Week 6 Lab: TedEd Videos on Style

For this week's story lab, I watched the eight TedEd videos about creative writing and style. Here are some of my observations and key takeaways from my two favorites!

I really enjoyed the video on creative constraints. I learned about how some restrictions on tasks actually help us produce interesting things and help our brains better process what we want to do. In some subjects, like science and engineering, certain constraints are inevitable. These constraints can be especially useful though in helping humans achieve our goals and invent interesting devices. Constraints can guide our decision making in many critical ways. Many extraordinary scientific inventions that have impacted multiple fields were the product of facing creative constraints.

Another video that I especially enjoyed from the set was "What 'Orwellian' really means." I've heard this term a lot and read parts of George Orwell's book 1984, so I had some base knowledge before watching. I learned from the video that "George Orwell" was just a pen name for author Eric Blair. The video explains that reducing the term "Orwellian" to simply be a synonym or substitute for "authoritarian" doesn't fully capture the author's message in the classic 1984. In fact, the video asserts, lazy use of the concept "Orwellian" actually relates to a passion of Blair's: the use of words and how language can shape societal ideas. The state in 1984 dramatically alters the English language to discourage critical thinking, thus altering the populace's perceptions of reality. Orwell was concerned about a form of this occurring in not only authoritarian states, but also in democratic societies. The video also introduces the concept of immoral actions and evil concepts being disguised in complicated, scholarly language to obscure how bad they are. Even the language used in basic marketing ads and normal speeches by politicians are crafted to make us think certain things and in ways. Additionally, the urge to mindlessly regurgitate certain phrases and sentences we hear in modern media actually can discourage us from insightful critical thinking. The ability to communicate complex thoughts with clarity and sound structure is an essential component of mental freedom.

Headstone of Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell) in All Saints' parish 

churchyard, Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire. Source: Wikimedia

Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins, Part B

Here are my reading notes for Part B of the unit for this week!

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins, translated from Sanskrit by Arthur W. Ryder, with illustrations by Perham W. Nahl (1917).

I want to keep focusing on interesting names for today's notes. In the first story for today's reading, the author tells us of a woman named "beautiful." The goblin telling the story remarks that "No doubt the Creator put together in her the priceless elements of charm and loveliness after his practice in making the nymphs of heaven." Many of these riddles by the goblin so far have revolved around love, romance choices, and attractive characters, so this name fits in with others that have occurred. However, this one is perhaps the most clear in what it signifies about the character.

A whole family is given interesting, descriptive names in the next short tale. The author describes a "merchant named Jewel....His wife was named Pleasing, and a daughter named Pearl was given to her prayers." The names of the family members signify wealth and happiness. The daughter's name and origin perhaps indicate her status as a special blessing. It seems that the wife, "pleasing," must be well-liked by her husband and/or others around them. The King of the city that this family lives is named "Hero-banner." This name suggests success and might. The names, which are all introduced early in this story, are rich and help frame the subsequent tale and riddle.

The next story features another merchant's daughter, this one "named Passion. Everyone who saw her fell in love and went mad with passion." This continues a consistent motif in the riddles of the goblin: a beautiful young girl who attracts multiple suitors. In this same story, there is a king named "Glorious," which is a name consistent with another recurring character archetype in Twenty-Two Goblins: the heroic, successful, mighty king. However, the name of the king in the following story isn't as praiseworthy. The author tells readers of "Earth-boar," whose name seemingly implies brute physical strength but a lack of intelligence, morals, refinement, and/or true heroism. Another interesting name in this story was a village named "Sacrifice." This could indicate many things, and I initially interpreted the name as a foreshadowing of something to come in the story. 

Multiple vibrant, strong names contributed to this frame story and the fun riddles within!

Illustration by Perham W. Nahl from 

Arthur W. Ryder's Twenty-Two Goblins (1917). 

Source: Wikimedia

Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins, Part A

For this week I read Part A of the "Twenty-Two Goblins" unit, which was translated from Sanskrit.

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins, translated by Arthur W. Ryder, with illustrations by Perham W. Nahl (1917).

I want to focus on character names, as Ryder has translated the Sanskrit name meanings into English equivalents.

Right from the start, we get a sense of the setting and main character from the translated name meanings: "On the bank of the Godavari River is a kingdom called the Abiding Kingdom. There lived the son of King Victory, the famous King Triple-victory, mighty as the king of the gods."
A place called "Abiding Kingdom" with a King whose name implies military success suggests power and strength. We then meet a "monk called Patience" in the introduction. This name seems to clash in style with the name of the King, but both could be relevant parts of an "Abiding" kingdom. Names can carry so much literary weight in stories! In contrast to these names, we also meet another central character in the introduction: the goblin. The goblin isn't given a name, which is perhaps also significant.

In the first riddle of the goblin, readers meet a "very beautiful daughter named Coral." This is a nice name that seemingly signifies innocence and perhaps purity. In the next story, we are told of a king named "Merit," perhaps indicating his success and goodness. The king's advisor in the story has a daughter named "Moonlight, who was worthy of her name, for she was famous for her matchless beauty and charm." Names play a significant role in introducing how a character will operate in a story. This especially seems to be the case in short stories where the author has less time to develop a character's profile via detailing their actions.

I really enjoyed the stories from this week's part A of the unit. The riddles were clever and often stumped me, and the framing story was highly entertaining! Focusing on names allowed me to think closely about different characters and their attributes.

Illustration by Perham W. Nahl from 

Arthur W. Ryder's Twenty-Two Goblins (1917).

Source: Wikimedia