Day 30

I do not really know where I will go from here, but I am too glad that it is over! Blogging has really helped me and my writing. I used to be a kind of bad writer, but writing everyday for a whole month has really done positive work for me. But I do not know exactly what I will do with the future of my blog account.

Continuing to blog would be a good experience. The problem is that I don't know what I would write about! Also, I do not know exactly who I would direct my blog to and my audience. I do not know who would even want to take the time out of their day to read my blog, but if someone or people did then I would be pretty thankful!

Day 28

This might sound cheesy, but I am dedicating my pastiche to Mr. Prier. I thought long and hard on who has pushed me to be a better writer and more persevered. Not really anybody else has helped me through out the process of the pastiche and I couldn't ask for anybody else to help me out more! He has really helped me out on writing and pushed me to how much I want to write.

I'm sure we'll have to write more and more as the year goes on, but I'm sure he'll be there to help me after school if I need any. This is something that I have really put a lot of work into, and I want to thank the person that helped me. Thank you Mr.Prier :)

Day 27

- The Story of Pachu & João
- The downfall of the Besta-Fera
- The Village Hero
- The battle of Evil and Good
- The Origins of The Great João

"The Story of Pachu & João" was just a generic name that I thought of from the top of my head. It's simple and introduces two of the main characters, and maybe introduces the protagonist and antagonists. "The downfall of the Besta-Fera" is something i thought up of since Pachu is killed and maybe a mythic story of how a creature disappeared off the earth. "The Village Hero" is something that might indicate the average person becoming a hero.

"The Battle of Evil and Good" is again something pretty simple that I though of pretty fast and sums up the story nicely. The only thing is, it makes it sound as if it is an epic battle for the Earth of something. And finally, "The Origins of the Great João" is something kind of cool I thought up of. It might be the first of many stories that include João and his many adventures.

Day 26

Writing this pastiche and writing in general is pretty beneficial. I was always kind of a bad writer to begin with and never got into the hang of writing good quality stories. Brainstorming with the blog and discussing has really helped with my writing style and overall success. It has helped me with dialogue and story writing in general.

I'm sure that if I continue with my story writing and style every other day it can really get better and I can be the best writer I can be. The blogging experience and the class experience has really contributed to the pastiche's value and how good it has gotten so far.

Day 25

Reading my pastiche draft was really different from actually writing it. The flow seems as if it needs some improvement, but was well enough for someone to like. The style is really simple and straight-forward. Now seeing my pastiche as a whole, there could be more improvement. I might add more Portuguese since there is about only one paragraph that contains it.

I've seen reading it over and over that it seems a bit boring. It seems very predictable and monotone-ish. I could add some excitement to the final battle and more intense-filled scenes. It would really add some variety to the story and want the reader to really keep with the story. There is room for a lot of improvement, only to make my story better!

Day 24

There are a lot of events that occur as the rising action. They all kind of give clues to the main climax of my pastiche. The climax is going to take place when the villagers storm in and João and Pachu have an epic battle together while Pachu is in his mortal, vulnerable state of being. It will have the most tension and I'll try to make the reader really on edge and want to read faster.

My climax falls in the first and second choices that Mr. Prier put up. The goal of defeating Pachu is finally met and they don't have to pay him anymore. Also the greatest challenge of defeating him and gaining independence and safety from such a tyrant of their lives. So they are two great climaxes mixed into one for a great story!

Day 23

In my pastiche I want the kids to take a few things away from reading my story. One thing I want kids to understand is to treat others the way that you would want to be treated, and if you don't it may lead to horrible consequences. It is a good social responsibility because it just shows kids to show respect for one another and to care.

The other thing I want kids to get out of this is portrayed through the main protagonist João. I can make him maybe like a role model to the kids on how to be. He could be forbidden to curse, or do bad things. And since the antagonist Pachu does bad things and only acts negatively towards other people, maybe I can show the consequences that you may suffer. 

Day 22

The theme of my pastiche is, kind of like good will always conquer over evil. Or a different one since the book is going to be intended for younger kids can be is, don't bully because it will always come back to get you. I think this is a very good for the age group the book is intended for because bullying is often found in like 4th and 5th grade.

In my story the "bully" is Pachu since he terrorizes the villagers and bullies them out of the money they make make selling their goods or from the services they perform. Then there is the guy that stands up to the bully first which is João, the "hero". He and the villagers stand up to the bully and take him down. It goes to show that good will always conquer evil.

Day 21

"Once there was a man, who helped out his Brazilian village in one of the biggest ways possible." That is one option of the beginnings to my story. It introduces one of the major characters and something that they did. It also makes a little of the mystery becomes maybe the reader wants to read on to find out what this man did to help out his village in such a big way.

The illustration that can go with the first page can be maybe a nice overview of the village or of the aftermath of when he saved the village. I still have not decided which one to pick though. I also thought of maybe just selecting some images off of the internet because that might make it easier.

Day 20

I have decided that I want to draw all of the illustrations of my pastiche myself. It will take some effort, but I am sure that they will come out good. I want all of them to be done with pencil, then colored in with colored pencils very well and maybe some markers. They are going to be very detailed, but I am not sure exactly what each one is going to contain.

I have thought to scan them, and them maybe edit them a bit. I could use picnik to add some cool effects to all of the illustrations. Or I could add some text into the picture so that they know who is saying what, and for dramatic effect. There are a lot of options, but drawing is the direction I am going for!

Day 19

I can't really think of something I could add that there isn't already in my pastiche. Honestly, I think I am missing some of the South American Latin cultural feeling. Like when someone thinks of Brazil they think of tropical latin stuff, and I feel as if my pastiche doesn't really capture the whole picture of that.

I want to add some things into my pastiche that makes it feel as if the reader is sucked into a Brazilian cultural tornado! I am kind of positive if I kept my pastiche the way it is, it wouldn't feel anything like if it was set up in Brazil or had anything to do with Brazil. That just gives me more to work on!

Day 17

I chose the folktale "The two brothers and the white-bearded old man" to compare to my original folktale, "Brabo and the giant". There are a lot more differences then similarities between the two folktales. I could not find another exact Belgian one, or another one by the same author since there is no exact author.

In the folktale "The two brothers and the white-bearded old man" there are two brothers that decided to venture for happiness from village to village. They meet an old man, and he wants to help them. The older brother accepts the 2 gifts from the old man without hesitation. Then the old man asks for who will help him carry this huge sack to his town. The younger brother answered this time, and the old man told him to keep the sack. The sack was full of precious gems, and when he looks up to thank  the old man he is no where to be seen. Pretty much kindness is always rewarded after all.

The moral of the story is different from my folktale. My folktale's moral is that bullies will always be defeated in the long run, one way or another. They are two very good morals that kids should use in everyday life though. Kindness always really does pay off, sometimes in unexpected ways; and karma will always come back with a vengeance.

Some similarities between the folktales are kind of hard to find, but once found make some good sense. They both have an eager, selfish, greedy character who just wants more and does not care for others and their well being. They both also have a character who does care about others more then greed and wealth, and is rewarded in the end greatly.