Week 1 Introduction

My name is Joshua Altom. I am a senior studying Mathematics. I plan to graduate in the spring of next year.

One thing you need to know about me is that I love my wife, Hannah Joy Altom. We met in the youth ministry at our church when we were in high school, began dating after we graduated, engaged a year after that, then tied the knot January of this year. She is absolutely amazing! She’s so smart, talented, funny, caring, and she is by far the most beautiful woman in the world. I’m incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful wife.

Another thing you need to know is that I love my lord and savior, Jesus Christ. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without Him. I serve at Lifechurch, both on the Host team and the worship team playing acoustic guitar.

When I was a junior in high school, I started working at Chick-fil-A as a team member. I worked there for five years and worked my way up to management. It was a tremendous experience and a wonderful company to work for. I have recently started working at FNB Community Bank. I’m currently in training to be a teller there, and I’m excited about the new experience.

Whenever I am not busy with school or work, I like staying home and watching movies with my wife. We’re big fans of making popcorn in our Whirly Pop for a nice home-theatre experience. Some of my favorite movies include: The Prestige, The Dark Knight trilogy, the original Star Wars trilogy. Other times, we’ll visit family or friends, or go out for a nice meal and a fun date. Also, both my wife and I are reading the Harry Potter series for the first time. She’s much faster than I am, but we both really enjoy them.

Harry Potter Books. Web Source: Wikipedia

Week 1 Storybook Favorites

It was fascinating to scroll through the many different Storybooks provided on the list. It seems like it will be a fun project for this course that allows for a lot of creativity.

One of the storybooks that caught my eye was Deeper into the Forest. I am interested in studying the Brothers Grimm this semester, so naturally this storybook grabbed my attention. It had a nice layout, including many forest pictures and a background that reminds one of the woods, but the content of storybook is what really intrigued me. The introduction said that the stories are all connected and it included a portion of the last story. The stories lead up to the portion included in the introduction, filling in all the missing pieces. The author compared his introduction to a movie that shows you the last chronological scene of the plot, and then fills you in on what happened before. Some of my favorite movies incorporate this form of storytelling.

Two other storybooks that interested me were Dragons Anonymous and The Creation of Myth. Dragons Anonymous is written like a gathering of dragons, all telling their stories to a trusted group of friends offering support, much like the sharks in Finding Nemo or villains in Wreck-it Ralph. It collects dragon stories from around the world. Similarly, The Creation of Myth is written like a gathering of gods describing the different stories of the universe's creation. One designing detail I liked about this storybook was the use of different colored font to distinguish between the different gods who are speaking. What I like about these two storybooks is that it has a centralized theme, but the stories are taken from many different places. I would prefer to create this sort of storybook, as opposed to a storybook of only King Arthur stories.

Week 1 Untextbook

I am very interested to see how taking this course with an "Un-Textbook" will work. Allowing the students to have the freedom to choose stories that they find interesting will probably make writing assignments much easier! Here are several reading units that I will be interested in exploring:


Weeks 2 and 3: I have always loved Greek mythology, and was a tad disappointed when I realized that this course was not entirely Greek-based mythology. The reading units in weeks 2 and 3 provide a lot of options for Greek mythology, though, so I am excited to start with that. I will probably explore Greek Myths: Ovid I and Cupid and Psyche.


Weeks 4 and 5: One of my favorite Disney movies is Aladin, so Arabian Nights is a definite choice here. It will be fun to read some of the original stories that inspired the movie.


Weeks 6 and 7: I have heard of Brer Rabbit before, but never read any of the stories. The sound of a trickster rabbit sounds fun, though, so I will probably read through Brer Rabbit during these weeks.


Weeks 11 and 12:  I will probably try to find light readings for weeks 9 and 10, so that I can work ahead to weeks 11 and 12. I've always wanted to read Beowulf, and loved reading King Arthur stories and high school. However, both of these contain extended stories, so I will need extra time to devote to them.


Weeks 12 and 13: Brothers Grimm. Germany. Nuff said.


As you can see, most weeks contain units that I am very excited about reading. I think this course is going to be a lot of fun, and the Un-Textbook is a great idea.

Week 1 Storytelling: The Young Lone Wolf

The Young Lone Wolf

One night, the young lone wolf was stalking the old hare late into the night. The old hare caught the wolf’s scent, and he decided to speak with the wolf, for he knew he was too old and frail to flee from him.

            “Why waste your time hunting old hares, like me, when there is a herd of deer just past the bear’s den?” asked the old hare.

            “I dare not attack that herd, for the bear is feeding on the young fawn. I am a young lone wolf, and am too small to fight the large bear.”

            “I know of an ancient, secret magic,” lied the old hare, “that will allow you to become larger even than the bear. If you spare me this night, I can teach you this magic so that you will not only be fed this night, but for many nights to come.”

            The young lone wolf considered what the old hare had proposed. He knew the only disadvantage he had against the bear was his size, but if what the old hare had said was true, he would gladly trade his meal this hour for many meals in the nights to come. The young lone wolf agreed and the old hare instructed the young lone wolf what he must do for the magic to work. The old hare kept the young lone wolf busy with foolish errands until dawn.

(The Young Lone Wolf)

“It has worked even better than I thought!” lied the hare as he pretend to look amazed at the young lone wolf’s size.

            The young lone wolf did not feel like he had grown, but as the sun rose, it cast a long shadow behind the young lone wolf. He gawked in amazement, and immediately ran off to the herd of deer before the magical effects wore off.

            The young lone wolf was stopped at the bear’s den by the large bear. The bear was still much larger than the young lone wolf, and he cast a far longer shadow. With one strong strike of his paw, the bear sent the young lone wolf back from where he came.

            When the young lone wolf returned home, the old hare was gone; the young lone wolf then spent another day with an empty stomach.


Author's Note: This story is based on the fable The Wolf and His Shadow, which can be found in Aesop for Children, illustrated by Milo Winter . The original fable tells the story of a wolf who sees his own shadow as the sun sets, causing him to think himself much larger and much greater than he really is. He then decides he should be king instead of the lion. When he goes to challenge the lion, he immediately finds himself under the much larger shadow cast by the lion and is killed.
           When I first read the fable, I thought, 'Wolves aren't in Africa with lions, are they?' so I changed the lion character into a bear. Wolves and bears sometimes compete for food, so this made sense to me. Of course, now that I think about it, the lion could have been a mountain lion, which would have made sense, but oh well. I also added the hare, because I like a story with some deception in it. The deception wasn't life threatening, too, so the wolf gained the opportunity to learn from his mistake. The lessons I would like the wolf to learn are: pride comes before the fall, and NEVER trust a bunny.

Works Cited
"The Wolf and His Shadow" by Aesop, from Aesop for Children (2006). Web Source: www.gutenberg.org

Week 1 Favorite Places

Below are a couple of my favorite places to be:

1) Germany

Through my dad's employment with the Air Force (civilian, not military), my family had the opportunity to live in Germany twice. Once when I was very young for only one year, then again when I was eight for five years. Germany was such a beautiful country to live in! On our second tour, we lived in a small village named Stelzenburg. I always tell my wife that I would like to take her to my hometown in Germany someday.

Speaking of my wife, my next favorite place to be is:

2) At Home with My Wife

My wife and I got married on January 10th of this year, and have enjoyed every minute of living together. There's really nothing better than sitting with her (and our cat, Hamlet) on the couch and watching some movie that may or may not be any good.


Sources:

Flagmap of Germany. Websource: Wikimedia Commons.

Personal image of my wife, Hannah, and our cat, Hamlet; photo from July 2014.