don't know if you planned on doing this or not, but if you did, you managed to intrigue me through your introduction! I think it could be very interesting to hear more about how the constellations ended up in the sky, maybe that could be an element in one of your future stories?
ReplyDeleteThe layout of your storybook is easy to navigate and the images that you chose are absolutely beautiful! The fonts and colors also make ti very easy to read, which is super important to me, as I sometimes struggle reading of the computer screen (I am the kind of person that has to have a physical copy of a textbook if I am ever going to read it..).
Looking forward to reading more of your stories!
- Anna Margret
Hi Shea! I really like your approach to this. I used to love astronomy and Greek mythology when I was younger and we studied it quite a bit in the gifted program in elementary school. I've never seen this approach to telling about Greek mythology, but quite a bit of it is told in the stories of the constellations so this will be quite interesting to see how it's going to play out. Is Perseus going to tell his own story? What other stories is he going to tell? Is he going to tell how the constellation came to be because of the mythological character? Who all do we get to hear the story of? I think this is going to be a really unique thing to do and can't wait to see what you're going to do with it.
ReplyDeleteHey Shea! I love how casual the introduction is. It makes it really easy to read because its just like having a conversation with someone. I am really excited to read your story once you get it up and written. Greek mythology can be kind of tough to interpret so I am interested to see how you will change it up and make it original. I think you have a good concept going. Good luck writing your stories and finishing your whole storybook, I think it will be really interesting when you are done!
ReplyDeleteHey Shea! That introduction was so interesting. I loved how you began with the definition of what exactly a constellation is. That was a very unique touch that got me immediately hooked. The entire thing continued to keep me engaged, and left me disappointed that there wasn't more when I reached the end! I hadn't realized just how many constellations there were throughout the sky, 88 seems like quite a few! It has me interested in learning about some of the lesser known ones, especially since I've likely never heard of most, if not all, of them. I also laughed when it said it was unfortunate that their mother-in-law was nearby. Is that due to something Cassiopeia did, or is it a simple joke about in-laws? Either way, it was a very nice touch that added some extra depth. I'm extremely excited to see where else this story ends up taking us!
ReplyDeleteHey Shea,
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading your story because it is very different from what I have read prior and the characters in the story make me feel like they were made to have human emotions. My favorite part about the story is the background of Andromeda and her mother. I like how you detailed Cassiopeia's betrayal of her daughter through the eyes of Andromeda's husband. In a sense, this is just like a married person dreading the fact of living next to their in-laws. I wonder if you intended on keeping the introduction short because I feel like the story just dives right into plot and briefly touches on the introduction. I found myself kind of confused but after re-reading over the story I seem to get a better understanding of what is going on and how this story is unfolding. I like this story so far and cannot wait to see how your portfolio turns out.
Hi Shea, I am back and I am glad to see you have more content to read! Your author's notes for both your new stories were very informative and I was able to see how you came about with your own story based off the ones you referenced. I particularly enjoyed your Pegasus story, probably because I am personally an animal lover and I have my own animal companion with me in college. I felt that you could really see the bond between Perseus and Pegasus throughout your story so I found that relatable to my experiences with my own companions. I can not wait to see what you have for your last story! Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteHi Shea,
ReplyDeleteI just read the three stories in your storybook and I have to say that I definitely enjoyed them. I liked how the story was told from the perspectives of multiple people, Cassiopeia and Perseus. I think it was a good idea to start with Cassiopeia's story and then tell Perseus's first story that wasn't really related to Cassiopeia's. That seemed to create some tension because the Cassiopeia story ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. I was wondering why in the "Pegasus" story a giant springs out of Medusa's body when Perseus kills her. You mention the Pegasus in your author's note, but I don't think you ever explained the giant. Other than that, I didn't really have any questions about or problems with your stories.
Hi Shea! I read your "Introduction" story. I thought it was amazing and truly creative. I like how you begin your story in such eloquent way: you defined what constellation is in definition. It really introduced your story smoothly to readers. I also like how it’s so concisely defined: “
ReplyDeletea group of stars forming a recognizable pattern that is traditionally named after its apparent form or identified with a mythological figure.” Constellation is what it is as you defined so eloquently. Like you mentioned in your story, it is true that people have always been curious about the stars in the sky and what stories they can tell to people. I think that’s how astrology began. People assign their zodiac and horoscopes based on when they’re born. Wow.. your story is incredibly informative and interesting too: “When the Greeks showed up, they took some control of the constellations, using the star formations to tell the stories of Greek heroes (myself included). There are 88 modern constellations, 12 of which are the zodiac.” It’s also really interesting that the narrator in your story is also happens to be a Greek hero! I also like how the narrator says the stars are personal interest to him. Thank you for a great story!
Hey Shea!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a creative topic and I really enjoyed reading your storybook! Also, I really loved the design. It went with your theme so well and it was so fluid across every page! I like that your stories are from differing perspectives so we get different point of views even though it is one cohesive storybook. You storybook was also very informative. I only have limited knowledge about the characters and I could follow along still. I think that most people at least know the names of these characters and maybe a little about them but it is such a great topic to dive in on and really explore. Some of my favorite projects I have read are about characters I thought I knew but was shown more about and a new side of through the storybook. Also, I am a sucker for space things (I even have a Saturn tattoo) so this was a win all around for me!