Feedback Focus

1. Reading Out Loud

I really like reading out loud, but sometimes it distracts from the reading's content because I focus on my voice. I'm really into voice work, so this might just be a problem for me. I still think it's a good technique if you really need to focus and slow down.

2. Copy-and-Delete

This technique was a little better than the reading out loud technique in terms of retention with just one read-through because it forced me to think about what had been said at the end of paragraph. I tried this method while reading out loud, and it made the experience even better. I was very aware during the reading.

3. Use a Timer

I usually use timers when I work on homework because I use the Pomodoro technique, which entails 25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5 minute break. This technique works pretty well for me. I think in all honesty, the best idea is to do all three of these techniques simultaneously if possible!

Focused readers by Erik Albers from Wikipedia

Reading Notes: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories, Part B

The Two Brothers

I wonder what the motivations Anpu's wife has to betray Bata. Was she so ashamed of being rejected by him that she decided to make sure he was killed by his own brother? Also, I don't really understand the cultural significance of the raiment. It didn't seem like such a big deal (for both parties).

Here again is another example of a woman being portrayed only as a source of conflict, and then being tossed aside by her husband. Are there stories in Egyptian or other myth that have more favorable women characters? Also, it is worth noting that the two wives are not given names, signaling their lack of importance as characters.

sacred bull (Bata?)

The Book of Thoth

From the first part, it seems like this is going to be a classic story of the young, naive fool who dreams for too much and pays dearly for it. I hope that something different happens, but I don't think it's likely.

I wasn't aware that Nefer-ka-ptah was so skilled in magic. For a story, it would be cool to modernize his quest for a powerful book, but instead of godly powers it could deal with secrets of some famous author or something.

I had no idea that the ancient Egyptians loved beer so much.

These stories read much like a fairy tale, with much parallelism in the sentence structure. 

Bibliography: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie. Source.

Reading Notes: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories, Part A

Ra and Hathor

Story idea: Apple's users, like the earthly men in the story, have become rather critical of the company. Apple becomes very upset, and believes that they might try to up and leave the company, or maybe just demand that CEO be fired or something, so Apple sends out messengers to go and collect their Apple devices (could be in the terms of service agreement or something). Almost all of the devices have been collected, but the the head of Apple decides that he actually wants Apple to go on living, and no longer fears the users' revolt. (Could be due to a letter sent by a young artists, or a mother talking about how an iPad really helped their kids learn numbers/read/etc.)

Osiris

The interesting thing about this mythology is the gods are really interactive with the humans in a positive way. Osiris and Isis teach the Egyptians about agriculture and how to live peacefully, which is pretty different from the stories in Greek and Roman mythology.

The Green Ring

Bibliography: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie. Source.