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Showing posts from 2019

Famous Last Words - The final post

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This week's reading was a free read weekend. Partly for ease of not having to go the library and also to try something new I watched the free online video. I found these videos somewhat challenging because they were not simply telling a story. They told some facts about the origin of the story and also how they related to other stories such as Greek mythology. Overall this class has pushed my boundaries with writing creatively. Most of my writing in college has always been educational in manner with no room for creativity or writing an actual story. I have never been the type of person that wants to sit down and write and story and I was surprised how easily many of the ideas came to me for the assignments. I loved being able to write a story based on an Indian tale and then read someone else's interpretation of that same story. I noticed that one of the favorite stories to write about seemed to be the "chicken little" type story. The story about the sky falling and e

Story Lab Week 14

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Danger of the single story. Chimamanda used her experience of growing up in Nigeria in a happy home. She realized when she came to America that people often associated her with an African stereotype that she did not fit. As she came to realize she also was subject to judging and stereotyping people. She says that when people only rely on a single story of a person that they narrow their view and often are quick to judge others. I thought many of the points she made were very true. If people did more research and were not relying on a single narrative they may understand the world a little bit better. Her points made me reflect on my life and that I think everyone could be better about judging others less and trying to understand cultures unlike their own. Imaginary friends and real-word consequences- I found this video very interesting because it is a subject that I had never thought about. Even though I never thought about the effects of this I feel that it relates to me very much.

Reading Notes- Gauri's Secret

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Kali is nature and Gauri is culture where not only the fit thrive but the unfit may also. In the Puranas men and women are used to explain the relationship between mind and the world around. It is important not to think of the stories as man and woman but as mind over matter. Do not think of them physically but symbolically. Yoga-maya is perceived reality filtered through the human mind. Shiva is the destroyer of culture because he withdraws completely from nature. His mind is completely clean and pure void of thoughts. Shiva's seed gives rise to six boys from the six star goddesses. The six headed skanda is made by fusing all the children together. Shiva is immortal so does not need to bare children because he will never need to be reborn. Parvati wants a child that shiva will not give her so she creates a child without a man. The child is beheaded but when realized that it was her child he replaced the head with the elephants head. The god who removes obstacles is what that child

Reading Notes Week 14 -7 secrets

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Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva were all born from the unfertilized eggs of Adya. Vishu agreed to be her lover as the other two would not but she had to give him a third eye. She said yes but he used it against her and turned her to ash. Three goddesses were born from the ash and became the wives of the three sons. Males fighting for the attention of females- due to insecurity men create social laws such as marriages. Men are not needed for reproduction for each woman. Many women become celebrated and you see groups of women pictured with only a single male. Females dominate in Mahabharata where women had the choice of the man and they would not be rejected. Virginity used to be thought of as a woman who was ready to give birth. Also a woman after childbirth. The shift of this meaning also showed the shift in worshiping women to looking down upon them. Urbanization was focused on obedience and was often enforced by men. Women are often associated with nature and just as men domesticate na

A Teacher's Impact Storytelling Week 13

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December 10th was a cold day at Wild Lake Elementary school. The school was preparing for the first snow of the winter. The kids had all arrived bundled up in coats, hats and winter boots. Mrs. Meek was a Kindergarten teacher. Her classroom was filled with 18 five-year old kids. She had been teaching at the school for fifteen years and was used to days like this at school. Due to the weather the school planned an indoor playtime, since going outside was out of the question. After lunch it was time for the Kindergartners to play in the gym. Each class lined up in a single file line and made their way down the hall and into the gym area. Mrs. Meek and the other five teachers all lined up against the wall and kept an eye on the children. Voices seemed even louder than usual as they echoed against the tall ceilings in the gym. "Mrs. Meek! Mrs. Meek! Catch the ball," yelled one of her students as he flung a giant bouncy ball her way. It bounced off of her hands as she failed t

week 13 notes Mahabharata part A

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Account of how Karma functions.... 1- The king married the river goddess but she made him promise that he would never question her decisions. Everyone was happy for them but after she drown their first child the king was sad. She did the same for the next six children and he said nothing, he did not question her. When she was about to do the same to their eight he learned the truth. They had been cursed to live mortal lives so she was to kill her eight children. She left with their last remaining child. 5- After the three princesses are kidnapped the eldest wanted to be let go. She went to her king who she loved but he rejected her because she had been taken by another man. She went back to the other king and asked for him to marry her. He was celibate and did not want to marry her even though he had kidnapped her and her life was ruined. She wanted to punish him for his crime. She found someone to fight him to the death. After 23 days nobody had won. Amba never got her revenge.

Week 12 Storytelling Not so Good-y Bags

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Emily ran down the hallway. "Its Halloween!" she yelled. Emily was 10 years old and had decided to dress up Jasmine her favorite Disney princess. Halloween was by far her favorite day of the year. Her love of candy and princesses all combined into one day.  Every year her family would go trick or treating around their neighborhood. Emily's favorite house was Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith always gave out a hand made surprise goody bag full of toys and chocolate. As dusk approached Emily got dressed in her Jasmine costume. Her mom, dad and brother all got ready to go trick or treating. As they left the house Emily saw ghosts, skeletons and spider webs. She went door to door happily saying "trick or treat" and receiving candy in return. The house on the corner had a bowl out front with a sign saying "please take one". So Emily happily took one piece of chocolate and continued to trick or treat. Finally Emily approached Mrs. Smith's house. To her surpri

Reading Notes 20 Jataka tales B

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The Patient Buffalo- A mischievous monkey wanted to make a buffalo angry. First he tried jumping on his back but the buffalo did nothing. He bounced on his head but still he did nothing. He wanted to make the buffalo angry but nothing seemed to work. A fairy appeared and asked the buffalo why he did not make the monkey go away with his strength. The buffalo did not want to punish a little animal with a little brain. His patience won the fairies approval and she waved her wand so he could not face suffering ever again. The Noble Horse- There once was a beautiful horse who was noble and lived in a palace. When war broke out he was taken into battle. Each battle he won with victory and they captured the king as they prevailed. One battle the horse was wounded. He knew that the final battle could not be won without him. So he told the warrior to take him and he would lead him to victory one last time. He won that last battle but lay bleeding in the end. He said the warrior but let the ca

Reading Notes 20 Jataka tales Part A

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Chief of the dogs Source:  goodhousekeeping The guilty dogs- A king drove a chariot into the city and put his horses up for the night. It rained down on the chariot and the dogs were tempted by the wet leather and chewed them to pieces that night. The king was so mad that he order all 700 dogs in the city to be killed. The chief of the dogs consoled them and said only the guilty should be killed. He thought the dogs of the palace could be the only dogs that had access to the chariot. The chief bravely went to the king to ask him to spare the city dogs. He was granted access to the king because of the love in his eyes. The king agreed to question the royal dogs and they were found to be the guilty ones. The king admitted his guilt and gave all of the city dogs lavish food and they were all allowed to live. The tortoise and the geese- An old tortoise was offered to be taken to a golden cave. In order for him to get there two geese offered to fly him while he held onto a stick.

Week 11 Story Friday Night Blues

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Dimly lit bar Source:  shamrockbar It was Friday night and Ben headed over to his local bar. He walked over to the corner stool and took a seat. The room was dimly lit. A flickering light hung over a pool table to the right and above the bar a neon light buzzed. "Whatcha drinking tonight hun?" said the friendly bartender. Ben just pointed and the bartender happily poured him a glass. "Now I know you're not just going to sit here in silence all night. If you need someone to talk to I'm here to listen. My name is Kathy by the way," said the bartender. "Ben," he said as he managed a smirk. After the small introduction Ben managed to begin to tell the story of his sorrow. How he had met a girl but in the end realized he could never win her heart. They had met online using one of those dating apps; her name was Kelly. Her profile caught his eye with a photo of Kelly and her dog walking on the beach. After they hit it off on their first coffe

Week 11 Reading Krishna Video B

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Brahma wanted to test Krishna's divine power because he was too kind and shared his food. Brahma stole the cows for a year but Krishna created them from his own self. This proved his divinity so he returned the original cows to the village. Krishna's older brother wished to be strong enough to punch and kill the bull. Krishna told his brother that was not a good deed because this bull was the breeder for all of the cows. This bull was mean but Krishna spent a month getting to know him and played the flute for him. After that month he rode the bull and everyone was shocked. He was able to calm the bull and everyone realized that kindness was stronger than violence. Krishna wanted to marry rhada but his mother did not approve. He found that his desitny was not to marry her even though he loved her so. He found out that his parents were not his birth parents and he was the savior of dharma. He left his village to fulfill his destiny and face Akurur who had sent attacks on him ma

Week 11 reading Krishna videos A

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He heard that his sister's eight child would kill him. Instead of killing them he killed all of their kids. The seventh child was transferred to another womb and the king thought that she had a miscarriage and was happy. The eight child was the reincarnation of Krishna and would fulfill the destiny he had worked to avoid.  To protect the child from death he escaped the prison cell that was unlocked. He went through the forest and came to a fierce river. A serpent protected them from the rain and he walked through the river that was not deep. He went to a gypsy camp and traded his son for a girl named maya. The king had found out that the eight child was born and laughed when he found out it was a girl. He went to kill the child like he had all of the others until she turned into a goddess. She told the king that his destiny to be killed would be fulfilled when the time was right. Krishna attracted merchants and men from around to visit. The king sent a demon to kill Krishna but

famous last words turning point

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This weeks reading was my favorite so far. I found it much easier to read the fairy tale type stories than the classic indian epics. I always found it difficult to follow some of the epics just due to the names and how everyone was related. I also thought these fairy tales taught lessons which was fun to re-write. While reading some of other people's stories I liked the people who used the narrator within the story option. I feel like that is a type of style I have never used and could be a great challenge to try in the future. I am feeling a new motivation as the semester has past the midpoint. This is my first time doing extra credit! My other classes have felt quite overwhelming with a lot of big projects. This class has a lot of time consuming work so sometimes I am just happy to meet the deadlines and never feel like I have the time for extra credit. I am determined to make time for it as the semester comes to a close to earn that A I feel I deserve. This week moving forward I

Week 10 Story Lab Language

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Small number of original languages that split up and became isolated. Similar words dont mean that a language is related but may just be a borrowed word. There are between 3000-8000 languages in the world. Some dialects are not considered another language but are very different. Anglo Saxon is what is considered old english. Old norse language then mixed with old english. French and latin language are still thought of a superior words to old saxon language. Aspects give you 12 possibilities in English but Japanese only has 2. A real word has grammar and elvish is a real language because of this. Languages are never logical and there are some words you just have to know. New words come from borrowing from other languages or putting two words together. Sometimes words will just gain new meaning. Dictionary just documents usage they don't make up words. The semicolon is used to link independent clauses. Grammar is a set of patterns of how words are put together. All languages have nou

Week 10 Jataka Reading 2

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"The brave little bowman" There was a small man who was excellent at shooting but he knew that nobody would take him seriously due to his size. He wanted to join the army but needed to find a big man to ask the king. He found a man digging and he agreed to join the army with the little man and ask the king. The king agreed and sent them on missions to kill a tiger and a buffalo. During time of war they sent the big man still not knowing that he was not the shooter. The big man was scared but the little man saved him and defeated the army. The king finally praised the little man for the shooter he was. "The Lion in Bad Company" When a young lion approached a wolf who could not get away he begged for his life. The wolf promised to serve the lion if he could live in his cave with him. The lion's father did not approve and said wolves could not be trusted. The wolf suggested one day that they catch a horse. He led them to the riverbank where ponies were drinking

Week 10 reading notes Jataka

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The monkey and the crocodile. The croc wants the heart of a monkey but they dont swim. He finds a greedy monkey that wants the ripe fruit on the island. He convinces him to ride on his back and tries to drown him. The monkey deceives the croc by telling him his heart is in a tree. The croc then notices the monkey has moved to a different tree and hops to the island using a rock in the water. One night he lays on the rock and waits to eat the monkey. The monkey sees him and tells him to open his mouth so he can jump in. The monkey escapes again by hoping on his head and back to safety. The croc realizes the monkey is too smart and gives up trying to eat him. The turtle who couldn't stop talking. Two geese became friends with a turtle. One day they told him that they were flying back to their home and wished he could come. They said they would take him if he could hold onto a stick and not talk. The turtle agreed. As they flew over a group of children they pointed and laughed. He t

Week 9 Story Gambling for Love

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Dana was a beautiful girl, although she had not always been this way. She grew up in a small town in Montana and never saw herself as pretty. She worked as a waitress five nights a week and took college classes during the day. One day a man she had never seen before entered the diner, his name was Andy. She took his order and giggled flirtatiously. She had never gotten the butterflies over a stranger before. That summer they had a whirlwind romance. "Dana, I don't know how to say this but now that the summer is ending I won't be in Montana much longer", said Andy. Dana looked at him longingly as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. He did not want to disappoint her, and without thinking shouted " I want you to come with me!" Fast forward to today Dana is a married woman. She isn't married to Andy as one would think, but his older brother Yani. She had packed up to move to Vegas with Andy the man she loved. However as they settled in Yani t

Week 9 Notes Mahabharata

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A conflict over land and who is in charge leads to war. Drona even tries to stop the war but even with great efforts he fails. Many people in the war were family members and did not want to fight. Drona had trained Arunja and did not want to be against him in battle. The battles begin. Arunja did not want the war but as it began he became even more hesitant to be on the opposite side of his own family members and his trainer Drona. He is forced to fight and his life is spared. Bhishima is killed by arrows when he refuses to fight a warrior that was born a woman. He had been successful in previous battles but dies when he lays down his weapon. Before his death he wishes for peace but that does not happen. Drupadi kills Drona after the death of the elephant and Karna takes over as the leader. Two battles between Karna and Arunja result in  a draw as they are equal competitors. On the final battle Arunja kills Karna with a single arrow in a field. Another commander is put into place and t

Week 9 Notes More Mahabharata

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Cattle Raid Source:  iereadingguides Drona trains all of the princes in the art of war. As they battle he puts a stop to it when two of the cousins become too intense. When a strange warrior challenges one of the brothers and wins so he is crowned king. He is really the son of a charioteer with humble beginnings. There is a contest that the princess of drupadi wants to Arunja to enter because of his talents. Although the mysterious warrior wins again she does not want to marry a man of humble beginnings. A hermit then does the same feat and is chosen as the winner. He goes home with the princess but his mother declares he must give her to his eldest brother. The kingdom is then split between the two royal families. The eldest brother then loses his wife in a game of dice. The winner banishes her to the forest. When she refuses to go she is dragged by her hair to the councils chambers. She agrees to go the forest in exile and remains for 12 years and the last year must be disguise

Week 8 Progress

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My funny motivational picture. Source:  iFunny I think my progress so far has been good but definitely have big plans for the second half of the semester. Although I am not at the level of points I want right now I still have time to bring my grade up. I think I am most proud of staying on schedule for the most part. I work on my assignments five days a week, which was not my initial plan. I originally planned on doing assignments three days a week but have extended that to five. I think that my schedule will be maintained for the rest of the semester. Looking forward my main goal is to complete all my assignments and to start doing the extra credit assignments. The pitfall that I want to avoid is procrastinating. That is always my biggest pitfall so I really want to try and get ahead of schedule so I can potentially finish the class early. There is nothing I want to change in particular about my blog or portfolio right now. I was glad to take the time this week to tweak the loo

Week 8 Reading and Writing

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Shantanu sees the beautiful fisherwoman  Wikipedia I chose this picture because this story was really memorable for me. I thought it encompassed drama, sadness and humor at times. I also think this picture is a very beautiful painting.   Overall I think my reading and writing assignments are coming along smoothly. I am finding it easier to finding stories that I want to write about in my notes. Creative writing has never been my strong suite. That is why I chose the portfolio option. I wanted to challenge myself by trying different techniques in writing my stories. The portfolio gave me the freedom to write more often about different types of stories. I am happy so far with  my blog and my portfolio site. Every week I continue to edit them both and they are getting closer to a finished project. My biggest accomplishment for this class has been writing on a consistent basis. Reading, note taking and story writing four days a week was a struggle at first. I have never been a natural

Week 7 Story Ice Cream Time

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Chocolate cone Source:  purepng Dave and his brothers were enjoying the last days of summer. The sun was out and heat still hung in the air. Dave, Mike, John and Paul loved playing in their neighborhood. "Lets go inside and ask mom for some ice cream!" exclaimed John. The other three brothers stopped and looked at each other in question. They knew that their mother never let them have ice cream on school days. As they sat under a tree for shade in their front yard all discussing who would go Mike stood and started walking towards the house. He walked inside and his stomach began to growl thinking of the chocolate dipped cones he knew were in the freezer. As he shut the door behind him he heard a voice calling from upstairs. "I have a question for you before you walk into that kitchen," the voice calmly said. Mike ignored the voice as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed an ice cream for himself. The other three boys sat outside as fifteen minutes past by.

Reading Notes Mahabharata D

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Chariot as Drona dies Source:  Blogger The night of the battles was the nightmare of many. All men were "bloodthirsty" no matter the relation. Brothers fought against brothers and fathers against their own sons. Arunja finally called for a truce. For the time being all men laid down where they were and rested. Drona decided that the next day either he would die or Arjuna would. After a night of rest the battle continued amongst the men. The battle continued to be bloody and the death toll was rising. Karna fought an epic battle but in the end he died. Ashwatthaman also died in battle. Drona was so saddened by the death of his son he refused to fight anymore and laid down his weapons. His weapons were seized and his head was cut off. Source .  Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists  by Sister Nivedita (1914). [400 words]

Reading Notes Mahabharata C

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Riddles at the Lake Notes The Great Banyan in India Source:  world atlas Yudhishthira and Nakula were very thirsty and one climbed a banyan tree to look for water. Nakula went towards the water for a drink but heard a voice. The voice told him he must answer a question before drinking but he ignored it and after drinking the water he died. His brother followed and repeated what his brother did and he died as well. After four fell dead Yudhishthira went towards the water. He finally agreed to the voice that he would answer the question. The question seemed to be a riddle and asked. " Who maketh the sun to rise? Who keepeth him company? Who maketh the sun to go down? In whom is the sun established?" He answered and the voice continued to ask him questions. After four questions that Yudishthira answered the voices final question was " Who are worthy of eternal torment?" As with all of his questions he thought of his answer and told the voice. The voice then reveled

Diary of a Smelly Fish Woman week 6 story

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Shantanu sees the beautiful fisherwoman  Wikipedia   The Mahabharata, A Summary  by John Mandeville Macfie (1921). [400 words]  Dear Diary, Today has by far been the craziest day of my entire life. Growing up working with my father nobody ever complained of the fishy odor I have always had. My father tells me how beautiful I am everyday but I fear I will never find a true love to marry. Will any man ever accept me and the permanent smell of fish I carry with me. Today was the day I thought that my luck had changed. I was working with father on the ferry and a man caught my attention. Normally I try to avoid getting too close to customers for fear that they will judge me. Today the man on the boat was different, I could tell he desired me. I did not want to give in to this man because my body is for my future husband. He promised if I gave in I would remain pure. In an attempt to make a deal I wondered if he had the ability to make me no longer smell of fish. So against by b

Reading Notes Mahabharata B

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Beautiful woman Draupadi  Source: Etsy Birth of Draupadi Drupada had lost most of his kingdom and wanted to have a son. He wanted the Brahmins to procure a son for him, first he offered a million cows but Yaja agreed to a sacrificial ceremony. Drupadas goal was to avenge Drona for the loss of his kingdom. Both of the brothers were willing to do the ceremony but their mother was not. Without her joining the sacrificial rite began. In the flames a son dressed in armor appeared and proclaimed his vengeance on Drona. A daughter also appeared, this time from the ashes. A beautiful women, slender, with dark hair and lotus eyes. She was destined to "accomplish the decree of the gods". When Drona heard of this he took Panchala and wanted him to become an accomplished warrior. The daughter was also destined to become a queen. Her beauty was celebrated. When the Pandavas heard this story both brothers in secret and still disguised wanted to win the beautiful woman for their b

Reading Notes Mahabharata A

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Fisherman at sunset Source:  highpointvilla Birth of Vyasa A fisherman who had found two babies and raised the girl as his own daughter. She had grown up but had the smell of fish. Her true father was Rajah and she had been born from a fish. She worked with her father and ferry boats along the river. She was beautiful and caught the attention of Satyavati while she was working one day. He wanted her to be the mother of a son for him. He promised her that if she birthed his son she would no longer smell of fish but rather of perfume. After he made that promise he disappeared. When she gave birth to a baby boy the boy grew instantly into a man. He went into the forest to mediate but said if she thought of him he would return when she needed him. Now that she was beautiful and smelled of perfume the king wanted to marry her. However her father would not let her until the king promised to make his son the heir, to which the king refused. Source .  Indian Myth and Legend  by Donald

Week 5 Story: A Cat named Whiskers

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Whiskers doesn't remember a time when he didn't live with Nina. He loved her so and when he wasn't basking in the sun from their living room window he was snuggled up next to her on the couch or in bed. He loved his human and couldn't imagine a better life. That was until the day Dave moved in. His life was forever changed that day. Whiskers no longer had a spot on the couch for him next to his Nina. If he wanted to lay in bed he struggled to find room in between four kicking human legs. Six  months of misery went by of having Dave push him away and Whiskers slowly felt like he was being replaced. He tried to live a happy life but longed for the days when it was just him and Nina. Angry Whiskers "I got the job in India", proclaimed Dave. This caught Whiskers attention because he knew that Nina had a job she left for everyday but had never heard of India. Nina did not look happy about this announcement. One day when Nina came home she was not actin