Book Reports (19/3/2013)

Today we were told that we would be presenting our book reports to the group, however our lecturer put us into three groups and had us explain our findings to the members of them instead.

Before the above however, we looked at both Harvard Referencing and annotated bibliographies in the power point 'Using an annotated bibliography'. An annotated bibliography includes a summary after each source as well as an assessment and reflection on the text.      

My group members reported on the books 'Watching the Watchmen', 'Mythology, An Illustrated Encyclopedia' and 'Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl'.

I plan to report upon my book 'The Encyclopedia of Mythology' in a annotated bibliography in a future post.

We were told that next term we would be looking at nostalgia and what it means to be retro in gaming terms which is something I really look forward to as not only do I love retro graphics and music, but we may also get the opportunity to play some retro games in the name of research.

Finally our lecturer challenged us with finding the game 'Ghosts and Goblins' online and seeing how far we can get considering it is meant to be one of the most hardest retro games around.

Reminder on what needs to be in our book reports (12/3/2013)

As deadlines are approaching I asked what our book discussion had to contain in order to make sure what I had planned was on the right lines, thus making the following notes before cracking on with other work.

• Not too long and not too short e.g. roughly 400-500 words spoken. 
• Add why I chose the book?
• Add what it is about?

We were also reminded that we had to have the book on us and that this task is just meant to be an enjoyable and informative one so we don't need to present it on a power point. 

Micro Report on Heroic Quests (5/3/2013)

For this Micro Report I decided to use pages 156 to 157 in 'The Encyclopedia of Mythology' in relation to the section known as 'Heroic Quests'. I decided to pick this subject as not only have heroic quests stood the test of time and helped shaped the foundations of our modern medium, but it is also one of my favourite genres which will become obvious during the rest of this report.   

The pages themselves talked about a variety of quests including Owain's search for the Castle of the Fountain in which he beat the Black Knight and got married, and Cullhwch's quest that included 39 tasks that the heroes had to complete! The pages also referred to the ideas and themes which make up the definition of a 'heroic quest'.

Heroic quests do not just involve mythological tales however. Stories such as the search for the Holy Grail have helped structure not only recent stories, but have also influenced video games, movies and even the adventures told in the role playing game 'Dungeons and Dragons'. This is definitely true as the foundation for heroic quests is similar to the hero's journey. For example, the adventurer/s will accept a quest (sometimes willingly, sometimes not), meet people who may or may not be a hindrance to them before finally reaching the climax of the story in which the hero/s may or may not resolve their quest.

I strongly agree with a quote from the Encyclopedia which stated "Whatever the goal, the quest usually takes on a magic of its own, leading the hero down unexpected bypaths of adventure and discovery." (Cotterell, 1996, p. 156). This is definitely true as there is a sort of 'magic' to be had in the adventure genre. For example, even though the hero has a primary goal they will often meet new comrades and fulfil tasks for others that may be considered trivial side quests compared to the main quest e.g. the search for the Holy Grail. These side quests however may provide the hero with either an item or information that will prove useful in their main quest. Sometimes it is not even the original goal that the hero is rewarded with, sometimes it is the lessons learned and the friends made that is the true reward, a journey of discovery, enlightenment and change of character if you will.

The idea of a quest in order to find something is identical to a video game or a game of 'Dungeons and Dragons' as the players are given an overall goal, but it is the allies they meet and the tasks they complete that are similar to side quests which the players can choose to accept or not. Sometimes the player/s may want to focus on the overall goal, but by doing these side tasks they set themselves up with rewards and the satisfaction similar to those that the heroes would have received in mythological stories of the past.

Harvard Referencing: 

• Burne-Jones, E, D. (1890-4) 'The Aiming and Departure of the Knights of the Round Table and the Quest for the Holy Grail' Painting [Online image]. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/they-shook-me (Accessed: 5/3/2013).
• Cotterell, A. (1996) The Encyclopedia of Mythology, London: Anness Publishing Limited.
• Unknown. (2010) 'Dungeons and Dragons' heroes [Online image]. Available at: http://my.mmosite.com/2425229/blog/item/c4d5e6eb6e9f07cbfecb4d4b19f7421b.html (Accessed: 5/3/2013).

One to one session (5/3/2013)

One to one session:

During my one to one session my lecturer and I spoke about the following points.

• My concern that my writing style is becoming too casual - shouldn't be a concern during the first year, however during the second year I may wish to go back to a formal style. 
• I should be backing up my notes and paragraphs with quotes from the individuals / references we have looked at as not only does this demonstrates my understanding of examples we have talked about, but it also backs up my arguments and makes my statements convincing. This is especially important as so far my lecturer says he has found my writing very interesting and likes it when 'my voice' shows on the page. However, 'my voice' is not backed up by enough (if any) references that I can choose to agree with or not. Adding these will assist me in getting me a higher grade.
• Write more about my own opinions on each session as so far what I have written has not always been detailed enough.
• Obviously need to make sure that all my references are fully recorded which I recognise is something I need to do.