Week 2 Review

(illustration by Jennie Harbour)

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: Current News

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

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 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