Feedback Strategies

The first article I read was "Try Feed Forward Instead of Feedback" by Marshall Goldsmith. I don't know if this would work in this class since we are digital, but the strategy is interesting! I like the idea of looking forward and seeing what changes can be made in the future rather than focusing on past issues. While there are times that past issues would need to be addressed and corrected, I can see how in many aspects of life and business looking forward would work better. 

Feedback is like sushi. Fabulous when fresh and useless if not harmful when old.

"Feedback" by Stephen Ransom Photography is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The second article I read was "How to Give Bad Feedback Without Being a Jerk" by Adam Grant. I will admit this is my biggest fear! Anytime I can't just say 150% positive things about something I automatically feel like I'm a jerk, even if the assignment is to give feedback, or someone has asked for feedback. This article was helpful because it said it was actually more useful most of the time to just be direct and say what you mean, in a helpful fashion of course. 

In general feedback freaks me out. I do not mind receiving feedback, my entire major and most of my current courses are all about receiving feedback, but I do worry about giving it! I don't want to give out useless feedback, but I don't want to be harsh either. I feel like it can be hard to find a really good balance.

 

Wikipedia Trail - From Boethius to Mark Whitacre

While I was reading the instructions for Wikipedia trails, I clicked over and scrolled through the Twitter stream. I saw a post there about Boethius and the Consolation of Astronomy. I was not familiar with Boethius, or what he may have had to do with astronomy so off to Wikipedia I went! According to the Wikipedia page, his most notable work was the Consolation of Philosophy, which lead me to my next page. 

Boethius' most notable work apparently had a lot to do with the novel A Confederacy of Dunces, which I would not have known without clicking through these two Wikipedia pages. Not only that, Boethius' work becomes a plot point in the novel. But despite this novel becoming quite well liked after it was published, it has yet to be made into a film.

One of the many people who wanted to make that novel into a film was Steven Soderbergh. He is a writer, director and producer who worked on movies you may have heard of like Ocean's 11, 12 and 13. He was also involved in Magic Mike and a movie called The Informant! which I had not heard of, so helped decide my last page.

The Informant! is a movie based on the true story of Mark Whitacre. Whitacre was a whistle blower who worked with the FBI regarding price fixing complaints at the company he worked for in the 1990s. Unfortunately he was also doing some illegal activities of his own on the side and got caught. Because of that he ended up in federal prison. Ultimately, the FBI still thought he was a pretty decent guy in the end since he helped them with other things. Go figure. 

A film strip because some of this Wikipedia trail was high drama

"film" by popturfdotcom is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Week 3 Story: Grasshoppers in Winter

Once there was an owl who lived high in an old oak tree. Over the years, the owl had seen many other animals and insects come and go, for owls live longer than squirrels or crickets. This owl had seen many summers. He just wanted to sleep during the day and hunt when night came. Being perched so high in the tree, this usually wasn't a problem. 

Towards the end of summer, a grasshopper began visiting the bottom of the owl's oak tree. Every afternoon the grasshopper would make his music for hours and hours. He'd hop from one place to another and generally just enjoy himself quite loudly, which disturbed the owl's sleep. 

After a few days of this, the owl was incredibly irritated. He was tired, his hunting was off, and he was just having a bad day. He called down to the grasshopper, "Excuse me! Some of us are trying to sleep. Please keep it down!"

The grasshopper was shocked! He didn't even know anyone lived in the oak tree. "Hello up there! I'm sorry my music is bothering you, but why are you asleep on this lovely day? Don't you know the summer is ending?"

"What do I care about the summer?" cried the owl. "I just want to sleep, so I can find something to eat tonight. Go make your music somewhere else and leave me alone!"

The grasshopper was not unreasonable and hoped the owl would talk things over with him. "Perhaps I could make music at different times? I'll only be here a short time longer. I'm sure we can make something work until summer is done!"

The owl wanted to hear no more of this talk from the grasshopper. "I am the owl, this is my tree, and I told you to leave! I don't want to make something work, and I don't care that you're only planning to stay by my tree for a little while, I want you to go now!" 

"Oh no, Mr. Owl, you misunderstand me. The summer is ending, and it's getting colder. Soon I won't be anywhere. I make my music to remember happier days. Grasshoppers don't live through the winter. That's why I care so much about the summer."

The owl was briefly shocked into silence. He knew the other creatures in the forest came and went with the seasons, but he had never stopped to think that some of the animals only knew one season. "Make your music then," said the owl. "Just try to keep it down in the middle of the day."

The weeks went by, and the grasshopper made his music. The owl learned to sleep through the noise, just as he learned to sleep through all the other noises from the forest. The days grew shorter, and the nights grew colder, but it didn't bother the owl. The grasshopper's song grew shorter and quieter, but the owl didn't notice. 

One day the owl woke up, and it was cold. There was snow on the ground. The forest was quiet. As the owl left his oak tree to hunt, he noticed grasshopper in the snow, silent and still. He called out to grasshopper, "Hello down there! Are you enjoying your first winter?"

 

 

Owl in winter

"Great Gray Owl Morning" by Leslie Abram is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 

 

The grasshopper made no reply for grasshoppers do not live in the winter. The owl remembered this talk with the grasshopper at the end of summer. Not one to let food go to waste, the owl picked up the grasshopper and started off the night with a quick snack. Perhaps next summer, a new grasshopper come to would share the space around the oak tree. 

If you consider things from a different perspective, you may find it easier to compromise.

 

 

 

Reading Notes - Aesop (Winter) Part A

Part A of Aesop with illustrations by Winters - multiple short fables per page with illustrations. Some stories were shorter than others.

One story that I really took note of is The Owl and the Grasshopper. This story caught my attention because yes the owl was cranky but neither party thought to try to compromise. Instead you end up with a crunchy grasshopper snack but at least the owl can enjoy the quiet again.

I also took note of The Ass and the Load of Salt. It reminded me a lot of when my kid was younger. Things can become a battle and become more difficult or take longer than if you'd just done the task!

The Tortoise and the Ducks also caught my eye while I was reading through these fables. I was reminded of Terry Pratchett's book Small Gods. The turtle in that book was much luckier than this one - he managed to land somewhere soft. 

Illustration from The Tortoise and the Ducks

From The Aesop for Children - Illustration by Milo Winter

 

Bibliography - The Aesop for Children, translator unknown, Illustrated by Milo Winter

 

Feedback Thoughts - Week 2

The first article I read was How to Mentor a Perfectionist. I had to laugh at some of the advice given in the article because I recognized things I've been doing to myself over the years. The article specifically mentioned using humor, the example was humor to a catastrophic level. I've had to do that with myself several times when I start to panic about doing something new, not getting something quite right or panicking during a presentation. I will stop and tell myself that literally the worst thing that could happen is I could walk in, forget everything I've ever learned and drop dead on the spot. But that's really not likely so calm down, everything will be fine. Worrying about perfection really does cause anxiety!

The second article I read was How to Tame Your Inner Critic: A Simple Habit to Rewire Your Brain. This article actually really spoke to me. In social work while we are in practice to help clients and communities, we are supposed to focus on what strengths our clients bring with them. It may be something as simple as they came in and filled out a form to ask for help, but that's a strength. As students we can be presented with what looks like a really challenging potential client with a lot of needs. Yet we will go through and find strengths and positive things that this other person has going for us. But ask us to list our own personal strengths? Silence! I think using REBS is a great way to get into building yourself up, allowing mistakes, moving on and getting used to it. It can be a really hard thing to do.

Feedback survey in an airport bathroom. Nothing to do directly with my articles but was very, very amusing to me as a photo that came up while looking for images related to feedback. I hope you get a kick out of it as well. 

"Instant feedback" by 4nitsirk is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Topic Brainstorm

Maybe it is because of COVID, but I was feeling a little doom and gloom when I started researching. My first topic was flood myths. Many areas have a flood myth, from the famous Gilgamesh and Noah to the less well known stories passed down in indigenous cultures. I know about some of the flood myths and am interested in several of the indigenous stories I have not heard. It might be interesting to tell a flood story from the perspective of someone in an area that did not flood. What would that person think about these people showing up telling all these crazy sounding stories of deep water and homes washed away?

My second topic idea was literally the end of the world. (Thanks, COVID.) As far as mythology about this is concerned, I do have some knowledge. Many of my ideas and thoughts are may be influenced by popular media. I probably have a lot of ideas on how to retell stories under this topic because there are just so many ways a civilization could end. And I haven't even pulled in thoughts from basically modern myth/legend/stories like the 2012 apocalypse that didn't happen. Also in writing this type of story you would have to consider whether or not to update the timeline. If you push things into the modern era, it would be easy for folks somewhere like Pompeii or Atlantis (Santorini?) to pull out their cell phones and call a relative and say they need a place to stay. Technology could change so many things!

The end times by mail - USPS delivers? 

"End Times at Canal Street Subway station" by Dan Nguyen @ New York City is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

The third idea I came up with after getting stuck on Wikipedia was resurrection. A lot of the western world, myself included, will be familiar with this type of story from the Bible and Jesus's resurrection. This story is also present in other mythologies to some extent with gods like Osiris and Dumuzid/Tammuz. I've noticed a lot of these stories have male gods dying. Then women, often wives or followers, have to go find them, go on a quest or weep for them so they'll come back. What would happen if the women just didn't bother? Or what would happen if it was the women who died and the men forgot to go through the proper procedures to resurrect everyone?

Finally I started researching werewolves and vampires. This is really big, branching topic and if I go this route I will probably need to pick one or the other instead of both. Or concentrate only folklore from a specific area. I know a fair bit about some of the folklore but it is also really varied depending on what region and time frame you are looking at. Despite having a lot to work with, I may actually have the fewest ideas on how to rewrite or retell anything here. It may be because it seems like there are so many of these stories that have already been told! It seems like you could switch some things around still, perhaps have a setting in which vampires and werewolves are the majority population and scared of 'normal humans' who are usually in hiding. That's something I'll have to think about and this may not be a topic I end up picking because of my lack of ideas

Week 2 Story: Farmer, fruit, fae

One day a farmer planned to head to market to sell their crops. Most of the farmer's children requested many trinkets, toys, and ribbons. However, the farmer's youngest child, used to being left out by their older siblings and unheard by their parents, asked only for a pear.

After the farmer finished business for the day and purchased toys for the children, it was already getting dark. The horse and cart were quickly packed up, and they headed for home. The farmer had been up before dawn and was tired. In the dark forest, it was easy to lose your way. It was not long until the farmer was lost.

As the night wore on, the farmer became more confused and finally decided to find somewhere to stop for the night. Better to stay in one place until sunup than risk the horse on an uncertain path. After finding a clearing in what seemed to be an abandoned orchard, the farmer set up a makeshift camp. The fruit on the trees made a passable supper, and what luck! There were pears to fulfill the request of the youngest child. 

Just before the farmer went to sleep, there was a cracking and creaking in the trees nearby. Out came a bear, angry, growling, and ready to attack. The farmer was shocked to see a bear in this part of the forest but quickly took up a log from the woodpile. To the farmer's surprise, the bear did not immediately rush and attack, but instead spoke.

"Why are you in my orchard, stealing my fruit and burning my wood?" huffed the bear. The farmer sensing an opportunity for a bargain, overcame their shock and replied, "Well, you see, I lost the path in the darkness. I stopped here for the night and ate enough fruit to sustain myself. I gathered enough wood to keep me warm through the night."

The bear considered the farmer's response. "What you say about the wood you gathered is true. But about the fruit, you have lied. You have pears you have not eaten, those you have stolen from me, and for that, you will die!"

Before the bear could leap at the farmer, using teeth and claws to bite and rend, the farmer cried out, "Wait! The pears I forgot again! They are for my youngest child, a daughter, Marie. My elder children ask for trinkets, toys, and many other gifts every time I go to town. Marie only asks for small things, fruit or flowers, perhaps. They're things I can gather even in the forest because she is kind and knows I sometimes forget in town."

"If your daughter is so kind, then leave the pears." the bear demanded. "Send her back for them herself, and we will see how kind she really is - will she return to save your life?"

The farmer did not feel as if this was a fair burden to put on Marie but also felt this was not a decision to be made without involving family. "I will agree to this," said the farmer. "But if Marie does not want to come back, I will, and that's the end of it."

The bear agreed, the farmer returned the pears and headed for home while it was still dark. The ribbons and trinkets the eldest children asked for were used to mark the path so someone could find their way back to the bear's orchard. It was just after dawn when the farmer turned the cart into the yard. Marie was pacing outside, clearly worried something had happened.

"Mama!" Marie shouted. "You've been gone all night. What happened? Are you okay? Is the horse okay?"

"I lost the path. I stopped and thought to bring back pears, but the trees belonged to someone. They want you to return for the fruit yourself, in exchange for my life. It is not my choice to make, and I will go back myself. The path is marked with the ribbons your brother and sister asked for - it will be easy for either of us to find our way back to the orchard."

Marie thought it over for just a moment. "No. No, I asked for the fruit, even knowing everything else my siblings had asked for. I'll go. I cannot deal with them without you. Better to take my chances with an angry orchard owner than stay here."

Marie and her mother talked and embraced. Then Marie left to follow the trail back to the orchard. Without a horse, it was again dark before she arrived back at the fruit trees. Her mother's trail markers ended, and she found the remains of the fire. Marie coaxed the fire back to life and waited. Soon there came a cracking and creaking in the trees nearby.

"Are you the farmer's daughter who only wanted pears?" came the mumble from the shadows.

"Yes, I'm Marie, and the farmer is my mother."

"I am going to step into the light. Please do not scream." And the bear stepped closer to the fire.

Marie only nodded. "Yes, mother told me the being who owned the orchard was a bear, perhaps under an enchantment. What do you need from me?"

"Actually, I am enchanted; I've tried to break it many times over the years, but it was done by a fairy. As a bear, I've just found that older humans are stringy, and younger humans are far more delicious. Please don't run, it will only make us both very tired in the end." And the bear stalked towards Marie, ready to eat.

"I see," Marie said very calmly. "Mother said it may come to this. She was the one who enchanted you after all. She's sent me with the family sword and staff. Please don't run, my aim isn't very good, and I would hate to enchant any of your lovely trees."

And with that, the beast was no more.

Image information:

"Hutton in the Forest - pears" by kimhollingshead is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
"the dark forest" by danoxster is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 

 

 

Author's Note: So I started with Beauty and the Basilisk and just kind of went off from there. I really didn't like that at the end the basilisk was just more and more demanding, then basically got to say oh, I'm human now we are getting married. So in my version the beast (basilisk) just doesn't get very far at all.

Bibliography: "The Three Roses" from The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922) Web Source.