Thoughts about Comments

Through out the semester, I have really enjoyed both getting to know my classmates and learning about my own writing through the commenting exercises. 

My favorite kind of comment to receive includes a personal connection to the story. I feel like I have succeeded in my writing when it makes the reader think about things they've learned either in their own readings or outside of this class! With this in mind, one of my favorite things to include in a comment is that the storytelling made me want to go back and read their source story! On the technical side, it is always helpful to get tips on style, grammar, and content; however, I am often hesitant to leave these comments on other peoples' stories until I know how they write and interpret feedback. 

But of course, my favorite comment exercise is getting to meet everyone through their introductions! We have a diverse and intelligent class, and it's fascinating to read about their lives ns what influences their creative process. 

Week 5 Reading Diary, Continued: 22 Goblins

Twenty-Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder concludes in both surprising and suspected ways. However, before learning the eventual fate of the goblin, King, and monk, the story twists and turns with more complex riddles! Like in the first section, each riddle is based on a story. Each correct answer can thus be found by reasoning out each element of the tale! The king is extremely clever and resilient, so even though the goblin continues to escape with every correct answer, the king continues to return and get him. However, the plot twist came when the king could not solve the final riddle about how the children from the strange marriages would be related. (Simultaneous grandchildren and half-siblings?)  What would happen now that the goblin had to go along with the king?

I was right! The monk was suspicious! He intended to sacrifice the king for the sake of magic and power. Luckily, the goblin warns the king who in turn kills the monk and saves the day. The goblin then promises that anyone who reads his stories from then on will be deemed sin free (hooray!). Then, in an unexpected appearance, Shiva appears, applauds the king's bravery, and rewards him with an enchanted sword and longevity! 

Shiva, who rewards the brave king with a sword of truth!
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Week 5 Reading Diary: Twenty-Two Goblins

After reading a classmate's storytelling post based on this section last week, I was excited to get the chance to read Twenty-Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder! Plus, this was a fun chance to read more about India, which I got the chance to learn a lot about last semester!

Twenty-Two Goblins is a story about a brave king who agrees to assist a devoted monk. The monk asks that the king meet him in a graveyard at night to fulfill the promise. Spooky! Then, once in the graveyard, the monk instructs the king to remove a dead body that is hanging from a tree to bring back to the monk. The monk has also prepared some form of ritual display. Now this is just eery! What does the monk intend to do?

Of course, fetching the dead body is no easy task. It has been inhabited by a goblin! I had no idea that this is what goblins did! No wonder they're such a scary part of folklore! The king relents on, though, and carries the goblin within the corpse toward the monk. However, the goblin then begins telling stories with riddles. If the king solves the riddle, the goblin returns to hang in the tree. If he does not know the riddle, nothing happens. However, if the king knows the answer but says a wrong answer, then the king's head will explode.

Luckily, the king is extremely clever and reasons out each riddle. Then, he dutifully returns to the tree to get the goblin down again. Why does the goblin play this game? What is the backstory of the monk and the goblin? Finally, what would happen if the riddle was something that couldn't be reasoned out? Could the king still solve it?

The king carries the goblin while he recounts his riddles
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