Luda's Journey Through Indian Epics

  This week I chose to do the one-week reading over the Ramayana, specifically about Rama and Sita. I will be reading the part B section today and writing some notes over that. During his banishment, Rama made the most of it exploring with his wife Sita One day Lakshman spotted Bharat with his army coming to save Rama and tell him his exile was over Lakshman was filled with anger Rama wanted to abide by his promise to stay in exile and felt no reason to return Rama was told that he should return and be the king he was told about the death of his father and he had never felt so much sadness in his life it was a though all the trees were cut off by axes. he still did not want to return they decided to hold a funeral for the spirit of his father in the forest Rama continued to keep his promise even when speaking in private with his brother that he would not return and take the throne  A brahman came down to tell Rama that words said by the dead are no longer bounded once they pas...

 This week I chose to do the one week reading over the Ramayana, specifically about Rama and Sita. I will be reading the part A section today and writing some notes over that. Rama was born and trained to be a warrior. and grew up noble Rama and his brother Lakshman were sent to fight Ravana's warriors and they had come out in victory Whoever could bend the bow of Janaka was promised the hand of his daughter Sita Many men all across tried to bend it but all failed When the bow was handed to Rama he easily was able to bend it and everyone around was shocked Rama was sent out to marry Sita They were madly and deeply in love Everyone was in awe of Rama and saw him as the perfect man Rama was exiled to the forest for 14 years and Sita begged to go with him He begged her not to come for the forest was full of dangerous creatures her love was too strong for him so she insisted that she came Rama's brother Lakshman also begged to come for he would not let his brother go alone Rama dec...

Looking back at my progress for the semester I am a little ahead which gives me comfort. I am happy with the progress that I have made and the little bit of cushion I have so far. I feel like I have found myself a weekly routine that works best for me. I always try to stay ahead of the due dates for each assignment for at least one day ahead. This is a good method for me because it makes my week a little bit less stressful just in case I get super busy one day, I'll know that I'm one day ahead in this class and won't be late for an assignment. Something that I want to steer clear of for the rest of the semester is procrastination. I really want to stick to my methods right now and not let myself slip and fall behind. If I can keep holding myself accountable I think that I can avoid this problem.  (Funny Motivation  meme )

 After reading all the feedback comments that I have received on previous blogs, I have found them to be quite useful especially when people have feedback that can help improve my posts.  I think on the other hand as well that I have been leaving useful feedback in return. After the multiple articles that we read earlier on in the semester about how to give good feedback, I have retained that information and tried to apply it in my feedback. I like to give praise but also helpful suggestions or tips that will strengthen writing. With that being said I always start off my feedback comments with praise and then in the middle add some suggestions and finish off with praise again just to keep the comment on a positive note and make it clear that I am not coming off in a harsh or rude tone. In the end, I am looking forward to trying to help people strengthen their writing as well as people helping me make my writing better as well. (Cute feedback  Image ) I chose this image be...

 After looking back at my blog post and website as a whole I am feeling pretty confident. I really like the layout of both and I think that they are interesting yet simple and easy to navigate. I feel like at times I am not the most creative person so this class has really taken me out of my comfort zone. With that being said, I have found myself exploring and digging deep into my imagination and writing about things I never knew that I could. As for the layout of this course and how it has been going,  I am not going to lie it is definitely overwhelming and a lot of work, but I feel like when I go in with an optimistic mindset it makes the workload fun rather than dreadful. I really like the way on how we spend the first half of the week solely reading and taking notes and the last part of the week writing up a story on what we read. This method in my opinion gives a lot of options to chose from to rewrite a story. I feel like I have also gotten a lot better at writing notes,...

 In the world of highschool popularity, only some could join the crowd. You either have to know the right crowd or have the right looks. At Montclair High School there were three girls in particular that everyone was afraid of and most definitely did not want to cross. Their names were Regina George, Karen Smith and, Gretchen Wieners. During their senior year, a new girl who no one knew, but caught everyone's attention came to town and her name was Cady Heron. She so desperately wanted to find true friends and a group that she could fit into. She tried everything in her power to try and fit in with these mean girls, she even tried to sit at their table at lunch. They had a ritual in which they would pink on Wednesdays. Cady was unaware of this and tried to join their lunch table on a Wednesday. They smirked and told her "we wear pink on Wednesdays, you can't sit with us." Any efforts that she tried to make were shut down in an instant and they made her feel as though ...

   For the reading over Mahabharata, I chose the version written by R.K. Narayan. This version is similar to the one of Ramayana that I read in that it is a shortened modern version of the Indian Epic. I found myself enjoying these versions better because they are easier to follow and comprehend for me. I will be taking notes over some of the most interesting subparts in part D. Part 145. The War Begins Yudhishthira makes Dhrishtadyumna, Draupadi's brother, the supreme commander of his troops Bhishma is the supreme commander of Duryodhana's troops The battle is to happen on the field of Kurukshetra Arjuna does not want to fight his guru Drona and the members of his own family Krishna preaches a doctrine of duty and detachment to him it is called the Bhagadvad-Gita, or Song of the Lord. Krishna manifests himself in cosmic form After this sermon, Arjuna is ready to fight Part 151. The end of Bhishma Dhrishtadyumna tries to kill Drona to avenge his father's embarassment Drona ...

  For the reading over Mahabharata, I chose the version written by R.K. Narayan. This version is similar to the one of Ramayana that I read in that it is a shortened modern version of the Indian Epic. I found myself enjoying these versions better because they are easier to follow and comprehend for me. I will be taking notes over some of the most interesting subparts in part C. Part 88. The voice in the Lake The Pandavas are living in a forest They are approached by a Brahmin He is desperate because a giant deer has stolen his staff and the kindling he uses to make his sacrificial fire The Pandavas try to chase the deer They cannot catch it They are tired and thirsty Nakula finds a lake a voice tells him that before drinking he must answer some questions he proceeds to ignore the voice and drinks the water he dies One after another, Sahadeva, Arjuna, and Bhima meet the same fate Yudhishthira comes to find all his brothers dead he also heard the voice and proceeds to answer the ques...

 This week I chose to do a writing lab and look into the  Writer's Write  option. This caught my attention because similar to my last week this large webpage has many small articles embedded in it with all different tips and tricks for writers, which I find to be very useful for this course. I am going to be finding some of my favorite mini-articles and summarizing the important and useful points from them Music To Listen To While You Write    This article caught my attention because typically when I am writing I find it very hard to listen to anything, whether it is a tv or even music. I find myself getting distracted and unable to think clearly about what I want to write about. The author goes into depth that it can be very difficult to listen to music that has words in it whilst writing because it can jumble your thought so on the contrary, listening to music such as piano music can stimulate thoughts. Another good point made was that listening to music with ...

 For the reading over Mahabharata, I chose the version written by R.K. Narayan. This version is similar to the one of Ramayana that I read in that it is a shortened modern version of the Indian Epic. I found myself enjoying these versions better because they are easier to follow and comprehend for me. I will be taking notes over some of the most interesting subparts in part B. Part 41. The Pandavas at Indraprastha. Duryodhana is distressed to find out the Pandavas are still alive His father on the other hand cannot find himself to be as angry Bhishma and Vidura encourage Dhritarashtra to make peace Duryodhana finds himself conflicted on how to feel So Dhritarashtra gives the Pandavas a part of his kingdom. The Pandavas build a city called Indraprastha Part 50. Shakuni and Duryodhana. Shakuni suggests to Duryodhana that they can get their revenge on the Pandavas This is done in a game of dice Shakuni was an expert player While Yudhishthira has no experience in the game. Vyasa came t...

For the reading over Mahabharata, I chose the version written by R.K. Narayan. This version is similar to the one of Ramayana that I read in that it is a shortened modern version of the Indian Epic. I found myself enjoying these versions better because they are easier to follow and comprehend for me. I will be taking notes over some of the most interesting subparts in part A. Part 1. Shantanu and Ganga. Shantanu is a king who rules over Hastinapura He fell in love with a woman who he met by the river She agreed to marry him under one condition: that he never questions her actions She proceeds to drown each one of her newborns in the river He began to protest by the eighth child She explained that she was the river Ganga reincarnated By drowning the babies she returns them back to heaven She took the eighth child with her and ran She returned back to. her husband when the child was grown His name is Devavrata, or also known as Bhishma. Part 3. Shantanu and Satyavati. Shantanu then fell ...