Extra Credit Reading Notes: Ramayana Introduction Videos

My favorite video was the Crash Course one, seen above. It's interesting learning how the Ramayana was passed down vocally for hundreds of years before it was written down, and also how the names of the characters are pronounced. The video goes really fast though, and skips over some important stuff, like Rama and Lakshmana's battle with the Maricha. The animations and images are really nice as a supplement to the material though. Although it's really fast, it gives me a lot of information. I'm sure it'll help when I read more in the future, thinking back to the video. The question of who the hero is near the end of the video is thought provoking and makes me think of how the story would be told if it followed other characters.

Rama and Ramayana: Crash Course Mythology #27 by CrashCourse

Wikipedia Trails: Vampires to Vlad the Impaler

I started off with a Vampire after seeing a comic with one in the class Twitter.

The Vampire (Wikipedia)

Vampire: I think vampires are pretty cool. There are a lot of myths and superstitions surrounding them and I'm wondering where they came from.

Dracula (Wikipedia)

Dracula: Of course, Dracula is the most famous literary work about vampires, so I clicked on this.

Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula (Wikpedia)

Count Dracula: Count Dracula is the most famous of vampires in literature. Almost to the point that the name has become synonymous with vampires.

Vlad III (Wikipedia)

Vlad the Impaler: And we end with the real-life Count Dracula. Vlad Dracula. A man so cruel he inspired an entire category of horror.

Week 3 Review

I picked this video because I've watched a lot of ERB videos already. They're always completely filled with clever references and puns. My favorite is probably Eastern Philosophers vs Western Philosophers. I wish they'd make more videos though!

Werewolf comic (Class Announcements)

I chose this one just because it reminded me of a funny similar image, here.

Farquad comic (Imgur)

Learning Challenge: Happiness Jar part 2

Heart (Wikipedia)

So I ended up keeping track of things that made me happy in a journal, along with recording other stuff that was noteworthy. Among the things that made me happy were finishing my homework early, watching Made in Abyss with a friend (or maybe that made me sad?), getting a high grade on my presentation, and drawing a lot of stuff (still haven't started any big projects though). I think it's a nice thing to do, since we usually focus on the negative things that happen to us.

Growth Mindset: Random Cats

Poor Goldfish (Growth Mindset Blog)

I picked this one because the cat reminded me of my friend's cat named Kenya. Also because there's humor in making a cat's attempt to eat a goldfish into a motivational image.

Online Presence (Growth Mindset Blog)

And I picked this one because that cat on the right is having its mind blown. Technology is really spectacular, huh?

Tech Tips: Online Typing Test

Keyboard (Wikipedia)

I did a typing test on KeyHero.com. I ended up with a result of 114 wpm, which is one above what I'd gotten in middle school with typing tests. I think it's kind of sad that I didn't improve at all but at the same time I'm pretty happy with how fast I can type. It definitely helps with schoolwork where I have to type a lot.

Feedback Strategies

Chat (FlatIcon)

How To Craft Constructive Feedback: I'm not going to focus on "Be a Witness" for this class because we're meant to share our opinions and the impact of the stories on us in our comments. I like how it breaks down constructive feedback as a guide into 3 steps. The examples given did feel like they were beating around the bush though.

Presence, Not Praise: Though this seemed aimed at parents, it could be applied to interactions between anyone. It's easy to say that someone did a good job on something, but it does a lot more good to actually talk about it and have a discussion. Picking out certain parts and making remarks about them encourages engagement beyond just "Good job" and "Thanks".

Topic Research: Weapons of the Gods

Scp Foundation Emblem (The Breeze)

SCP Project: So while thinking about the supernatural abilities that these weapons bestow, I thought making stories based on SCP pages would be a neat idea. The SCP Foundation is a kind of community writing project where writers make their own documents of fictional anomalous materials and submit them to the site. Due to the nature of the project, the quality can vary wildly across different SCPs, but there's a lot of interesting material to read through. Here's a link to it: http://www.scp-wiki.net/ . If I chose this writing project, I'd keep it in the general writing style of SCP projects and I'd include some experiment logs too, since those are always interesting.

Ancient Arms Race: I thought that I could bring these weapons into a modern day setting by having government forces compete to find them in clandestine operations. It would detail how the world's governments came to know the weapons existed and would follow some agents trying to unearth them. I could make it so these findings end up public later, heightening tensions between nations and causing a worldwide crisis. At this point I might write a news article-like story detailing the events occurring around the world.

As Seen on TV: A comedy idea where the weapons are marketed as products for everyday people. Would detail the characteristics of weapons while suggesting activities. Nothing gets silverware cleaner than a Varunastra! (Caution: Not a toy. Water pressure may exceed 80,000 PSI. Use as directed. Do not stand in front of product when in use. Must be 18 years or older to operate. Do not operate while intoxicated. We are not liable to any bodily injury or fatality inflicted upon the user or others near the user.) Would also detail demonstrations.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astra_(weapon)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Weapons_in_Hindu_mythology
http://www.scp-wiki.net/

Week 3 Story: One Condition

Rama breaking the bow (Wikipedia)

Portfolio Version: https://sites.google.com/view/sotpapepics/shivas-unyielding-bow

Two assistants push open the gold-adorned doors in front of us and we're bathed in the sterilizing white light flooding forth from the assembly hall. My fellow suitors are speechless at the grandeur of it all. As my eyes adjust, I can make out the figure of King Janaka seated at the end of the table, along with the daughter we had all desired the favor of. He tells us to step in and listen to his speech.

Still sitting, he commands: "To those who wish to wed my daughter, I present just one condition."

Confusion manifested in the form of soft murmurs for a short while, then stopped as the King began to speak again.

"You must simply string this ancient and powerful bow of Shiva."

As he finished, four attendants entered the room carrying what looked like a massive ornamental bow. My first thought was that no man could hope to string this.

Some quietly laughed after seeing the bow, imagining the condition to be a joke, but the king had no air of humor around him.

So one by one, we inspect the bow. I watch the other suitors walk around the thing, examining it from all angles, then failing to lift it. Try as they might, the bow would not be carried by a single man. As I inch closer I determine the bow to be longer than I am tall, at the very least. Engraved art wrapped around the wood and the bow, although chipped and dirty, carried an aura of divinity. It became clear that the King had not lied about the origin of this bow.

I do not try to lift the bow, as I know that even if I possessed the strength of the four men required to lift it, I do not have the strength of 4000 to string it. Looking back at the king, I think that he would not compromise on this condition, so I realize the only chance for me to win Sita's hand is through force. I take my leave from the palace of the king for now.

Author's Note: This is based off a small part of the Ramayana, where Rama and Lakshmana arrive in Mithila and falls in love with Sita. The king offers the same condition to every suitor: String the bow of Shiva, passed down for generations, and you can marry Sita. Rama does this easily but every previous suitor has failed and sent an army to Mithila to win by force. They all lost. I wanted to tell the story of a previous suitor and also give an idea of how big the gap of power is between humans and the gods through the bow.

Bibliography: The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part B

Ravana and Sita (Wikipedia)

Bharata's situation at the start was pretty sad to me. He expected a happy occasion and instead he found his father dead and his brother exiled from the land. His hatred for his mother seemed palpable when she admitted she exiled Rama and made him the new heir. I could have that manipulation story I mentioned earlier incorporate these events too, showing some kind of backfire. Bharata leaving the city and begging Rama to become king makes him seem really righteous too. I liked the story of Soorpanaka, she reminds me of a changeling. It also reminded me of the story where Shiva transformed into a man to take his wife. I thought it was pretty cruel for Lakshmana to chop off parts of her body though. Her speech on how her and Rama getting married would solve everything reminded me of every movie scene where the bad guy makes a last ditch offer to bribe the hero. I could have something like that in my story. One disappointing part of this story is that the fighting scenes begin and end within the span of one or two sentences. I would've liked to see some more detail put into how Rama and Lakshmana defeated an army. Maybe I'll come up with a story for that later. The idea of gods having to do housework is really funny to me, maybe I could make a story about greek gods having to work in a restaurant? The part where Maricha distracts Rama and then Lakshmana so the others could kidnap Sita makes me think of a heist or something. Someone would distract a guard, knock them out, then use their pager to call other guards to their position as they sneak into a vault or something. I think that could make for an interesting story if done properly.

Bibliography: The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part A

Rakshasa (Wikpedia)

When Rama left to go defeat the rakshasas, it felt like he was departing for an adventure. I think I could use this in a story. I thought Thataka's story was interesting too, particularly the part where Thataka builds herself up to be this powerful demon that destroys every fragment of life around her, then dies immediately. It was a bit comical and I could include something like that in my story too. I thought "holy crap" when Rama shot Mareecha so hard he flew into the ocean. It was funny that the other demons saw him do this and started running away. The story of Sakara was pretty confusing with the buried man vaporizing everyone by looking at them, but I suppose it's a lesson on not to displease the gods. What's sticking out to me throughout this story is the apparently closeness the gods have with humans. They seem to interact a lot and they keep a presence on Earth in the form of avatars often. I guess I'm more used to gods being more watchful and dealing mostly with other gods. The story about Ahalya makes me think of a ghost story where the person being told the story suddenly becomes involved in it at the end. It'd be neat to have a twist like that. As a reference to Viswamithra telling Rama and Lakshmana these stories, I could have an old man telling my story to two boys. Rama lifting Shiva's bow reminds me of the story of Excalibur (pulling the sword out of the stone), and the concept is interesting. Maybe I could make a story centered around the suitor's attempts to pull it out, their failure, and their attempts to take Sita by force? Kaikeyi being manipulated and telling the king to exile Rama is an interesting idea too. I could use it as baseline for a story about usurping power.

Bibliography: The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan