Week 15 - Extra Credit Reading

 

                                                                      (Mahabharata)

Notes

- He sees Vyasa, an ascetic meditating. Vyasa has composed a poem, and he needs a scribe.
- Ganesha arrives and agrees to be Vyasa's scribe. Vyasa tells the story of the birth of Satyavati and why she smelled like a fish. She makes love with a wandering sage; he removes the fish smell. Vyasa is their son.
- Amba tells Bhishma that she is secretly betrothed to King Salva. He releases her to join him. King Salva rejects Amba, even though she insists Bhishma has not touched her.
- Pandu becomes king.
- Dhritarashtra marries Gandhari. When she finds out he is blind, so she veils her eyes.
-  Pandu takes her in his arms and dies.
- Madri and Kunti argue about who will join him on the funeral pyre. Madri tells Kunti to be a mother to her children.

Bibliography

Peter Brook's Mahabharata 1. The Beginnings. http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2014/09/peter-brooks-mahabharata-1-beginnings.html

StoryLab Week 14

                                                                     (Grammar Tips)

StoryLab

How to use a semicolon:

The first video I enjoyed was the one on how to use a semicolon. I normally struggle to know when to use semicolons so that is why I wanted to watch this video. I usually write run-on sentences and I know semicolons can help eliminate this problem. I did learn that it can clarify ideas in a sentence that already has a lot of commas. Also, linking two independent clauses is a helpful way to use a semicolon. Two main rules I picked up on were: unless semicolons are use in a list, then they should only connect sentences that are related, and you'll never find a semicolon before two coordinating conjunctions. 

How languages evolved:

- Early on similar groups that spoke the same language; would split into smaller groups and become isolated, creating a similar but not the same language.

- This would continue as populations grew and new places were discovered.

- Grammar and syntax are key for determining a language tree. Whether that be pronouns, numbers or kinship.

- The answer to "how many languages are there?" can be 3,000-8,000. 

- The further back we go studying languages, the less and less we can find out.

Reading Notes, Week 14 - Sita Sings the Blues Part B

                                                                  (Sita Sings the Blues)

Notes

- Dave breaks up with Nina by email when she is in New York. Her heart breaks and she burns with grief.
- Sita tells Rama she is pregnant. Meanwhile, a laundry man (a dhobi) beats his wife, accusing her of being unfaithful and comparing her to Sita.
- To protect his reputation, Rama tells his brother Lakshmana to take Sita into the forest and abandon her. The narrators debate these events.
- Sita, now very pregnant, sings the blues again. Lakshmana, weeping, takes her into the forest and abandons her.
- Nina is living in Brooklyn, and she dreams about Dave.
- Sita thinks it is karma from a past life that is bringing her grief. She would kill herself if she were not pregnant. Valmiki rescues her.
- Sita sings the blues on the shore of the river.
- She gives birth to twins, Lava and Kusha. From Valmiki, they learn to sing the praises of Rama.
- Nina calls Dave in India and begs him to take her back.
- The narrators debate Sita's devotion to Rama.
- Sita sings the blues again, looking at Rama's picture.
- Rama hears the boys singing in the forest. He learns they are his sons, and they learn Rama is his father. -- He asks that Sita once again prove her purity.
- Sita calls upon Mother Earth to prove her purity and take her back into the womb.
- Sita sings about her love for Rama one last time, and then leaves them behind.
- In New York, Nina reads the Ramayana and works on the film.
- You see Chandra the moon god, Vishnu rubbing Lakshmi's feet. 

Bibliography

Sita Sings the Blues. Question Copyright. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzTg7YXuy34&t=585s

Reading Week 14, Sita Sings the Blues - Part A

 

                                                                (Sita Sings the Blue)

Notes

- Lakshmi rises from the sea with a phonograph.
- The cosmos: Shiva in a ring of fire, Brahma, Lakshmi and Vishnu resting on Shesha, Surya the sun god, Chandra the moon god, the beating heart of the universe, and Bhumi the earth goddess.
- San Francisco. We see Nina, her boyfriend Dave, and their cat. They are all very happy. The boyfriend gets a job in India.
- The three narrators argue about the date of the Ramayana. They also argue about whether it is true or not, and about where the story took place.
- King Dasharatha has three wives and four sons. Sita, daughter of Janaka, is Rama's wife. Queen Kaikeyi makes Dasharatha send Rama into exile. He dies of grief after Rama leaves.
- Despite Rama's warnings about the rakshasas in the forest, Sita goes into exile with him. The phonograph plays a song while they go into the forest where they live happily while Rama slays rakshasas.
- San Francisco airport: Nina kisses her boyfriend goodbye.
- The narrators discuss Ravana who stole Sita. Ravana some say was a good king, but they also compare him to Mogambo the Hindi film villain. Ravana was so devoted to Shiva that he played the veena (lute) for him with his intestines: this refers to the legend that when a string on the veena broke, Ravana used his own guts to continue playing so that he would not interrupt the song. He was the king of Sri Lanka, and there was an ancient land bridge connecting India to the island.
- Surpanakha is Ravana's sister. Angry at Rama, Surpanakha tells Ravana about Sita. Maricha tells Ravana to leave Sita alone but Ravana commands Maricha to become a golden deer to distract Rama so he can grab Sita.
- Sita is enchanted by the golden deer. Rama suspects a trick, but Sita begs him to pursue the deer.
- Sita sings about her love for Rama, while Ravana sneaks up on their forest hut.
- Ravana abducts Sita in his flying chariot.
- Sita drops her jewelry as a sign; Rama seeks her in the forest.
- Hanuman: The narrators discuss Vishnu's incarnation as Hanuman, and one narrator mentions Shiva's incarnation as Hanuman (the other narrators had not heard about that, and it is indeed a later tradition).
- Rama and Hanuman become allies. Rama sends Hanuman to look for Sita.
- San Francisco: Dave calls Nina to invite her to India.
- Sita is held captive in Lanka, and she weeps for Rama. She rejects Ravana's advances.
- Hanuman finds Sita in Lanka while Sita sings the blues. He sets Lanka on fire and then returns to Rama.
- The narrators argue about why Sita did not escape with Hanuman. Meanwhile, Nina goes to India.
- The narrators argue about whether the monkeys were monkeys or half-monkey and half-man. Rama leads his monkey army to Lanka.
- Sita sings with joy while Rama battles the rakshasas and slays Ravana.
- Nina arrives in India, but Dave tells her not to kiss in public. They don't kiss in bed either.
- The narrators discuss how Rama was cold to Sita after rescuing her.
- Sita and Rama are reunited, but he rejects her because she lived in another man's house. He sends her away. Sita despairs.
- Sita asks for a funeral pyre. The narrators argue about how to interpret this part of the story.
- Sita sings the blues while she undergoes a test by fire, protected by Agni the fire god.
- Rama asks for Sita's forgiveness.
- Nina and Dave are working in the same office in India. Nina goes to New York for a week.
- The narrators discuss the flying chariot, Pushpaka, that takes Rama and Sita back to Ayodhya.
- Sita sings the blues again: if you want the rainbow, you must have the rain.

Bibliography

Sita Sings the Blues. Question Copyright. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzTg7YXuy34&t=585s

Reading Notes, Seven Secrets of the Goddess

                                                                       (Seven Secrets)

Notes

Kronas could only leave the womb by castrating his father.
Kronas did this and declared himself king and ate his own children.
Zeus then kills Kronas.
Brahma saw Adya as his mother.
Vishnu received the third eye and lit a fire which 3 goddesses rose.
Egyptian mythology does not focus on gender.
The alpha male keeps all the females for himself
Not all males were necessary for reproduction
Tribes needed women not men, for survival
Woman were represented as fat while men represented as alpha's
Men had to fight each other or submit to the woman's choice
The male could not refuse the woman in some cultures and if a man forced himself then he was killed
Men were always eager to kill and take place as a lover
Some chosen males were beginning to get sacrificed
Castrating oneself was the only way to save oneself
Male priests rose up as a woman

Bibliography

Seven Secrets of the Goddess. Devdutt Pattanaik. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKFd2MmceRg&list=PLrWYQjLLbXcjkeys9p08HPlXts66kOe_8&ab_channel=Epified

 

Week 12, StoryLab

Type Writer

Advice to Writers

For this story lab, I chose to focus on Jon Winokur's advice to writers. 

    Starting off, I like how as soon as you click on the website it gives you a daily quote. You can also, go back and look at the past day's quotes. These quotes can offer inspiration, advice, and/or criticism. This can give writers the boost they may need for a day.
    The interview section I believe is really helpful because it brings in authors who are well acclaimed and goes in-depth with basically how their writing process works. They get to give advice on how to deal with writer's block and it even goes into where the best place to write is for some authors. The interviews are recent too, so these are writers who are active and may have new and improved techniques.
    Another good resource on the website is the writing books tab. This gives you a page full of books that could help you in the writing process. It is a really good feature and if someone does not know where to start when writing then one of these books seems like a great resource to have. 
    The resources tab is also a great dropdown menu that has 10+ resources listing everything from Twitter to Nobel lectures. Overall, this website gives writers, new and old, great advice and can be a great resource for everybody. 

Bibliography

https://advicetowriters.com/advice

Week 11 Story

 

                                                                                 Bhima

Story

King Bhima is walking alone one day when he runs into a very dangerous rakshasa while in the forest. However, he is not alone. Hidimbim, the sister of the rakshasa, watches as Bhima kills the rakshasa. Hidimbim secretly hated her brother so she falls madly in love with Bhima. After a while, they have a son. His name is Ghatotkacha.

Fast forward a couple of years and Bhima fights another rakshasa. The rakshasa is named Baka. Bhima is now old and so everyone is surprised that a Bhima can defeat a demon as savage as this. However, Bhima was injured in the battle and was left very sick. All the best healers and priests tried to come heal him. No one was successful and Bhima dies. Hidimbim wept day and night at her husbands passing while Ghatotkacha came to become the king.

King Drupada lived close by but overheard that King Bhima had died and wanted to send Ghatotkacha a gift to try and make him feel better. But it won't be free. Ghatotkacha is given an invite to try and win Drupada's daughter in the bow and arrow contest.  

King Drupada is holding a swayamvara for his daughter. His daughter's name is Draupadi. Draupadi is also the mother of Dhrishtadyumna. The Pandavas, Karna, and Duryodhana all attend this swayamvara. The avatar of the god Vishnu, Krishna, is also in attendance. Even his brother Balarama attends. Even though the Pandavas are disguised, Krishna recognizes them right away. He can see that the brahmins are the Pandavas. During this contest, everyone comes and goes but no one can hit the target. There are two people left, King Ghatotkacha and a peasant named Arjuna. . Arjuna wins this contest. He is able to string a bow and hit the target. By winning this contest, he can take Draupadi as his bride. Kunti explains to his brothers that whatever is acquired that day must be shared. This means that the brother must share Draupadi. So, Draupadi is the shared wife of the five brothers. Vyasa then explains that even in a previous lifetime, Draupadi also had five husbands. In her previous lifetime, Draupadi was a woman named Nalayani. Nalayani was married to a sage. This sage slept with her in the guise of five different men. After the sage left her, Nalayani prayed to the Lord Ishvara, Shiva, to give her back the five husbands. The prayer was answered in a Draupadi's lifetime. This is why she marries the five Pandava brothers. 

King Ghatotkacha is furious and feels insulted after finding about Nalayani and her past. He vows to destroy King Drupada and make sure his daughter never marries again. So Ghatotkacha hires spies to go and steal Nalayani during the night when she is asleep. After she is captured and made prisoner, Ghatotkacha sends a warning to Drupada. The letter says that if Drupada does not denounce his title of king then his daughter will be killed. Drupada refuses to denounce his title so Ghatotkacha is true to his word and will carry out the execution tomorrow. The next day, right before Nalayani is about to be killed, Bhima appears in front of Ghatotkacha. Bhima says, "Have mercy my son, for you are supposed to be a just king, just like I was." Ghatotkacha was so overcome with emotion that he decided to spare Nalayani's life and had her returned to Drupada. 

So for the rest of his days as a ruler, King Ghatotkacha became a just king and had mercy for those who really deserved it.

Author's Note

For this story, I rewrote the first section of the Mahabharata. I tried to take bits and pieces from the original story while also mixing in my own telling of the story. I tried to keep it simple and easier to follow.  Focusing on pages 24-47 made it easier to keep it simple but also limited me to what I could talk about. That is why the story is not as long as some might write. The overall plot is from my reading notes and then the other writing is just off of the top of my head.  Going forward I would love to get feedback on what I can do to these stories to improve. I just got my comment wall up so now I will actually be able to see the comments. Please let me know what I can do better and what I did well to keep doing that. I kept the names of the original characters so it would be easier for me to write and keep track of what actually happened.  In the future, I think I will change the characters to one of my favorite shows characters because it seems more fun to write like that when you can change what happens to your favorite characters.

Bibliography

Reading Guide for Narayan's Mahabharata, Parts A and B. Laura Gibbs. http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/week-1-of-2-narayans-mahabharata.html

Reading Notes - Krishna Part B

                                       
                                                                   Krishna & Balarama

Notes

- Brahma saw Krishna sharing his plate with his friends so he stole the cows and Krishna's friends. 
- Krishna made new cows and villagers and Brahma finally respected him.
- Hastin the bull was extremely violent and no one wanted him so everyone wanted to kill him. 
- Krishna then rode Hastin the bull into the village and everyone in the village was shocked and learned the lesson of kindness from Krishna. 
- Krishna wanted to marry Rhada but his real truth got revealed about his destiny and his birth/parents. 
- Kansa had one final trick to try and avoid his destiny of dying to Krishna.
- Akrur was supposed to trick Krishna into going to Mathura but he confessed due to Krishna's divine presence.
- Krishna decided to leave Vrindavan to go fulfill his destiny. 
- Krishna and Balram arrived in Mathura and begin becoming popular with the people by doing good deeds. 
- Kansa heard Krishna was in town so he sent the elephant Kuvalayapida to trample Krishna. 
- Krishna defeated the elephant and everyone cheered, while Kansa shivered in fear and realized his final attempt had failed. 
- Krishna and Balram walked in to take on the challenge of lifting the divine bow. Krishna lifted the bow with ease but snapped it when he strung it. 
-Kansa sent his army at Krishna and Balram after he broke the bow but Krishna easily defeated them.
- Krishna and Balram defeated Kansa and Mathura was free from the evil Kansa. 
- Krishna went and freed his grandfather and then met his real parents where he released them.
- Krishna and Balram decided to stay in Mathura instead of going back to the village.

Bibliography

Krishna: Part B. Epified. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrWYQjLLbXcgqdSC7HkTFsIFZSAQ6Qg7f

Reading Notes - Krishna Part A

 

                                                                            Krishna

Notes

- Kansa the cruel king, killed Devaki's children so that the 8th one would not kill him like he was told.
- Devaki became pregnant with the 8th incarnation of Vishnu.
- The gate was unlocked and Vasudev took his son (Vishnu) to the river and a serpent protected the two from the rain. 
- Vasudev found Yashoda and left his son with him.
- Vasudev brought back a little girl who turned into Durga and told Kansa that his slayer will kill him when the time is right. 
- Putna came to visit Yashoda and see Krishna and stole him to kill him, but Krishna ended up killing Putna instead. 
- Years later Krishna caused trouble all throughout the village.
- Krishna was playing music one day and found his friends poisoned by a snake and everyone realized he was an avatar.
- He played the flute to the point that the snakes couldn't handle it and they removed the poison from the lake as they retreated. 
- Time passed and Krishna defeated all the demons that came and challenged him. 

Bibliography

Krishna - Part A. Epified. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrWYQjLLbXchvrnCibGQXZjo3FLHppHWD

Reading Notes: Mahabharata videos, Part C

 

                                                                     Bhima and the Baka

Notes

- Karna had enchanted armor, he knew he was special since he was young.
- Karna's father found him floating in the river, his armor grew onto him as he grew up.
- He then learned he was a Kshatriya.
- Karna sought out the greatest master of arms he could find - Drona. 
- Drona told Karna that he could not teach him because he was not a Kshatriya. 
- Karna did not want to tell him that he was a Kshatriya because he did not want to demean his parents that brought him up. 
- Karna returned home and wept and would continue for the rest of his life keeping his pain in silence.
- Karna came running to his mother one day and was excited that he found a guru.
- His guru was the greatest in all of the land but would never teach him the art of war. 

Bibliography

Mahabharat Episode 18: Karna's Quest. Epified. http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2016/01/reading-guide-epified-mahabharata_29.html

Week 8 progress

 

Measuring Progress

                                                                    

    Looking back I am satisfied with my progress so far. My schedule has been very hectic this year so I do not have all the points I want but I am thankful for the extra credit opportunities each week to make those points up. Story writing is probably my favorite assignment each week, and it has helped me to write better blog posts I think. Going forward I will want to take advantage of every point opportunity because the ultimate goal in this class is to get an A because there are so many chances that you almost have to.

Week 7 Story

 

                                                                 (Druapad'si Swayamwara)

Story 

Bhima kills a very dangerous rakshasa while in the forest. Hidimbim, the sister of the rakshasa, falls madly in love with Bhima. Together they have a son. His name is Ghatotkacha.
In the forest, Kunti and the Pandavas are trying to get away from Hastinapura. Vyasa wants the Pandavas to disguise themselves. He suggests disguising themselves as brahmins. By disgusting themselves as brahmins, this will hide their identities as Kshatriyas.
Bhima fights another rakshasa. The rakshasa is named Baka. Everyone is surprised. It is surprising that a brahmin can defeat a demon as savage as this.
King Drupada is holding a Swayamwara for his daughter. His daughter's name is Draupadi. Draupadi is also the mother of Dhrishtadyumna. The Pandavas, Karna, and Duryodhana all attend this swayamvara. The avatar of the god Vishnu, Krishna, is also in attendance. Even his brother Balarama attends. Even though the Pandavas are disguised, Krishna recognizes them right away. He can see that the brahmins are the Pandavas. There is a contest. Arjuna wins this contest. He is able to string a bow and hit the target. By winning this contest, he can take Draupadi as his bride. Kunti explains to his brothers that whatever is acquired that day must be shared. This means that the brother must share Draupadi. So, Draupadi is the shared wife of the five brothers. Vyasa then explains that even in a previous lifetime, Draupadi also had five husbands. In her previous lifetime, Draupadi was a woman named Narayani. Narayani was married to a sage. This sage slept with her in the guise of five different men. After the sage left her, Narayani prayed to the Lord Ishvara, Shiva, to give her back the five husbands. The prayer was answered in a Draupadi's lifetime. This is why she marries the five Pandava brothers.

Author's Note: I took the stories from pages 27 - 40. I rewrote this story in my own words. 

Bibliography

http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/week-1-of-2-narayans-mahabharata.html

Reading Notes, Part C

                                                                (Balarama and Krishna)

Notes

            ·      Dhritarashatra knows about the weapons that Arjuna acquired

·      Duryodhana is taken captive

·      Nakula drinks the water from the lake before answering questions and dies

·      13 years of exile

·      Draupadi is sent away by the king and queen

·      He must beg for permission to remain at the court

·      The war begins

·      Battle is on the field of Kurukshetra

·      Bhima kills an elephant names Ashwatthaman and he also kills Duhshasana

·      Duryodhana dies in battle

·      Parikshit becoming king and the Pandava line continues because of him

 Bibliography

TinyTales from the Mahabharata, Laura Gibbs. https://sites.google.com/view/tinymahabharata/home?authuser=0

Week 6, StoryLab

 StoryLab

I chose the TedTalk videos for this week's story lab. 

2 Videos

Living Well Aware

    These two videos are about creating this false narrative about people on your head before you really even meet a people group or that specific person. The "Danger of a Single Story" TedTalk touches on creating these stereotypes about people groups that you have never even interacted with. The woman that is giving the TedTalk is from Africa, and when she came to the United States no one thought that she had even been around modern technology. They had created this single story that they had heard since they were young and did not just educate themselves on the topic. And this happens with people all over the United States, even if they are not foreigners. They could be underprivileged or even just a different race and people will still treat them as if they know them. 
    That gets into the second TedTalk. Jennifer Barnes likes to reference fictional characters all throughout her speech. The more and more we watch these shows, the more we think we really get to know these people on these shows. But in reality, we have no clue what they are really like because they are not real and we will never meet them. We create these connections to false characters and treat them as if they are super close to them in real life. And this creates a falsehood that they would not even feel upset if something happened to someone they had never met in real life. The delusion of treating fictional characters above real people is a danger in society today. But, reading fiction can increase your emotional awareness and help you relate to someone else. The danger between fiction and reality is still being researched though, and if people can start to link the two then I think society will be in a better place. 

Reading Notes, Mahabharata Part A

 TinyTales Part A

                                                                        Vyasa and Ganesha

Page 1

- Mahabharata first came from Ganesha writing it as Vyasa spoke
- King Shantanu married a woman and they had a son. The queen then drowned their child but was never questioned. 
- King Shantanu's wife was Ganga the river goddess who said their children were the eight Vasus, gods of the eight elements cursed to be born as humans
- The eighth child that King Shantanu would not let be drowned became Devavrata, who learned the arts of was from Parashurama
- King Shantanu wanted to marry Satyavati but only could if her son would become the heir but it was already promised to Devavrata
- Devavrata made an oath to renounce all women and gave up his heir to the king, therefore Satyavati married King Shantanu. 
- They had two sons, Chitrangada and Vichiravirya, and Chitangada ruled once Shantanu died

Page 2

- Bhishma was determined that his half brother Vichiravirya would marry King Kashya's daughter so he kidnapped all three to take to Vichiravirya
- Shalva (one of 3 princesses) was rejected everywhere because of Bhishma and wore she would kill him
- Amba went to Parashurama to try and have Bhishma killed, but he couldn't be defeated
- Amba was told to wait until the next life to kill Bhishma but she didn't wait and threw herself into the flames to be reborn as Shikhandini, daughter of King Drupada. 
- Vichitravirya dies and leaves behind two widows leaving Satyavati to summon her son to marry the widow
- Satyavati summons her son Vyasa and he has 3 sons, Pandu the Pale was the one that became king

Page 3

- King Pandu then gets married to Kunti but she had no children so he marries Madri but she also had no children
- Pandu shot a stag named Kindama who cursed him that he could never touch a woman again, so Pandu went to live in the wilderness and Dhritarashtra became king
- Dhritarashtra wanted a son but his wife was pregnant for two years and never gave birth so he had a son (Yuyutsu) with a servant but he could not inherit the throne
- Dhritarashtra's wife then had 100 sons and one daughter that grew from the pots
- Pandu was seized with desire one day and touched his wife and died

- Duryodhana was the eldest son of Dhritarashtra, he tried to kill Bhima and threw him in the river but he did not die - In the river, Bhima met the Naga king who gave him a potion to make him stronger than ever

Page 4

- Bhishma's son engaged Drona to be their guru - Drona then began to teach the Pandavas and Kauravas in warfare (archery) - Drona was attacked by a crocodile one day and Arjuna saved him so he gave him a secret weapon - Eklavya wanted Drona to be his guru, but Drona refused. So he trained under a statue he made of Drona - Drona saw this as unacceptable and demanded Eklavya's right thumb and he cut it off so Arjuna would never be rivaled as an archer - Karna came to the archery tournament and got named the King of Anga to fight Arjuna

- Karna then becomes Parashurama's disciple

Page 5

-Drona never got his guru fee, so for his fee he made the Pandavas and Kauravas attack king Drupada but he didn't have him killed - Drupada then prayed for his own children, a son to kill Bhishma and Drona. The son was born a daughter but raised as a son named Shikhandin - Since Shakhandin was a woman and was marrying a woman, King Hiranyavarna declared war on King Drupada for this - Shikhandin was about to leap into the flames when the yaksha gave her manhood to prove to her father - The Kauravas and Pandavas keep trading insults so

- King Dhritarashtra decides to send the Pandavas away once and for all, then Dhritarashtra, Duryodhana, and Shakuni hatched an evil plot, hoping to put an end to the Pandavas once and for all.

Bibliography

TinyTales from the Mahabharata, Laura Gibbs. https://sites.google.com/view/tinymahabharata/home?authuser=0

Comment Wall

                                                                         Portfolio Website

                                                                        Statue of Ravana

                                                                        

Reading Notes, Ramayana Part D

 Notes

Page 16

- Rama is alive
- Rama kills Kumbhkarna
- Indrajit defeats Rama and Lakshmana and goes back to Lanka
- Hanuman heard of this and went back to war in the mountains 
- Lakshmana came back to fight Indrajit and killed him
- Rama then battles Taranisen and Ravana's (Virabahu) son and defeated them both

Page 17

- Ravana threatens Sita because of his failures
- Ravana rides into battle after challenging Rama again
- Rama finally kills Ravana
- After Rama receives Sita after the battle, Indra grants him a boon
- Rama then returns home

Page 18

- Rama is crowned the king and Sita becomes the queen
- Hanuman is rewarded by Sita and honors Rama
- The Story of Ratnakar
- Ratnakar renounced his bad deeds and became Valmiki the poet
- Valkami composed the Ramayan about Rama's journey

Page 19

- Rama makes the decision to get rid of Sita
- Sita is left in the forest then stumbles upon Valmiki
- Sita then has twins
- Rama wants her back but she vanishes into the Earth making Rama sad
- Rama then embraced his sons acknowledging them as princes of Ayodhya

Page 20

- Rama makes a statue of Sita that starts speaking to him
- Rama enters Ayodhya where Lakshmana beheads himself leaving Rama in grief
- Rama then departs leaving Bharata and Shatrughna to be kings
- Story about Tenalirama, Ramayana murals all of the palace that told the story
- Story about Shiva about birth and death

                                                                       Rama Departs
                                                       (British Library: Mewar Ramayana)

Bibliography

TinyTales from the Ramayana, Laura Gibbs. https://sites.google.com/view/tinyramayana/home

Reading Notes, Ramayana Part C

 Notes

Page 11

- Vali tormented Sugriva enough until he finally had enough
- Hanuman carried Rama and Lakshmana to meet Sugriva
- Rama and Sugriva became allies to try and kill Vali
- Sugriva went to fight Vali and lost
- Rama was able to fatally wound Vali though
- Sugriva then gets crowned the king upon Vali's death
- To make peace Sugriva sent monkeys to search for Sita led by Hanuman
- The monkeys receive help just as they are about to fail

Page 12

- Sampati finds out his brother Jatayu is dead
- Sampati then pointed the monkeys in the right direction
- Hanuman was the only one who could reach the island needed to continue
- Hanuman finally makes the jump to the island and climbed the top of the mountain to go to Lanka
- On his journey, Hanuman gets attacked by a sea monster named Surasa and Simhika but he escaped
- Hanuman finally reaches Lanka and hears Ravana threaten Sita

Page 13

- Hanuman finally gets to address Sita right before she is about to hang herself
- Hanuman shows Sita the ring that Rama will give her
- Sita says Rama must come to her and so Hanuman starts a war on the way back to Rama and kills Aksha
- Hanuman gets captured and taken to Ravana and his life was spared
- Hanuman is punished by his tail being lit on fire but he runs around while this is happening and burns down the palace and the houses of Lanka
- Hanuman then returns with good news about Sita for Rama

Page 14

- The monkeys and bears celebrated the good news and got drunk on the honey
- Hanuman goes and tells Rama the good news and he wept with joy
- Ravana grew angry at the news and captured Sita
- Rama then led his army to the ocean god, Varuna for help to cross to Lanka
- Varuna says to build a bridge so Rama seeks out Nala and starts building a bridge to Lanka
- A woman that appeared to be Sita washed ashore but it turned out to be Benjakai

Page 15

- Once the bridge was halfway to Lanka, sea-monsters destroyed it but mermaids agreed to help rebuild it
- Rama reaches Lanka at last
- Ravana tried and tried again to stop Rama's army but failed
- A war starts between Rama and Ravana
- Rama and Lakshmana get killed on the battlefield and Sita sees and bursts into tears
- Rama is found to be still alive so the war is not over
- The goddess that healed Rama bestowed victory upon him

Hanuman Carries Rama and Lakshmana

Bibliography 

TinyTales from the Ramayana, Laura Gibbs. https://sites.google.com/view/tinyramayana/home

Topic Research - Creation

 This week I'll focus on the topic of creation.

- This First Story is about the Indian traditional creation story of Samudra Manthan. The Samudra           Manthana explains the origin of Amrita, the nectar of immortality and the omnipotent god of destruction   Shiva drank the vish. 

                                                   Various scenes from the Samudra Manthan episode
                                                                             (Wikipedia)

- The second story could be about the many tales of Brahma who created the entire universe out of himself. He could create certain things instead or make someone the main character in the story. 

Note: I couldn't find a 3rd story honestly, I searched for an hour and the only creation story that came up when I searched was about Brahma. 

Feedback Strategies

 Feedback Strategies

Article 1 - Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!"

    This first article was interesting to me because every time you do something good and someone says "good job" it typically makes you feel good. I like this article because it goes into what saying "good job" too much can do to a child. If you say "good job" repeatedly and for every small task then it starts to lose its meaning. This can create children who depend on constant positive feedback for every little thing they do or children who won't feel as accomplished when they do hear it. 

Article 2 - How to Give Bad Feedback Without Being a Jerk

    This article stood out to me because often times when you give feedback like constructive criticism it can come off as rude. I like this article because it teaches you how to give feedback without sounding like a jerk. One thing that is pointed out in this article is asking someone whether they want feedback or not. Sometimes people don't want feedback but then receive it. This can make people feel bad depending on the type of feedback.      

                                                                           (Feedback)