Resources: 1

I did quite a bit of research on a few other popular authors this week and the past few weeks. for the sake of not making this seem boring I'll only state a few of the sources that I discovered the first week of my launch.
 While researching Tolkien I was able to discover that one of the authors who inspired him was named George MacDonald who wrote many popular stories such as The Princess and the Goblin.
I was also lucky enough to learn a little bit about Tolkien's experience during WW1.

Our pole

Shane and i have begun to collaborate together with our respective fields of study. he is studying human emotion and passion. Mine is writing in order to become an author. linked to Shane's name is the pole we have devised to ask why people find enjoyment in different forms of media. We are attempting to find what it is that is actually at the heart of the sense of enjoyment we get from our TV or our books.

Literary analysis #4

The Hobbit By Tolkien

1 The story begins with the protagonist, the hobbit Bilbo, smoking his tobacco pipe on his front porch when his is approached rather suddenly by the wizard Gandalf who selects Bilbo to take part in a quest. Bilbo at first resists the quest, but eventually he succumbs to his curiosity and joins the wizard and thirteen dwarves on their quest to recover their lost treasure.
Tension rises as the Company journeys trough the Goblin infested Misty Mountains and the dreaded Mirkwood forest. Three times the dwarves are captured and Three times they are rescued without the loss of any of their own lives. While alone and lost deep within the caves of the Misty Mountains he discovers a magical ring that could make its bearer invisible. With the ring he is able to save the dwarves when they are captured by the spiders and when they are imprisoned by the wood elves. Eventually they are able to make it to the Lonely Mountain.
2 The theme of the story is to go live an adventure instead of living a boring life.
3 The author tends to have an informal tone as if the story were true and it had been told to him many times before it had been shown to you.
"This of course was the proper way to talk to dragons, if you don't want to reveal your name (which is wise),..."

4I find the book to be realistic in the manner that Bilbo seemed to be a real person. Though he became more bold towards the end of the story his temperament and his personality were consistent. The events were
slightly realistic because that is how i think the characters would act in those situations.
Characterization
1 Bilbo was indirectly characterized as cleaver and resourceful through the multiple challenges in which he is forced to use his whits and his ring to 
2 When the author focuses his attention on a character he describes not only what the character is thinking or feeling, but also justifies it with facts about how his world works and
3 At the beginning Bilbo starts as a boring man who lives all alone without much struggle in his life, nor a desire to find anything else. Few of his talents are revealed in the beginning, most of his talents  discovered as the story progresses.
4 At the end of the story I defiantly feel like I really have met Bilbo. I was able to read as he turned into a brave 'Burglar' as he is called by the dwarves.


"Never laugh at dragons,.." Page 194

The big 5

Identified below are five authors who have done great work in fiction. I will use their works as guide posts to point me in the right direction for becoming an author.
J.R.R. Tolkien
C.S.Lewis
George MacDonald
J.K. Rowling
Robert E. Howard
 

My Team

Team Jon
I honestly don't have much of a team as of right now (terms of quantity not quality). I have begun to collaborate with Shane and Dale today. And Judith told me that she would be willing to cooperate. I also was able to to find a new writer and was able to give him some feedback on the novel he has been writing on and i gave him the URL for my fiction blog, but i have yet to get a response.
I have also asked some of my supportive friends to join my team and i will have to see where that will take me.
At the request of Johna I have begun to write a sarcastic short story to show what I can do as of now.

Master Piece Esssay #1

    I have done a lot of research on some of the great Fantasy writers and some of the works they were inspired by and was myself inspired by some of these works.
    A world inspired by the works of great fantasy authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and George MacDonald. A world filled with mystery and danger. Mystical creatures and vicious beasts fill the lands. Existence and survival is a struggle.
       Two brothers are separated when a group of bandits known as the Serpents attack their home town. The younger brother is taken by the bandits to be sold as a slave. The older brother barely escapes with his life and is unable to follow the bandits.Great perils await them as they both unknowingly embark on a journey of legendary proportions.
 The following is a small excerpt from the first chapter from my work:

                 As Glen lay dreaming he smelt the presence of smoke in the air and opened his eyes. What he saw struck terror into his heart. The room, usually lit by moonlight or starlight, was black as pitch with the smoke that slowly chocked him. He shook Meredith, but she too was awake and aware of the fire. They jumped out of their bed and ran to their children.  Glen shook Hawkasuma awake, threw Dakisuma onto his shoulder and ran out of the house.

                Outside three men in dark clothes were waiting for them.  They held swords and axes and laughed as the family looked at them in confusion and horror. Without saying a word the men approached them slowly. Glen Knew who these men were, he had heard rumors of their existence. These men were members of a group of bandits that called themselves the Serpents. In the light of the fire that consumed their home he could see the symbol of a white serpent on their chests. The serpents are known for destroying villages and taking the young away, never to be seen again while leaving their parents as rotting corpses.  Glen’s heart jumped into his throat, he was unarmed and their blades shone brightly in the light of the fire.  He handed his son Dakisuma to Meredith and told her, “Take our sons to the river. Seek refuge with the Koosha clan down the river.” Meredith protested with her eyes, but Glen urged her to go. She took the children and ran as Glen told her.

Welcme to my network

In order to further my practices as a writer it is essential that I build an audience that can give me honest feedback and constructive criticism.By looking through some of the class blogs I have invited several of my classmates to assist me in becoming an author. I have also received an invitation to join in Dale Bebeau's learning network.
 I have asked the following people to join my learning network.:
Shane Cheverez: His deep analytical ability should be able to give me an honest and beneficial critique. 
Judith Botello:
Jorge Garcia:
Dylan Horton:

Peer review

Amparo-
 The beautifully colored blog quickly grabbed my attention and as i examined closer I found a vast amount of information regarding self defense. All he work is turned in on time and is completed. And a side note i don't think anyone is going to want to get into a fight with her considering how much effort she is putting into the study of self defense. 

Judith-
Judith's blog had some nice content that revolved around the subject of helping others. Most of the required content is posted, with the exception of what seems like a very small number of assignments. Her Literary analysis was completed to the letter and I believe that she did very well with the analysis.

Dylan-
He hasn't been doing much of his work recently, but the work that is done is always completed.

Shane-
 At a quick glance you can quickly tell that Shane puts a lot of effort into his blog because of the depth of his writing. This is not just a one time occurrence, every assignment is complete down to the letter. The blog has been decorated with a music player at the top of the screen which allows you to listen to music that is quite entertaining. Other than that it is quite easy to monitor his progress because he displays all of his research in his 'research progression' post.

My Vocabulary #2

magnanimity- A loftiness of spirit, being able to handle trouble calmly.
consanguinity - a close relation or connection.
rectitude- the quality of being honest.
arrant- Notoriously bad
askance- in a way that displays a lack of trust or approval
aura- a pervasive quality that emanates from a person or a thing.
bellicose- inclined to start quarrels or war
cajole- to persuade someone to give something to you by making false promises or saying nice things.
citadel - a stronghold that commands a city
Dilapidated-decayed, depleted, or fallen into partial ruin
disavow- to deny knowledge or involvement with.
elicit- to get a response from someone
evanescent - fleeting
expiate- to make amends for
flamboyant- Characterized with extravagance and in general by want of good taste.
charnel - a place to keep corpses
intrepid- fearless and bold
laggard-having a tendency to lag.
absconding-to escape in secret
longevity-having a long length of life
malediction- the calling down of a curse.

With a Little Help From My Friends

There are multiple abilities that I may be able to employ to improve my storytelling abilities that my friends or those around me may have. There are probably several more that i have neglected to gave thought, but these are the ones i was able to come up with off the top of my head.
- Talent wtih art
- History

Welcome to the Interdisciplinary

To become an Author I belive the following disciplines will be necessary:
-Mechanics of Enlish
-Vocabulary
-Mythology
-Creativity
-Continuity
-Characterization
-History

Resource: 1

I began with researching plot development and I learned that I essential need to begin with a rough draft for teh general direction of the story. I learned that by deciding the basic format for the ending that I could 'guide' the characters through a series of events that would build the tension until the climax.

I also did research on several personality types so that I may understand how other personality types think. I was able to find a tool that I can use to categorize personality types into a combination of different traits. .(Extroversion, Introversion; Sensing, Intuitive; Thinking, Feeling; Judging, Prospecting) Each personality type is a combination of four of these eight traits and it allows me to understand the weaknesses and strengths associated with each type of personality.

I also began researching demonology and the various monsters that have commonly populated other popular fantasy worlds. I was able to research the Hydra, Cerberus, and a variety of other creatures. There are still many more that I may be able to find useful I have decided to develop my own.

Launch : becoming an author

 I have decide that i want to become an author because I love to entertain people with my stories. Earlier this school year I learned how to "display" my work by placing it in public vie for all to see. I believe that by placing my works on the blog i created for my fiction that i will be able to gain the knowledge of the public opinion of my work and learn how to improve my abilities by understanding what they enjoyed and how i can change what they didn't enjoy. Ultimately I would like to write a a fantasy that i have been working on for a long period of time and publish it. To reach that point i will need to research mythology,  medieval cultures and civilizations (because the setting is medieval), as well as other novels to see which methods have worked and which ones have not. To demonstrate the development of my skills I will also work on several Short stories and post these to my blog.

My Vocabulary #1

Chronological- Arranged in order in which events happened.
The bard told the events of his tale in a chronological order

Continuity- a continuous quality
When writing a story it is important to keep the continuity of a characters personality traits. 

Empathy- The ability to share someone else's feelings.
She lacked empathy and mocked the man in mourning.

Altruism- unselfish regard or devotion to the welfare of others.
He was very altruistic and was always offering help when it was not asked for.

Archetype- a perfect example of something.
he believed that his brother was the archetype of musicians because his brother could play all instruments.

Bane- killer, slayer
He used the Dragon's band to protect the city from the destructive beast.

Devious- willing to lie or cheat to get what s desired.
The devious man hid cards up his  sleeve as he played card games.

Machiavellian - cleaver and deceitful.
It was a Machiavellian battle for control.

Unscrupulous- not honest nor fair.
he was unscrupulous in his work ethic and often double booked his dealings.

Debauch - 1 to corrupt by intemperance or sensuality. 2 to make disloyal. 
He was debauched and betrayed his king for the beauty of a woman. 

Mar- to detract from the beauty or the wholeness of. 
His face and body was seriously marred by the brutal beating. 




Ensconce- to firmly place or hide.
He ensconced himself high in the branches of the trees. 


Haughty- having an insulting attitude because of  arrogance. 
His haughty attitude often aggravated his coworkers.


Lachrymose-tearful or mournful. 
My grandfather became very lachrymose at this brother's funeral.


Crepuscular- active at dawn or dusk.

Acquiesce- to agree to by way of not arguing.
They demanded their terms be met he decided to acquiesce.

Epistolary- written in the form of a series of letters.


Polemic- a strong written or spoken attack against someone's beliefs

Equivocate- to speak ambiguously

Obstreperous- noisy and  boisterous

Titter- to giggle quietly.

Esoteric- obscure.