Week 7 Curation

Pick 1: Ganesha's Sweet Tooth
These are cute interactive pages where you can play with Ganesha and make up your own epic. Even though it is for children, I would totally be all about filling out these pages if someone handed them to me. A plus is that it is all with my favorite Indian character, Ganesha!

Pick 2: Rama slaying Ravana

(Image Information: Rama killing Ravana. Source: kailasanath)

This painting by Rāma Prasāda Dāsa is amazing, to me at least. I had imagined this scene less dramatic while I was reading for some reason. This painting really gives a sense of how magical these characters really are.

Pick 3: Navagunjara

I love this image because it is so ridiculous. I would not trust anything that looked like this. 

(Image Information: Navagunjara. Source: pxleyes)

Week 7 Famous Last Words

I am extremely excited about my storybook. It seems like everyone is really enjoying it and that makes me so happy! I was a little daunted about writing my first story already, because I usually like to have a while to write something before I let a large portion of people read it.

I have been crazy busy this week! I took the weekend off because it was my second anniversary, but a majority of that time was spent trying to catch up on sleep. I have been stressed trying to raise money for Breast Cancer Research Foundation. (IF ANYONE WANTS TO DONATE LET ME KNOW PLEASE.) The air force base is requiring everyone to raise a specific amount.

I am very excited about my classes this week. In this class, we have a “review” week which is going to allow me to experience some new things in this class outside of the never changing “read, read, write, discuss”. In one of my other classes, we are going to be discussing a book we have been reading called “The Nazi Officer’s Wife” (mentioned in last week’s post). This book has been a lot better than I would have ever expected. I’m interested in seeing what others have to say about the characters in the book.

I’m not very excited for my capstone class this week, however. We have a research prospectus due on Thursday and a majority of the class has not started because our professor has not really talked to anyone about what to do. I guess I will just wing it and hope it is right. It is not the best time to have something major to be due. Especially considering its midterm week and my professor has been sick and absent and has not been able to direct us with what exactly he likes and expects in our writing.

(Image Information: Me being excited in class. Source: cliparthut)

Tech Tip Website

So I'm doing my tech tip on how to make a google site. It was fairly simple when I followed the guidelines. I never realized how easy it was to actually get your own site on the web. Feel free to check out my website, which is also my storybook for the rest of the semester!

CSI Indian Epics

Week 7 Reading Feedback

I really enjoyed Wilson's version of this epic. It was almost a "dumbed-down" story (for lack of a better word). It did not contain any magical aspects and it was a much more personal story. This would be a great review reading for anyone that wants to catch up on the story later on. I like how it is also split up into different sections to make it not seem overwhelming. I'm really glad I chose to read this piece!

(Image Information: Mahabharata Source: induslibrary)

Week 7 Growth Mindset

I would like to talk about a blog I discovered through Laura's daily announcements.

(Image Information: Negative Thinking. Source: incidentalcomics)

I think a lot of the images this blog has seemed to correspond to the growth mindset. The one I chose in particular is about negative thinking. Perspective is a huge part of growth mindset. You have to be aware of your surroundings in order to succeed. Knowing what is happening and how you are feeling and why are huge aspects of succeeding. Don't give up, look at the big picture.

Week 7 Review

My favorite item from this week's announcements actually was from yesterday's post!
Drum roll please.... Reading is Dangerous!
I absolutely love illustration blogs and I decided to investigate this one further. I was definitely pleased! This guy's art is amazing! Take the piece for below as an example.

(Image Information: Good Morning. Source: incidentalcomics)

Week 7 Storytelling: A Divided Family

There were two families: the Stoops and the Gundys.

Bob stoops and Mike Gundy were brothers, but their sons did not get along (and they never have).
One day Stoops had to go on vacation and his sons were forced to go to Stillwater to stay with Gundy and his sons, the Cowboys.
Now, it was kind of Gundy to allow Stoops' sons, the Sooners, to stay at their house, but he should have known better. The Cowboys have always been jealous of the Sooners for their strength and their numbers of fans. The Sooners included Yudhisthria (the most truthful of men), Bhima (the strongest of men), Arjun (an irresistible warrior), and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva. The Cowboys were so numerous, to make up for their lack of greatness. The eldest Cowboy, however, was Duryodhana. Gundy had been advised to get rid of Duryodhana, but he did not follow the advice which would later haunt him.

(Image Information: A state divided. Source: news6)

Although Gundy was blind, he wasn't stupid. He knew the power that the Sooners held, and he decided to give them the title of Champions. Duryodhana could not bear that his father would do such a thing, so he attempted to sabotage the Sooners. He decided to replace their Gatorade with alcohol. Thinking he had finally ruined the Sooners, Duryohana left proudly. However, when the Sooners came on the field, they realized their items were tampered with, which fueled them to be even greater and more successful against their enemies. This upset Duryodhana, and he rallied up his Cowboys to go to war with the Sooners. The Sooners accepted the challenge and met the Cowboys on the field. 

Once they were on the field, the Cowboys had realized what they had done and pleaded to Duryodhana to make peace with the Sooners. Duryodhana, however, ignored these requests and allowed his egotism to cloud his judgment of success. He thought surely they had enough men to bring down even the greatest of football teams. The Sooners, seeing Duryodhana and the Cowboys not showing any signs of stopping, also continued to fight. Bhima tackled and thus injured many of the Cowboys. Arjun threw the ball to his brothers as if it was an arrow, always meeting its target. Soon, there was only one Cowboy left, Duryodhana. He continued to fight, and he was soon defeated too. He had allowed his rage against the Sooners to get the best of him, and in doing so he destroyed the whole team. Gundy was devastated when he heard the news, and just as before, he had to crown the Sooners as the champions. 

The moral of the story is: the Cowboys will always lose in the battle against the Sooners, no matter how hard they try….

Author’s Note: I decided to write about something we all hold so dear at OU: football. I kept the outline of the story the same, but changed the context of the battle. I got the idea for this story because it's OU/Texas week! (I couldn’t write badly about Texas though because the rest of my family went there.) The version I read this week also took out all the magic and humanized the characters of the epic, so I decided to do the same. 

Bibliography: Wilson, Richard. The Five Tall Sons of Pandu. Print. 1914.

Week 7 Reading Diary B: The Five Tall Sons of Pandu

I think the most compelling part of this reading was the hesitation. You could see this when Arjun was debating about morals when confronted with going to war with his own family. You could see it when Krishna and others on Duryodhana's side fought for a peace mission. You could even see it when Bhishma told Duryodhana the gods were not on their side.

I feel like ego plays a large role in this human version of the epic. The way seems to continue less out of rage, but more so because they want to prove themselves. I think this is seen in Karnu who still chooses to fight Arjun even after learning they are brothers.

I also get caught up on the story of Bhishma's death. They sent out someone they knew he wouldn't kill. They did this so he would let his guard down and they could follow through with the attack. That was family. They knew someone in their family actually had morals and he was killed because of it.

(Image Information: Bhishma's death Source: Hard Krishna)

Week 7 Reading Diary A: The Five Tall Sons of Pandu

This was a very different way of telling the story of the sons of Pandu. I enjoyed this version, however, because it was much more believable without all the magical aspects. I found the dispute between the cousins to be more realistic too. Instead of fighting each other with powers they seemed to be just like brothers fighting and trying to prove themselves to each other. I liked this reading, it was shorter than I anticipated, but I guess that's what you get when you take all the magic out of an epic.

(Image Information: Krishna and the pandavas. Source: Pinterest )