Feedback Strategies

Another enjoyable topic that we covered this week. I appreciate how we're learning useful things like this in a mythology course. Did not expect it at all, but I'm glad I'm here. My feedback skills could definitely use some work. I feel pretty good in my ability to give positive feedback, but I am not great at dishing out criticism.

Since I am not in charge of anything, the first article I read was "How to Provide Great Feedback When You’re Not In Charge." I cannot think of a time where my feedback has ever changed someone's life, which is making me think more seriously about how I give feedback. I liked how the author broke feedback down into 3 types. Now I plan on focusing my feedback more and using it as a tool to motivate people. (https://fs.blog/2016/02/provide-feedback/)

The other article I read was "Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback" by Marshall Goldsmith. I like the play on words he does in the title. I don't necessarily understand how feedback can't be focused on the past because you can't give feedback on things that haven't happened yet, but I'm not the feedback expert. I completely agree with him when he says how crucial it is to help people learn to be right rather than show them they are wrong. (https://www.marshallgoldsmith.com/articles/try-feedforward-instead-feedback/)

The most basic form of feedback. Source

Topic Research

For my project I think the most topic I would have the most fun writing about is tricksters. I can't quite place why they are some of my stories, but I really appreciate a nice scheme or demonstration of incredible wit.

Obviously the first trickster story that popped into my head was Loki. Thanks Marvel. But I have no desire to do this story. It's no fun to tell a story every knows. Instead I am going to choose I story I am unfamiliar with to do my project over. I want to learn new stories, and what better way is there to do that than telling my own versions of those stories.

Once I started searching for some trickster stories Anansi was a very popular result. However, since I am already familiar with the story of Anansi I will not be doing my project over it. Sorry Anansi.

The first story I am thinking of doing my project over is the story of Kumiho. When I think of a trickster I think of a cunning fox. "In folktales, the Kumiho would often take the form of a beautiful woman and attempt to seduce young boys. If they gave into temptation, the Kumiho would morph back into a fox and eat their heart and liver. Kumiho have been compared to the European werewolf." Sounds fun!

The second story I am thinking of writing about is the story of Kagn. Once again this story meets the criteria of me being completely unfamiliar with it. "Their trickster god Cagn, perhaps one of the original imaginings of the trickster archetype, holds a unique position as also being the supreme god and creator of the universe." Not only is he the original trickster, he is also the supreme god of the universe like how cool is that.

The final story I am now considering for my project is the story of Juha. I think this could be really fun to write about because "often he is the trickster, while occasionally he is the butt of the trick. The common bond among all the forms of Juha is his use of trickery to teach humorous or ironic moral lessons." I think those could provide for some really interesting stories.

Source: https://ultraculture.org/blog/2016/02/10/5-trickster-gods-world-mythology/

A fox that is up to no good.

Source

Week 3 Story: Mafia Showdown

The two biggest mafia families in the 20s were the Valenzos and the Sorrentos. The eldest sons of the families, Vinny and Arnaldo respectively, both had their eyes on the same girl, Daisy. Daisy was the most sought after damsel in the entire city. Both boys showered her with lavish gifts, but she ended up engaged to Arnaldo. However, one day the Viiny and some of his henchment stormed Arnaldo's place and kidnapped Daisy so she would have to marry Vinny.

This angered Saul, the boss of the Sorrentos and Arnaldo's father. They had no choice but to wage war on the Valenzos. Tony was Saul's right hand man and favorite soldier. Saul put Tony in charge of leading the fight against the Valenzos. But the Valenzos were resilient and the war did not look like it would be over anytime soon. Because of this tensions ran high among the Sorrentos. Saul's second oldest son, Big-time Tommy, grew unhappy with Tony's efforts and questioned his leadership. This infuriated Tony and he said he was done with Tommy and the family. He raged and told Tommy he was going to retire from the family. Tommy was fine with this, but he said if Tony left he would have no choice but to take Tony's prized Jaguar Roadster away from him. Tony told him to buzz off, slammed the door behind him, and left.

Sure enough the next day a couple of Tommy's goons showed up at Tony's and said they were here for his car. Tony had been in the family his whole life, and these were his friends. He didn't want to fight any of them so he let them take his car without any commotion.

The war continued with no end in sight. The Sorrento's would hit the Valenzo's and the Valenzo's would hit right back. Eventually Tommy realized he needed Tony to win so he sent some of his best men to go to Tony and convince him to rejoin the family. He gave them money, jewelry and other expensive gifts to try to win him back. He even gave them the Jaguar to return to Tony. But when the men showed up on Tony's doorstep, Tony told them he couldn't care less about what Tommy or what he wanted. He was sick of Tommy and his antics. He told the men that they were some of his best companions and he had immense respect for them, but he could not go back to Tommy. He told them to take all their gifts and to tell Tommy there was no chance in hell he would come back.

Soon after that Tony's best friend Paulie, who left the family with Tony, pleaded with Tony to let him go back to the fight. He said that one of his friends got jumped and put in a coma, and that he had to avenge him. Tony begrudgingly told Paulie to go, but to come back right after he had avenged his friend. He told him not to go back to the life of never ending war. Tony gave Paulie his favorite switchblade to use as good luck and a sign of brotherhood.

Saul's favorite son and the leader of his forces, Joey, was the one ordered the hit on Paulie's friend. Joey's best foot soldier, Benicio, is the one who carried out the hit. Paulie knew where Benicio stayed and pulled up on him with a couple other Sorrentos. Paulie lead the charge and they easily handled all of Benicio's goons, and they made their way to Benicio. Paulie told the guys to let him handle it and pulled out the switchblade Tony had given him. Benicio put up a good fight, but because of his righteous anger Paulie came out on top. Against Tony's wishes, Paulie stuck around to decide who to go after next. The rush of it all had corrupted Paulie's thinking.

However, Joey got word of what was happening and sped over to Benicio's place. When he got there he saw his friend on the ground, lifeless, in a pool of blood. Paulie standing over him, and menacingly smiling ear-to-ear. He was taking in what he had just done, and pure adrenaline was coursing through his veins. An immense hatred rushed over Joey, and he drew his switchblade and charged Paulie, landing a nonlethal blow to his stomach. Paulie fought back valiantly, but he had used up a substantial amount of energy in his fight with Benicio. After a long fight, because of the wound Paulie sustained Joey eventually overtook him. Joey lit up a cig and gravely stood over Paulie while he watched him die.

Joey after taking Paulie's life. Source

Author's Notes:

This is a retelling of Part A of the reading on Homer's The Iliad. Instead of ancient Greece my story takes place in the time of Al Capone and other gangsters. Instead of Helen, Daisy is the beautiful girl. Instead of the Greeks and the Trojans it is the Sorrentos and the Valenzos who are doing the fighting. Tony's Jaguar is the woman that Agamemnon took away from him after he left the siege of Troy. Benicio is the Trojan hero Sarpedon. Instead of Hector killing Patroclus, Joey kills Paulie.

Bibliography:

A.J. Church, The Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer (Published 1967) https://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-homers-iliad-retold.html

Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad Part B

The story continues with a fierce fight for the body of Patroclus. King Menelaüs kills the Trojan who wounded Patroclus. Hector spoils the body of Patroclus, but Ajax defends the body. They call out Hector for his cowardly and slimy behavior, but he responds that he only fears to go against the will of Zeus. Zeus saw the situation and thought "these arms will cost Hector dear." The Greeks said to themselves: "It were better that the earth should open her mouth and swallow us up alive than that we let the Trojans carry off the body of Patroclus." Zeus sees Achilles immortal horses weeping for Patroclus and feels bad for them. Ajax says to have Nestor's son carry the news to Achilles.

Menelaüs doesn't know if Achilles will come because he doesn't have any armor. The Greeks would have taken the city, but Apollo stepped in. Agénor decides his best option is to stand at the gates and wait for Achilles because he knows no matter what Achilles will pursue him so there is no point in fleeing. Achilles rushes him, but Apollo lifts him off the ground to safety. After this only Hector remained outside the city. Achilles realizes he has been tricked and is angry with Apollo for robbing him of glory. King Priam cries out to Hector and says "O my son, wait not for this man, lest he kill you, for indeed he is stronger than you." Hector disregards this.

Then Queen Hecuba cries out to Hector to come inside. She says "for if he conquers you, then not only will you die, but dogs and vultures will eat your flesh far from here, by the ships of the Greeks." Once again Hector ignores this. He trusts in his strength, but when he sees Achilles he is filled with fear and flees. Zeus sees this and feels bad for Hector. He tries to get the other Gods to do something. Athené responds "what is this that you purpose? Will you save a man whom the fates appoint to die? Do this, if you will, but the other gods do not approve." Apollo helps Hector by giving strength to his knees. Athené tells Achilles that it is his day to slay Hector, and that Apollo can't stop him anymore.

Athené takes the shape of Hector's brother Deïphobus and convinces Hector to fight Achilles. Achilles throws his spear and misses which gives Hector confidence. However, Athené returns Achilles's spear to him without Hector noticing. Hector throws his spear and is on target, but it hits Achilles's shield. He asks his brother for another spear, but his brother isn't there and Hector realizes that he has been tricked. Left with no other options, Hector draws his sword and charges at Achilles, but Achilles easily kills him. With his dying breath Hector asks Achilles to give his body back to his family. Achilles says no.

Zeus asks Thetsis to ask Achilles to give the body to Priam, and Achilles obliges. Priam asks Zeus to  pity me and give me a lucky sign. Zeus then sends Hermes to Hector. Hermes tells Hector that he will protect him. Priam enters Achilles's tent and asks if his sons body is whole, and Achilles tells him it is. After hearing Priam Achilles heart was moved and he wept for Priam. He thought about his own parents. Achilles orders some women to wash and anoint Hector's body. Priam asks for a nine day truce between the Trojans and the Greeks and Achilles agrees. Hermes wakes Priam that night and tells him that he sleeps with enemies and instructs him to wake and depart. Priam departs and on the ninth day has a great burying for his son.

 

Achilles displaying the body of Hector. Source

Bibliography:

A.J. Church, The Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer (Published 1967) https://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-homers-iliad-retold.html

Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad Part A

Our story begins like many others stories, with a beautiful woman. We've all heard about Helen of Troy's beauty. To make things simple she chose prince Menelaüs, and then Paris carries off Helen to Troy. Obviously this did not go over well with the Greeks so they besieged Troy for nine years.

To make matters worse King Agamemnon took the priests daughter. The priest tried to pay for her return but Agamemnon refuse. The priest prayed to Apollo and he attacked the Agamemnon and his men for nine days. The king still refused to give her back and Achilles was sick of this. He tells the king that he's going to leave, and the king says he can but he is going to take his girl. This angered Achilles so much that he was going to kill him, but he didn't. Achilles ran into his mother Thetsis who told him to go to Zeus.

Zeus is hesitant to help because it will make his Queen Hera angry. Zeus obliges and comes up with a plan. He decides to make Agamemnon think he can take Troy.

Meanwhile Hector(team Troy) prays to Athené to make Diomed fall dead at the gates. Athené ignores him and actually stirred up Diomed. Hector convinces his brother Paris to come to battle. Hector meets his wife at the walls and prays to Zeus to make his son great.

Hector and the Trojans continue to challenge the Greeks. Agamemnon realizes he needs Achilles to win. He sends an embassy to convince Achilles to return. Achilles couldn't care less about helping the king. He says he has no problems with the people the king sent, just the king himself. Achilles continues by asking what's the point of all the fighting he has done. He doesn't care about the fame anymore. In Thetsis's words, "If you fight only your name will live forever." Achilles is vehement.

Achilles companion Patroclus is in despair and begs Achilles to let him return to the battle and fight. He tells Achilles "a rock was your father and your mother was the sea." Achilles affirms that he will not join the battle by saying the men were not ashamed to stand by their king. Achilles obliges Patroclus's wish and tells him to make haste. Sarpedon is one of the great Trojan heroes. When Patroclus arrived in Achilles chariot and his armor the Trojans thought it was Achilles and fled. Patroclus threw a spear at Sarpedon's heart and killed him. Once the battle has turned in Patroclus's favor he forgets Achilles orders to return home after the battle. Patroclus has his mind set on taking the city. Apollo warns him three times not do it, but Patroclus does not heed his warning. Apollo hits him in the back of the head and blinds him. One of the Trojans throws a spear and wounds him, but then Hector deals the finishing blow. That is the end of Patroclus and our story so far.

 

The Death of Patroclus. Source

Bibliography:

A.J. Church, The Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer (Published 1967) https://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-homers-iliad-retold.html