Reading Week 15: The Ramayana, Part F

Wow, the last reading is already here. Can't believe how fast these 15 weeks have flown by. I decided to spend my last reading by continuing the Ramayana. I have really enjoyed this reading and it has been fascinating getting exposure to things I wouldn't have if I didn't take this course. I liked the part where Rama curses the ocean. Cursing the ocean - an example of something I wouldn't have read if I wasn't in this class.

Rama curses the Sea: (Blogspot)

Bibliography: The Ramayana by William Buck (Link)

Week 15 Reading: The Ramayana Part E

This week I continued reading The Ramayana, and it is starting to get very weird (which is always more fun to read). Some of the things talked about I will reading and think to myself 'what just happened.' I love the obscure characters and series of events, I never know what to expect. I liked the part when the mountain Mainaka hides under the ocean in fear of Indra, but then comes out to give Hanuman a chance to rest. This was a very interesting part of the reading, and I enjoyed getting exposed to this version of the Ramayana.

The Ramayana: (Wikipedia)

Bibliography: Ramayana by William Buck (Link)

Reading Week 14: The Ramayana, Part D

Sita gets abducted!! Best part of the reading right here. It reminds me of when Daenerys Targaryen gets taken by the Dothraki. It was smart of her to drop down her jewelry to the monkey's beneath her so they would know exactly where she got taken. I like this idea of getting kidnapped and am going to try to incorporate this in a story during the semester. I am liking this other version of the Ramayana as it is very exciting. 

Daenerys Targaryen: (Flickr)

Bibliography: Ramayana by William Buck (Link)

Reading Week 14: The Ramayana, Part C

This week I continued reading the Ramayana into part C. I liked the part when Bharata goes with an entourage to go find Rama. This reminds me of a story I wrote when King Dasharatha goes with an entourage of nine men into the forest. It is cool seeing how all the stories are tying together and relating to each other. For my project post this week I am thinking about including something different about Rama.

Rama: (WikiCommons) 

Bibliography: Ramayana by William Buck (Link)

Reading Week 13: Ramayana Part B

The opening part of this reading was very surprising, and I liked it! In my stories I have always tried to thrill the reading and take turns they were not expecting. When Dasharatha plans to make Rama his successor, I thought it was just going to play out normally and Rama would be the next King. But Kaikeyi uses two promises that Dasharatha owes and Rama doesn't only not become king, but he gets exiled! I thought this was a very good twist.

Bibliography: Ramayana retold by William Buck (Link)

Ramayama: (WikiCommons)

Reading Week 13: Ramayana Part A.

This week I read Buck Ramayana. It was weird seeing Sauti tell the story of the Mahabharata because we have already read that this semester! It was very cool seeing King Dasharatha in the story again, because I have included him in a story in my portfolio. In this story, he prepares a sacrifice to obtain sons. In my story, and went to fight the ten headed monster to get sons. I liked the reading this week, and am looking forward to reading B.

Bibliography: Ramayana retold by William Buck (Link)

King Dasharatha: (WikiCommons)

Week 12 Reading: Seven Secrets of Hindu Calendar, Part B

This next part of the video focused on Narayan. I thought it was really interesting how when Narayan sleeps, the world has no form and no identity. This shows the type of power he has, and that was really cool. I think this is what I will write about in my story, and maybe somehow fit in the elephant from Reading A. I thought Part B was a better video than part A, and I will focus more on it in my story this week.

Bibliography: Seven Secrets of Hindu Calendar (Link)

Narayana: (Wikipedia)

Week 12 Reading Notes: Seven Secrets of Hindu Calendar, Part A

This week I chose to watch Seven secrets of the Hindu Calendar, Gods and Goddesses. I'm not sure if I was the biggest fan, so for next week I might try and find more comic tales. But, it was interesting to watch about the different Gods of Indian Epics. I remember reading a student's storybook about the elephant, so it was good to see where that came from. Maybe I will incorporate a God into my next story, but we will have to see how I begin brainstorming.

Bibliography: Seven Secrets of Hindu Calendar (Link)

Elephant God: (Pixabay)

Week 11: More Jataka Tales, Part B

What another great week of reading. I really enjoyed reading the Jataka Tales, it was very different and interesting. I especially likes the part with the elephant and the dog. I would never had thought to put these two animals together, but it turned out to be really cool. I discussed in my last reading notes that I wanted to incorporate some animals into my next story, so maybe I'll make them two random animals. Great read.

Bibliography: More Jataka Tales by Babbitt (Link)

Elephant and Dog: (Wiki Commons)

Week 11: More Jataka Tales, Part A

This week I read More Jataka Tales, and I enjoyed it just as much as last week. Last week I read Jataka Tales so I thought it would be a good idea to continue that reading. I really liked the story of the Stupid Monkeys. I have yet to write about animals as my only characters, and this upcoming story I am thinking about doing so. It would be fun to have animals talk to each other and I think I could come up with something to write about. I enjoyed this reading and am looking forward to Part B.

Bibliography: More Jataka Tales by Babbitt (Link)

Monkey: (Pixabay)

Week 10 Story: The Casino

A long hike up and over the Himalaya's was the only thing Chase expected over the next month. He and two of his other friends were trying to get to the other side of the mountain range to lead back the tribe they had recently acquired. Although Chase had no horse's or weapons for these men, he thought they were valuable enough to bring back to their village, Bakbeph, and deal with the missing pieces later.

It was a brutal winter and the men began to struggle on their trip. Chase and his two closest advisors, Carter and Luke, started to have death on their minds. They continued the long trek and began to see the summit of the mountain. On that summit, they saw very bright flashing lights. When they came closer to the lights, they could see the word 'Casino' enlightened in the snowfall. Without question, Chase lead his men into the casino.

He took a seat at one of the blackjack tables, attempting to win some money for him and his two advisors. All of the dealers in the casino were Raksasha's and were very intimidating. The Raksasha's main job was to kill anybody who tries to leave the casino without paying their debts. However, they did not know Chase's intelligent skill at blackjack.

He began to play hand after hand, without winning or losing much money. Chase then started to speculate his trip and realized that without more gold, they had no chance of survival. Chase went all in. He pushed all of his gold onto the table for one hand of blackjack. The dealer then dealt, and Chase had two 9's.

"Split 'em" Chase said confidently.

"You are out of money, I am afraid I cannot do that" replied the Raksasha.

"My advisors and I will give you our horses and our services for life if we lose. Split the cards" Chase demanded.

The Raksasha split the cards. He was showing a 10, so Chase's chances of winning were small. Chase then got dealt a 10 and another 10, giving him 19 on each hand.

Now it was time for the Raksasha to show his hand. He was already showing 10 and he flipped his other card to show his hand. It was an 8, totaling 18.

Chase had won everything. He got double his gold, three horses and also three additional men. Chase and his advisors then left the casino and continued their trip to lead their tribe back to their village.

The End.

Author's Note:
This story thought started when I read about the dice game in week 7. I love going to the casino, so I thought it would be a lot of fun to write about it, and it was. In the reading, Bhima had to sacrifice a horse, and that is where I incorporated the stories. Bhima, who I renamed Chase, went into the casino and gambled all of his gold, horses, and men. In the reading Bhima had to cut off the head of a horse and sacrifice him. Although he did not do that in mine, he still did put himself and everything he had at sacrifice on blackjack.

Bibliography: Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (Link)

Blackjack: (WikiCommons)

Reading Notes: The Jatakas Tales of India. Part B

For Part B of this book I want to focus on Why the Owl is not King of the Birds. I have incorporated Kings into a lot of my stories, so I was excited when I came across the part where there was a non intense story about Kings (kind of). I am interested in taking on this kind of approach in the future and we will see how it pans out for me. Overall I enjoyed this reading and am looking forward to continuing to choose our readings in the future.

Bibliography: The Jatakas Tales of India by Ellen Babbitt (Link)

Owl: (Pixabay)

Reading Notes: Babbitt: Jataka Tales. Part A

This week I read Babbitt Jataka Tales and specifically liked The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking part. This was an interesting little story and I think that is what I want to do with my next story. I have been very dark and serious in my stories and I am thinking about lightening it up. Although the Turtle ends up dying, I thought of this as a short little tale and I really liked it.

Bibliography: The Jatakas Tales of India by Ellen Babbitt (Link)

Turtle: (Pixabay)

Reading Notes: Valiant Archer, Supreme Teacher - Part B

It's kind weird that Drona was born in a pot, and not only born in a pot, his name also means Pot. This struck me as kind of weird, but hey it's Indian Epics. At least Drona has cool secret military skills to offset his weird birth and name. I like the fact that Drona is seeking pupils that will lead to his revenge on Drupada. This calls for a very exciting story and I may have to use this for one of mine in the future. Overall, this was a fun story to read.

Bibliography: Valiant Archer, Supreme Teacher (Link)

Drona: (Wikipedia) 

Reading Notes: Tales of Arjuna Part A

This week I read Tales of Arjuna and really enjoyed it. This was my first comic book to read this semester and I really enjoyed it, I need to find more! I like how the monkey was interactive with the humans, that definitely made for it to be a more lighthearted and funny story. Overall, I really enjoyed this story.

Bibliography: Tales of Arjuna (Link)

Monkey: (Pexels)

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

I have enjoyed giving and receiving feedback throughout this semester. I think it is very important in order to get the best work possible. It is good to get several different eyes on your work and hearing from those people. I have tried to adjust to the feedback I have gotten, and hopefully it has made my work better. I have gotten good feedback from the other students so thank you for that! Looking forward, I am going to be more specific with my feedback to help other students.

Feedback: (Pixabay)

Week 8 Reading and Writing

I've enjoyed the reading and writing of this class so far. I like the free structure of the course and how we get to take it in whatever direction we want. My stories have mostly been about battles and kingdoms, and looking forward I am going to change that. I've been focusing on that in my readings and story planning this past week. I am going to focus on a bigger variety of things and see where it takes me. Feels good to be halfway through, it has really flown by.

Kingdom of Monett: (Wikipedia) 

This has been my favorite picture of the semester because it looks similar to what I had pictured in my head when writing the stories. It is fun to write about battles and kingdoms, as I have never done that before the start of this semester. 

Week 7 Story Planning: Gambling in the Himalayas

This week I have focused on many different elements of the reading that I am going to focus on for my story next week. In reading A, the thing that stuck with me the most is the scene where Bhima kills the Rakshasa. I am not going to revolve around this same plot, but in reading B, I got really into the dice game that was played. And my thought for my story this week is to deviate from battle and war scenes, and write about something different. So, after thought and reading, I decided that Bihma and some made up characters will be hiking through the Himalayas to buy land on the other side of the mountain range. They will be carrying lots of gold in order to purchase this desired land. While traveling through the mountain range, they will stumble across a casino, and curiously enter in and gamble some of the gold they have on them. The Rakshasa's will be the dealers at every table and own the casino. I am planning on having Bhima lose all of his gold, and gamble away everything, including a sacred horse he is riding on. The sacred horse idea came from reading D, when Bhima cut the head off a horse and it ascended into heaven. Maybe throughout the week I become nicer and make Bhima win a lot, but I think I will stick to my plan of devastation!


Research: I looked into more depth about the Rakshasa, because they are going to be in control of the casino in my story. I did not know that they were also called "Maneaters" but this makes writing about them even more exciting. Rakshasa's were created from the breath of Brahma when he was asleep, which is a really obscure point of creation. They are ugly and enourmous creatures who have two fangs on the top of their mouth. These will be very intimidating casino dealers in my story! (Link to Rakshasa)


Bibliography: Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (Link)

Dice Game: (Pixabay) 

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part D

I thought the sacrifice of the horse was a very intense part of the reading. When Bhima cut the head, it immediately ascended to heaven, and disappeared in front of everybody. I am going to go a different direction from this. I still haven't thought of my characters to use, but I think I am going to have a sacred horse be a source of a debt payment when the characters come across the casino in the Himalayas. This will provide a new theme and feeling to the reading, and will deviate from my past stories which have revolved around battles.

Bibliography: Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (Link)

Sacred Horse: (Pexels)

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part C

I really enjoyed when Draupadi and the four Pandava brother's begain their journey in the Himalayas. I think it would be really interesting to set a story in the mountains, which I have yet to do. Most of mine have revolved around battles of different kingdoms. But after reading the dice game last week, and the Himalayas this week, maybe I will select some characters to come across a hidden casino in the middle of the mountain range. This may be a little far fetched, but with more brainstorming throughout the week, I am sure I will get a basis for my plot.

Bibliography: Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (Link)

The Himalayas above the clouds: (Wikipedia)

Week 6 Story: Fight for Democracy

Link to story in Portfolio: (Portblogio)

Dave Monett, the King of Kingdom Monett, has been seeing a lady who everybody thinks will be the future Queen. Her name is Nina, and she is obsessed with King Dave. She would do anything to please the King. One day, she receives a note from a messenger pigeon, with the news that King Dave is no longer interested and she can leave the Kingdom immediately or be forcefully removed by soldiers otherwise. She chooses to leave without force, but insist the soldiers to inform King Dave that he will be hearing from her shortly.

[10 years later.]

As the soldiers are preparing their weapons for battle, there are whispers of some unknown rebellion on the other side of the lake at the Kingdom of Dashartha. This causes confusion because the Dashartha family has been in power for thousands of years. Their current leader, King Dashartha has been the most ruthless one of all. It is a total dictatorship, and the civilians are treated as slaves. They either take the role of growing crops for the Kingdom's food, or battle as a soldier to protect. The soldiers of Kingdom Monett seem distracted, and this infuriates King Dave.

"THE NEXT PERSON TO SPEAK OF REBELLION, YOU WILL END UP IN THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE" shouts King Dave from the top of his bannister. As he finishes his remarks, the Kingdom is washed in silence. From across the lake, everybody stares into the flames of the Kingdom of Dashartha. It is in total destruction. King Dave and his soldiers remain silent for a couple of minutes, until thunderous footsteps appear to be approaching. An army of thousands of soldiers are riding in from the distance. Everybody scrambles for their weapons, and get ready to battle.

The stampede stops at the gate, and only 6 people walk forward. King Dave notices Nina from the top of the castle, and walks out of the Kingdom to approach her and 5 others. It appears to be King Dashartha's four sons, Nina, and another boy. Nina begins to speak, "Dave, meet Brandon...Brandon Monett. He is to be the King after today. Once you are finally gone." King Dave is silenced in shock of his young son. Brandon walks towards his father, with a stare in his eyes. King Dave reaches out to hug him, only to find Brandon gouging a knife into his heart. King Dave drops to the ground.

King Dave did not know that Nina was pregnant when he broke up with her. And now, he is gone. Nina, Brandon, and King Dashartha's four sons overthrew both kingdoms and set a democracy for the people of both kingdoms, and became one united country.

Kingdom of Monett: (Wikipedia) 

Author's Note: I decided to combine two of the readings last week. The first one was about King Dashartha and his four sons. I also read about King Dave breaking up with Nina, and added the twist that she was pregnant with his son. I haven't combined two differnt kingdoms, or even two different families yet, and I thought it would be fun to do so. In the original story, Sita told Rama that she is pregnant, and this is what sparked my idea to change that to Nina for a more epic twist.

Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley (Link)

Research: I learned that Dashartha had three wives, which first made me think that he would not care about one too much. But after reading more about King Dashartha, I realized that he died in the night due to pain and misery of his separation with Rama. I did not include this in my story because I wanted him to seem dominant and feared. In my story he died due to the fire set by Nina and his four sons. (Link to research)

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part B

The dice game was by far my favorite reading we have done this semester. I am a big fan of gambling, and seeing it be incorporated into this indian epics course was really cool for me. Shakuni is playing a game of dice in Duryodhana's place, and Yudhishthira loses everything he owns. I am planning on changing the names of the characters because I think it is difficult to develop a story if you cannot pronounce the people's names with confidence. But centering a story around gambling will be very fun and interesting to do.

Bibliography: Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (Link)

Game of Dice: (Wiki Commons) 

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part A

This week reading was really interesting. I think I am going to like this book better than the last one. I like to focus on characters and setting to develop around and Bhima killing a rakshasa really has me interested. The sister of the Rakshasa fell in love with Bhima, even though he killed her and I think this is a good spot to create a story. Bihma then battled with another rakshasa, and everybody is suprised he is able to beat him.

Bibliography: Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (Link)

Rakshasa: (Wiki Commons)

Week 5 Planning: Kings and the Sons

I am going to combine my reading notes Part A and Part B for my story next week discussing the attempted rebellion of two kingdoms. I went two separate directions in both of my reading notes, but after brainstorming about it I think I have the plot that I want to do. In reading A I discussed King Dashartha having four sons who will ultimately grow to hate him and branch of into their own kingdoms. But after thought and also after part B reading, I want to combine the kings and combine the sons from both of my readings. Part B I focused on Dave breaking up with Nina, while he didn't know Nina was pregnant with his son. So my plan for next week is to go forward in time to where King Dave's sin has been born and have him cross paths with King Dashartha's four sons. They will form an alliance and plot against the two kingdoms under King Dashartha and King Dave. The two king will then catch wind of this information and have to form their own alliance. It will cause a dual kingdom rebellion inside the royal families, so like a combined civil war between two countries, which I think would be a fun angle to write a story about. I would have to come up with a way for the 5 combined sons to gather an army to defeat the Kings. I am thinking about having them talk in secret to the actual armies of the kingdom, telling them the news of a rebellion. This will also play into the fact that the kings find out the rumor of rebellion, by a loyal soldier telling them the news. I am excited for this upcoming story, and am planning on making some ad hoc changes.


Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley (Link)

The Alliance of the two Kings (Wikipedia)

Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blues, Part B

When Dave broke up with Nina by email, I immediately thought this was a good plot to revolve around. This is one of the top things not to do when you break up, but Dave decides to do it anyways. Sita told Rama in the story that she is pregnant, but I think I am going to change that to Nina being pregnant to spark up the story. I might make Dave a King and Nina can't have children, but when he breaks up with her, she discloses she's pregnant with a boy (aka the heir to Dave's throne). This week I am going to focus on changing names from the original just to include a different aspect to my stories.

Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley (Link)

Dave Begging For Nina: (Wiki Commons)

Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blues, Part A

This weeks reading was very interesting and I am excited to develop a story off of it. King Dashartha has three wives and four sons, making it a good family to develop a plot around. I am brainstorming about some family instances that could make the family turn against each other. It would be cool to have the four sons try to stake their claim to another kingdom by branching away from the family. I also like the idea of incorporating the half man half monkeys to draw some chaos to the story.

Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley (Link)

The Man Monkey (Wiki Commons)

Comment Wall

(Link to Portblogio)

Week 4 Story: The Battle for the King

The Kingdom of Daracus, has been ruled by the Newton family ever since inception. Throughout the years, the family has had no daughters. The road to the throne is to be the first born male in your generation, and your younger brothers will serve as your council. The current King, King Sugriva, has been the most intimidating King yet. He tried to kick all of his brothers except for his closest brother Cam off of his council. One the kingdom would no let him do that, his brothers started dying one by one. The whole kingdom knew that King Sugriva was behind this, but there was no evidence against him.

On a cold winter day when the snow was flying through the sky, the King's only brother and only member of the council died. He was so distraught and was on his knees weeping in front of his people. They saw this as a sign of weakness. They didn't accompany the sad King, and instead went back into their huts. King Sugriva, stayed outside his chambers for hours, crying over his dead brother's body. It was dead quite in the Daracus Castle, but noise started to escalate.

Fire started becoming visible inside the civilians huts. The King did not have the mental capacity at the moment to realize what was going on. Blades were being sharpened, and pitch forks were being brought out of the sheds. "ONE, TWO, GOO!" The people of the Daracus Kingdom sprinted out of their huts towards the vulnerable King. He grasped his two swords, and fought for his family name. King Sugriva was the greatest fighter in the north, and was showing his skills against his own people. He fought off about two dozen, leaving them dead on the ground next to his brother. Then the crowd started to overtake the fight.

The King went down and the people cheered. They no longer had their ruthless King overseeing them. The were free! The Newton family was finally gone, and the Kingdom continued happier than they ever have before.

Kingdom of Daracus: (Good Free Photos)

Author's Note:

I liked the reading about King Sugriva and thought I could make use of his vulnerability when his brother died. I also enjoyed the Battle of Rama and Ravana, so I decided to combine the two. Overthrowing a King is always exciting, especially when its done by the people themselves.

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana (Link)

Reading Notes: Ramayana, Part D

The Battle of Rama and Ravana caught my attention in Reading D. I like using a battle as a basis for my plot because of the variety of outcomes you can create. This part kind of reminds me of the "boss level" you play in video games because Agastya is trying to defeat this seemingly invincible enemy. I may expand the characters to a small army, but a one on one battle could be epic too. I enjoyed this reading and look forward to altering the plot to my own story.

Bibliography:  Narayan's Ramayana (Link)

Battle of Rama and Ravana: (Wiki Commons)

Reading Notes: Ramayana, Part C

This weeks reading was really interesting. I am excited to write a story relative to this reading. My favorite part about the readings is when there is a king character and that did not change this week with King Sugriva. His brother dies and it shows this dominate king weeping over his brothers death, showing a sign of weakness. By reading this I am starting to brainstorm ideas to overthrow his and create an enemy. I may incorporate some of my own characters to make another spin on the story.

Bibliography:  Narayan's Ramayana (Link)

King Sugriva: (Wiki Commons)

Feedback Strategies

Feedback is a big part of improvement. I always ask for feedback in anything I do. The two articles I read were Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback (Link) and Be a Mirrior (Link). I really like the term "feedforward" because it puts it into perspective of the purpose feedback is supposed to provide. The Be a Mirror article was cool because it incorporated the importance of the growth mindset.

Feedback: (pixabay)

Topic Research

I'm choosing epic battles for my topic because I think I can build around it well. There will be an abundant about of topics to talk about and various directions to go. Three stories are the Kurukshetra War (Link) and I plan to incorporate many dominant characters like Indra, The Thunder God (Link). I am excited to talk about all the different weapons that will be used in my stories as well (Link).

Kurukshetra War: (Wikipedia)

Week 3 Story: The Ten-Headed Curse

Link to full story in project: Portblogio

It was a musky crisp night in the river of the Ayodhya, and everything was quiet. There was no movement, no sounds, no ripples in the water. Moments later, thunderous footsteps are approaching fromm the distance. They move closer and closer and it turns out to be King Dasharatha. He is a dominant ruler with one flaw, he can have no children.

There is an ancient legend about a ten-headed monster who lives in the waters of the Ayodhya, but nobody has ever seen them with their own eyes...or at least made it out alive after seeing him. But this is what brings King Dasharatha to the Ayodhya, because according to the legend, if you survive a bite from the ten-headed monster, it will drastically change your life.

King Dasharatha brought his top soldiers with him to the river, just in case things turn for the worse. There is a total of ten men, searching by the banks and jabbing spears into the water. After days of searching, there is no monster to be found. Doubt begins to spread across the group of men, contemplating whether they should go back home to their families, but King Dasharatha has no family.

As they begin to walk away from King Dasharatha's orders, a head the size of a boulder slashes out of the water and takes a man underneath. Followed by another head, and then simultaneously seven more, taking out all of King Dasharatha's men. He stands there alone, quivering at the site of the ten-headed monster emerging from the water. The monster roars "YOU HAVE DEFIED ME BY BRINGING YOUR MEN...YOU SHALL NOW BE A CURSED KING." The monster bites off King Dasharatha's arm off, and declares that he shall now have twins, a boy and a girl. The King is thinking to himself that this is rather a gift than a curse. The monster than screeches, "THEY WILL SERVE ONE PURPOSE IN THEIR LIFE, TO BUILD AN ARMY OF THEIR OWN AND OVERTHROW YOU AND YOUR KINGDOM." The King begins to beg for mercy and weeps on his knees. The monster doesn't respond to these requests, grabs him by the hair and flings him back to his kingdom.

As the King lands in the courtyard of his castle, he has to explain to his men to prepare for the greatest war they have ever heard.

The End.

Ayodhya River: (Wikipedia)

Author's note:
I read Narayan's Ramayana this week, and it discussed the King and the ten-headed monster. It didn't develop off of the fact that the king couldn't have children so I made it a priority to incorporate that into my story. The ten-headed monster was a really cool character and I wanted to make him a dominant and feared character who serves a main role in my story.

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana (Link)

Reading Notes: The Ramayana, Part B

I'm thinking about making Dashartha's death a planned fake. This would provide a good plot twist and would be an interesting build off. It would be cool to see Bharata become a dominate king after he is unhappy being made it. Everybody loves power when they get the chance to have it, and maybe I'll make Bharata turn into a greedy evil king. Lakshamana's punishment to Sita is the excitement I have been waiting for. I think it makes the story more interesting when rivals are relentless against each other.

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana (Link)

Rama and Lakshama: (Wiki Commons)

Reading Notes: The Ramayana, Part A

I like the setting in the city of Ayodhya. I have already written a story that takes place in a river, so this will be a familiar place to develop a story. The fact that Dasharatha has no children is an interesting aspect to the plot. Maybe I could incorporate a child that he doesn't know about yet and later becomes his enemy. The ten headed rakshasa is a great element to the story and will be easy to build off of.

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana (Link)

Epics of India: (Wikipedia)

Feedback Thoughts

I am a big fan of feedback, positive and negative. They both serve different roles in the feedback process. Negative feedback is the most influential, because it is what you need to change in order to further improve your work. Positive feedback is also important, because this is what you're doing great at and what you need to continue doing. The two articles I read were 5 Tips For Taking Feedback Like a Champ and 8 Things to do When You Make a Mistake. These were two really great articles for feedback and I liked the numbering format of the steps. They put it really clear on the mindset you need to have when dealing with feedback, and the majority of it was in line with my beliefs about feedback.

Feedback: (Pixabay)

Topic Brainstorm

Indra, The Thunder God:
I wanted to include at least one God in my four topics, and this one interested me the most. I have no prior knowledge of Indian Epics, so all of this will be new to me. I would like to learn more about Indra's thunderbolt weapon and its capabilities (link). It will be interesting to see how the weapon plays in the stories and how I can develop a plot around it.

Supernatural Characters:
This topic popped out at me just from the title. I am fascinated in any sort of supernatural character of any kind. I am looking forward to learning about the different kinds of characters, especially the Rakshasa (link). Having these characters will be awesome to develop stories around.

Animal Characters:
Since I was fascinated in the supernatural characters, I thought it would be best to explore the animal characters as well. My favorite one to look into was Jambavan (link) the king of the bears. My first story revolved around a king of monkeys and a king of crocodiles, so I think I would be able to develop some good plots with these characters.

Epic Battles:
I'm sure this is a topic of interest for a lot of people in the class. "Epic Battles" just sounds like there is a lot to be written about and it can go in any direction. It was cool looking into the Kurukshetra War (link), as it was like a movie. The weapons of the warriors were also very appealing to me.

Rakshasa: (Wiki Commons)

Week 2 Story - The Monkey's Revenge

Once upon a time, monkeys and crocodiles ruled the Amazon River. These were the only two species in the Amazon in this period of time. The crocodiles had control of the water, while the monkeys had the power above. The two kings, Melvin (king of the monkeys) and Gordon (king of the crocodiles) have a known rivalry, but have never came in contact with each other. The crocodiles watch the monkeys swing from branch to branch all day long, and finally Gordon's wife said to the king in confidence "I wish to have that monkey's heart to eat." Gordon was stunned by the ridiculous statement, as they could never get close to the monkeys, but made it his goal for his wife.
 
Gordon devised a plan to get close to Melvin. He crept to the bank of the river, and asked the monkeys permission to see their King Melvin. Gordon claimed to want to make peace between the two animals for ultimate survival in the amazon. The monkeys thought this plan could work, and scheduled a meeting for the next day.

The day of the meeting marks a significant event in the amazon. This is the first time these two kings have came in contact with each other. As Melvin approaches Gordon to begin the meeting, all of the crocodiles pounce to grasp his tail and capture him. "IT'S A TRAP!!" screeched by all of the monkeys. But this was all apart of their plan. As the crocodiles were busy trying to capture Melvin, the monkeys collectively dragged Gordon deep into the trees. Melvin barely escaped the strong clamp of the crocodiles jaws and returned back to the bank of the river. As the crocodiles were distraught about the failure of their plan, they realized their king was gone with no notice.

Gordon ended up being the monkey's dinner for the next year, and they never came close to the river again...at least until they get hungry.

King Melvin versus King Gordon: (Flickr)

Author's Note:
This story is based off of an original "The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart." In this story the wife wants the monkey's heart, but their plan to get it is to offer a ride across the river. After the money knows it's a trap, he lets the crocodile go back home. When I read this original story, I thought the crocodile deserved a more punishing revenge, so I made him be cooked as dinner in my version.

Bibliography. "The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart" from Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie L. Shedlock. (Link)

Reading Notes: The Monkey and Crocodile

These stories were much different than I had expected. They were short and straight to the point. My favorite one was The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart because of the deception of the monkey. The crocodile convinces the monkey to get on his back to cross the river, then reveals that he wants the monkey's heart to give to his wife. Once the monkey is aware of his intentions, he deceives the crocodile and sends him back to his home. I would have ended the story with a more gruesome punishment for the crocodile, and wouldn't have let him return home alive.

The Winning Monkey: (Wikipedia)

Reading Options

I am very excited to begin the readings for this course because I have never been exposed to any material like this. It will be interesting to see how I like it and if I am able to comprehend it as intended. Some of the readings I am interested in is The Ramayana, Dasharatha: The Story of Rama's Father, and Narayan's Mahabharta. These were the three books / comic books that stood out to me based on their story plots. Obviously I don't know them in depth yet, but these are some of the options I am panning on choosing to read later in the semester.

Indian Epics: (Wikimedia Commons)

Time Strategies

Coming into college, I made time management my number one priority and I believe I have really got it down. I'm good at prioritizing my schedule, and have done many online courses. Two of the articles I read were Realistic Study Plans and The Myth of Too Busy and they discussed some of the main thoughts that I have about time management. I wake up early with a to do list, and complete everything before I give my self any down time. It has worked well for me for my two years at OU, and I plan to keep using it for the next two.

Time Management: (Wiki Commons)

Course Technology

I have become familiar with the blogger website, but am unsure of some of the future technologies we will be using. I'm sure once the course continues, I will get a better grasp of them and widen my use of websites. I took an online course last semester, but this one is far more different. I like the structure of this course a lot better, as it accommodates our busy schedules. I like the fact that Professor Gibbs is a forward thinker by realizing we will not use canvas after graduation, and is trying to expose us to more websites.

Technology: (Pixabay)

Future Assignments

I am very excited to dive into this course. It is a completely different approach than any class I have been in, and it'll be interesting to see how it progresses throughout the semester. The weekly assignment that stood out the most to me is story telling. Once again, this is something that I have never experienced in a class, and I have already really enjoyed the "free structure writing" we are able to do. The Wikipedia trail extra credit assignment is the one that stood out to me the most because I have never thought of doing that. I plan on completing all of the extra credit assignments, but am looking forward to that one the most.

Projects of India: (Pixabay)

Growth Mindset

I have not heard of Carol Dweck, but I have heard of the growth mindset. I first heard about it this summer during my internship, as one of the other interns had to do a book report on it. I try to be more towards growth in everything I do, but catch myself in fixed some of the time. I have progressed a lot in the growth mindset and it is becoming more natural. The growth mindset for example, helps me retain information I study for an exam, rather than cramming and forgetting. In my opinion, everybody should attempt to have the growth mindset perspective.

Grow your brain: (Pixabay)

Introduction to the Blogger

My name is Brooks Burgin, and I have lived in Dallas, Texas my entire life. I have been an Oklahoma football fan since I can remember, so the choice of school wasn't too difficult. I am a junior majoring in Finance and Accounting, with interest in obtaining a job in investment banking or real estate. I spent my summer in Austin working for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, and am glad I am far away from those Texas fans down there. Now enough about the boring stuff, I'll start sharing other things about me. I am a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. Nothing makes it a bad day more than a Cowboys loss. I try to go to as many games as possible (yes, even when I'm in Norman). I'm still waiting to live through a super bowl, and I think this is the year. I played football in high school, but wish I played golf because I recently discovered that I really love it and am really bad. On June 26, 2015 my claim to fame occurred - a hole in one. I was 157 yards away with a pitching wedge, and drained it. That is by far the best day of my life, and maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to do it again. Another activity that I enjoy is grilling. Whether its steak, chicken, pork, who cares as long as there is meat on the grill and cold beer. Eating is like a hobby to me, because food just simply tastes really good. My favorite movie is Stepbrothers, and I have seen it way too many times. Other movies I love are Shutter Island, Animal House, and Hall Pass. I guess now I'm a daily blogger, so I'll add that to my resume here. That's a short summary of myself, and I'm looking forward to reading about y'all.

Grilling Steaks: (Pixabay)

Storybook Favorites

Many of the storybook titles were vague and didn't grasp my attention. There were some that lead to me opening the link, and then they had me hooked. The three storybooks below, are three examples of fascinating stories:

CSI: Indian Epics (Link)
I clicked this title as fast as I could out of curiosity of how "CSI" could related to this Indian Epics course. The opening sentence of the story relates to finding a book your supposed to turn in and the first words you see are "If you are reading this it means I am dead." I was hooked instantly. This was the best introduction I came across. The design of the blog is a yellow notepad, which corresponds to the story s/he was telling. Whenever the reader learns about the death of different characters, the description is superb. It goes through details of who is deceased, when the death occurred, what items were on the scene, etc. CSI: Indian Epics was my favorite storybook by a wide margin.

The Temple of Doom (Link)
The Temple of Doom obviously stood out to me because of the dominant title. When I opened the storybook, this was the best design / format of all the books I viewed. The images are spectacular and are in very high definition. The background of the blog is a rolling thunderstorm that actually moves when you view the page. The story of The Temple of Doom was slightly vague in my opinion. The introduction doesn't get you informed or even necessarily hooked. I was mostly impressed with the design of this storybook. An example of a photo is below:

The Temple of Doom: (Madison Bender)

Brothers in the Animal Kingdom (Link)

The structure of this storybook was very fascinating. It was from the perspective of two birds who are married, in the form of multiple written letters. The design of the storybook could have better, as it is very bland, but I enjoyed that actual story of the page. It is also never bad viewing pictures of monkeys and birds. 

Soaring Vultures: (Brothers in the Animal Kingdom)

Favorite Place - Dallas

I have lived in Dallas (including my same house) for my entire life. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma, I intend on moving back and finding a job there. I love the city itself, and am obsessed with Dallas sports teams. My favorite day of the week is Sunday because that's when the Dallas Cowboys play (my favorite team). The skyline is beautiful and it is the Texas culture I am accustomed to. I enjoy the variety of weather we get in each season, as it keeps things new. Although this isn't a "sexy" vacation destination, it is my favorite place to be in the world.

(Dallas skyline: Senior Digest )

(AT&T Stadium: Wikimedia Commons)