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Teaching and Writing

Writing has been a journey harshly taken. It can help students but also hurt them. I want to be a teacher that fosters a love for writing. Students should see the journey as an epic quest into the land of their own writing styles and processes. As I make this blog and show my past writing examples, I want students to see that everyone struggles and gets better. I want you, the reader, to see my blog and know, while I love writing, I know it’s a struggle. I hope by sharing my written essays and creative fiction, my students will have a better example of what writing can be.

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Greek Mythology and Rune Factory

The Rune Factory games had a huge impact on my life and had an element of mythology that made me see it in everyday life. The impact of mythology was easy to see after reading about Greek mythology in middle school and World Mythology. Each character from Rune Factory represents a character of Greek Mythology: the gods, the heroes, and the creatures.

           The Rune Factory game is about an amnesiac farmer, who must save the day from the Sech Empire. Each time you play he can find love, befriend the villagers, and make a life for himself. You level up your character by taking on dungeons and battling boss characters. Your character meets a young girl, Mist, who saves his life by giving him water and bread. She proceeds to give him a hoe, water can, and a farm to make a living. It is there that, after special requirements are met, the player can start going into dungeons. The gamer can find the mysterious machines in the dungeons and takes on Terrible, the earth dragon god. Along the way, the character gains fame in the nearby town as he takes on the dungeons and takes on creatures such as the game’s own version of Chimera. It is also heavily suggested that your character is the prince of Kardia, the central kingdom of the game’s world.

           Raguna, the character’s default name, is obviously the stereo type of hero seen in many of the myths. Raguna goes on a trip and finds his way home and a family which he promises to come back to. He also finds a calling, fights monsters, and saves the day. Raguna is the epitome of the hero stereotype. Raguna comes from an unknown background, which is heavily hinted to be one of the princes of Kardia, at in the end but has no proof that it is the truth. Raguna has the “earthmate air” around him as Mist will often point. Earthmate is the equivalent of an actual hero in the game as they are known to speak to the earth and tame monsters. Earthmates in the same sense of regards to mythology can be equal to nymphs. They both are keyed into nature.

           Mist is seen as Athena in world mythology. She, like Athena does for Odysseus, guides Raguna through the game. She starts by teaching Raguna how to farm and fight. She would give Raguna advise but would never fight the main bosses beside him much like Athena not fighting the suitors alongside Odysseus. Athena seems to favor Odysseus and Mist favors Raguna. Mist demonstrates some of the main characteristics of Athena. Mist has a strange knowledge about the magic and situations of the land and weapon expertise. Mist gives the main character his first spell, his first weapon which is his hoe, and an explanation of the first dungeon. Overall, she shows a great example of the idea of Athena in a character.

            Rosetta could be Artemis because she, like Artemis, is seen as a tomboy in their time era. This game is based on the medieval times where women are to be seen and not heard. They are bargain chips for political power or greater wealth through marriage. Rosetta is very outgoing and loud letting her opinion be heard. She practically runs the shop her father owns. Lukas, even though in love with her, hates to make her mad and will run off before she takes her temper out on him. Artemis is known for her cold nature and killing others for not properly respecting her or her mother. She is very commanding and seems to be a true ruler. She and Rosetta can get their fathers to bend to their will. Artemis got her father to promise that  he would not force her to marry and Rosetta took over her father’s general shop.

           Mei is also another Artemis character. She is Aphrodite as well due to her young and youthful appearance. Mei is a tough and cruel girl who has a youthful experience that deceives the player at first. She is of unknown age, but it is said that she might be hundreds of years old. She shows the part of Aphrodite who is beautiful and ageless. Mei perhaps, however, represents Artemis the best. She hates everyone especially men as she finds men to be the ruin of the world. She loves to fish which is a form of hunting. Mei loves to be left alone and not be bothered much like Artemis prefers the company of the night. Artemis is also known for her beauty, again just like Mei. Mei is known for being strange and Artemis is often represented as strange due to her heritage and attitude towards others. She is the most like Artemis out of the group as she shows a hate of men, a love for the hunt, and a need to be alone. She also is the second hardest girl to marry in the game as she only wants the rarest and hardest catch fish to be proposed to, making the actual marriage almost impossible.

           Raguna represents a feminist hero like Perseus. Raguna wears sandals and has the ornaments most seen on female characters of the game. He has a charm on his head like Mist and Sharron both, who are females. He represents the feminist type of hero greatly due to these outer characteristics alone. Raguna takes help from female characters that has been shown to be a more of a feminist hero action.. Raguna also gets help with each dungeon from the females. Mist, the main heroine, is the female to help him the most,  but Raguna did get help from Sharron, a mysterious woman who meets Raguna at the Ruins dungeon. Raguna helps represent the Greek stereotype feminist hero. He is not afraid to ask for help and accept help from females. Raguna helps bring out the Greek mythology themes just like the artwork does.

           The artwork of the game itself shows many themes of Greek styling. The buildings of the ruins show statues like Hestia as it seems to be a woman hunched over tending a fire in some parts of the ruins. They also include creatures similar or an exact replica of the monsters heroes would take on in epic quests. One is that is an exact replica from Greek Mythology is the Chimera. It showed an inclination towards blood lust and would often kill Raguna off if you did not have the character up to level twenty or higher showing the fierceness of the monster. Raguna had to take on similar monsters. They even had their own Trojan horse. The game itself incorporated many of the myths’ types and even brought out some of the more harsh and common problems.

           The game harbored on the realistic side of things as Raguna could not do anything for the next dungeon nor could he do anything for his farm without making money. He had to meet certain expectations as well before he could move from one dungeon to the next besides beating the main boss of said dungeon. If we are to continue thinking through the path of the game being related to Greek mythology, it could show the hardships of the people who too had to live through those times. Raguna had to make ends meet and could not just go on quest after quest. He would always have to find a way to make money showing how the Greeks most likely had to do the same to afford all their battling and exploring. It helps us understand their predicament better. Rune Factory gave us a realistic Greek feel of what it would have been like in the past.

           Rune Factory games all had their own major gods. In this game there is one called Terrible. Terrible is a great presentation of both Gaia and Cronus. Cronus is the titan of time and Terrible enhances time in the game as he will make time stop before he cracks out of his old shell of his former self. He is Gaia due to bringing about green pastures and controlling the ground itself. However, Terrible is also one of the easiest dragon gods to beat. He and the other dragon gods you have to beat in the games are based on my theory the four events that took place to give room for the Greek gods. Terrible is representing Uranus and Gaia as Gaia becomes angry due to Uranus throwing their children into Tarturus that same as the Sech Republic trying to take over Kardia and burn it to “hell.” Terribl,e while not having children did, have control of flowers and all of nature which in turn could be seen as its children to which Terrible uses to stop the Sechs. This is a prime example of the Greek myths being used.

Rune Factory is the example I have provided of mythology due to its blatant use of Greek mythology references, styles, and symbols. It was easy to see with Raguna being the stereotypical hero figure and Mist being Athena as she interacts with Odysseus. Each character has the stereo type of the Greek gods and some are more heavily influenced and apparent than others. The game brings out the ideas of Greek Mythology and gave us a realistic interpretation of the life of Greeks in the Greek mythology era.

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Mundo

The Divine Trinity made the earth and as they relax and think over what more could be done, they had a thought. What if we make a being that looks just like us? As they thought over this thought they decide on how to go about doing so. Aaris, goddess of earth, shaped the beings out of the earth she had brought forth. Arabis,god of the underworld, and Absolon,  god of the Heavens, came together and made spirits to inhabit these beings giving them life. These beings could think and reason like the gods but would have a short life span and an easier time of creating a new generation to expand their population. These beings came to be known as mortals to the gods and have the official name of human. Humans grew in population and overtime started making civilizations. As they grew, they expanded their minds and started praising certain things making the gods of Worldly Beauty. As they feared the elements, they came to praise also the gods of The Fundamental Pentagram. As they came to realize the importance of seasons, they began to worship the gods of the cycles. As they learned the importance of love and family, they praised the Judges of Hearts gods. Finally, as they grew and development their civilization, they started praising the Keepers of War. Each god got their essence from the belief of the people and should the people quit believing in them then the god would disappear. As the Divine Trinity does not need someone to praise them, they stay as they do not require belief to stay in existence. The Divine Trinity made man and as such did not need man to exist.              The world itself is very diverse with the mountains in the north and the desert in the south to the plains in the east.  There were many different kingdoms developed all over but however three kingdoms became dominant in each part of the world and took over neighboring kingdoms. None would challenge the other due to equal amounts of strength. In the north among the Himmel mountains is the kingdom of Oppylese. The ancient king Corak developed this kingdom as the Himmel mountains are said to house the gods' kingdom, Tarque, above them and wanted to be close to the king of all gods. Absolon is the one of the Divine Trinity to be praised above all in Oppylese. The kingdom of Jord lays to the east of Oppylese with Mumet river acting as a border between the two kingdoms. Mumet river is treacherous to cross and can be deadly to those who try. Jord was founded long ago by the ancient king, Doza, who praised Aaris of the Divine Trinity. The majority practice the teachings of Aaris. The south is the kingdom Helvete. It was founded by the king Zarda who praised Agares and Agares is the chosen god to represent Helvete and is praised by the majority of the people. The countries never battled for power as their strengths can never outmatch each other causing a restless peace between the three. A different champion every two hundred years would win from any country and made the struggle for power that much more fruitless.

Gods and Humans begun to become acquainted over time and even developed relationships. However, the gods soon realized they could never embrace their mortal lovers. Should they survive the coupling then the baby would not live to nor the person carrying it if it’s a human. It causes the humans to be driven with an insane need to be close to their lover once again. This caused gods to shy away from this relationship between humans and gods.

The humans, after learning how to follow the ways of a specific god, begun to form temples as they worship their gods in the god's chosen way. Overtime, the gods begun to choose favorites among this and sometimes if favor was high enough would give a single worshiper a mark indicating favor which could lead to many different things such as enhanced boosts or even elemental powers. These beings became known as demigods due to their inhuman abilities.  However, not all chosen few where marked by their god as it would take an extra something from the person to be marked by the god due to the fact the god is giving some of their power to the mortal. It can cause fatigue in lesser gods making them less likely to do so then the Divine Trinity.  These individuals would be given dangerous quests to take on monsters and suicide missions given by gods and kings alike. Overtime as the games came to begin the people found the marks to be unfair and unjust but could do nothing to stop it.  The mortals favored by gods are called champions. The gods are mostly worshiped with happiness and praises, but the Divine Trinity are revered due to their creating of the humans themselves and the world they created. This causes mortals to fear the gods and have a need to keep them happy. They believe that they could destroy the world if they wish even if this is not true. The Divine Trinity have huge temples in the capitals of each kingdom while the others have many through the three kingdoms. Many will come to worship at every alter giving offerings of food.  Overtime, the God Hammer as it is often called has been forged, weapons have been gained from it primarily as the armor is great, but the weapons are more common. These weapons are often to symbolize the god that the champion represents. Such as the Sagittarius bow represents the god of hunt and was made from the hammer the god of hunt's champion had won. Each weapon will symbolize and have powers to help represent the victor's god. 

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Don’t Eat A Hole In Walls.

My favorite memoir is “Don’t eat holes in the walls!”. It refers to my home life too well. I love comedy, and I am well-known to be a goofball. I love talking about my dogs and their misadventures in my house, as they cause trouble and tear up my home. The worst part is the cleaning after them, but it’s hilarious to show what they do and how they do it. Simone, the ring leader, and Cocoa, the follower, have caused chaos throughout my house every day since I brought them home.

I could talk about the adventures of Simone and how she has literally torn up my walls, my carpet, my shoes, my CD collection, twelve books, and ten makeup cases, but I would also like to bring my dog, Cocoa, into the mix and how they torn up even more crap since Cocoa can reach higher and brings different materials to Simone’s level. I could talk about Layla’s early years of chaos, but she was reprimanded quickly and learned not touch crap quite early.

DON’T EAT HOLES IN THE WALL!

Simone was always a rambunctious puppy, even from the very beginning. She loved to play and chew on my hands since I picked her up from her first home, and I brought her to her forever home. Simone, a Chiweenie, loves to chew and dig which means she loves the outdoors. However, as soon as she gets inside, it’s a free-for-all in my home. She will tear up my house and never stop. She has eaten to much of my things to be considered normal and will eat holes in my hall right to the tin of the outside of my house. Simone is known as the demon dog around my house for a reason, and when Cocoa joined the family, it got worse.

           Cocoa is a Pitbull mix with a very sweet personality. The poor dog was thrown out at three weeks old by her old owners. My dad found her two days later and brought her home before the freeze storm hit last year. I came home because I was needed at work that evening and started taking care of the little dog. Cocoa is now a permanent family member. Cocoa is about half way up my thigh and I am five foot four inches. Simone took Cocoa under her wing as soon as she was big enough to play and has been teaching her the ways of chaos ever since. Cocoa is already destructive by herself as she has social anxiety. She goes crazy and tears things up when we leave the house. She fears we won’t come back. Simone has to be in the same box with her as we have to lock Cocoa into her box to keep her calm. Simone helps the dog stay calm and relaxed till we get home. However, I was talking about Simone’s chaos teachings.

Simone loves to destroy different items, and Simone has, now, taught Cocoa to pull items down for Simone to chew on. I have caught the two dogs in the act and have had to chase them down quite often enough to prove this situation. Simone will sharpen her teeth into my walls mostly and my floors. She has raked my floor free of both carpet and all my vinyl flooring in my kitchen. Cocoa has started digging at the holes trying to make them bigger. Due to these holes, we now have to chase out mice, of which Simone will play with and kill. My house motto is don’t eat hole in the walls!!!!

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Introduction

My blog is for my E-portfolio. I am an English Education major, and I plan to go into teaching high school English in the near future. I included writings I created this semester from my Writing Exploration and Practice class.

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Resume

Katee Reed

623 Town East First  Street  ·

(405) 933-3850

· simonevoodoo12@gmail.com  ·

  Education

    Fall, 2015-Present    

   English Education, SouthWestern Oklahoma State University.

Experience    

June 17th, 2017-Present

Trainer, Super C

Demonstrated and taught the basic skills required to perform cashier and sacker duties. Contributed to conflict resolution, adapted to new positions.

Volunteer

Indicated the correct functions of  riding horses. Explained how to barrel race to intermediate riders. Used  verbal communication.

Objective

I am a new teacher with experience teaching kids of various ages on how to ride horses. I want to share my love of literature with students and try to show them the art of literature. I hope to help students learn more about themselves as a reader and writer. I hope to be an asset to students who wish to learn more about literature. I want to teach at a high school level to help students get ready for college and future jobs. Willing to push students to do their best in every way, I wish to show teaching skills in having them use online resources, basic research skills in the library, team work, and critical thinking in their writing. I am looking for a job in Caddo county.

 Philosophy

I believe in the saying that every child can learn. Each student should have the opportunity to further themselves and gain skills needed in future jobs and continuing their education. Teachers should display effective listening skills and be willing to help with any questions a student may have. Students, parents, and teachers should come together to make sure the student has a chance to succeed in school.

Skills

Hard Skills:

·         Uses Microsoft word

·         Basic Microsoft PowerPoint skills

·         Knowledge on how to use research databases such EBSCO host.

·         Printer skills

·         Smartboard Functions

·         Grade Books

  Soft Skills:

·         Communication skills

·         Leader Ship Skills: Trainer at work, volunteered training.

·         Conflict Resolution.

·         Demonstration: display horse skills and work-related skills.

·         Time Management

·         Preplanning arrangements

Activities

·         Member of Carnegie Round-Up Club 2005-2016

·         Horse Riding Trainer 2012- Present

·         Special Olympics Volunteer October 2017