Feedback Strategies

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 Article 1: How to Give Feedback Without Being a Jerk

At first, I really did not agree with this article. When I was being taught how to edit my peers' work in school, the method teachers always wanted us to use was the standard "feedback sandwich". I have personally used and enjoyed success with this strategy at many point and thought it was very good. This article claimed that this strategy is good only fo the one issuing the feedback and rarely for the recipient. Once that clarification had been made, I began to see the error in my though process: the sandwich was good for me but I wasn't paying attention to how it helped my peers. In hindsight, when I would edit the same students' papers multiple times I would often find similar mistakes from one revision to the next. Before not I had just considered it lazy writing, but I am now compelled to ask whether it was my inefficient feedback which may have resulted in repeated errors. I would often praise the aspects of the paper I truly did appreciate, but I did so from a mindset not of showing appreciation; instead the mindset was mollification. All this considered, I intend on applying the more open discourse of editing and feedback in areas of my life to see if they do work better!

Article 2: How to Provide Feedback When You're not in Charge

What I most enjoyed about this article was the dissection of the different forms of feedback. I have never considered appreciation as a form of feedback, but this article provides a good argument supporting that idea. Appreciation is essentially purely positive feedback which serves to highlight what one did well at a task. Somewhat related to this idea is coaching. Coaching as feedback is meant to show how one could improve on what they are already doing well. This could mean pushing a writer to the next level or an athlete to scoring higher or running faster. In all these cases, the person is doing good, but coaching shows room for improvement regardless of the level one is at. The final form of feedback is evaluation, the most involved form of feedback. Evaluation is meant to show either where one is doing something wrong and needs to change or is how a person performs in relation to others. These may seem very different, but they are not inherently. In many ways, the most difficult aspect of performing is relation to others and improving that can improve many aspects of how one performs in any given situation.

Topic Research: Underworld Stories

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Plot point 1: A man named Atticus (This name deriving from the Latin meaning "one from Attica", a region in Asia Minor and a common crossroads of history/cultures. This name is meant to play into the struggle of this character in his story.) has recently died and has entered into the sorting station of the Underworld (details not yet solidified for this location). Here he meets Death, the Greek personification, who has taken a special interest in Atticus's case, as he does not sort well into any of the Underworlds. His cultural and experiential background is so diverse that he is eligible to enter into many of the Underworlds and Death is determined to make sure he is placed in one. They enter into a tour of the options for Atticus in the Underworld.

• Likely will make note of other "Culling Gods", as I tentatively refer to them. These gods are those responsible for capturing or directing deceased souls in their respective mythologies. The list of gods I may reference so far includes, but is not limited to, Yama (Hindu god who captures souls with a noose and beats them with a stick while taking them to the Hindu version of Hell known as Naraka) and/or Anubis (Egyptian jackal-headed god who was both the protector of deceased souls and guide in the afterlife). I like these two because they show two very different interpretations of death, one as harsh and another as comforting.
• Additionally, at each Underworld destination I will explain Atticus's relationship to that particular Underworld and why he is eligible for judgement in that afterlife. I think I will leave the question of whether he goes to the "good place" or the "bad place" in each Underworld undecided, allowing for the judges of whatever Underworld goes to to decide his fate after he has made his choice.

Plot Point 2: Death and Atticus begin visiting Underworlds and Death leads them first into his home turf Hades. Here they have a nice tour of the endless fields of Asphodel (where the average Joe goes after death), Elysium (where heroes go), and the Fields of Punishment (for the bad dudes). 

Plot Point 3: Not satisfied with Hades, they move on the the next set of Underworlds: Hel, Valhalla, and  Folkvangr. These realms are all aspects of the Norse afterlife, with different souls going to each depending on how they died and which gods favored them. Though, at this point Death is frustrated with Atticus and thinks he is too picky about his afterlife.

Plot Point 4: Not desiring fighting in the afterlife or rotting away in Hel, Atticus and Death go to the next Underworld: Tlalocan and Mictlan. Mictlantecuhtli was the god of the Aztec hell and was the final destination for all souls who died uncourageous deaths (not necessarily cowardly deaths, but simply not in a heroic way). He gives his pitch for his Underworld and, dissatisfied with his salesmanship, they move on to Tlaloc who represents the good side of the Aztec afterlife. His pitch is much better than Mictlantecuhlti's, but still not good enough for Atticus.

Plot Point 5: Weary, Death takes Atticus to one final Underworld: Lua-o-Milu. In Hawaiian myth, this is the entrance to the Underworld, with little known about what lies beyond, not even Death knows for sure (here I will explain how traditional Hawaiian religion has largely been lost in history).

Week 3 Story: Mice Tales

 Tales of Muris the Mouse

Story 1: Belling the Cat

Once there was a peculiar young mouse named Muris. He was not overly smart, nor was he overly brave; but, upon occasion, he did have the most exemplary moments of any tiny mouse's life. The first of these happened when he was quite young. You see, the mice of the farm had congregated in the back of the storeroom to discuss the threat the Cat posed to the community at large. The mice crowded near the burst case of strawberries and were nibbling at them as they presented one idea after another on how to handle the issue. Some less-than-brilliant mice recommended making a large mouse trap with which to catch the Cat, though this was disregarded for none of the mice knew how to make the trap. Another, even more foolhardy, recommended negotiating with the Cat; luckily the elders put an end to that very quickly. At last young Muris stepped forward and presented his own idea: to put a bell around the Cat's neck! 

The mice cheered at the idea, for brilliant it was. With a bell on its neck, the mice would be able to hear the Cat coming from afar and flee before it arrived. Muris also volunteered to be the one to place the bell himself and committed to doing it the very same evening. The elders cautioned him about the teeth and claws of the Cat for the rest of the evening and, prepared for the adventure, Muris set off to the barn. He snuck inside quickly and quietly, reaching the sleeping Cat mere minutes after leaving the mice. He slyly slunk up the Cat and deftly tied to bell to the collar. With a small breath of relief, Muris set back to the mice, where they prepared to accept their new hero.

Story 2: The Country Mouse and the City Mouse 

The second tale of Muris was some time later when one of his cousins, Mus, came to visit from the nearby city. The cousin and his family had fled from the tyranny of the Cat some months prior, but that situation had been solved now. When Mus arrived, Muris welcomed him to his hole in the wall and presented him with the finest feast he could muster. Muris lay the choicest bits of bacon, beans, and butter before his city-dwelling cousin. Though, much to Muris's surprise, Mus refused to eat any of the mean country fare. Instead, he claimed that city fare was far superior and he would take Muris into the city so he could enjoy what real food tasted like. Dubious and somewhat offended, Muris agreed to accompany Mus to the city because he was family. 

When they arrived the next day, Mus took Muris into the back room of a fine restaurant where they commenced feasting on the fine fare. They ate scraps of sweet meats, chocolate desserts, and decadent cheese to their hearts content. As they finished, they heard a scratching and snuffling at the door. When Muris inquired to Mus about the sounds, he answered it was the large guard dogs owned by the restaurant to chase mice away. At that moment, the dogs burst in and the tow mice fled in terror! While Mus fled deeper into the city, Muris fled back to the country and vowed never again to go into the city full of such beasts again.

Story 3: The Lion and the Mouse

The third tale of Muris happened directly after the second. While fleeing, Muris payed not attention to the path before him and ran along the spine of a slumbering Lion. With a start, the Lion pounced and pinned poor Muris. The Lion was not overly hungry and, luckily for Muris, agreed to release the mouse after his intense pleading for his life. The Lion did so more because he did want to have to bother with such a small morsel, but Muris promised the Lion a favor if ever they should cross paths again. Neither thoughts the opportunity would arise until a chance encounter put them in one another's path the very next day.

Muris was roaming the edges of the berry fields near his farm when he heard a very unlionlike mewling from the nearby forest. Curious, Muris entered the wood and found the very same Lion tied in a net at the base of a tall oak tree. Muris saw his opportunity to even his debt and chewed the Lion free from his bonds. In extreme gratitude, the Lion thanked the mouse for his kindness and promised that he would be rewarded for his actions.

Story 4: The Married Mouse

The final tale of Muris is a sad and tragic end to the little fellow. The Lion he had saved proved extremely gracious as he gave Muris his sister as a wife. How anyone thought that this marriage would end well is still a mystery, but all involved were excited with the arranged marriage and took it willingly. However, mere hours after the vows had been spoken and the newly wed couple arrive at their new home, poor Muris got in the way of his much larger wife. When trying to open the door for the Lioness, she stepped on him. Unfortunately, Muris died quite suddenly and did not experience the joys of his odd marriage, but such is often the way with folktales. 

Author's Note

This collection of stories was based of many disparate mice tales from Aesop which featured different mice in each tale. I sought to bring all of the tales together by creating a singular heroic mouse for the stories to follow. There was one slight problem, however; the different mice had vastly different personalities in the tales. As such, I had to standardize the character somewhat to a middling mouse who is neither overtly heroic or cowardly. For example, the first tale originally ended with no mouse being brave enough to tie the bell to the Cat. Additionally, the Lion from the third story has no ties to the fourth, but I married the two tales to add greater continuity.

Image Source: Snappy Goat 

Story Source: Aesop's Fables by Jacobs

Reading Notes: Aesop (Jacobs), Part B

 Nature and Inanimate Objects

Assembled fables are from Aesop are compiled by Joseph Jacobs alongside a tale from Shakespeare's Coriolanus.

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The Man and the Wood, plot points

• A man walks into the forest with an ax head
• He asks the trees to please supply him with a single branch, which they offer freely out of kindness
• The man attaches the proffered branch to his ax head and proceeds to chop down many trees

The Tree and the Reed, plot points

• A large oak looks down disdainfully at the little reed by his roots
• The oak tells the reed that it must grow deep roots, lest someone pluck him out of the ground
• The reed says he is content with his roots, much to the chagrin of the oak
• A large storm comes through and twists the trunk of the tree, breaking the tree into pieces
• The reed survives because it could bend with the wind

The Wind and the Sun, plot points

• The wind and the sun are arguing who holds more sway over man
• A traveller comes down the road and the two decide he will determine who is right
• The wind blows at the man with all his might, in an attempt to get the man to remove his cloak
• The man tightens his cloak all the more to shield himself from the wind
• The sun's turn comes and he bend all the lights he can muster at the man, also attempting to get the man to shed his cloak
• In the oppressive heat of the sun, the man tears his cloak off

The Two Pots, plot points

• A clay pot and a brass pot sit side-by-side on the banks of a river
• The rain falls and the water rises, carrying the two pots downstream
• In the tumult, the clay pot shouts "Stay away Brass Pot, lest you shatter me!"

The Belly and the Members, plot points

• One certain day the members of the body notice that they do all of the work for the body, but the stomach gets all the food
• Outraged, they determine to go on strike until the stomach gives them what they say as their due portion
• As they strike, the whole of the body goes weak from starvation and the members realize the stomach had been working just as hard as they all along

Reading Notes: Aesop (Jacobs), Part A

 Mice Tales

Assembled fables from Aesop compiled by Joseph Jacobs and Walter Crane

(Image Source: Pixibay)

Belling the Cate, plot points

• Mice gather en masse to discuss their common enemy, the Cat
• Many mice offer many solutions, but none are believed to work
• A young mouse proses tying able to the Cat, so they can hear his coming
• All like this plan but fear putting it into action

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, plot points

• A country mouse hosts his cousin mouse from the city
• Country mouse offers the best he can to his cousin in the peace of the country
• Dissatisfied the city mouse insists the country mouse return with him to the city for fine dining
• Once in the city they feast on delicious foods from the back of a restaurant 
• Several dogs chase off the two mice and the country mouse decides he prefers peaceful contentment to dangerous city life

The Lion and the Mouse, plot points

• A mouse runs up and down the length of a lion, rousing him from sleep
• The lion pins the mouse and contemplates eating him as a snack
• The mouse pleads for his life, offering a favor in exchange
• The lion releases the mouse and they part ways
• After a time, the lion becomes trapped by some hunters and fears his imminent death
• Along comes the same mouse who chews the bindings off the lion, allowing him to escape and repaying his debt

The Married Mouse, plot points

• Mouse marries a lioness
• Mouse gets stomped on by his wife...