Week 8, Reading Plan

One of the things I love most about this class is the many options available to students. Specifically, there are many different reading options. This allows students to explore topics or authors that are of particular interest to them. I think this teaching style recognizes that a course experience doesn't have to be "one size fits all."

So far I have had the opportunity to experience Indian epics through prose, online editions of stories, and film. Since I really enjoyed the film-version of the reading assignments, I will finish Brook's movie online which will account for one week of the reading assignments.

I will also read William Buck's version of the Mahabharata. I chose this version because I find it difficult to read stories online and prefer to have a hard copy of a book in my hands. I had already purchased this book before the course had begun because I saw it was one of the recommended readings online. Since I already own the book, I will go ahead and use it for four weeks worth of reading assignments.

The movie and the book will take up five weeks worth of reading assignments. That means there will still be a one week period I will need to fill. I plan to choose this reading later on after finishing the book and the movie to see if there is a specific character or topic I wish to explore further.

I look forward to getting started!

Girl reading a notebook,

Photographer: Karolina Grabowska, Date: October, 2014, Source: Pexels

Week 8, Reflections: Looking Forward

One thing I think I could do to improve my writing in this course is combine stories from this course with stories I'm familiar with in the storytelling assignments. I have noticed my classmates do this in their work and  it adds a new level of dimension to their stories.

As far as the reading goes, I need to be more intentional in getting started early. I know that I take a long time to read, so I need to account for this when scheduling for this course. My new goal will be to begin the reading assignment for the next week on the Thursday before it is due. If I can at least get started, I can gauge how much time the reading will take me and determine if time needs to be set aside over the weekend to read for this course.

In my interaction with my peers, I hope to become more specific. I have seen how beneficial constructive criticism and feedback has been for me, and I want to be sure that I am providing this for my classmates.

My goal is to end this course with and A, not just because I want the grade, but because I feel like that grade will reflect the level at which I have mastered this material. It is less important to me that I finish early, however, it would be nice to be finished with this course before dead week. I am on track (according to the chart provided) to make the grade I want, however, in order to finish early I will need to start engaging in more of the extra credit opportunities. I think a good goal would be to complete at least one extra credit assignment a week. Specifically, participating in the growth mindset and curation extra credit activities will not only enhance my grade in this course, but also my overall abilities as a student and a learner.

This class is flying by! I have learned so much already, and am sure I will continue to reach my learning goals if I remain focused, organized, and engaged with my peers and professor.

We Can Do It!

Author: J. Howard Miller, Date: 1942, Source: Wikipedia

Week 8, Reflections: Looking Back

I have really been inspired by my classmate's weekly stories. Specifically the imagery, word choice, and general creativity has motivated me to enhance my own writing. After the first week I noticed a lot of my peers were re-writing stories in a more modern context. I tried this for the first time in my week 2 storytelling assignment, and I enjoyed it so much that I've written pretty much every other story after in a modern setting. I think having a weekly storytelling assignment has encouraged me to be more creative, thoughtful, and has generally improved my writing skills.

My favorite reading so far has been The Ramayana A Shortened Prose Version of the Indian Epic by, R.K. Narayan. I was not expecting to get so "sucked into" this book. I truly couldn't put it down. There were so many different kinds of characters, so many elaborate stories, and lots of twists and turns in the plot. I think my favorite character in this story was Sita, however, I longed for more of the story to be from her point of view. That is why I enjoyed the next reading assignment where I got to watch a film that told the story a little more from Sita's perspective.

Ravana Sita Painting,

Author: Nina Paley, Date: 2008, Source: Wikimedia

As far as interactions go, the commenting and feedback from our professor has been really helpful. I like how each week after I've completed my progress on my storytelling assignment, I get personalized and specific feedback from professor Gibbs. This feedback has been encouraging, but also constructive, and has taught me a lot.

I usually work on this class between my other classes. I have random large chunks in the day between classes that are long enough to get something done, but not quite long enough to walk all the way home. I am very fortunate through my major to be allowed access to the Industrial and Systems Team Room. Basically it's a lounge with couches, tables, a refrigerator, a microwave, and computers that ISE students have access to. When I'm not in class during the day, I'm usually there either doing homework or working on this class and eating.

I feel like through this class I've grown in my understanding of Indian culture and literature. I also feel like I've learned a lot about learning online. One major lesson I've learned is how crucial it is to keep yourself organized, and that there are lots of tools that can be manipulated for the virtual classroom. Bookmarks have been the most helpful tool for me. After using them for this class I started using them to keep all of the links for my med-school secondary applications organized and in my other classes.

Week 7 Storytelling- Amba

There once was a college student named Amba. Amba was beautiful and kind, but beared a great secret. Amba was a lesbian, and she felt like she could not come out to any of her friends or family. Amba was in love with a girl named Priya. Their love was true and steadfast, however, very secretive. Amba’s parents were very traditional. They already had someone in mind for Amba to marry. He was perfect. His name was Bhishma. Bhishma was going to be a doctor, he came from a great family, and nobody could say a bad thing about him.

Amba’s parents arranged for the two to meet each other’s families.  A date was then arranged for the two to spend time together with a chaperon. The date was lovely- they started with a walk in the park, they ate pizza at a local bistro, and were concluding the afternoon with a trip to the movies. On their walk to the movies, Amba pulled Bhishma aside. They were far enough away from the chaperon to have a private conversation. Amba confessed to Bhishma that she had no desire to marry him, and was in love with someone else. Bhishma was noticeably saddened by this news, but, alas, he was a good person. He told Amba to follow her heart. He also told her that he would break the news to their parents that the two of them had decided to part ways. Amba was relieved by his understanding.

Whisper

Author: Alejandro Tuzzi, Date: 2015, Source: Pixabay

The next day, Amba explained the whole situation to Priya. Priya was annoyed to say the least. “You still haven’t told your parents about us??? Are you so ashamed of me?? I cannot be with someone who doesn’t know how to be honest. I can’t believe you would go on a ‘fake’ date with someone just to please your parents. This relationship is over.”

Amba was devastated. She couldn’t please her parents, and she couldn’t be with the person she loved the most. For some reason, she was most angry at Bhishma. If Bhisma was never in the picture, her parents would not have tried to set her up. Priya would not have gotten upset, and everything would still be normal. Bhishma was the root of all of her problems. And she would get revenge. She didn’t have anything else to live for- no Priya and no parents. She only had one desire that consumed her. Making Bhishma pay.

Author's Note: This week we re-read the Mahabharata in a new way. I chose to watch the movie version of this epic. The actress who played Amba did a wonderful job. She was so devastated by her circumstances, but also became so determined and passionate because of them. I wanted to express this character in a modern interpretation. I asked myself, how might a situation like this arise today?

Bibliography:

"Amba" by Sister Nivedita, from Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists (1914). Web source: here

Peter Brook's Mahabharata (1989). Web source: here

Reading Diary B Week 7- Continuing with the Film

For this reading diary, I have continued to watch the film version of The Mahabharata. A link to this film can be found here. The plot picked back up with the Pandava brothers and Draupadi in exile. Draupadi impressed me in these scenes. She spoke frankly and confidently to Yudhishthira, and questioned his motives for the gamble. All of the brothers, including Yudhishthira, respected Draupadi and listened to her concerns even if they disagreed with her. This kind of effective and open communication is rare in many relationships today, and was certainly very ahead of its time for the time period during this story. I appreciated that scene.

Description: Illustrations from the Barddhaman edition of Mahabharata in Bangla, which were printed in wood engraving technique (7).jpg, Author: Maharaja Mahatab Chand Bahadur, Date: between 1820 - 1879, Source: Wikimedia

Amba made a brief re-appearance shortly after the Pandavas has started their exile. I was sure to pay attention in that part since she is one of the characters for my storybook project. Everyone recognized her name and knew her story, and they were all amazed at her determination. She was so focused that she didn't eat, sleep, or age. She barely stopped to discuss anything other than her mission.

Weapons were acquired "by both sides" in these scenes as well. Arjuna went out on his own journey to get a weapon- I appreciated how they only hit the highlights in this part. There were a lot of smaller (and not as relevant) stories/descriptions that could have been shown in the film but were left out. This was probably for the best because the viewers were able to streamline the plot a little bit.

The effects in the movie aren't "state of the art" by any means, but they aren't too cheesy either. The costumes for the demons, for example, weren't super realistic- but they were scary enough to get the point across! All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by this film and think it will help me better understand all of the various characters.

Famous Last Words Week 6

This week I finished one of my other classes called circuits! Industrial engineers only have to take one part of circuits, so it’s kind of a mini-semester two month class. I took my final on Monday, so it feels so nice to have one less class to worry about! I am hoping this will give me more time to work on this class, and spend some more time fine-tuning my writing skills.

(Image Information: personal photo of a portion of my circuits project;

photo from September 2015.)

I think my best writing from this week was the introduction I wrote/revised for my storybook project. I am really excited about where that project will go. I have a general idea for what I want each of my stories to look like, but I feel like they will really start to come to life once I do some more in-depth brainstorming and writing. I’m glad we have the opportunity to alter famous stories and make them our own. This allows for so much creativity!

I am consistently amazed by my classmate’s writing skills. Reading some of the other storytelling assignments has allowed me to see where my writing has some room for improvement. Specifically, I think that I can improve my word choice and imagery. This is something I’ve noticed my classmates do really well. That attention to detail can take a story from good to great, it just takes a little more time.

I missed a reading diary this week, but hope to be all caught up on the reading by the end of next week. Hopefully some better time management strategies this week will help me to stay on top of all of my courses.

Also, next week, I want to start writing out more detailed notes as I read/watch the movie. I think this will make writing my reading diary blog post so much easier.

Reading Diary A Week 7 Another Mahabharata (Online Movie)

This week I decided to watch the online movie version of the Mahabharata, You can find a link to this movie, here. When I was initially reading the online PDE of the Mahabharata, I was having a hard time keeping characters and lineages straight. I thought watching a film version of the story would be beneficial for me because I would be able to match names to faces. This helped me to keep everyone's stories and backgrounds organized.

I started watching the movie two nights ago, and was able to convince one of my friends to watch it with me! I think we both enjoyed it more than we anticipated we would. The plot really is so fascinating, and it is so interesting to see how all of the characters are woven together. I thought Draupadi's acting in the last scene, where her husband gambled her away, was the most impressive. You could see the desperation on her face, but also her sincere faithfulness as she called upon the gods for help. I think Draupadi was my favorite character in the film, I was surprised that they left out her whole story. What I mean is, they didn't show her previous life, and how she became destined to have five husbands.

It's hard to tell exactly who is the main protagonist in a story with so many characters, but I think Arjuna and Yudhishthira are probably two of the biggest stars. In my eyes, however. both of them have their faults. I think Arjuna was a coward to deny the challenge of Karna. Also, I think it was shameful that he let Drona go after Ekalavya, who had done nothing wrong, and ask for his thumb. Yudhisthira's fault is obvious- the gambling. I don't understand how his brothers and his wife were so calm and understanding as he gambled everything they owned away. I also don't understand why he "had" to accept the challenge.

Shakuni is Master of Dice Game,

Author: Ramanarayanadatta astri, Date: acquired in 1965, Source: Wikimedia

I look forward to watching the rest of the film! I've noticed that a few stories are skipped over, but I feel like overall the film does a good job of hitting all of the highlights.