Indian Epics: January 2016

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Week 2 Review

I liked reading this post about the different timeless stories. I thought the illustrations were interesting and put a new light on stories I have known for years.

Tech Tip: Rearranging

I have now rearranged my widgets to where my labels is at the top of my blog for easy access to different sections of my blog. The feature is in the design window under the tab Layout.

I have added a Current News Widget to the side of my blog. I like to try to keep up with the news so I thought this would be a good way to do that. I did this by going to my blog, clicking design in the top right hand corner and adding a widget.

Learning Challenges: Laughing

I heard a quote once that a day without laughter is a day wasted and I agree. I think laughter is a big part of happiness. I am the kind of person who thinks laughter is contagious so the picture below definitely makes me laugh.

Laughing By: Alon
Photo found on Flickr

Growth Mindset: Memes

I thought this meme was pretty funny because it reminds me of two siblings getting caught doing something wrong. The "deer in the headlights" look. This meme is a funny way to encourage team work and the amount of work that can be achieved when people work together.

LOLCat at cheezburger:

Topics Research Summary

1. In other classes I have always enjoyed reading about Gods and Goddesses. They interest me because they are dynamic characters that are involved in life of earth. If I were to do a storybook over this topic I would want to do Vishnu and Brahama.

Vishnu is interesting because he has a human like form but he is also blue and has four arms making him distinct in his features. One thing I would like to learn about Vishnu is his abilities and avatars. I am not familiar with either of these topics.

I recognize Brahama from our past readings of Ramayana. I would like to learn more about his relation with Rama and Ravana. I would also like to learn about his wives.

Gods and Goddesses

(image source: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva

with Saraswati, Lakshmi and Paravati)

2. Whenever there is a story about Gods and Goddesses there is usually a Hero or Heroine to go with it. I would be open to doing a story book or portfolio about a combination of Gods and Heroes.

One hero, of course, would be Rama because of my previous knowledge of him. I like his courage and drive so it would be easy to write about the Ramayana story. I would like to do more research on his relationships with his brothers, mother, father, etc.

Since I am interested in the God Vishnu I would also like to look into his avatars his other avatar Krishna.

Heroes and Heroines

3. Animals in the epics are a unique part of the class that I would base my storybook on because of the variety of parts an animal plays to each epic. I also enjoy animals and think it would be entertaining to make up stories about them.

I would like to learn more about the part animals play. Sometimes they are Vahana which is just a vehicle for a God but sometimes they can speak and interact with the hero or heroine. When studying animals I think I will also learn more about Vishnu and his avatars.

Animals

4. One idea I have for a Storybook is the family heritage within epics. The more I read about different epics the more I see how they are all somewhat connected. The family heritage is a little hard for me to keep up with though.

I would like to learn more about the theme of brother hood that was one of the central themes for Ramayana. Another relationship that confuses me is the relationship Rama has with his father Brahama who seems to be absent most of the Ramayana story.

Family

Friday, January 22, 2016

Story Telling for Week 2: The Golden Bow

When Rama was just a young boy he used to dream of a day when he would be strong enough adventure into the jungle with his bow and arrow by his side. He would run around his house with a play bow and arrow and shoot it at bales of hay. When he grew up he took his childhood dream with him and practiced shooting arrows into a target until his arms gave out. Rama was a handsome man that ever girl in the country would find themselves lucky to be with him especially since he was the Kings eldest son. He never found interest in any of them until one day he came across a girl named Sita. She was elegant, beautiful, and fond of him too.

While dating Rama and Sita were inseparable and everyone in their families loved them except Ravana, Sita's Uncle. When Ravana found out about his niece relationship he put a curse on Rama which forced him into exile in the jungle. When Sita found out she ask Lakshama, Rama's younger brother, to help her find him. They took Rama's bow and arrow and journeyed into the jungle.

Rama, Sita, and Lakshama
Source: Wikimedia

Once they had found Rama they decided to stay with him in the jungle. Lakshama was a good brother and refused to leave his brother alone in exiled and Sita loved him too much to leave his side. They set up a camp in the middle of the jungle where they lived for a long time. Each day Lakshama and Rama would adventure through the jungle to hunt for food. Rama enjoyed his time with his family and also was happy to fulfill his childhood dream of adventuring through the jungle.

When Ravana decided to check on his exiled hostage he found that he was not a miserable hostage at all. He spied on their camp for several days and after the third day he made a plan. Once the brothers had gone out to hunt we would capture Sita and take her away. The next morning he followed through with his plan. When the two brothers got back from their hunt Rama searched in a panic to find Sita. When he couldn’t find her he ran off into the trees to morn for his lost love when he found a sage that stopped him in his tracks. The sage told him of what had happened and the trials and tribulations that were ahead of him but Rama did not care about the hardships because he knew he had to get Sita back.

Rama ran back to the camp site to tell Lakshama the news about Sita. Rama then made a plan for them to go through the jungle to find Sita. Rama knew that Ravana would have set traps and sent demons to stop him but he was prepared. In his bag he carried a golden bow that the sage had given him and in his heart he carried love.

To be continued…

Authors Note: For this story I used the real names of the characters from Ramayana and all the relationships between the characters are also true to the original story except that Ravana is not Sita's uncle but instead a nemesis of Rama's. The golden bow in the story comes from the golden sandals in the original which was a symbol of Rama. Another part of the story true to the original was the capture of Sita. Rama was truly exiled by his stepmother but in the story I combine the stepmother's character with Ravana. The rest of the story is my own imagination.

Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition

Week 2 Reading Diary Continued: Ramayana

I took a couple days between reading part A and part B so I had to go back and review what was happening in the story before I moved on. I will know for next week that it is easier to just read both sections at the same time. One thing I would change about this story is the format in which it is set up. I do not like having to click between links to find one story. This creates a lot of clutter in my tabs and makes it difficult to find where I am in the story. Another thing that has helped me in reading this is giving the characters nicknames that I can pronounce in my head.

Rama's brother, Bharata, is loyal to him and he promises to not sit on the thrown but instead save it until Rama got back.

Bharata is a good brother and good son because he does a proper funeral for his father but still plans to help his brother

Bharata cannot convince his brother to come back wth hm so he takes his sandals to represent him which think is kind of strange because how would the people know that they were rama's shoes but I guess they would just know the fact that they are golden

Bharata, Rama, and the golden sandals.

Rama and Lakshmana fight demons in the forest who have special powers

Ravanas sister ( Shurpanakha) Falls in love with Rama but rama love sita

Shurpanakha fights dirty and goes after sita

Sita is mesmerized by a golden deer and begs Rama to go get it

Maricha is evil and can disguise himself and make himself sound like Rama

Sita is strong in her will against Ravana when she is captured

It ends with Rama and his brother still on their voyage to find sita

Public Domain: Ramayana

Week 1 Review

This was my favorite post in the announcements page because the squirrels at OU are crazy but I have always wanted to catch one.

Featured Storybook: Animal Tales From India to Oklahoma. You've all seen those squirrels on the OU campus, but there is one special squirrel in particular, a talking squirrel, who is eager to tell you the tales of his days in ancient India.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Week 2 Reading Diary: Ramayana

It took me a few minutes to become comfortable to the way the stories are told. The language is different than most books. The names are also hard for me to read so I find listening to the audio book very helpful and even then it is hard for me to remember the names for later on in the story. This story also reminds me of The Odyssey.

The city was filled with happy people but Dasharatha, the king, was not happy because he did not have a son
Wives were embarrassed that they could not make the kind happy
The Gods promised not only one but four sons after the offering
Ravana is an evil God and the people seek Brahma
support the evil God - rakshasas, Maricha and Subahu,
Vishvamitra needs Rama (the beautiful son of Dasharatha) to do bad things
Rama and Lakshmana are the heros of the story
Vishvamitra tells Rama a story inside this story

Sita Vanavasa: Sita in exile; Ravi Varma Press.

(L0021787 Credit: Wellcome Library, London)

Rama is n love with Sita there is a large poem like story about Sita.
Ramas choice weapon is a giant bow that others cannot even lift
At the end of this section the king died but before he died he tells a story of hunting.

Link to Public Domain Edition of the Ramayana

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Tech Tips: Background and Font

At the end of the week I decided that I wanted to change the design of my blog. I did this by going to my blog website and then clicking on design in the top right hand corner. Under background there are any different options for a background which also changes the style of your posts. I have chosen a "garden" like background because I love to garden. I also changed the font of my header under advanced design.

Learning Challenges

H.E.A.R.T

The H.E.A.R.T concept is also newly introduced topic to me from this class. Although the concept of learning by H.E.A.R.T is not actually about the human heart, the picture below is what I imagined when viewing the title of this topic.

Real Heart
Source Wikimedia

H.E.A.R.T. stands for Health/ Happiness, Empathy, Attention, Reading, and Time Management. All of these topics are important in our lives. The first video given gave me a wide prospective of how much time I have in my life to spend doing things other then the necessities. The way the video is set up make the viewer feel as if they have wasted their time in life. One of the hardest things for anyone to do is manage the time they have in their lives. The second video gave insight to all the things we have given up because of procrastination and all the great ideas that could have been used if only we had not given up on them. This way of looking at things could change the way manage our time and our lives.

Introduction to Growth Mindset

Growth Mindset

This is the first time I have heard of the concept "Growth Mindset". After watching the videos provided I realize that it is a great tool for people to use to grow and be success. In this learning experience students are rewarded for their thought process as apposed to their results. When students are rewarded for results then they are taught they everything that they do should be easy and that is what is good. In this was of teaching there is no development or challenge.

Growth VS Fixed Mindset
By: Jessica Ottewell Flickr

This mindset allows for students to accept and invite challenges because they know that the outcome will be more fulfilling if reached after a challenging process.

Storybook Favorites

When Love Confesses

The title of this story mainly caught my eye because I am a sucker for a good love story. When I clicked on the link I was drawn in to the style of picture put on the front page. It did not seem like the typical love story.

Rama and Sita at their Wedding. Source.

The introduction was a bit difficult for me to follow at first and one thing I did not like about the design of the page was that the title of the story did not show up on every page of the storybook so when I was switching tabs on my browser it was no always easy to find it. One thing I did like about the design was the simple of love inspiring background. I thought it fit the story well.

Here is the Storybook When Love Confesses

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The Royal Girls Room

What first made my click on this storybook link was the humorous name and the first picture once entering the link held up to my expectations. I am a big fan of the Amanda show in which this picture is from. I watched it as a kid all the time so I was interested in the story that could be behind it.

The Royal Girls' Room created using Pixlr

Source: Pixlr

I like the way the Storybook it set up and the easy navigation but I would not want to include such bright colors in my Storybook. It made the page somewhat hard to look at but overall looks like an interesting site to be on.

Here in the Storybook The Royal Girls Room

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Campfire Animal Tales

The name of the Storybook spiked my interest because I enjoy the outdoors and animal I expected a combination of both from this story. The front picture was not incredibly interesting but it did fit with the title.

Campfire, Wikipedia, 2011

Websource: Campfire

It had a strong introduction and simple page organization. I liked the dark colors that went along with the theme.

Here is the Storybook Campfire Animal Tales

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Sunday, January 17, 2016

Class Overview

I plan to read the second version of the Ramayana. The online availability of the second option was the main influence for the decision because I will be able to do the assignment anywhere with no need to go to the library.

The image below interests me because of the story I think it might tell. But other than this picture most of the other content of the class was very foreign to me but I am excited to learn what I like.

Khandoba and Mhalsa

killing demons Mani-Malla

Lithograph by Ravi Varma Press

(Wikimedia)

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Introduction to myself

Hi my name is Sara Leonard and I am 21 years old.

I am a junior at the University of Oklahoma majoring in accounting. My mother is an accountant who specializes in taxes but I never thought I would want to follow in her footsteps until after taking my first accounting class when I realized how much I enjoyed the way it worked especially because I am an organized person. Professor Wayne Thomas was also a contributing factor to my decision. He taught my financial accounting class and made it very enjoyable.

I come from a pretty big family. I have three older sisters and one younger brother and we are all four year apart from each other. One of the main reasons I love the University of Oklahoma is because all of my older sisters went here and would take me to campus when I was younger. I also have three nephews and one niece so it is always busy when I go home for the breaks.

A Recent Picture of my Family
Personal Image

I also have a dog named Chevy. He is a shiba inu which is a Japanese breed that looks kind of like a little fox. He is amazing around kids and rarely barks but his mannerisms are funny. He often acts like a cat. He will climb to the highest bench in the backyard and nap in the sun.

A Picture of Chevy and my niece, Emma Grace

Taken by myself

I enjoy anything outdoors and I love the beach. Every summer I go to Gulf Shores, Alabama with my family (which I mentioned in my Favorite Places post) and even this past winter break I went to Florida to visit my sister.

I am also somewhat of an adrenaline junky. I love roller coasters. For my eighteen birthday my dad took me to go bungee jumping at a place called zero gravity and then just last summer I went sky diving with my sister which is an indescribable feeling.

Friday, January 15, 2016

Week 1 Storytelling: The Search for the Hidden Cabin

The Search for the Hidden Cabin

Tom was always one for adventure so it was no surprise to Jenny when he asked her to go hiking through the woods to find a "hidden cabin" as he called it. Jenny and Tom's tenth anniversary was coming up on the 14th of November and Tom had been planning their getaway for weeks. One of their favorite things to do together when they were dating was going hiking but because of their busy schedules they hadn’t gone in over five years. Tom worked at a law firm and had become one of the most sought lawyers for law suits dealing with property and Jenny was always on the go managing her owe party planning company called Let's Party. On the night before their anniversary Tom asked Jenny to help him find the hidden cabin and Jenny was overjoyed at the thought of taking a break from work and going hiking. Tom had thought everything out. He took of work and asked one of Jenny's managers to watch her shop, packed all of their clothes into hiking bags, prepared food, printed out a Google map of the land, and reserved the cabin for a whole week. The one thing Tom had not planned was the path they were going to take to get to the cabin. The man who rented out the cabin seemed very nice. He told them the beautiful view it had and the amazing wildlife but what he forgot to mention was that having the map he made was very important to their travels.

This is the map Tom and Jenny should have gotten.

Holiday Home Map

Tom Gauld Map

When the car stopped at the huge plot of land Jenny jumped out, put on her pack, and ran to the woods excited for the week ahead. Tom ran after her and as soon as he had caught up they found their first wild life sighting. It was a deer eating grass next to a patch of mushrooms. The deer moved from the grass to the mushrooms and as soon as t had taken a bite it fell down dead. The couple looked at it in shock and quickly ran away. Jenny concluded that the mushrooms must have been poisonous so they would have to be careful. Tom gathered himself and pushed forward though the woods. Jenny screamed as they came across a glowing green squirrel. They watched as the five legged squirrel ran up a tree and then flew away. Jenny took off running away from the two strangest things she had ever seen when she ran into a wall. The wall of a haunted house. By this time Jenny had enough and didn’t want to go to the cabin anymore she marched in the other direction and Tom hesitantly followed and they never came back to holiday home in the woods ever again.

Cabin in the Woods

David Flickr

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Author's Note:

This story is based off of a picture of a map. Since it was a picture and not a story most of the content from this story was made by myself. The poison mushrooms (dead deer), nuclear site (green squirrel with five legs), and haunted house were all from the map and fairly close to each other.