Reading Notes Part A "Cupid and Psyche"

Cupid and Psyche (Source)

The story of Lucius the donkey begins when a girl is captured. This first part of the story has definitely piqued my interest. I like how it starts with Lucius already being a donkey, so the reader does not know how it has happened, only that it has. This is a writing technique that I like, and have used before.
In this next chapter, the plot thickens, so to speak, and we learn that the young kidnapped woman. It provides an interesting emotional motivation, that of a woman about to be wed. This same kind of setup is used with "The Count of Monte Cristo" and I am interested to see if there are any further parallels.
The old woman then began to tell the tale of Cupid and Psyche to the frightened youth. This was an extremely interesting story, and made up the bulk of this reading. I was actually a little confused at first, as to what was happening, but it later made sense. I really liked the ethereal feel of Cupid's house, but am curious as to why it was like that. Unfortunately, I did not empathize much with Psyche, for some reason, I find it really annoying when characters make truly obvious or dumb mistakes. I don't like that at all and Psyche's naivete was nearly physically painful in this story. It needs a dose of Western/Feminist overhaul to not have a so blindingly helpless protagonist.
Story Source: Apuleius and His Golden Ass, Translated by Tony Kline

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Introduction Post

Hi! My name is Blake Allred and I am majoring in International Relations with a minor in Spanish. I chose this major because I love travelling and meeting new people and learning about their cultures and traditions. One of my favorite things about the classes I take is the chance that I have to meet other people from a very diverse range of backgrounds. If all goes well, I will be graduating this semester, so this part of my college journey is coming to an end. I’m still not sure how I feel about this, it is kind of a mixture between excitement and dread, but overall, I am glad I could have such a wonderful experience here at OU and that I am now able to graduate. This summer we went on a family vacation to visit my grandparents who live in rural Colorado. My grandpa is a retired pilot and owns his own plane and built his retirement home right next to a remote airstrip. When we went there this summer, I was able to go out flying with him and even f...

Storytelling "Hans the Hedgehog"

Hans riding his rooster (Source) This is the story of how Hans the Hedgehog became engaged to a princess. Hans was a very special little creature. His parents had tried for so long to have a child, but when Hans was born, they were horrified to see that their little baby had the head and torso of a hedgehog but the legs of a boy. Although they did their best to love him, from an early age Hans could tell that they were horrified and ashamed of their child. He grew very depressed and spent most of his time in the barn with the other animals, like the pigs, donkeys, and his best friend of all, the rooster. Since he was half hedgehog, Hans stopped growing very quickly and remained quite small. Although this surely disappointed his father, it was perfect, for Hans was able to ride around on top of the rooster as if it were a colorful horse. He rode the rooster everywhere, even flying up around the trees that lined his father’s fields. From th...

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