Story: The Trials of Press

Press leapt out of bed the minute his alarm went off. Today was the day, he could feel it. He was finally going to talk to Hannah and ask her out. "Hannah" he sighed, as he tried to get his hair to fall into place. 

She was the prettiest girl in school and the most popular. Press had had a crush on her since sixth grade and now that he was a senior it was time to talk to her. 

"This is it, I'm going to ask her out today." Press said to his best friend Emma as they walked to school. 

"Do you really think that is a good idea? She hasn't acknowledged you in six years." Emma tried to talk me out of my plan.  

Before first period I saw her, she looked so beautiful in her cheer uniform. "Um, excuse me, Hannah?" I stumbled over my words, "Would you want to go out with me sometime?"

"You're asking me out? You? What was your name again?" Hannah asked.

"Umm, it's um, Press, we have been going to school together since sixth grade." I replied.

"Oh, right, you're that guy who is always hanging around that bookworm girl. What was her name again?" 

"Emma? She's just a friend." I said.

"Hmm right, I'm pretty sure she likes you, but if you really want to go out with me, I need some things from you." Hannah stated. "First, I really hate french, and I have a paper due tomorrow. Write it for me."

"Yes, okay, anything. I'll bring it to you before first period tomorrow." I told her. 

 Later that afternoon I was having lunch with Emma as usual and writing Hannah's French paper. 

"You know if she really liked you, she wouldn't make you write her paper. She would have just said yes." Emma told me. 

"She just really hates French, it's okay. I'll write it and then she will say yes" I told her. 

......

I met Hannah before first period the next day and gave her the paper. "So, does this mean we can go out?" I asked.

"Well, I have to babysit my little brother tomorrow night and I really want to go to Ty's party. Maybe you could do that for me so I could go out?" Hannah blinked her big green eyes at me.

"Oh sure, I can watch your little brother." I told her. 

"Thank you! It really means a lot to me. Ty is the most popular guy in school and how would it look if I weren't at his party?" 

......

"I can't believe you are going to this!" Emma screamed at me on our walk home from school, "Can't you see she is just using you? There are plenty of girls who would love to go out with you just because you're you?" 

"It's okay, Emma, she needs to be at that party. It would look really bad if she weren't there." I tried to appease her. 

"Fine, but when you're done doing her chores and realize she doesn't really like you, I may just not be here to pick up the pieces." Emma called as she turned to go home. 

"She doesn't know what she is talking about." I thought to myself. 

......

The weekend was finally over and I just knew Hannah was going to say yes today. Watching her brother had been awful. He was a pretty terrible little kid, but I had done it and she couldn't say no now. 

"Hey Hannah, how's it going?" I approached her. "Would you like to go to the football game with me this Friday?" 

"Oh shoot, I would but I promised my Dad I would wash my car. Maybe if someone washed it for me I would be free this Friday." Hannah pouted at me. 

"I could wash it tonight. Emma and I were supposed to go to a book reading, but I can reschedule." I beamed at her. 

"Oh would you? Thank you!" Hannah smiled. 

At lunch I told Emma I would have to reschedule going to the book reading with her. 

"I can't believe you," Emma scowled at me, "She is using you. She isn't going to go out with you." 

"You don't know that Ems." I tried to calm her down.

"I do know that and I'm not going to watch another second. Don't come crying to me when she still won't go out with you." Emma ran off.

......

I was exhausted as I approached Hannah the next morning. I had spent hours cleaning her car and making sure everything was perfect and then I had to stay up all night to complete my own homework. 

"Hey Hannah, so we on for Friday?" I asked her.

"Oh Press, I'm sorry, Ty asked me out for Friday this morning. You understand, right? He's the most popular guy in school." Hannah smiled at me, "Maybe we can go out next week. In fact, I have another French paper due next Tuesday, maybe you could come over and write it for me? We could hangout then."

"Yeah, no, I can't believe I thought you actually liked me. You're just using me." I said. I turned to go find Ems. I owed her a huge apology. 

"Ems, hey Ems", I yelled when I saw her across the hall. 

She looked up at me, smirked, and turned to Zach and smiled up at him. Then I noticed they were holding hands. 

What had I done? Emma had warned me she wouldn't be here when I figured out that Hannah was using me and I didn't believe her. Now she was gone. I didn't even know she liked Zach, I thought she just liked me. How could I have been so stupid? 

Trials Of Yamato by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Author's Note:

This story was inspired by the Trials of Yamato in Japanese Mythology, story source:Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917). In the story Yamato is married to a beautiful princess, but he is fickle and leaves her to find a siren. The siren then puts him through a series of trials before he can be with her. Once he completes them all his lovely wife is dead and he can no longer be with her. I opted to put this story in a more modern setting and have Press lose his best friend instead of the wife dying. 

Reading Notes: Japanese Mythology-Part B

Bibliography: 

Japanese Mythology  Story source: Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917).

                                                                  Trials of Hercules

The theme that stood out to me in these stories was how hard Yamato tried to work to win the love of the fair goddess. It reminded me a lot of the trials of Hercules. It also stood out that after everything he worked for he lost what he loved most. 

Love seems to be one of the biggest themes in these tales as with most tales, but these stories were very soft, gentle, and sweet. 

Reading Notes: Japanese Mythology-Part A

Bibliography: 

Japanese Mythology:  Story source: Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917).

These stories are so much like traditional fairytales it is very easy to see where the ideas for them originated. 

I was also surprised by how similar the Japanese mythology was to Greek and Roman and mythology. It is cleared that the tales all borrowed from each other. 

I liked how Ninigi received three gifts from the gods, it reminded me of Sleeping Beauty. 

The theme that I find most intriguing is the family bond and the fairytale like elements that result in slaying dragons and happy ever after. 

                                                                   Goddess Uzume

Story: Reign, A New America

Author's Note: 

My story loosely ties aspects of Persian Tales translated from the Kermani and Bakhtiari dialects of the Persian language by David Lorimer and his wife Emily Lorimer into a new story of my own. I took elements from the story of "The Archer", the "Fayiz and the Peri Wife", and "The Story of the Baker and the Grateful Fish". The Persian Tales are full of whimsy and betrayal and my story is meant to reflect these two themes while being able to stand completely on it's own. 

                                                                         Apocalypse
 

"Please, you can't do this. I don't know where my husband is, I told you, he left us years ago." I screamed at the men pointing an exacter at my little girl. 

The truth was, I knew exactly where my husband was but I could not tell these men. They would kill him. After the war people like my husband become a "danger" to society. It wasn't that he was he was crazy or a killer, it was because he was different. The black sheep of the people, so to speak. To some people he was basically a God. He was special, he could think and see things differently than anyone else. It made him dangerous to the new government. They did not care for independent thinkers and had taken great strides to rid the collective of free thought. 

It began at an early age in Reign, the name of the new America, the government regulated the school and taught only the approved material. They used the exacter, a painful device that did not allow anyone to tell lies, and they injected the people with a serum that didn't allow us to feel things the way we should. Love, hurt, joy, and sorrow; they all felt different if you felt them at all. For my husband, it did not work. He experienced everything exactly the way a human should, and as such, he was dangerous. He was able to see the government for the horrible people they are and he was out to stop them. There was a group of others out there who were the same as him and I had to protect them. They were the only way were ever getting out of this hellish place. 

"I will ask you one more time, where is your husband?" The soldier asked as he held my daughter by her arm. "If you don't tell us this time, your little girl will after we exact it out of her."

"You can't, it could kill her." The exacter was a powerful weapon that could be potentially fatal to anyone. My girl had already been subjected to it four times in her little life. What the soldiers did not realize was, she had no idea where her daddy was so they would never be able to gain that truth from her. What they also didn't realize was, I had learned to resist it. While it was still painful, I had learned to keep my truths to myself. My husband stole one once and taught me so that if this day ever came I would be prepared. 

"Just remember, Kora, keep your mind closed and resist the pain. They will be unable to see your thoughts. You cannot tell them who or where I am, ever. If you do, it will be the end of our family and my life." my husband told me as we trained. We knew this day would come. What we didn't know is that they would bring my girl with them. She had been in school for two years, I had been unable to see her except on vey special days. I knew my husband was trying to lead a rebellion, but ever since he had taught me to free my thoughts and my emotions, I had longed for my child. 

"This is your last warning. Where is your husband?"

"I'll tell you. Please just don't hurt my child again." I couldn't resist any longer. Perhaps if it were just me, but not if they were going to kill her. I loved her, I wasn't supposed to but they knew, they knew I had learned to regain my emotions and they were using her against me.

"Please forgive me my love." I thought, "in order to save our child, I must betray you." and then I started talking. 

When I was finished telling them who my husband was and were he could be found they threw my child in front of me and left to find him. I quickly reached for my telephone, an old device that was once used to communicate with each another. Thankfully, this older technology still worked. I anxiously dialed his number and waited while the phone rang. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally heard his voice from the other side say "Hello?" I lost no time warning him "They are coming! They had Rose and I couldn't let them hurt her! You need to run!" 

"I am not going to run, it's time, I am ready to fight. I understand why you had to betray me. I will lead this army and we will rescue the collective." 

Five years later....

Reign would never go back to the way it used to be. My husband had defeated the government with the army of specials he had found. We were slowly returning to a people who had never been subjected to the serum or the exacter. Without the government to annually administer them our emotions had returned. We are able to work and think for ourselves. My husband and I gained land and the ability to grow our food and do as we please with our daughter by our side. 

Reading Notes: Persian Tales- Part B

                                                                          Betrayal

Bibliography: 

Persian Tales  translated from the Kermani and Bakhtiari dialects of the Persian language by David Lorimer and his wife Emily Lorimer. 

Betrayal:

The main theme I noticed in these stories was betrayal. The turtle and the fox, the baker and the woman with the children, the man and his wife: they all suffered more in life because of betrayal. I found these stories still whimsical and little hard to follow, but I like how they are a little more life like because betrayal and distrust are part of everyday life. I will spin story with this theme in mind. 

Reading Notes: Persian Tales-Part A

My first impression of these tales is whimsy. I find them all very odd and fun. Their story lines are all very different and honestly hard to follow at times.

I like the story about the boy with his bow. I think the fact that he won over a king and a country without knowing what he was doing is really funny and could easily be turned into another story.

I also like the story about the half man/brother. This story vaguely reminded me of "Game of Thrones" and I think writing a story about the black sheep of a family becoming a hero and heir would be very interesting.

                                                                        Black Sheep

Bibliography: 

Persian Tales translated from the Kermani and Bakhtiari dialects of the Persian language by David Lorimer and his wife Emily Lorimer.

Feedback Focus

The Copy and Paste Method

This method is my favorite. While I find reading out loud helpful this is my preferred method of giving feedback. I used to help edit a friend mine's history papers and I really like the google documents option where you could highlight the portion you wanted to make a comment on and it would save it to the side without changing anything on the actual paper. This method is very similar to the copy and paste because it allows you to read and express your thoughts without really hindering the paper or project. For the feedback projects I believe this is the option I would use most often. 

Copy and Paste

Reading Out Loud

I like this option as well and would also use this on my own work and whenever I help edit others work. It is the best way to catch missed words, mis-worded phrases or just something that needs to be reworked in the project. While I like this method, it isn't always an option depending on where you do your homework and editing projects. I was usually in the library which made this difficult. Reading aloud gives you the chances to really focus on the reading. 

Timed Method

This one is probably my least favorite of the options because I feel like it doesn't give me the time to fully focus on the project I'm reading. I am an avid reader so staying focused is something I have ever struggled with when it comes to project feedback. I could see how this method would be beneficial to some. 

My favorite story from this section was Zoology 1114 by Bailey Farmer mostly because, I have been there. I remember the lore of walking under clock tower and I had a great love/hate relation with introduction to Zoology my first semester at OU. I think the author did a great job retelling the story of Adam and Eve in a very modern setting. 

Story: The Long Road Home

I had always been different but it had never bothered me. I saw things in a way no one else could see them. Once when I was four I decided to jump off my parent's roof and land on the trampoline. I broke my arm. It didn't hurt much and it didn't stop me from doing crazy things. "He just doesn't have a concept of fear", my Mom would say to people. I think it really bothered her that I was different.

Two weeks ago I decided I was going to move. I had been in the same place too long and craved an adventure. My family was not thrilled but since I was now twenty-three they really couldn't stop me. So, I booked my flight. I used the money I had saved up over the years doing odd technical jobs. I was different, but I was really skilled with computers and that made me quite a bit of money. Where was I going? Turkey. I wanted to go somewhere off the beaten path. Where maybe people would not notice that I was a strange.

I stepped off the plane in Turkey and immediately knew this was where I belonged. I felt the most overwhelming sense of being home. I gathered my luggage and made my way to a taxi so that I might be transported to a hotel where I would stay until I found a job and new place to live. It was in that moment I saw the most gorgeous girl I had ever seen. I went over to speak with her (one of the many benefits of feeling no fear, no hesitation in doing something completely stupid), "Hello, my name is Ryan and I would like to take you on a date tomorrow".

"Ryan, it is nice to meet you, but I must decline. You see my father is very strict and would not allow me to go on a date with a stranger." she replied.
"Perhaps if he got to know me?" Ryan countered.
"You may find him in Calliegh, at the chapel. There you may ask him."

The Chapel

So it was here that I began my journey. Calliegh was on the other side of the country and it would take a long while to arrive there as I had to drive. I went to rent a car and started on my way.

My travels across the country took me to many strange places. My car broke down on the side of the road and I encountered a man who claimed to be a wizard and attempted to help me. He wasn't much help, but at least he was funny.

I stopped at an old inn that was run by an old woman and her lovely daughter. They provided with great traveling snacks in exchange for doing a little handy work on their computers. They were in desperate need of an upgrade and I helped as best I could. The daughter was waiting anxiously for a man to come along and help make their lives better. I hoped it would happen for them.

At one point in my journey I rescued a crow from a terrible man who wanted to clip his wings. I showed up just in time to save him and gave the man a sound beating in the process.

Finally, after forty days of travel and delays I arrived in Calliegh. I searched for the chapel and upon finding entered and sat in the back row wondering what I should do now.

I was then approached by a man about fifty years of age with wise eyes, "My daughter told you were coming. I didn't believe her. But then, I do not have the 'sight' like my wife. She claimed you were only a little delayed but assured her she could still see you on your path to her."

"I am Ryan, and I have traveled very far to ask if I may take your daughter on a date. I do hope you will do me the honors of blessing me with her."

"Yes, yes, I believe you have earned it. My wife says your journey was long and hard with many bumps on the way. Yet you stayed true to heart and made your way to her. Go to her with my blessing."

I turned around and she was standing at the door. I walked to her, "I am Tirzah and I would be honored to go out with you. I cannot believe how far you have come just for me."

And so it was they began their relationship and after forty years together they are still so very happy.

Author's Note:

I wanted to write a comprehensive story that incorporated many different aspects of Turkish Fairy Tales from Ignacz Kunos. I chose the story of the boy searching for fear but being unable to find it because he was scared of nothing. I also used different character's from each story: the wizard, the crow, and the seer. I didn't use the specifics of each character but wanted them to have a showing. While forty days may seem like a long time to cross a country in a car, this was a significant number in all of the fairytales and I wanted to make sure I gave a nod to that fact. Also, every story ended with a "Happily Ever After", and a man getting a beautiful wife so I chose that as well. 

Reading Notes: Turkish Fairy Tales-Part 2

The Turkish fairytales are all very similar in theme.

They consist of someone being poor, working hard or gaining a skill, and then living happily ever after.

Happily every after usually comes with a beautiful wife and husband and also a lot of money.

They really strive to teach the value of honesty, hard work, and time. It instills that that is what it takes to be successful and have your dreams.

All of these are themes I could use in a story of my own. Incorporating the the fearless boy and a journey of hard work, until he reaches the end and realizes all his dreams.

I also like the use of wizards in the tales. It helps to add a more magical feel to the stories.

                                                                         The Wizard

Bibliography

Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos

Reading Notes: Turkish Fairy Tales-Part A

There were a couple of things that stood out to me while reading the first half of Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos.

                                                                           No Fear

In the story about fear I couldn't help but be reminded of the autistic children. I hope no one takes offense to that statement because all I mean to say is, they seem to know no fear and have boundless creativity. My cousin has so many of these traits and it always fascinating to me. I think writing the story of a fearless boy on a journey would be a fun way to represent this story. 

For the other three stories I noticed the use of forty days as a significant amount of time for celebrations or waiting periods. 

The stories also seem to center around hard task and then being rewarded with a lovely wife. I feel again this would be a cute story of a man who had to accomplish many feats to gain the most beautiful wife in the land. 

I particularly liked how all the women were disguised. I know she was a witch, but it reminded me of "Beauty and the Beast" in the way the beautiful queen comes to the door and is turned away because she is disguised as ugly. These stories pinpoint in the benefits of being kind to creatures most would ignore. 

Story: Love You Most

"Mom? MOOOOOOOOOOOM! I had the nightmare again!" Arie cried.

Elaine rushed into her precious girl's room, "Honey, you're here, in your bed. You're completely safe. Daddy and I are not going to let anyone take you away." For years her child had horrible dreams of being kidnapped and then ransomed or sold for money. It was the strangest thing, she had never experienced anything but love in her whole little life. 

"Mom, can you stay with me? Just until I fall back asleep." Arie pleaded with her mother. "Please, tell me the story. You know, the one of you and daddy."

Elaine shakes her head. Her daughter has always had a dreaming spirit and she romanticizes everything, especially the story of her parents marriage. Such a dreamy eyed girl, Elaine couldn't deny her anything.

"You must lay down and close your eyes, then I will tell you." She says.

Arie lies back with a blissful smile on her face anxiously waiting for her mother to begin.

.....

Elaine was out running errands and not paying attention to what was happening around her. She had her nose in her book and ran she ran smack into the most gorgeous blue eyes she had ever seen. 

"Oh my gods, I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention and I just..." Elaine stuttered. 

"That's quite alright. You are welcome to run into me anytime." The pair of blue eyes responded. 

Elaine blushed deeply and looked down at her feet. It was then she noticed, "Ugh, I spilled your coffee all over you. I am such a klutz".

"You can you make it up to me by having another cup with me? My name is Ian, and you are?" 

"Elaine, and I would love to go get coffee with you but I'm afraid I must rush. I have a music lesson at two and it's already one-thirty." Elaine replied "Here take my number. Perhaps we could try again?" 

Ian was struck. He had never seen a woman so lovely and he could hardly wait to give her a call. Actually, he couldn't wait. He picked up is phone as he watched her walk away,.
"Hello?"

"Would you like to get coffee with me tomorrow morning?" He asked 

Elaine giggled, "I would love to, ten at the Brew? See you there"

Coffee Date

 From that moment on they were inseparable. They did everything together and became annoyingly adorable. They began planning a future and wondering how many children they would have. However, there was one thing that bothered Elaine, Ian had never introduced her to his family. 

She began to wonder if something was wrong with her, "Ian, why have I not met your family? Is it me? Will they not like me?"

Ian shook his head. How could he tell his beautiful, perfect girl that his mother was a tyrant who believed no one would ever be good enough for him? 

After much debate and some tears, Ian finally caved and took Elaine to meet his mother and her two sisters. 

And It. Was. Terrible. 

Minerva, Ian's mother, was insufferable. She hated Elaine and would say terrible things about her, to her face and behind her back. "Honey, I would love for you to wear my wedding dress in the upcoming wedding, but I'm afraid it won't fit." 

"You know my Ian prefers his women blonde. You might want to consider a dye job. That stringy brown is really not that attractive."

The aunts felt terrible for Elaine, but could not step in. Minerva was a terrible person but a great sister and they owed her their loyalty. They simply said nothing and watched the poor girl suffer in silence. 

Elaine tried for weeks to bring Ian's mother around. She would run her errands, call for her opinion on the wedding, and check on her daily to make sure she didn't need anything. Nothing worked and Elaine felt very down. 

Finally, the wedding was here! Elaine could not hide her excitement but she was also very apprehensive. She was going to spend her life with a mother-in-law who hated her. 

The night of the wedding she called Ian in tears,
 "I can't, we can't do this. Your mother is never going to come around, and I just can't deal with it anymore." 

Ian immediately got in the car and drove to Elaine. She opened the door in surprise, "What are you..."

"Elaine" he said, "You are my life, my future, and my everything. I never want to spend another day without you. You're my family now and it does not matter what my mother says. I love you most, nothing will change that." 

Elaine fell into his arms in tears and even though it was bad luck, they stayed up all night laughing, talking, and holding each other. The dawn crept in and Ian left to get ready for the big day. 

It was perfect. Everything Elaine had ever dreamed, except for one problem. "You're wearing white? Are you sure that is wise?" Minerva would not leave her alone.

Once it was time go for the honeymoon and they were saying their goodbye, "You can still back out, you haven't filed the license" Minerva told her son. 

"MINERVA ENOUGH" Minerva jumped at the sound of her Dad's voice. "These wonderful young people have decided to spend their life together and from what I can see they are a delightful match. You'll not say another word about Elaine or this marriage. Understood?"

Minerva quivered, "Yes, yes father" for there was no one she feared on this earth except for her father. 

The young newly weds flew off into the sunset and started a beautiful little family and welcomed a baby girl two years later who they named Arabella, Arie for short. It was a dream come true. 

"Arie? Arriieee" Elaine quietly called. 

Then she smiled as she slipped out of the room. Perhaps Arie was right, she really did live a lovely, dreamy life.

Author's Note: 

This story is loosely based on the love story of Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche by Terry Kline. In the story a young girl is kidnapped for ransom and an old woman attempts to calm her by telling her love story of Cupid and Psyche. Psyche is the most beautiful woman and Venus, Cupid's mom, is jealous that she is taking away from her. She wants Cupid to curse her, but instead they fall in love. Venus becomes very angry when she finds out and forced Psyche to perform impossible tasks. Finally in the end, Jupiter blesses their union and Venus is forced to accept what has happened. I wanted to play on the tyrant mother aspect while still using the fairy tale ending. 

Reading Notes: Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche-Part B

In this second half of the story I once again observed strong family themes that I would like to use in my own story. I appreciate that the gods bonded together against Psyche because Venus was family. While I don't like the "evil queen", I did appreciate the loyalty.

I am a forever optimist and huge proponent of true love, so I liked the ending. The fairy tale of Cupid and Psyche getting married and blessed by the gods to become a part of the family. This is also probably a theme I will use in my story.

Happy Ever After

Bibliography:

Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche by Tony Kline- Story Link Here

Reading Notes: Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche-Part A

In the telling of Psyche and Cupid translated by Tony Kline, that theme that struck me the most was that of jealousy and marriage.

In the over view Laura makes a reference to "Beauty and the Beast" and "Till We Have Faces" by C.S. Lewis. Both of which are very accurate. The entire time I was reading this first half I was struck by the similarities to both of these works. I have read "Till We Have Faces" several times and they are very similar.

I really like the fairytale aspects of this story. The sisters remind me of evil step sisters, and Venus reminds me of the evil queen from "Snow White". Which, since this story clearly was written long before these tales; it wouldn't be surprising to find it had some influence on the stories.

I intend to expound on the fairytale but I really like the theme of marriage, including the marriage dream the young, kidnapped girl has in the beginning of the story. It is a "tale as old as time", after all.

                                                          Psyche and Cupid as Lovers

The sisters being Furies is also something I picked up and would possibly use and develop further in a story of my own. I love the story of the Orestes, and could see taking some of the furies personality from there and placing into the sisters.

Bibliography:

Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche by Tony Kline; Link to Reading

Feedback Thoughts

Not to sound like Angela from "The Office" but I love being judged, in that, I really enjoy feedback from other people about my work. In my current work place it something I thrive on and look forward to my weekly meeting where I receive a review my work performance. The most helpful feedback I think I ever received was in my high school writing and research class. My wonderful teacher took the time each week to comb over our assignments and really try to be positive and helpful with suggestions to better our writing techniques. I am grateful to that teacher every time I must write a college essay or paper, because he worked hard to prepare us and did a great job.

I do understand, not everyone is like me and this something I have to deal with daily as I often help train people for new jobs in my work place. The only strategy for feedback that I really subscribe to is, always try and be positive even when suggesting corrections or pointing out mistakes. I think it is very important to praise the effort and the process so that their hard work is appreciated. The article Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset by Gravity Goldberg was the most compelling for me, because it really puts into words all the tactics I try to use when giving feedback to others. I my capstone class from this summer we gave weekly feedback on other students assignments and I always tried to remain update and praise the work while giving my suggestions to help better the assignment.

                                                Appreciate the Work, Not Just the Result