Storytelling Week 3 : Zoology 1114

Zoology 1114

It was the first day of the new semester at the University. The cursed "if you walked underneath it" clock tower rang at every hour, playing the famous state song Oklahoma for all of campus to hear. The bike lane was congested with new freshman, confused why they were almost killed while walking to their first day of class. 

Bike Lane, (Source OU Daily)

Adam, a freshman, was excited for his first day of college. He crossed the busy intersection on Lindsey that separates the South Oval from the dorms, and strolled into Dale Hall with a rush of excitement and nervousness. 

He logged onto Ozone to see which room number his first class, Zoology 1114, was located. 

"Ah! 212. I think that means second floor," pondered Adam. He made his way up the crowded stars, swung a left, and found himself standing outside of an enormous and old lecture room.

Timidly, Adam looked around for a familiar face to sit with on the first day. Feeling flustered because he did not know a single soul in the room, he quickly found a seat in the middle of the room, hoping to blend in with others.

As the clock struck 10:30, the Professor stood on the stage in front of the rookie students, patiently waiting for their undivided attention. 

"Hello, everyone. My name is Greg-Orey Donalds. I will be your professor for Zoology 1114. Now this class..."

The Professor's voice was cut off as the big doors in the back swung open. 

A young and beautiful girl walked in. Her cheeks were red from the embarrassment of walking into class late.

"Sorry I'm late," mumbled the girl.

"Oh no worries! Everyone is forgiven on the first day. Looks like there is only one open seat left, over there in the middle."

Dale Hall

Adam glanced to his right and noticed that the open seat was next to him. The girl started to shuffle across the room to the open seat. She sat down, accidentally nudging Adam's arm with her backpack.

"I'm so sorry!"

"No you're fine! First days are always awkward. I'm Adam."

"I'm Eve. Nice to meet you."

"This class is very hard and will require a lot of studying. I promise to make Zoology 1114 interesting and enjoyable, as long as you all give 100%. I do have one rule though : Do not, use, share, or distribute test files to others. I know that my tests are on the internet and I ask that you not look for them or use them. If you do, there will be consequences. Deal? Alright, let's take a look at the first chapter," said the Professor.

Three weeks went by, and Adam and Eve enjoyed seeing each other every Tuesday and Thursday in class. They had the same interests and got along very well.

During the fourth week, the Professor announced that the first exam would take place in a week. "Please study hard and I will see you all next Thursday."

(The Bizzell Memorial Library by Michael Barera)

A swarm of nervous freshman students walked out of Dale Hall that morning. Eve said goodbye to Adam and walked towards the Bizzell Library to hit the books.


Strolling along, Eve heard someone hollering her name. "Eve! Eve! Wait up!" It was Steve Serpent, the Alpha Sigma Phi pledge. 

"Hey Steve! What's up?" 

"Oh nothing, just going to see my frat brothers at the Union. What are you doing later?"

"Just studying. I'm heading to the Biz now to get started for the big Zoo test coming up."

"Oh. You're actually going to study?" asked Steve.

"Well yeah of course! I really want to get into med school!"

"Don't waste your time. Enjoy college. I have the test files for all of the zoology tests. Just look over them and you'll ace it."

"No I can't! That is against the rules and is an academic integrity issue. I'm sorry but I can't give in!" Eve said sensibly.

"Oh come on. Alpha Sigma Phi is having a HUGE party tonight and I would love for you to make it. There will be jello shots, beer pong tournaments, and a margarita machine. You are  young and in college for only four years. Have some fun. You can attend med school when you are old."

South Oval

"Alright, fine! I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a little help," said Eve.

"Sweet! I'll email them to you and can't wait to see you at the huge party tonight!"

The test file put Eve's mind to ease and relieved the pressure to get an A. She couldn't help but share her secret with Adam. She liked Adam and thought he was cute. She emailed him the files and Adam too felt a weight lifted off of his shoulders.

***

Next Thursday rolled around and the mob of naive freshman entered Dale Hall, carrying number 2 pencils and green scantrons. 

"You have the whole class period to finish the test. Eyes on your own papers. Good luck!" said the Professor.

Adam and Eve both breezed through the test and walked out of the room relieved and confident.

That is, until they both received an email from the Professor on Friday morning, instructing them to meet him in his office immediately.

Adam and Eve walked cautiously into Professor Greg-Ory Donald's office and took a seat. 

OU Campus (by Nicholas Benson) 

"Do you know why you are in here?" asked the Profesor. Adam and Eve exchanged looks and then stared at the Profesor silently.

"You both cheated by studying test files instead of actually studying the material. I had one rule in my class and you both broke it."

"Eve,you fell into temptation by accepting test files from other students and passed it along to Adam."

"And Adam, you fell into temptation by using and accepting the test files Eve sent to you."

"You both knew this was wrong and instead you both did it. Now there is going to be severe punishment. Eve, you will be rejected from every med school you apply to. And Adam, you will endure very painful and awkward job interviews for a minimum wage job. This consequence will now apply to anyone who uses test files in the future."

And from that day forward, many students received rejection letters from medical school and encountered uncomfortable job interviews for low-paying jobs.

***

Author's Note: I based this storytelling off the original Biblical story Adam and Eve. I kept the two main characters (Adam and Eve) the same from the original story. I also told the story in the same order as the original story. However, I did change some factors of the plot. For instance, I changed the scene from Garden of Eden to an OU Campus setting, involving typical freshman experiences such as the cursed clocked tower and the mistake of walking in the bike lane. The Professor symbolizes God and I modeled him after the great professor, Dr. Doug Gaffin of Zoology. In my opinion, Dough Gaffin was the "god" of zoology when I took the class my freshman year. He was a hard teacher, but also one of the most favorite professors on campus. If you look closely, all of the capitalized letters of the professor's name are capitalized, and when put together they spell out GOD : Greg-Ory Donald. When I refer to him as just Professor, the "P" in professor is always capitalized due to God's name always being capitalized in writing. Steve Serpent represents the serpent who tempted Eve to eat the fruit from the tree. In my story, Steve persuades Eve to break the rule and use the test files. Since God inflicted the punishment of painful labor on Eve and all women to come, Eve in this story (and all future "wanna be" med student) were punished too. I had a lot of fun writing this story in a real life setting!


Thee original story is part of the Bible Women unit. (Original Story source: King James Bible (1611): Genesis 2 and Genesis 3.) 

Week 3 Reading Diary: Bible Women Continued

The Witch of Endor It is interesting that the witch was more of a medium in the story who sees the ghost of Samuel rising. It seems a little eerie and adds a bit up mystery and uncertainty to the story.

Bathsheba I find it interesting and a little amusing how the story "tiptoes" around the fact that Bathsheba and David have sexual relations and conceive a child. The scene is very straightforward and to the point "And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house." All of the stories in this unit have a way of describing things in a different and unusual way. I would have to say definitely love at first sight. 

Bathsheba, by Gerome

I also love how curvy and voluptuous women were depicted back in the day and how men believed they were the most beautiful women they had ever seen. David did day he say the most beautiful woman and wanted her.

Mary and Anna I have heard of Anna The Prophetess before, but didn't realize she was so different from a lot of other of the Bible Women. She stayed single and did not remarry and instead prayed and fasted all night. She committed herself complete and entirely to God and it makes me wonder if this was foreshadowing the Nun lifestyle?

I like how all the different stories in this unit flow together and build upon each other. You have to read each of the stories completely and in order to understand the next one the in unit. The unit flows really well and I hope my storybook can flow really well as well.

However, even though this unit is derived from the Bible, the language is a little bit hard to understand. I had to look up the background on the wikipedia links and look up the definition some of the harder words. I want to use complex and creative language, but to where my audience understands my stories easily.

This story is part of the Bible Women unit. Story source: King James Bible (1611)

Week 3 Reading Diary : Bible Women

Eve  I have always enjoyed the story of Adam and Eve. What I like most about the story is that it has purpose. Eve eating the fruit from the forbidden tree, disobeying God's command not to, she brings upon Sin into the human race. Also, Eve's disobedience caused women to have pain in childbirth and severe labor. Although the story of Eve is true, I think creating a cause and effect situation would be fun. Such as the reason we have chocolate milk is because there was a cow who disobeyed the farmer and swam in the pond and turned his skin brown and could only produce chocolate milk.

Hagar: I guess it was common even back in the day to have a surrogate mother when another cannot bare children anymore. It was interesting that Hagar carrying Abraham's child would cause tension because Sarah did not like that Hagar after she became pregnant. After reading more about the story in detail in the wikepdia article,  Sarah's name translates in Hebrew of a women of high ranks, such as a princess or noblewomen. I like the idea of using a name that has meaning to create and make up characters.

Rebekah: I like how caring and giving Rebekah is. She is compassionate and selfless, giving camels water and the servant. It seems like she tried very hard in everything but didn't gain anything. It was interesting how the birth of the twins did not only symbolize sibling and family conflict, but conflict that would affect other generations and nations in the future.

Deliah: Deliah's significance is very intersting because she is a prominent woman figure in the Bible that resembles temptation and betrayal. I love how each woman in this Biblical unit has an important meaning and symbolic value.

(Delilah and Samson, by Lucas Cranach)

Stories' source: King James Bible (1611): Genesis 2 and Genesis 3