Gabriella+Stripling


 * Assignment #1: M****y Hero**

Harriet Tubman, a significant leader of the Underground Railroad, is my hero. Harriet Tubman was an extraordinary person that helped and saved hundreds of slaves lives during the late 19th century. Tubman was one of nine children of Ben Ross and Harriet Green and was born sometime in 1820 in Dorchester County, Maryland on the plantation of slaveowner Anthony Thompson. Throughout her time on the plantation, Harriet was crucially beaten and tortured. She even recalled one time when she was lashed five times on her back before breakfast time and she still had the scars for the rest of her life. Harriet's worst experience was when she was hit in the head with a two-pound weight after she refused to restrain a runaway. After that she suffered through seizures, extreme headaches, and frequent narcolepticepisodes.

Harriet first escaped in 1849 to Philadelphia because of illness and the death of her slaveowner. After she safely made it 90 miles to Pennsylvania through the Underground Railroad, she realized that she needed to go back in to save the rest of her family and other people in slavery. As time passed, Harriet was able to rescue her parents, her siblings, and about 60 other slaves. She was even nicknamed "Moses" because she was compared to the biblical character who was thesavior of the Israelites. Harriet Tubman is a heroic person because she went above the ordinary by daring to go back into the Underground Railroad to do something important and save other people who needed to get to freedom.

When I envision a perfect world, I imagine the same sort of paradise Adam and Eve lived in. My perfect world would initially have no type of war whatsoever because there is no need for there to be any disagreements. Humankind would be more understanding and gentle and much less hostile for war. Not saying that all humans are nice and kind, just their personality doesn't have any evil and malicious thoughts. In addition to no war, there would also be no illness and diseases. Everyone constantly remains in perfect health and if someone gets hurt, they repair very quickly. Nature and all living things included in it would be in absolute harmony with each other. Human would be friends with animals no matter how ruthless they are, they would always be kind to each other. Paradise living would also include civil rights for everyone. There would be no need for protests because everyone is treated equal. Humans would also have excellent control of technology which wouldn't be considered a threat to society, it would always be convenient. My perfect world would ultimately be the definition of perfect in my eyes, where everything please everyone and everyone is happy.
 * Assignment #2: My Perfect World**

Recently in my life I have received a gift that has given me great joy and pleasure but also some unfortunate damage for me. This item is my debit card. Like the other gifts in the god-teacher stories, my debit card is a blessing and a curse. One of the worst and best things about my card is all the responsibility it takes. It requires a lot of responsibility to keep up with it and save the money that's on it. I'm a forgetful person so I lose a lot of important things frequently, especially my debit card. One time I'll have it and another time I won't. It's annoying how often it happens but eventually I find it and then lose it again. Those times when I do have my debit card are difficult because of the temptation I have to spend mostly all of it. But the upside to having a debit card is having money whenever I want it. I get to buy the things I want without asking my parents for money which is a good feeling sometimes because it's cool to have my own responsibility on a little card.
 * Assignment #3: Double-Edged Gift**



When I was younger, I was extremely unaware of the world andall the terrible things that go on inside of it. I thought everyone else was happy just because I was happy. But as I got older, I've realized that there are people who are inhumane and do terrible things to other people out of absolute malice in their hearts. I've noticed some of this through my time in middle school. I've had great memories in middle school but also some bad ones. Since going to middle school, I've become aware that there are some people who take advantage of other people's feelings and who are straight up manipulative. Middle school also requires a new personality full of responsibility and matureness that can be difficult to maintain considering the fact that I'm a very silly and immature person at heart. But on a positive note, I've learned to break away from my younger self and grow into a more mature and understanding person because of middle school.
 * Assignment #4: End of Childhood**




 * Gabriella Stripling-Assignment #5: Cataracts of Heaven**

My eyes have been blinded by violence These wars are just simple nonsense Ironic how we think we're going to stay When we damage souls every day

The Garden of Eden seems like paradise to this To go back to that is my only wish My heart breaks from everything I have seen If only this all was a dream

I don't know if I have heard the voice Warning me to escape from this noise But I know once the time is right He will vanquish everything out of sight




 * Gabriella Stripling-Assignment #6: Changes in the Stories**

Narcissus, one of the stories we read, had two important transformations and changes that occurred in it. In the story, a conceited and vain man named Narcissus fell in love with himself so much that he was punished and turned into the Narcissus flower. Since Narcissus was so full of his own reflection, he ignored a nymph named Echo, who was in love with him. As Echo kept trying to get Narcissus's attention, she gradually withered away into just a simple voice that repeated the last words of what others say. These changes in this story have given us important origins of important words and plants, like echo, narcissus flower, and the word narcissistic, which means vain essentially.




 * Gabriella Stripling-Assignment #7: Changes in our World**

Throughout all the stories and sections that we have gone through in the mythmker unit, I think that the loss of innocence/childhood idea fits well into the change archetype in our world. Once an individual or a group has gone through a traumatic or drastic experience it matures them in a way and causes a broad change to their maturity. For instance, people, especially children in the world will eventually, if not already have, witness something that will affect and change them personally. The concept of war is a big change that unfortunately most people have to become aware of that changes your perspective on the world or how you view people.


 * Gabriella Stripling-Assignment #8: A Human Year**

Out of all of the four seasons in the year, I would have to say that spring is my absolute favorite season. I enjoy the colorful nature with all the flowers and trees and the spring weather always puts me in a good mood. During the spring season, I have my birthday, a bunch of my other friend's birthdays, and Easter as well so I feel like I'm always celebrating something constantly. In mythology, spring has an archetype for rebirth and symbolizes a renewing of the world and an individual. Following the winter season, which normally symbolizes death, most things, like nature start blooming as if it's becoming a new form. In the same way for me, I begin to feel incredibly happy and ready to change some things about myself like a fresh start.


 * Gabriella Stripling-Assignment #9: Evaluation**

This mythmaker unit has taught me several things about the different stages of life and how I can relate it to myself. It's also given me some awareness about all these symbols that I never knew about in my everyday life. I've learned that as the seasons change, I change and evolve as they do. I have a life, flood, death, and rebirth all through the course of one year. But one of the most important things I learned from the mythmaker unit was that everything that we do will always have some sort of positive or negative outcome on either a group of people and/or that person themselves so we should always be cautious of our actions. No one knows exactly what the future holds, so you never know what to expect. For centuries, humans have been making the same mistakes because they don't know about that history will repeat itself and there's always a smarter solution to everything if you just think about the results. If humans would learn to be more careful and aware of our surroundings then it could lead to a better race of people who understand what it means to be intelligent.