My reading this week reminded me of the reading I did for Epics of India in many ways - Aesop's fables featured a variety of animal characters, also with unique personalities and motivations attempting to gain the upper hand on each other. Also, like Epics of India, most of the animals did really terrible things to other animals, though they usually got their comeuppance. However, I felt like the personalities given to the animals in Aesop's Fables were more complex and multifaceted, as compared to archetypal personalities like foxes being tricksters. At the same time, i felt that all the animals had the same motivation, which was complete self interest. I also read some of Hans Christian Andersen's stories, which really just put me in a bad mood with how depressing they were. Hans Christian Andersen was also where I started my Wikipedia Trail this week. Be sure to read that and my reading notes if any of this sounds interesting to you.
This week was the first "real" week of my classes, and I'm sure that same was true for many other University of Oklahoma students. I don't have many assignments due this semester, Myth and Folklore not withstanding, but I do have more projects than I am used to doing in a usual semester. It's sure to make this fall feel artificially long. As the concepts from more and more of my classes connect to each other, I am finally beginning to believe that my teachers weren't lying when they said that they were preparing us for the real world, and not just giving us busy work so that they had something to grade and earn their pay. But, now that I'm settled in and back in the groove, I really am looking forward to the many challenges I will face this semester.
Andrew, I agree with your statement of this being the first real week of school. I am still having trouble adjusting from my summer schedule to school again. I'm looking forward to hopefully being done with school after this year though, as I'm sure you are. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to more of your posts.
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