Famous Last Words: The Halfway Point

This week I officially passed the halfway point for this class. This semester is definitely going by quite quickly.

Scheherazade, from Wikipedia

This week I read 1001 Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H.J. Ford. The multiple layers of meta storytelling really started to get to me by the end of the story. I think it made it more confusing than anything else. I understand that the story of Scheherazade was supposed to make things more tense and interesting for the reader. But, I think that Scheherazade should have ended at no more than two layers from reality. That would have struck a nice balance between using a unique storytelling technique and maintaining readability. As far as the second half of the reading was concerned, I found the original version of Aladdin to not be quite as interesting as the Disney version that I am familiar with. The use of multiple genies and magic objects really threw me for a loop and made things more confusing.

I also continued my telling of Sindbad the Unlucky Sailor, of which part 1 was my first portfolio story last week. I think that part 2 is going to be the ending of all adventures for my Sindbad. In my version, Sindbad does not get along with the elephants as well as he did in the original. I saw no reason the Sindbad's luck should change now. I have enjoyed writing both parts but I think it's time to move on to something new.

As far as my other classes are concerned, I am on a sort of break this week. I had a number of lab reports, tests, and other assignments due last week. Now, nothing is staring me directly in the face which I am grateful for. I am hoping to take some time to relax and get ready for the next round of assignments.