Indian Epics Work

I was invested in this part of the story and found it more entertaining than the first part. I still found myself finding one "flaw." That is with Sita. Yeah, she's this beautiful woman and so far I think she's essentially perfect for Rama, but she's a bit stupid. The rakshasas make a plan involving one of them turning into a deer to lure her and kidnap her from Rama. The plan works, beautifully! Sita falls for this abnormally beautiful deer and sends Rama to go fetch it and then she whines until Rama's brother goes to help him leaving her defenseless. I'm okay with her being defenseless, it helps aid Rama's heroism. I want to add to the part of the story where King Ravana is running off with her. I want to give her a consciousness where she's thinking "wow, I'm stupid" and so on. Give her some thoughts and feelings that acknowledge that she fell for this, even after Rama's brother told her specifically what it probably was. P...

"their faces brightened as the lotus brightens at the promise of spring." I just really liked the language of this sentence and want to be able to look back on it later. Source Story  Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie I got the idea of writing a scene about the men from Ayodhya making a fuss about Rama being made the heir. He must show himself to be approved. Some sort of argument would take place, potentially a fight. Course Rama wins, but he needs to at least show a sign of struggle. Then the congregation of men would support him as needed. I would like to try using Rama's perspective  Source Story : Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita Rama with Arrows

"You Will Be Okay" I need to remind myself this every day. I stress at work because I need more time, then I stress about school and homework because I need more time, and then I stress because I don't have time for myself. Sometimes you just have to breathe and remember that "you will be okay." "Find the Lesson" This post was talking about failure. We aren't really geared by society to go out and find the failure to learn from. Instead, we're taught that failure is something negative. But if I can apply myself to realize that failure is an opportunity to learn, things look a little more positive. Mental Health

I've had the Canvas App installed on my phone for at least a year now. It's helped me get some homework assignments done when I was on the road and my phone was all I had. I can check my grades whenever I want to. I highly recommend!

Why rejection hurts so much- and what to do about it. I related to this so much, but it also felt like a slap in the face. I focus so much on the negativity in my life that I so often overlook all of the positive. In light of how feedback helps, last semester I participated in a workshop for my fiction writing course. First time I've ever let an entire class read my work and then sit through a discussion. Talk about ripping someone to shreds, but in the end, there were so many things that I was able to get out of it about how to make my work better. Feedback is important, even when it sucks to hear. Neil Gaiman's Advice on the Creative Lif e I'm sure we've all heard about people channeling everything into some great work of art. Whether that be music inspiration or some other form of art. I want to write, and that's when I'm going to have the biggest surge of emotion. So that's when I should channel everything into my work. I felt like this article was...

For starters, I love a good love story. I found this specific story about Suvannamaccha and Hanuman and think it would be fun to put my own twist on it. Also, the idea of a mermaid is pretty cool in my opinion. I think I would put Hanuman through some hoops to win her affection, none of that nonsensical magic business. The second idea is going back to the storybook that I just read with the Jatakas. I thought that was a lot of fun rewriting. My writing didn't quite take the approach I originally intended for it to have, but that was the best part. I've also discovered that I'm better at writing really short stories and also enjoy that. Of course, I would have to pinpoint a particular story to rewrite, but I like this idea. To go back to the idea of a love story, I think it would be interesting to feature Kamadeva. If I used him, though, I think I would want him to be that main focus and not just a support character. Maybe he can meet his own lover? Or fall for someone...

“The men have been here long enough, they’ll be eaten in a few nights,” I say. “You can’t,” Kaeli stresses. “But I can't sit here and watch them die when I can do something,” I answer. Already deciding in my mind that I must step in and help them out of the reach of the goblins’ teeth. Plus… I remember how handsome their leader was. And with that in mind, I head towards the field of flying Pegasus, determined to save that man at least. “I know what you’re thinking, and remember he married one of them,” Kaeli reminds me. I guess she followed me, I can hear her breath hitching from stressing her wings in an attempt to catch up with me. “He didn’t know what he was doing.” She’s silent but I know what she’s thinking, though I don’t push it. With a whistle, my flying friend appears. Kaeli and I climb up and off we fly towards the sailors. Approaching, I see him. He’s outside looking concerned. I guide us to swoop down and land directly next to him. “Climb up here, I’m here to help you...

The story by the name of "Goblin City" captured my attention. I approached the reading wanting to learn about things I've never heard of and also with the intent to figure out a direction to take on a rewriting. I found almost all of the stories interesting, but this last one stuck with me as one that I could twist into something fun and creative.  As a short summary, and reminder to myself, a sailor and his mates marry goblins somehow. He figures it out and only some of his mates believe him. A fairy, hating goblins, takes the side of the sailors and helps them escape. The rest of the men get eaten by goblins. I want to approach this from a fairies point of you and bring in romantic interest to the sailor. I think I need to do a bit of research on the context of fairies in Indian stories and their characteristics, which I believe will allow me to add some interesting twist to my story.   Goblin City  by Laura Gibs Fairy- Sophia Anderson

Ramayana I most definitely picked the Public Domain Edition of Ramayana because of the price. It's absolutely free, though I do think it will be interesting to read a bunch of different styles throughout. Also, there is an audio link and I've found recently that sometimes it's easier for me to focus on a story better by listening. This image relates to Ramayana. Vasantasena, A Dancer I thought this comic book sounded interesting. It sounds like there's a lot of twists in the story and that will keep me intrigued until the end. The summary presented the good versus bad setup and I like that idea. The cover also caught my attention, she gives me the vibe that she's a pretty girl with a lot of tricks up her sleeve to keep the story interesting. Aniruddha I found one that has a love story! I'm a sucker for romance, especially the feel-good happy endings. Though, this is supposed to have a good story and lots of obstacles for the couple to make the sto...

In actuality, I'm one of those people who usually does good with time management and balancing a hundred things. I'm a huge creature of habit and will fall into the same old schedule week after week, which can be good and it can be bad. One of the articles I read mentioned habits. That is my biggest problem and also it's not a problem. Last semester for an example; my weeks went by on repeat, I work the exact same schedule every week and class is at the same time, then I fit in my homework time in all the extra time not designated to one of those. I got to church the same two times every week and everything repeats week after week. It works. Most definitely, but it gets old after some time. I struggle with not giving myself enough "me time." I'm a huge advocate about getting everything done, but you can't forget about yourself along the way. After a while, I know I have upcoming assignments that I need to start early on but I'm stressed because I h...

I have some experience with some of the sites we're going to be using. Before college, I took at least six computer classes, ranging from typing to using the different Microsoft Office applications. I hated it back then, but now I'm slightly thankful that I have a lot of skills regarding figuring out how to do things on different types of applications and websites.  Of course, anything unfamiliar sounds scary, but that's where the learning can happen. I do think this class will be the most involved with multiple sites and programs than any of the other classes I've taken. I'm just keeping the idea in the back  of my mind that every time I stepped out of my  comfort zone I only learned some more.  Technology by Nick Youngson http://www.thebluediamondgallery.com/handwriting/t/technology.html

Honestly, my first thought after reading over what this semester was going to be like I was a little terrified. Mostly because five to six hours of homework sounds menacing, but my excitement is rising little by little as I've dived into everything. I think the completion grade idea will help me a lot. I can focus on doing my assignments and not be stressing that it's not good enough once I've turned it in. I also feel like it allows for more creativity. As a very inexperienced writer, I'm excited to tackle the creative outlets. I was worried that I wouldn't have time to keep my creative juices flowing this semester because I'm not taking any more creative writing classes, but this should be perfect! I think the idea that everyone will be seeing our assignments is what will keep people motivated to do their best work. There's something about people seeing your work that makes you a little nervous about doing good work, at least it works that way for ...

I found myself agreeing with many of the points Carol Dweck made about her idea of the Growth Mindset. My agreement comes from my own experience. The hardest classes I've taken in college have been the ones that I came out feeling the most accomplished with upon completion. I took off a semester in the fall of 2017 and returned that following spring. I can remember when I started college I tried to avoid speaking in class, interaction with professors or classmates and trying to pick the classes that would allow me to sit in the safety of my bedroom for assignments. When I returned in the spring I enrolled in my classes and soon discovered that there were several assignments I was going to have to step outside of my comfort zone to do. I made the mental decision to buckle down and just do it, and I came out, in the end, feeling like I had grown in ability. Dweck's ideas brought me back to that. It's most definitely worth the risk of stepping outside of that comfort zone be...

I'll start with the basics, I'm an English Writing major with a minor in History. It might surprise you, I started out as a Math Education major. All through junior high and high school, I thought I wanted to be a high school math teacher when I grew up. One thing I've learned, don't try to plan everything out. It never works out the way you see it going. I started out at USAO in Chickasha, OK where I lived the most miserable year of my life. My best friend from high school chose to go to OU and I always said I would never go there because they were "too obsessed with football." Of course, OU is exactly where I ended up and I love it. Throughout my college career, I learned that I have a love for American Literature and that history is actually my thing. I hated history in high school, but taking a Western history class at OU opened my eyes. It's the connection between today and all of the yesterdays that make it so interesting. As my Oklahoma history ...

The first collection that caught my eye, "Love on Trial," took a very interesting twist towards the end. Usually, I'm all for the romantic happily ever after story, but I actually liked how the writer decided to have this woman stand up for herself and refuse to take the treatment bestowed on her. Originally, I assumed by the title that this would have a romantic ending, but I was under the wrong assumption. This gave me the sense that I can create stories the way I want them. I thought the layout was easy to navigate and helpful in that aspect, which seems like a good thing in the long run as an aid for readers. https://sites.google.com/site/ramavssita/home Scrolling through the long list of names, Hogwarts caught my eye. By the name of "Hogwarts: The Loyalty of Brothers," I found a fantastic combination of Harry Potter with names I recognize as material that I should come across this semester. I thought it was very creative and loved the way the writer ap...

Oklahoma by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images http://www.picserver.org/highway-signs2/o/oklahoma.html As weird as it sounds, my favorite place is Oklahoma. I've traveled all over the western side and some in the Northeast as well as the Southeastern part of the state. To me, there's so much diversity in the landscape that you have to see it all. I love the Oklahoma sky, to the point that I've taken countless pictures across the state of just the sky. Last semester I took a history class and a literature class focused on Oklahoma. I really enjoyed both of them, and I love to travel especially across my home state. Oklahoma Sky, Personal Collection Oklahoma Sky, Personal Collection

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