Week 2 Review

My favorite thing from the course announcements this week was the meme of the corgi and the homework! I read the caption and it was just so funny that I had to share it again!

(Meme from Current Announcements Page- September 1)

September 1 Announcements

Reading Feedback

I chose to read the Public Domain Ramayana because honestly, it seemed like the easiest to access online to read. After I started reading, I realized that I actually enjoyed reading it as well. Double bonus!

There was not really a reading guide for this version of the Ramayana besides the fact that parts A and B were split up equally. I took my time and read both. I would say both A and B probably took me about and hour to read each, so two hours total. I am a pretty fast reader and when I put my mind to something, I can accomplish it fairly quickly usually.

(The Great Reading Room at the University of Oklahoma: image from Wikipedia)

Possible Storybook/Portfolio Project Topics

1. Possible Topic: Himalaya Mountains (Geographic Journey)
I was intrigued by the topic of the Himalaya Mountains because they are one of the most famous mountain ranges in the world, known for Mount Everest. I think that it would be very interesting to learn more about the mountain range, different people's travels to the mountain range including climbers of Mount Everest. The mountain range separates India from Tibet and this could also be a very interesting point for a topic of a storybook.

Research So Far: 
As far as research is concerned, I did not spend as much time researching the Himalayas as much as other topics for this project. I already knew a little bit about the mountain range, so I felt like I should research the other topics that I did not know as much about more. The Himalayas Wikipedia page was very informative and further explained the divide between Tibet and India, which I thought could be a major topic for my storybook.

("Himalayas" from Wikipedia Commons)

2. Possible Topic: Sita in the Fire
Another topic that I thought could be interesting is the topic of Sita in the fire. It was a very dramatic and interesting story that had the reader guessing at every turn. This could be a great project topic because it is an easy story to develop other ideas from the original plot.

Research So Far: 
My research so far has included finding the story on the gallery of images page. I was reminded of the interesting story of the Ramayana, but I could not remember exactly what happened. I went back to read the story and found it interesting enough to make it a possibility for my project.

("Sita in the Fire" from Rama's Wikipedia page)

3. Possible Topic: The Love Story of Rama and Sita
The love story of Rama and Sita caught my attention from the very beginning. I love the idea of epic romances so this was an obvious topic choice for me. I wrote about when Rama and Sita meet for the first time as my revision in my storytelling post because I liked the story so much. I would love to do a whole project on this story.

Research So Far: 
I have written my most recent storytelling post on the story of Rama and Sita's epic love story. Since I had to read the story a couple of times to reinvent it in my storytelling post, I have done a considerable amount of research about this story. It would make a great story to base my project on in the future.

4: Possible Topic: A Collection of Minor Heroines from the Ramayana
I love the idea of heroines in epics. I think it is cool because most times in history or in ancient storytelling, the men are the main characters because of their higher social status. I like the idea of doing a collection of minor characters because I think there is a lot to learn from the minor characters.

Research So Far:
Tara, one of the minor heroine characters from the Ramayana, seemed to be really interesting to me. She is said to come from the monkey physician? I would love to know more about that! Tara is very calm and wise.

Famous Last Words: Week 2

This week, I was able to do the full version of the reading. I did not think that I was going to be able to originally because this week was a very busy week. It was only the second week of school and I already found myself stressed and scrambling to get things done.

I really enjoyed being able to read everyone's stories and commenting on everyone's blogs. I think it is just so interesting to see what everyone else is doing with their blogs. I like seeing everyone's thoughts, designs, colors, and a little bit of their personality come across in every bit of their writing.

Even though I did not think my story included my best writing this week, I am very proud of the work I put into it. I do my best writing when I am free to be myself and I can channel any ideas and thoughts I have floating around in my brain. This is the reason this blog is perfect for me as a class assignment! I feel very at ease and relaxed while writing and it really does help in the overall quality of my work.

Things in my other classes are much different from this class. In this class, I feel like the assignments can be fun and interesting and my other classes are talking about the importance of financial statements and accounting, bla bla bla. I really do love accounting, but some days in multiple accounting classes feel much longer than others. My real passion is human resources because I have a heart for people! (Yes, human resources like Toby from The Office). My dream is to go to graduate school for human resource management and hopefully, end up with a career in the field.

Overall, this class is going great and I am excited for the upcoming weeks!

(Lolz Cat Meme from wwww.dianliwenmi.com)

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

This week, I experimented with the weather widget as part of my tech tip! I really wanted to add it onto my page because weather is always changing in Oklahoma and you never know what it is going to be like!

My favorite type of weather is usually in the season of fall. I love wearing a sweater and a light jacket outside, but when it starts to snow, it is just too cold.

Hope you guys enjoy seeing the weather!

Storytelling for Week 2: Sita (PDE Ramayana)

Two brothers set out on a journey. It was a journey of exploration and one for adventure. They wanted to tell many stories from their travels, but one brother never expected that he would be explaining how he came to fall in love on the brothers' journey. 

Lakshmana and Rama, two brothers from a large kingdom, started on their journey. Lakshmana was adventurous and wanted to see the country and his brother, Rama, wanted to be alongside him for his travels. These brothers were also princes and they were handsome princes at that. They wandered through their kingdom to get to the outer skirts of the city and people watched them pass by every place they went. Rama caught the attention of women, especially because he was the most handsome and the darkest brother of the four princes. They begged him to be theirs, but he refused because Rama believed in the idea of true love and he did not feel as if any of these women could be his true love.

They traveled until night and decided to look for a place to stay the night. They found small accommodations near the edge of the city where they paused their journey for some much needed rest. In the morning, they woke to pick flowers and bathe in the river nearby. They continued on their journey, only to end up in a beautiful garden with a beautiful lake and waterfall.

As the princes washed their faces in the whisper of the waterfall, they heard footsteps. Rama looked up and found a beautiful girl staring at him from a distance. Somehow, they found themselves in the princess' garden! The princess was beautiful and Rama stared at her. Lakshmana recognized their attraction instantly and thought to himself that he had to make sure that they ended up together. Their love was obvious from the start and they even looked like they were meant to end up together.

Sita prayed to the goddess that night to reveal her true love to her. She was secretly hoping that her true love would be Rama. As she prayed, a string of flowers fell from the tree above and Sita knew instantly that Rama was to be her husband and true love.

Rama simply knew from that first moment of meeting Sita, he would have to marry her. He loved her deeper than his father had ever loved any of his wives and he knew it was meant to be. From that moment on, no woman could ever compare to Rama in the same way that Sita would. 

("Rama and Sita setting up their hut in Panchvati")

Image from Wikipedia Commons

Author's Note: I was inspired to write this story because of the powerful romance found between Rama and Sita. Their love story was so dramatic, I simply felt inspired. I wrote this story in a modern sense, so it can relate to modern generations, so they can see the power of a blossoming of romance. The story is based on Sita from the Public Domain Ramayana.

Bibliography: "Sita" by F. J. Gould, from The Divine Archer (1911). Web Source: Public Domain Edition Ramayana.

Reading Diary B: Public Domain Ramayana

1. Bharata Returns

Bharata is about to return to the city after being away for a while. He does not know that his father, King Dasharatha, has died yet and he does not know about Rama’s exile. When he finds out that his father has died from his mother, she tells him without remorse because he can be king now. Instantly, this story sets you up with the rest of the book for suspense and adventure.

2. Dasharatha's Funeral

Bharata decides to go after his exiled brother, Rama, who is in the wilderness. Before he can leave though, he needs to take care of the funeral arrangements for his father. After a long funeral procession including hours of mourning and singing with different types of incenses being released, Bharata decided his father had been honored in death and it was time to go find his brother.

(Dasharatha's Funeral- image from PDE Ramayana)

3. Rama and Bharata

Rama and Bharata finally meet up in the wilderness after Bharata searches for Rama for a long time. They hug and weep over their father’s death. Bharata tries to influence Rama to return to Ayodhya, but Rama refuses.

4. The Sandals

Rama continues to refuse to return to Ayodhya, but Bharata promises to represent him in his absence, so he takes sandals, which have been worn by Rama. These sandals are a symbol.

(Bharata requests Rama's sandals by Balasaheb Pandit Pant Pratinidhi, 1916)

5. Shurpanakha and Rama

Rama's sister, Shurpanakha, falls in love with him. He does not feel the same way about her obviously, but jokingly proposes the idea of seducing their brother.

PDE Ramayana

All of these stories are filled with creativity, drama, romance, and comedy. They all catch the reader's attention immediately and keep them entertained throughout.