FEEDBACK FOCUS

Photo Credits: Karolina Grabowska

Feedback Practice: Staying Focused



1. Reading Out Loud
I like to read out loud as long as there isn’t anyone around to hear me. I have dyslexia so I tend to mess up a fair amount of times when I read out loud. I think I actually prefer whispering or just mouthing the words instead. I also like to read out loud (or mouth it) because it personifies the reading and makes it feel more like story time when I was a kid.



2. Copy-and-Delete
I like this technique a lot because it takes the story and chunks it into more manageable pieces. It is not as daunting to read so much when there is only a small section you can see at the time. Although, I don’t think this would be very time efficient. I would rather just put the two windows side by side so I can see the story and the reading at the same time. I prefer to read out loud than to use the copy and delete strategy. But I also like to see both my notes and the story at the same time.



3. Use a Timer
I am not sure if the timer really helps me. It might help if I was reading something so boring and full of jargon that would make my brain hurt. But, as it is, I usually enjoy reading all of the stories that people write. During the ten minutes, I read the story normally and went back to the authors note at the top to connect it all back together.



Overall, my favorite reading strategy is reading out loud or mouthing the words. It reins my focus in to where there is no way for me to start daydreaming in the middle of it. If I am reading out loud, I can catch when I start drifting off topic. I enjoyed reading the story called What the Heart Desires. It showed a level of detail and imaging that the others lacked. I don’t think I would recommend a specific reading style to someone because everyone learns in different ways. There is no one size fits all for learning!

STORY: THE VOYAGER'S WIFE

Photo Credits: jarmoluk

Dearest Sindbad, 

It was a beautiful summer day here. The wind lightly blew the hair from my neck, just enough to cool me off. When I sat back in the chair and closed my eyes, I could only just imagine that it was you softly blowing on my neck and hugging me as the chair did. Not a minute goes by whilst I’m awake that you are not in my thoughts. This beautiful day has succeeded in making me quite sentimental. Thinking of all the months we have been apart from each other makes my heart heavy with pain. Even while I sleep it is you I see behind my lids. But as I fall asleep, with the moon shining through the window, I know that you are there. Although, you are not in front of me, your presence is like a warm blanket or a soft glow from a candle. When I look up at the moon, I know that no matter how far away we are, the moon can see the both of us. Just as I feel your presence, I hope you too feel the adoration I have always felt for you. I only hope that you are to receive this message when you finally arrive at your destination. I will write more as my heart feels the need to speak with you in some way. My love – please return to me. For I can seldom keep myself together anymore. As always, I wish you the safest of travels without perils. 

I love you to the moon,
Marina




My sweet Marina,

Do not fret my little bird. For I have reached my destination at last. Soon – my dearest – I will make my way back to you. Do not worry for me. You must look after yourself for me while I am not there by your side. I do wish it were me, holding you so sweetly in my arms as the sun sets behind the tree line. It must be that I have yet to see the sun in weeks. The clouds are constantly looming over me. It must be because I am not with you. The sky reflects the way I feel this moment. A depressed and dark creature I am without my wife by my side. The crew men do not understand the perils I have with leaving you. There is nothing worse than a man who does not understand these things. For they cannot understand why the ocean does not excite me like it used to. For when I am on the ocean, I am away from you and this is always my biggest regret. I only wish for this voyage to end so that I can hold you in my arms once more. There is only so much left of the journey and I will write when I can. For now, though, enjoy the little flowers you planted outside our bedroom window and the smell of the pines that encompass our house like a wool blanket. The voyage has been rough thus far but nothing that would keep me away from you. There is something stronger than us that binds you and I together.

All of my love,

Sindbad





Author’s Note:

For this story I created a wife for Sindbad the sailor from the Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor. In the stories he was always going on voyages to dangerous places. Instead of focusing on his adventures, I focused on the “woman he left behind”. I have always enjoyed reading love letters. Although it seems like they have died out recently and have the stigma of being cheesy or not manly. This is mainly the fault of technology but it has been kicked out of our culture for the most part. Sindbad always came home at the end of his voyages, without injury and with a lot of money. I tried to write this story from the perspective of someone other than the main character to make it more dimensional.



The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

READING NOTES: ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS (READING B)

The Voyages of Sindbad

Photo Credits: The roc scene from The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

Fifth Voyage
Maybe he just wants to die and doesn’t care about all of the people he puts at risk.
I understand that a life with no purpose would be incredibly boring. I wouldn’t want to sit around all day doing nothing either. But he never seems to have a vacation without a near death experience.
Maybe I could write about how Sindbad finally goes on a trip without almost dying. It wouldn’t be very exciting but it would be a funny parallel.
This guy is like the dumb person in a horror movie that looks behind the shower curtain. He lands on all of these islands and none of them are good news.
I wouldn’t recommend killing the babies of things that can kill you. At least this time it wasn’t his fault. He owes much of his life to driftwood.
I was thinking about the story about the person trying to cross the river Styx or spare him a coin. I don’t remember. But this old man who clung to him reminded me of it.
The way out of this one is to get the little dude drunk. How lovely. Isn’t it nice that every time he needs a ship to pass the island he is marooned on… one magically appears. 
Who would have guessed that coconuts could be so lucrative.
Sixth Voyage
If no one has ever survived, how is it that they know it exists? It is interesting that they thought there were cliffs in the ocean.
I wonder why he didn’t tell anyone else or have people come with him. He must be a master at raft making now.
Usually when people are lost at sea they don’t just magically appear on inhabited islands. But I guess it was needed for these stories. He had to live for them to continue.
It is nice to think that not all of the islands are covered in man eating creatures and some are nice. Well at least this king isn’t forcing him to stay like the other one did.
Maybe I could write a story about how he didn’t find riches at the end and was finally unable to return home.
I wonder why the last part was added. It doesn’t make sense to me.
Seventh and Last Voyage
 I could write in the perspective of Sindbad’s mother or someone who is in love with him at home but he doesn’t know.
Seeing that he had to go again, the person would be distraught. Thinking that surely, now that he doesn’t want to go, this is the time that he will not be lucky.
I wonder if these gifts were a sort of showing off between the kings.
All was going great until they were captured by pirates and sold. I don’t think I would give a slave a weapon so soon and trust him not to kill me with it.
I could tell a story about the man who owned him. About his life of killing elephants and how it one day was no longer necessary.






The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

READING NOTES: ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS (READING A)

The Voyages of Sindbad

Photo Credits: Drawing by Milo Winter (1914)

First Voyage
Young and rich… there is always plenty to work off of with that. Of course he spent it all. It is much easier to spend money that isn’t yours/you haven’t worked for.
He was sea sick. But he went on a long voyage anyway.
They anchored on a tiny island for fun. I guess it wasn’t an island and they angered it by setting it on fire. That wouldn’t be very nice to wake up to I’m sure. Interesting that the boat stayed where it was supposed to, seeing as it wasn’t actually shallow.
That reminds me of the movie Black Stallion. In the beginning, they were stranded in the water because the boat caught on fire. The horse and the boy were the only survivors.
He found people on the island, and he wouldn’t have survived without them.
The king and people were very welcoming and nice but he hasn’t found a way off of the island yet.
Captain doesn’t believe that it is him. I could make this into something else about someone not believing that the person could be alive.
Instead of happily returning home, he could not be able to return home.
Second voyage
I could start with him falling asleep and having the boat leave him without noticing. There could be something about someone doing it on purpose and putting something in his drink.
Traveling to different islands trying to find people or a way home.
I could use the cave for some part of the story.
I could focus on the merchant who only took one reasonably sized diamond
Or I could focus on the craziness that happens on the island
This guy just loves to give his money away.
Third Voyage
Short red haired savages that stole their boat
Left them on an island with a man eating cyclops
Trapped in a castle waiting for their death by fire
Blinded him… I can’t tell if this is the same story I heard as a kid.
Oh there are lots of giants… Maybe a family?
Everyone is picked off one by one
Interesting that he found the same captain again.
Fourth Voyage
I could use the fact that he was young and restless for adventure. Even though he had plenty of money to live off of, he didn’t want to live idly.
He is bad luck for everyone he is around… Only he has good luck.
He has a poor choice of islands. Everyone wants to eat him.
Everyone seems to love his stories though.
I could somehow use the creation of the king’s saddle somehow.
He was not satisfied with the arranged marriage and wanted to escape.
I could write a story in the perspective of the lady he married.
I would not be happy if my husband who I didn’t want to marry, died and I had to die with him…
She would be very happy in the last days as he tried his best to save her, thinking it was for love.
Or I could write about someone in the cave.
Wow I feel like it is never a good idea to steal from the dead. I’m not very superstitious but that crosses a line for me!
He is just a lucky man. But this is the first time he lied to the captain.
Bibliography:
The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).