Genre Remix

I chose to remix my literacy project into a Journal entry

Journal Entry 2010

Today I decided to apply to UNCC, and learn more about Greek history and mythology. It all started when I was in Walmart looking for a new dvd to watch, and I found one called Percy Jackson the lightning thief. It was really cool and had lots of mythological creatures. It was the story of a young boy who finds out he is a demigod and possesses powers. He has to travel with two friends to the underworld to save his mother. It brought together the world of ancient Greece with that of the modern world. It was interesting to see the two worlds collide and I began to wonder to myself who could come up with such an amazing story. That was when I decided to look up the film and discovered that it was based off a book. I quickly found out that Rick Riordan was the author of Percy Jackson and that it was a five book series. From that point on I had to find these books and read the rest of the story. I was so amazed to see the amount of detail Riordan put into mixing the ancient stories with his. I read that he didn’t just make stuff up that would sound like Greek myths, but he actually researched all of the myths he used in his books. This made it all the better and soon I became interested in reading all the myths in which he wrote about. I thought all of this was incredible and that mixing the old with the new made it even more so. I wasn’t completely obsessed, so to say, until the third book. This was when a young boy and his sister were saved by Percy Jackson and taken to Camp Half Blood. This boy would become my favorite character. His name was Nico DiAngelo, and he was the son of Hades, lord of the underworld. Nico was a curious and friendly little boy, until he discovered who his father was. At that point he became a character that I could connect with, he became a loner who was misunderstood by everyone, or so he thought. After reading about him I wanted to learn more about Hades and the myths surrounding him. Although there aren’t many myths in which Hades is involved, the most well known is that of his abduction of Persephone. It was fun and exciting to learn of the power the gods and goddesses held and what they would do for family. I learned all the myths that I could and even some variations of the myths. There seemed to be more than one of every myth and each one was as interesting as the next. Soon I began to realize that there wasn’t much more I could learn without having someone who knew all about it. That was when I looked up the course catalog to UNCC, and found some classes about Greek history and myths. I also saw that they offered a minor in classical studies and study abroad trips to Greece. And so my mind was set, I applied and began my journey to learn more knowledge of Greece. I broadened my horizons from just the Greek myths to the entirety of Greek history and culture. If not for my discovery of Percy Jackson, I would never have discovered this magical world. I would not have been able or capable of gaining the literacy of Greek history and mythology. I owe my great knowledge of the Greek world to Percy Jackson.

Affordances and Constraints:

I found it simple to change my genre from graphic novel, to that of a journal entry. I didn’t really have any constraints, because with a journal entry it’s something that most people write for themselves. Its like a letter to themselves that just reminds them of the past and what they did in the past. It seemed to me that with the genre of a journal entry, there are more affordances than constraints. I could write down what I needed to without worrying about much. I wrote as if I was actually writing to myself in a journal, to be seen by me later on in life.