Reading Notes: Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

This week, I read all of Aladdin Part B. I think it would be interesting to focus more on the genie. How long has the genie been in the cave? How did he become a genie? Why did Aladdin get more than 3 wishes? I will focus more on the genie and give him a background story. I also want to talk a bit more about the princess. Her name is not Jasmine! The story paints her out to be a fool, but I want to show a more compassionate and educated side.

Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, link to the reading online.

Image: Genie Lamp from Success Genie.

Feedback Focus

I would rank the three strategies in this order:

1. Reading Out Loud
2. Using a Timer
3. Copy-and-Delete

Reading Out Loud is especially beneficial to me because it is forcing me to speak the words, which helps me remember them better. Sometimes the inflection in your voice will help you remember words easier. This is similar to when someone is telling you their phone number: you remember it because of the tone of their voice.

Using a Timer is also helpful because you can take breaks. If you reward yourself after 10 minutes of work, you will want to work harder. It is important to treat yourself and give yourself breaks! I like doing this with textbooks especially. It is easier to have an equal amount of work to do in between each session.

Last, Copy-and-Delete: this strategy really does not work well for me. I do know that this helps many people edit!


Image: Books from Wired.

Story: The Sultan and The Fish

The Sultan lived in a magnificent palace overlooking the entire village.  This palace was talked about all over the world. People would visit just to get a glimpse of its marvelous marble pillars and gold vaulted ceilings. The Sultan was proud of his home and loved living an extremely lavish life that people were envious of.  He loved each one of his servants, but one more than the rest. This servant, named Abel, was a young boy who lived to serve the Sultan. The Sultan treated him like his own son, giving him a roof over his head and three warm meals every single day.  One day, Abel went out to go find more fish. He never returned home. The Sultan was crushed.

A few months later, a new servant shows up with more fish than the Sultan has ever seen. “Tell me, where did you get this?” The Sultan questioned the boy.

“The lake! It is three hills away.” The boy answered.

The Sultan knew there was only one lake that people could fish at. This one was not an option. “It must be a new lake!” Thought the Sultan.

The next morning, the Sultan gathered his soldiers and men around the table. “We must set out to find this new lake. Pack enough things to last for a week or a month. We could be there for a while. We leave at dawn tomorrow.”

The men packed nets, tents and food to last for four weeks. They set of in the morning, unsure of what the next month would hold.

After a short three-hour journey, then men finally saw the lake in the distance. The water was bluer than the sky and crystal clear. When you peered into the lake, you could see every type of fish and plant in the water. The fish were plenty and the men knew that they would need to start gathering food here. Once the Sultan was done looking into the lake, he noticed something off in the distance. The bright gold roof reflected off of the sun, making it impossible to tell what the building was. The Sultan squinted his eyes and made his way towards the mysterious building.  As he approached it, he realized it was a palace. This was not any ordinary palace, but a bigger, more beautiful and better palace. If people knew of this, they would no longer visit the Sultan and his palace. The gate was wide open, so the Sultan called out. “Hello?” No response. He walked through the gate and knocked. No response. He opened the door and his mouth fell wide open. This place was everything he wished his palace was and more. “Hello?” He called out again. A small “Hello?” questioned back. 

The Sultan followed the voice until he was face to face with a man in a throne.

“Hello, your highness. I did not mean to intrude. I just wanted to see who lived here.”

The Sultan explained.

“Oh no, do not be sorry! I have not had a visitor in ages. Please, do not call me your highness. My name is Amir. I was banished here after my wife went crazy.” Amir answered.

“Banished? How?” Questioned the Sultan.

“Well, I am not sure if you can tell, but my lower half is completely made of stone. My wife was mad that I was king and she was not the only ruler. So, she did this to me and sent me far away.”

The Sultan looked at him in fear. He questioned Amir on how he had been eating and staying alive.

Amir answered, “I know this sounds ridiculous… but it is almost like there is someone watching over me. Like an invisible person is taking care of me. You must think I am nuts.”

Suddenly, a large vase crashed on the side of the room.

“See what I mean?” Amir said.

“I have been watching over you.” A voice said. The Sultan recognized the voice, “Abel?”

“Yes! I am so sorry I disappeared. Amir’s wife saw me fishing and cast a spell on me to disappear. I think her spell went wrong.

The Sultan seemed puzzled, but knew just how to fix it.

The Sultan had a genie friend who owed him a favor or two. The genie came to the house and fixed Amir and Abel. And they all lived happily ever after! 

Authors Note: After reading about the Sultan and how he found this man made of stone, I was really curious on how he was alive. I wanted it to be the Sultan's beloved servant who had a very kind heart!   The Sultan was interested in the fish and this new palace, so I wanted to make that a focal point of my story. I think talking about how beautiful his palace was was important because he had so much pride in it. 

Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainment by Andrew Lange, link to The Sultan and The Fish. 

Image: Palace from Miriadna

Reading Notes: Arabian Nights: The Sultan and the Fish

The Sultan has wondered into a magnificent palace after hearing about a lake with fish. The palace is just like his, only everything is better. The palace is in the middle of nowhere, and the poor king is made of marble. I am going to focus in on a servant that is watching all of this from the side. No one knows he is there because the queen cast a spell on him to make him invisible. The king doesn't even know he is there. Each day the poor servant, named Abel, helps the prince. He magically brings food and all necessities that the king may need, right to him. The king thinks he is hallucinating when these magical things come to him. When Aladdin comes to save the king, he also saves the servant. Aladdin and the genie reverse everything the queen cast. The servant is free!

Image: Palace from WallPaperUp

The Arabian Nights' Entertainment by Andrew Lange, link to The Sultan and The Fish.

Story: Saint Kentigern and the Robin

Glasgow, Scotland is a very quaint place. There are lots of birds, lots of friendly people and lots of saints. Not long ago, I lived in a nest on the highest tree.  On one particular day, a large ice storm hit. Our nest came tumbling down to the ground, my mom flew away, but my siblings weren’t so lucky. I sat there, freezing, wondering what was going to happen to us. Someone had to see us when they were walking by, right? Hours passed… and no one had walked by. The sun started to set, and I closed my eyes. “Please, please, please someone find us.”

CRUNCH. I jolted awake. “What on earth was that?” I thought. I quickly opened my eyes, and saw a large man reaching down to pick me up. His ice blue eyes focused in on me. “Hello!” The man chuckled. He scooped me up, and we were on our way. He told me his name was Saint Servan and my siblings didn’t survive. We walked for quite a while, until we turned up at a beautiful castle. “Welcome to your new home!” Saint Servan bellowed. We walked in to castle where it was warm and smelled like freshly baked apple pie.

We walked back to Saint Servan’s room, where he quickly grabbed a small round pillow. He began to make me a bed while I sat on the dresser and watched. I wanted to tell him thank you, but I wasn’t quite sure how. A small, soundless whistle came out. Ok, lets try again. Another whistle, but this one louder than the first. Finally, the third whistle was loud enough and Saint Servan turned around. “Well you are so welcome my friend!”

The next morning, the Saint put food in his hand to see if I could eat it. I hopped over to his hand and quickly finished the food. “Wow! You have quite the appetite.” This became an everyday routine for us. Each morning I would eat out of his hand, get on his shoulder and go start the day. The castle that we lived in was actually a boarding school for boys.  The boys all had their own nickname for me, but my favorite was a boy named Kentigern. I think he was my favorite because he was also Servan’s favorite, but he gave me his scraps, so we were best friends.

For some odd reason, the other boys in our school hated him. They did not realize that I could understand their plots to make Kentigern fail. Kentigern was in charge of the wood-burning furnace one night. The boys tried to pour water over it so Kentigern would get in trouble and the castle would be freezing. Little did they know I was watching. I carefully woke up Kentigern at midnight to go check the furnace. The boys had already poured water on it, but only a short time ago. The fire still had embers in it, meaning Kentigern could easily start the fire again.

The boys were annoyed, so they tried to sabotage him again. This time, with me. They captured me while I was asleep and put me in a bag. “What did I ever do to these boys?” I thought. They removed the bag and before I knew it, a boy had his hands cupped around me. Click. I was in a forest. There were a million birds that looked just like me around! “My goodness! What is this place?” I flew over to a bird. “Hello, can you help me?” I asked. “Yes, what can I help you with?” “Where are we?” I questioned. “You’re in the Limbo Forest! It’s a place for birds that aren’t dead, but may not be alive.” “What? What on Earth are you talking about?” “You’ll see.” Minutes passed, I was already bored. A bunch of birds sitting around. Wooo. Suddenly, click.

I was back home! I looked up to see Kentigern crying over me. “What is going on?” I whistled, but they didn’t understand. The mean boys of the school had tried to frame Kentigern and kill me! This is how we found out Kentigern’s tears heal people! Kentigern lived on to become a bigger and better saint than Saint Servan. He saved so many lives, including mine!

Author's Note: The original story, Saint Kentigern and the Robin, focuses on Kentigern and how he was bullied. I think telling the story from an animals perspective adds an interesting twist. I also wanted to give the robin a bigger back story, because Saint Servan loves him so much. I wanted to show their special bond! 

Bibliography: Abbie Farwell Brown, The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts, Link to Saint Kentigern and the Robin. 

Image: University of Glasgow from Wikipedia. 

Reading Notes: Saint Kentigern and the Robin

Saint Kentigern and the Robin was a terrific story. I think a good story for my blog may be to talk from the bird’s perspective, or another boy in the house. The bird could be kind of like a pet from Harry Potter. (Scabbers, anyone?) I think it can think like a human and almost keeps a big brother kind of watch over the boys. Of course, when the boys try to kill him, he will be defenseless. The boys tears will be able to heal anyone, which will become a huge part of the second end of the story. Saint Kentigern will go on to help people for many years to come.

Another point of view could be from another boy. This boy is not jealous of Saint Kentigern, he actually looks up to him quite a bit.  He doesn’t want to hurt Saint Kentigern, so he keeps a watch full eye. This boy, Harrison, will become a close ally to Saint Kentigern. They will become best friends and help each other through trials and tribulations.

Bibliography: The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown. Link to Saint Kentigern and the Robin. 

Image: Red Breasted Robin from Wikipedia. 

Feedback Thoughts

Overcoming the Fear of Feedback was something I immediately clicked on. For some reason, criticism is something I do not handle well. Actually, I know for a fact that most people don't handle it well! There are a couple of ways that we can kick this fear out. I think first, you have to start with yourself. I am going to aim at being extremely positive with all of my feedback. People thrive on compliments and do very well when given praise. There is definitely a right and wrong way to be critical. I think if you do 70% positive, 30% feedback, people will be very please. And do not forget to end on a positive! Your last (and first) sentences are definitely the most important. I am excited to see if I can help other students, and hopefully other students can help me!


Image: Stay Positive from GettingEasy.com