The Tales of Aarav Delfino

On a rainy night near the Port of Basrah a weary old man limped down the street into a tavern. He walked into the tavern that was full of clicking tankards, loud music, and the usual chatter of a hundred drunk men and women. As he walked in, it was evident he did not fit into this young crowd. He took a seat next to a scrawny fellow who couldn’t be older than a fourth of his age. The fellow was dressed in a thawb that reeked of fish and the salt from the sea. The young man was sipping on his newly poured arak when the old man finally spoke.

“Ah, I can tell that you belong to the sea, my friend. When do you set sail next?”

“Tomorrow. I just got back from my first trip but I need the money. My wife just gave birth to my beautiful daughter.”

“Well, a working man is the best kind of man. To get your mind off of leaving your daughter, I’ll tell you a story. Have you ever heard of Aarav Delfino and his voyages across the Indian Ocean?” The old man replied with a certain level of eagerness in his voice.

“No, sir, I have not. Would you care to enlighten me? I could really use something to get my mind off of setting sail tomorrow.”

The old man cleared his throat and told the story of the great Aarav Delfino…

When Aarav was about your age, he began an epic journey to Jakarta to trade cloths and pieces of art from his hometown. Now Aarav was quite the barterer and had already taken many of these trips before. He always came back home with a pocketful of sequins and this trip should be no different. However, he couldn’t have been any more wrong.

He set sail on his beautiful ship with a dozen hands that would reap only a small fraction of his spoils. The crew was sailing the sea just off the coast of Sri Lanka when a horrible storm rolled in. The clouds were as dark as a moonless night, only to be lit up by the sharp lightning strikes up above. As the wind swirled, the ship began to sink. Aarav, being the most agile of the crew, jumped off the ship first just in time before the sea engulfed the ship and all of his crew.

Aarav swam for what seemed like forever when he finally reached the shore of a lush island that he had not seen before. He quickly dried off his clothes and put down his large sword. From pure exhaustion he collapsed into an area that was full of fallen palm fronds. He closed his eyes and slept through the night.

As the morning sun rolled over the horizon, Aarav opened his eyes. His vision slowly cleared when in front of him he saw a gigantic egg. From tales of other sailors, he knew exactly what he had come across. It belonged to the 20-foot-long snake called a moccra. These moccras were extremely aggressive and protective when anyone or thing got near their young. Aarav needed to come up with a plan immediately or he would have to fight off this magnificent serpent. If he fought, he would not win.

He was always quick on his feet, so he developed a plan immediately. What he would do was carefully break into the gigantic egg and hide where the young serpent was residing. He would put the egg shell back together and wait for the mother moccra to return.

Portrayal of the moccra

Aarav was waiting in this warm, damp egg when he heard a slow hiss getting closer and closer. He peeked through the cracked egg and saw the giant black and yellow moccra slithering to its young. The moccra curled up next to the egg for it did not know Aarav was hiding there. As the hissing slowed and the moccra fell asleep, Aarav began to act. Jumping out of the egg, he swung his sword into the neck of the mother. A large squeal followed the attack and then complete silence. Aarav had defeated this beast with ease.

The first thing he did was cut off the fangs of this snake for he knew they would easily sell for a thousand sequins each. He then went into survival mode and cleaned the serpent of her meat. He developed a meal plan to survive for however long it took until he found help. What he did not know was that no one was looking for him. He was all by himself.

To be continued...

Author’s Note: I read the Seven Voyages of Sinbad and developed my story on this topic. I wanted to incorporate the storytelling aspect of the original story. Therefore, I made the old man be the storyteller. I think this places a crucial part in allowing the reader to connect with the narrator. In addition, it allows the reader to decide for themselves whether the stories are real, exaggerated, or simply made up.One of the things that I enjoyed when reading these tales were Sinbad’s intelligence and his business-first mind. Therefore, I let Aarav possess both of these traits in order to be successful in his long journey home after his ship was wrecked. In addition, I wanted to include an epic journey where Aarav would face a giant creature. In the original Sinbad, he ran into a giant bird called a roc. This animal shows up multiple times throughout the original story. I did not want to use the same animal as the original so I developed a new animal called a moccra (snake). I plan to include more voyages of his in upcoming stories. After defeating the animals and other obstacles, Sinbad usually makes it back home with ease. In my story, I wanted to make it to where he does not get home as quickly. Therefore, he will have to overcome a multitude of obstacles in order to make it back home safely. 

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Written by Andrew Lang and Illustrated by H.J. Ford. 1898.  

Week 4 Review

Weekly Announcements

Overall, this has been a great work in this course. I really enjoyed all the readings and assignments. I did choose this image because I am looking forward to next week and potentially reading a story similar to that of the Ramayana. I read this book last semester and really enjoyed it!

Famous Last Words

In this course I really enjoyed reading the Seven Voyages of Sinbad. I did not know what to expect but I am glad I chose reading this. This allowed me to write a story that I am not going to try and write my Storybook over. I felt my best writing was actually my story where I wrote about a man telling adventures of his epic long journeys across the seven seas. I am looking forward to reading other Middle Eastern/ Indian stories next week since I was enrolled in the Epics of India course last semester. In addition to this week’s reading, I finally decided to do extra reading and read Aesop’s Fables. I actually really enjoyed this short stories that all possessed moral themes that can be translated to everyday life.

In my other courses I have started to get really busy. I have my first exam coming up on Tuesday morning for my Surface Production course. I have been studying all weekend so I feel prepared. It should be a rather difficult exam so I am a little nervous. I hope to do well on it since I don’t actually have a lot of exams this senior semester (Wowhoo!). In addition to the exam, I am excited because on Thursday it is my 22^nd birthday! I am not a huge celebrator of birthdays but still I am excited this year. I will actually being traveling to Houston though on Wednesday. It is for an Oil and Gas conference called NAPE. This will be a great opportunity to meet and network with industry professionals so I hope it goes well. I am also meeting up with one of my childhood best friends there so that will be great to catch up as well. I am excited to continue working ahead on this course and enjoying the upcoming readings. 

Clothing Shed

Wikipedia Trail: From Sinbad the Sailor to Kublai Khan

Since I started reading The Seven Voyages of Sinbad, I chose to start my Wikipedia Trail with Sinbad the Sailor. My favorite part of the story was when Sinbad hid on the claw of a giant bird called a roc to escape from being eaten. Therefore, my next page I clicked on was the roc, or giant mythical bird. One thing I learned was that it was actually included in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. I read these in Epics of India so I am glad to see a connection in these readings. When I scrolled down to the bottom I saw the Marco Polo once accounted for seeing a large island that possessed such birds. I read about the life of Marco Polo because although I know the name, I do not know much about his travels. They went on an epic 24 year journey only to return and realize Venice was at war. When he was imprisoned, he told of his tales and that is how he became famous. When reading about other travels, I noticed that he met with Kublai Khan, the grandson of the famous Genghis Khan. Kublai was responsible for creating the Yuan dynasty during the late 1200s. This dynasty ruled over much of Asia until the middle of the 1300s. 

Wikipedia: Marco Polo

Extra Reading: Aesop's Fables

This week I decided to read Aesop’s Fables. Below are my reading notes:

• I enjoyed reading these small stories because they all have themes that you can recognize pretty easily. My favorite Lion story was the one about the four oxen and them fighting. For such a short story, the moral is great. I may include it into my storybook somehow.

• I like the fable the Fox and the Crane. It enlightens a certain perspective to each animal. If you care for only yourself, other people will do the same. I also liked the fox story with the Lion because the moral is to not be afraid for it may not always be what it’s built up to be.

Fox and the Crane

• I thought the Wolf and the Lamb story was pretty grim. The wolf was just looking for an excuse to eat the lamb and when that didn’t work, he just ate the lamb anyways. I feel the moral is that someone people, no matter what you do, are always looking for justification in what they want. I think it connects to what goes on all the time in the modern world.

• My favorite story from the Dogs and Cats section is the one with the Cat and the Fox. I thought it was funny how the wolf probably had better options to escape, however, the thought process on choosing one was ultimately fatal. I think it represents that sometimes a quick decision is better than over analyzing every situation. I think I can include this into my storybook where a character has to make a decision.

• My favorite deer story was The One-Eyed Doe. The last sentence in which the doe exclaimed that no one can escape their fate is an interesting moral theme. I could potentially use this in which the main character is subjected to a certain fate that no matter how hard he tries, he cannot escape.

The Fables of Aesop. Written by Joseph Jacobs. 1894.

Feedback Focus

I really liked the first technique of reading out loud in order to stay focused when reading another person's story. I use this quite often as it allows me to really hear what I am writing and it helps me fix certain grammatical errors. It is easy to notice run on sentences or when I accidentally use the wrong tense. I have not actually done the second technique of copy and deleting certain paragraphs of a story before. This was actually a surprise on how much this helped me understand the stories that I read. I am the type of reader that speeds reads and skips over details when I noticed the paper is long. This will allow me to focus in on the each individual paragraph in order to give detailed feedback. I do not know if I will use the third technique as much as the above two. It is not that I do not think it will help but I feel that the above two techniques are superior.

Another technique that I really like is allowing for a time period between when your write a story and when you read over it. I usually write a paper and come back to it the next day before I turn it in. This allows me to stay fresh and not look over the same mistakes over and over. I could utilize this one reading another person's story by reading it twice with a day in between readings.

Overall, I will continue to use reading out loud and the copy/paste option when peer reviewing other students projects.

Laura Gibbs

Learning Challenge: Happiness

I chose to pick happiness for my learning challenge this week because I felt that I have been stressed about what I will do after college. I currently have interviews this semester for a full-time position. I will try and stay positive no matter what happens in order to stay happy. This cartoon is actually pretty funny and I will come back to it whenever I feel down. I plan on looking at more of these awesome cartoons by the New Yorker online. 

H.E.A.R.T. Challenge

Growth Mindset

Growth Mindset Blog

I chose this image above because I feel it really is important to realize when something is not working. If you try a certain strategy in order to accomplish something and it does not work, it is unproductive to try it again. As Albert Einstein once said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". I need to incorporate this into my life a little more because sometimes I feel myself trying the same option countless times and it does not work. This not only wastes my time but does not allow for me to grow and accomplish tasks that I want to. 

Tech Tip: Creating a Google Website

This week I decided to make a storybook for this semester. I had to create a Google site and I did not realize just how easy it is! Below is a link to Professor Gibb's instructions on making your own website for this class or any other possible reasons for making a website:

Google Website Instructions

Reading Notes Part B: The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor

Below is a continuation of The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor:

Sinbad

• I am glad that he now owns his own ship and is going on his own adventures.
• I find it funny that he has such terrible luck to begin all of these journeys. I think it would be funny to tell a story of someone like him who is always happy-go-lucky even though he faces all of these insane situations.
• It would be interesting to write a story where he has to fight off these large birds (rocs). Also, the fact that his story intertwines with the man from the Old Man and the Sea is neat. I could try and connect his story to that of another book.
• Once again, Sinbad comes out on top. I would consider writing this in a modern approach instead of the time period that is being described.
• I found the six voyage to be my least favorite with not much going on. The only thing I would consider writing about is him befriending a King.
• I like how the elephants do not kill him but instead tell him to take ivory from the elephant’s graveyard.
• I am glad that he know wants to just stay home and tell his stories. I may include a singular person telling stories to a person in a tavern or something of that nature.

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Written by Andrew Lang and Illustrated by H.J. Ford. 1898. 

Reading Notes Part A: The Seven Voyages of Sinbad

Below are reading notes for the book The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor:

Sinbad and the Roc's Egg

• Sinbad’s first story begins with him getting stuck on an island after mistaking an island for a whale. This reminds me of Jonah and the Whale from the Bible. It would be interesting to include a story about someone who is lost at sea and finds an island full of inhabitants. Maybe make him extremely powerful and become king of this new civilization.
• Sinbad seems very ambitious and extremely successful. It is neat how he has a lot of money but still is extremely driven to be better.
• Sinbad is always getting out of situations in a unique way. He seems like he uses his intelligence like that of Odysseus, however, he is more down to earth. I like his character more because of his lack of arrogance. I would love to incorporate a story where someone has to escape from extremely large animals (such as a bird, lion, or an insect).
• It is interesting that there is a giant in this story that wants to eat them. I think it is funny how he had the same idea as Odysseus in that they stabbed the giant’s singular eye. I feel that there is a direct comparison between the way Odysseus and Sinbad go about escaping/overcoming obstacles.
• Sinbad’s crew are getting killed off during this third voyage. I may want to incorporate a way in which a majority of them live in order to liven up the story.
• I still am liking the theme of gigantic animals and Sinbad having to defeat them. I wonder why all of these stories make the main character be alone in the end. He always is lucky though and finds a way back home making a lot of money. He seems like quite the merchant.
• I like the way he is tricked into marrying his wife and having to be buried with her. It would be interesting to write a story where a character is tricked into something only to find out it was nothing of what they expected.
• Again, a reoccurring theme that he always comes out on top despite the crazy stories. The fact that these are all first person stories makes the reader wonder if he is exaggerated them in order to make the story better.

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Written by Andrew Lang and Illustrated by H. J. Ford. 1898.