Week 12 Story: Battle with Khara

As the battle around him, Rama looked around him and instantly spotted Khara. Khara was sitting on a horse riding into the battle swinging left and right. He was slicing Rama’s men to bits. Rama decided that was enough and turned around. 

He looked at Sita and said, “I do not know where this battle will go but you must go and be safe. I will come find you at the castle. Now hurry!”

Sita looked at him and nodded, then proceeded to run back into the castle and had the guards barricade the door.  Rama then put on his helmet and got on his horse and charged down the hill towards Khara.

As he neared Khara he yelled, “We are going to finish this Khara!”

He then proceeded to jump off his horse and tackle Khara to the ground. Khara and Rama both rose quickly to their feet and drew their weapons.  Khara struck right and left swinging widly while Rama tried to parry each blow. Unfortunately, he missed a few and was struck twice, once on his arm and another on his leg drawing a lot of blood. 

Rama grimaced and yelled, “You got lucky, Khara. Now it’s my turn!”

Rama lunged and started slashing left, right, up and down. He never swung the same way twice so that it would confuse Khara about where he was going. He landed a multitude of hits and after swinging he looked at Khara.

Khara could not believe what had just happened. He thought he had this battle won but as he looked down he saw blood gushing from the cuts on his body and fell to his knees.

He cried out, “Rama, strike me down if you must in hate, but know killing me will never bring back the ones you lost.”

Rama was about to swing his sword down to behead Khara when he realized he was right. 

He stopped himself short of beheading him and said, “Today, Khara, I spare your life and you now are indebted to me. Whenever I call on you or your army you must answer the call.”

Khara looked started and nodded in agreement. Now since the battle was finally over after 15 long grueling days, Rama raced back to the castle and was reunited with Sita.  From that day on word of his mercy spread throughout the land.

Rama. (1816)

Na. Source: Wikicommons

Author's Notes: 

I wanted this story to go a different direction than the original. In the original one Rama sent a flaming arrow and destroyed Khara. With this one I wanted it to drag out a while but instead of Khara dying, he was spared.  I think it is more impressive to show mercy to people who don't deserve it than to kill.

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Battle with Khara. Battle with Khara

Reading Notes Part B: Battle with Khara

For Part B I decided to choose the story Battle with Khara. I actually liked that this story did let us know what had happened in the story before it so that way I wouldn’t be lost. There really is not a whole lot of positive things to say about this story because it is rather short.  What I will say I like is that Rama does protect the ones he loves and defeats his enemy.

I hate how short the battle is. Why not make the battle between the main two people last longer than shooting a flaming arrow? When I read that line I was thinking, “That’s really the whole battle?” There needs to be more sustenance so that way anyone who reads this story can feel like they aren’t wasting their time. I just do not understand who a story that has led up to a big confrontation can end in such a little fight. Heck, it was not even a fight, all Rama did was fire a flaming arrow and catch Khara on fire, where’s the fun in reading that sentence. This story was such a letdown. Sometimes short stories are ok but in this case a longer one would have been preferred because it lacks a powerful punch.  I thought judging by the title of the story it would have to do more with Khara than with Rama and boy was I wrong. It seems weird that Indians don’t have their stories focus on bad guys but just on the good. If we got to know more about the bad guys and why they were doing what they were doing then the story would flow smoother. At first I thought I was going to write my story on part A but now I have a strong feeling I will focus on this one.

Rama Fighting Demons (1916)

Chitra Ramayana. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Battle with Khara. Battle with Khara

Reading Notes: Part A Rama Goes into Exile

For Part A I decided to read about Rama going into exile.  I thought that this was a great story. It showed how loyal everyone was to Rama, not only that but that his wife was going to share in the punishment that he was facing.  The loyalty that follows Rama is strong, with the fact that his brother and wife are insisting on doing his punishment with him. What I really enjoyed was that, at the end of the story, even though he had been banished he promised to come back and honor the person who banished him.  Like, who does that, because I know if I came back from banishment I would want to see the person who sent me away die and I wouldn’t stop until they were hurting or dead.  I guess this why everyone thinks that Rama is a just and equal god.

One thing I was wondering is that if he is so powerful and mighty, why doesn’t he just destroy the people who put him into exile? I wonder if it is because he is showing the rest of his nation that he is just like everyone else and that not even he is above reproach? There is really not a lot to dislike with this story.  Rama knows that he has done something wrong, even though we aren’t told what if we haven’t read the stories before, and he takes his lumps like a man.  The only thing that I wished this storied included was a brief summary of what happened in the story before it so that we knew why Rama was being exiled again.  Overall, I felt this story was a great one and very strongly written. I think I might end up writing my Week 12 story on this.

                                  Rama and Sita. (September 17, 2013)

                                        Myknow3. Source: Wikipedia

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Rama Goes into Exile. Rama Goes Into Exile

Week 11 Story: The Stupid Monkeys

Backstory

A long time ago there lived a group of three monkey friends named John, Chester, and Ray. They were known around the monkey village as the three stooges.  The reasoning for this nickname is because they could never complete a task they were given without screwing it up.  The most recent job that they had messed up was bringing back wood to the village so they could roast their bananas. Instead of bringing back wood, they pretended to sword fight and ended up breaking the sticks into tiny pieces that could not sustain fire. Ever since they were young they were the outcasts of the society and no one paid any attention to them.  Lal the other monkeys thought they were just failures but unbeknownst to them, they strategically did that so that they wouldn’t have to be counted on to do anything important. That is how they wanted to live their life.

Bananas and Freedom

One day they were walking along the trees and noticed a huge cache of bananas just hanging in a tree.  They all looked at each other and decided that that if they brought it back to the village that they would be considered heroes and treated as such.  They also agreed that if they were able to do that then they probably wouldn’t have to ever do any other task that the village asked of them.  So, John climbed to right above the bananas and started to pick each off one the bundle connected to the tree.  He started throwing them to Chester and Ray who started to have a competition to see who could catch and then carry the most bananas. Eventually, the tree was picked clean and they proceeded to make their way back to their village. When they arrived and all the other monkeys saw all the food they carried, they went wild.  They were going crazy over having an abundance on bananas to eat.  John, Chester, and Ray were proclaimed hero’s and from that day on they were never asked to do anything for the village.  They proceeded to live their life and be lazy for the rest of their days.

Three Monkeys. (No date)

iirliinnaa. Source: Pixabay

Author’s Note:
I wanted to make this story a little bit longer than the original.  I wanted to monkey’s to be lazy yet cunning not just lazy. It made sense to have to have them just want to live their lives and no be counted on. Having the three friends always mess up the tasks they are given was a cunning ploy by them to not have to do work.  It is the sign of intelligence, especially when they realize if they bring the bananas back they won’t have to do another task for the village.

Bibliography: Babbitt, Ellen. The Stupid Monkeys. The Stupid Monkeys

Reading Notes Part B: How the Monkey Saved His Troop

Since I complained so much about how Monkeys were treated as idiots and buffoons in the world, I decided to read a story that talks about how a monkey saves his troops.  What I love about this story is that it is showing monkeys off in a good light finally.  The monkey does not seem stupid or lazy.  This monkey is able to help the chief save his men from being destroyed by the enemy by finding out what they are doing and where they are planning to attack. I like that the monkey is given a large task and is able to succeed in that task. It seems that this is not the first time the monkey has been asked to help humans out. It seems he/ she is very good at his/her job. What I love about this animal is that it seems to have no hesitation when I comes to helping out humans. This shows how selfless the monkey really is.

One thing that I am wondering about is why are humans relying on animals to help them survive? I wonder if that is because they view animals as gods and that by having them in their stories as saviors then they will be rewarded? In past stories we see animals talking and that makes me wonder why the monkey and the king are not talking together. It just makes the monkey seem primitive but that it knows exactly what the king is saying.  That makes no sense at all. If an animal cannot speak then there is no way it should understand what humans are asking it. Overall, I think the story is pretty good, but it does have some flaws in it like any story typically would. I might consider writing my story about this but I am not sure how I would change it.

Archers. (May 22, 1918)

Joseph Fawcett. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Babbitt, Ellen. How the Monkey Saved His Troop. How the Monkey Saved His Troop

Reading Notes Part A: The Stupid Monkeys

For Part A reading I focused on the story of the The Stupid Monkeys. I actually really enjoyed this story because it holds to true to how people view monkeys.  Monkeys are often thought about as not being the smartest animal on the planet and what they do with their daily live as boring.  Often in media Monkeys are depicted as dumb and incompetent and that is exactly what this story does with the monkeys.  It is funny to see that stories way back in the day have the exact same thoughts on how monkeys should be portrayed the people in this day and age do. Monkeys aren’t always known for being the most intelligent creatures and I am interested to know why. The rest of the stories in this section are quite entertaining and maybe next time I will focus on them.

What I was various about is why are monkeys always made to be looked at as the village idiots? It seems in some media and cultures they are regarded as wise so why do we make them look dumb? If I were to write a story I’d flip it and make the humans look like the dumb ones and the animals the wisest. What I didn’t like about this story as well is the fact that it was rather short. When you get to the climax of the story all the Monkeys did was pull up trees and they ended up dead.  That doesn’t really seem to make the monkeys stupid just not careful. Overall, I thought that this story was really lacking when it came to make the monkeys look stupid. I think what the story did, was in fact make sure that everyone is careful when doing a tsk because if they aren’t then there could be consequences, like killing a tree.

Monkey. (May 23, 2018)

Thomas Shahan. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Babitt, Ellen. The Stupid Monkeys. The Stupid Monkeys

Week 10 Story: The Monkey and the Crocodile

There once was a young crocodile named Marty. He was the runt of his family and his older brothers always made fun of him because he could never seem to bring dinner home to the family.  On top of that there was also this monkey that lived up the bank that constantly made fun of Marty and made him feel inadequate. 

One day Marty’s mom, Dorothy, called him over and said, “Marty, I need you to go out and get dinner for us, your brothers and father are away hunting for gazelle.”

Marty replied, “Mom, what should I hunt for?”

His mom replied, “Just enough to feed us hunny.”

Marty then wagged his tale and went off in search of food for them.  Along the way up the bank to where the deer where he heard a voice call out to him.

“There goes that little runt, Marty. Says he is a crocodile but can never catch anything.”

Marty looked up and there was Damon, the wise cracker of the monkey’s, laughing at him. Marty grew mad just thinking about all the times Damon had called the other animals to laugh at Marty when he couldn’t secure dinner for the family.

 An idea formed in Marty’s head he thought, “If I pretend like i am giving up on hunting and pretend to cry maybe I can lure Damon down and we can eat him for dinner.”

After Marty had formulated this plan he proceeded to act it out.

He cried to Damon, “you are right, I am the worst hunter, so I give up! You win Damon, are you happy!”

Damon, upon hearing this, was shocked because he did not think that crocodiles would take jokes so seriously. He then proceeded to sing down to the lowest branch of the tree that he was in and looked at Marty.

He said, “We are just messing with you Marty, but if you want to give up why not just live on land. I’m sure the other animals will have use for a crocodile that can’t hunt.”

He then proceeded to laugh loudly and as he roared his head back he noticed that Marty winked at him.

He thought, “That is odd, why is Marty winkiiiiinnnngggg…”

Marty jumped out of the water and snatched Damon out of the tree as Damon was deep in thought.  With one powerful bite Damon was dead, no longer able to taunt and heckle Marty. When Marty returned home his father, brothers, and mother were all there.  Once they saw that Marty had Damon in his jaws they cheered for Marty had finally become one of them. That night a grand feast was held with the family heaping praise on Marty for killing the most annoying monkey in the jungle.

Monkey. (December 4, 2015)

Saidkarimail. Source: Wikicommons

Authors Note: 

I wanted to change up this story. In the original the monkey gets the best of the crocodile.  With this one I wanted the crocodile to turn the table on the monkey and get the last laugh.  I think having Marty being bullied by the monkey makes everyone feel for him and want him to finally get a kill.  This story isn’t as long as ones that I usually post because I want this one to be short, sweet, and to the point. It is serendipitous that that kill would be the Monkey. The lesson of the story is that karma will come around and bite you on the butt.

Bibliography: Babbitt, Ellen. The Monkey and the Crocodile. The Monkey and the Crocodile.

Reading Notes Part B: Jakata Tales Part B

After reading Part B I realized that all the stories were written by the same person, whoops.  Anyway, I think that all the stories in Part B are wonderfully done and there is hard to find any fault with them.  The descriptions that the writer uses helps me visualize and bring to life in my head what I am reading.  I know I have stated this countless time, but I think that it is super important to be able to have your reader visualize while they are reading what you have written.  That is the first and only way to draw their intention ion.  If the reading is bull and boring the person is most likely to skip it or read it once and then discard it from their mind.  With these stories, I know that they will stay with me for a long time. It definitely was not easy to pick a favorite story because I felt they were all very well written and conveyed the message well.

Again, the only thing that bugs me is the fact that most of the characters are animals.  I know that the Indians believed certain animals to be spiritual and holy, but I think it would be ok to throw human characters in there once and a while.  Reading about animals does get a bit stale after a while. I noticed that in this day and age it seems that the same animals that we think are dumb and stupid, the Indian’s did too.  We probably should treat all animals equal and not focus on what we think their intelligence is. That is probably the only thing that I have to nit-pick at. Overall, I did enjoy Part B stories and I kind of hope we get to read more stories like this because they were short and to the point.

Great Horned Owl. (March 9. 2016)

Peter K. Burian. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Jataka Tales. Jataka Tales

Reading Notes Part A: Jataka Tales Part A

I really enjoyed all the stories in Part A. I thought they all did a good job of expanding on the stories from the old times and making them easier to understand.  I feel like the lessons that are being taught in these stories are a lot easier to understand than if we were reading something that written way back when. Sometimes, I do find it difficult to follow along with older stories because the way that they are written are very confusing. The story that I probably will write on is the monkey and crocodile.  What I may do to add a twist that instead of having the monkey get away from the crocodile, is have the monkey get too cocky and die.  While this is a dark take on the story it probably would be good to remind everyone that not all stories have good endings. I would also make the crocodile smarter than to monkey because too often crocodiles and sharks are considered quite dumb in stories like this and so having them being smart would be interesting. As Indian stories have shown us sometimes they do have the happiest ending.  

What I do find a little annoying about these stories is that they seem to all have a lesson to attach to them.  Why can’t a story just be a story and have no lesson with it.  Seems like all too often a story is trying to teach people something. I think having two evenly matched people/creatures would be an interesting take and make the story seem for even. Overall though, I did really enjoy reading all these stories. I liked how student made them up and put a more realistic spin on them than what we have read in the past.

Ox. (September 15, 2016)

AB.C. Source: Flickr

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Jataka Tales. Jataka Tales

Reading Notes Part B: Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Mahabharata

One thing that I thought was interesting for Part B that I did not address in Part A was the fact that the characters in the stories are different than the ones I read about in Mythology and Folklore. What I mean by that is that each person seems to have emotional ties to whoever is going through a journey.  Generally, when reading a story, it focused on a major protagonist and then it had secondary characters who stood in the background mostly.  With Part B, the characters that I thought were background people are coming to the forefront.  I thought that was interesting because it allows us to get a better view of these people who we might not have considered important in the beginning. On top of that they all have backstories which I think is ingenious. By allowing them all to have backstories it gives us characters we can more easily relate to and cheer for. I do enjoy the fact that multiple stories are told through this novel. It gives us a chance to further expand our knowledge about Indian folklore.  These stories will help us be able to write better story books that everyone would be to understand.

Still one thing that I dislike and probably never get over is the fact that the characters names are hard to announce. Most people would not think that is a big deal but to me it is. When you cannot say the character’s name it is hard to generate a response to what they are going through. Going forward I hope the authors can keep one straight narrative and not split into 10 different ones. That would be very helpful, so I am not confused about what I am reading. Overall, thought Part B was a great read.

Devavrata. (1923)

B P Banerjee. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Mahabharata. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Mahabharata

Reading Notes Part A: Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Mahabharata

For the reading part A I chose The Myths of Hindus and Buddhists: Mahabhrata.  This was a very long and sophisticated reading.  For one, I feel that I still do not know how to pronounce the names still and with the inclusion of different gods and goddesses I still don’t know which one does what.  I do feel like the stories that are shown throughout the first part of Mahabhrata are good stepping stones until Part B is reached.  It seems like the trials and tribulations that the characters go through in Part A can easily be related to real life.  That to me is what I find fascinating.  Whenever I am reading a story for this class I can always sense a connection between what is going on in my person life/real world and what they were describing back then. It seems that the Indians type of storytelling was sort of foretelling the future because in a eerie way, some of the stories relate to what is happening in the world.

While there is a lot to praise to there are also some negatives.  One negative is that while the stories are good and just, there seems to be a lot going on.  What I mean by that is that there seems to be an overabundance of characters and journeys that are happening. Now, while this might good sometimes, here it is bad because it is hard to remember all the people’s names.  There also seems to be a lot of twists and turns that occur during the stories that might be a little unnecessary. Some parts of Part A are a little slow and seem to make me lose interest which is not the best because then I want to read something else. Overall though, I felt like the characters and the journey that each one went on during Part A were done very well.

Pandu. (1690)

NA. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Mahabharata. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Mahabharata

Week 8 comments and Feedback

Feedback in

I think the quality of comments and feedback that I receive from everyone is great.  I feel that by looking at the comments I can better tailor my blog stories to have a more profound impact on the reader.  Hopefully, I can draw their attention and not divert it. The comments that I find the best are the ones that are critical and offer suggestions.

Feedback out

I feel like the kind of comments that I leave everyone is helpful. I think that I offer good insight and helpful suggestions while not coming across as rude or disrespectful. I think that other people's writing has helped me shaped my own writing because I can really see what other people like and don't like when it comes to the stories we tell.

Blog Comments

I do feel like I get to connect with people while commenting on their blogs.  It is a good interaction that can set the tone going forward in this class if I have questions I need to ask.

Looking Forward

I could probably make sure that my comments give more helpful suggestions and also some "what if" questions. I feel like no changes are needed for my introduction or comment wall.

Feedback. (March 18, 2019)

Mohamed_hassan. Source: Pixabay

Week 8 Progress

Looking Back
I definitely am happy with my progress. I think I am a week or two ahead of where I was last year when I was in the Mythology and Folklore class. I am most proud of the fact that I am actually getting ahead of class.  Trying to balance this class and my capstone is a challenge but with me being a week ahead it allows me more time to focus on my capstone. My weekly routine is doing most of the assignments on Sunday then finishing it up on Monday.  The assignments I enjoy the most is definitely adding to my storybook.

Looking Forward
I want to keep the same pace that is have been going with for the rest of the semester and not slack off. One pitfall that I want to put off is putting off a week of homework for this class since I am a week or two ahead.  I might change the layout of my storybook later on but I am not sure yet.

Looking Forward. (February 9, 2018)

500px. Source: Wikicommons

Week 8 Reading and Writing

I feel that my reading and writing assignments are going well for me.  I must say that it is a tad difficult to understand what I am reading since I know nothing about Indian folklore.  What I can say is that I enjoy it a lot.

I am happy with the layout of my blog because I feel like the overall aesthetic is representing what we are reading.  On top of that my project website is coming along very well and hopefully it will be better than the one I did for Mythology and Folklore.

My biggest writing accomplishment in this class would probably be the fact that I am able to write stories at all.  Having really no background in understanding Indian epics, I thought it would be difficult to produce stories and understand them but I feel like I am doing a good job.

I don't think there is anything that I need to be doing to get more out of the readings.  I think the stories I write could be a little more cohesive and not be as rushed.

NA. (April 3, 2016)

NA. Source: Pixabay

Week 7 Story: Raiding at Night

Backstory

There once was a young man named Jake. Jake had been at odds with the young prince named Sadik who ruled his lands ever since he learned that Sadik ordered the execution of Jakes Family. The reason for this execution as because the young prince’s father was having affair with Jakes mother.  Jakes mom used to be a healer for the kingdom and one day, after treating the king for back pain for over a year they kissed.  One might ask, “What led to this kiss?” well you see, the King and his wife had not been happy in their marriage for some time and the Julia, Jakes mother, provided companionship and happiness he had never known with his current wife. As the two saw each other in secret, one day, their relationship was discovered by the Kings wife.  Unable to take the heartbreak that she had suffered, she wrote a note to her son telling him everything and then proceeded to jump form the highest point in the tower into the moat.  As Sidak grew up he harbored a dark plan to get his revenge for his mothers’ death.  One day when he was 17 he led a small contingent of his most faithful soldiers into Jake’s town and proceeded to slaughter everyone.  Jake was out tending to crop when he heard his mother scream out. He raced back towards the house and as he peered through the window he saw Sidak sticking as word through his moms’ heart.

Sidak said, “All the pain you caused me, You were the reason my mother took her life, so now I take yours!” As Sidak and his men left the house Jake jumped through the window and cradled his mom vowing for revenge no matter what the cost.

Later

A few years later Jake kept hearing about all the awful things Sadik had done to other families in the area that Jake lived he decided enough was enough.  He decided that on the night of the 13^th he would sneak into the castle and murder Sidak so that he could harm no one else.  As night came, Jake made an appeal to the God of Safety, Paul, asking him to protect him long enough to get revenge for the death of his family.  As night came Jake crept slowly through the cover of the brush towards to castle.  He noticed right away that there were not hardly any guards on patrol so he hoped that it would be an easy in and out job.  As Jake came upon the main gate he realized that it was locked and as he scanned the outer wall he saw that he would have to climb up the sides of the tower to reach Sidak’s room. Jake held his breath and began his climb to Sidaks’ room.  A couple of times while making the climb he slipped and it seemed like all hope would be lost, but somehow he regained his grip and footing and continued to climb. Eventually, he reached Sidaks window, and he softly opened it as to make no noise.  Soon he came to the bedroom where Sidak lay sleeping.

 Sidak sensed something was up and suddenly woke up alert as Jake lunged at him screaming, “This is for my mother!”

As Jake was trying to strangle Sidak, Sidak pulled out a knife from under his pillow and proceeded to stab Jake in the stomach.  Crumpling to the ground, Jake could barley stand, but he suddenly felt the power of Paul surge them him and he made one last lunge at Sidak. As the grappled Jake was able to grab the knife and plunge in into Sidak’s throat. As both fell to the floor Jake knew he was dying but he felt at ease knowing he had avenged his mom.  Sidak on the other hand was in tears and blood was pouring out of his mouth and neck wound.  As morning came the neighboring cities surrounding the kingdom had heard about what had happened.  Jake was proclaimed a martyr for the oppressed. All around there were uprisings using Jake as their hero, when the people went to war with unjust forces.

V for Vendetta. (March 4, 2015)

WolvesOfTheTwilight. Source: Wikicommons

Authors Note: For this story I wanted to just have two characters to focus on.  I wanted there to be a good and evil character.  In the original story we are given two characters who are after revenge and it does not end well for either of them.  With this story I wanted Jake to know the cost of getting revenge and even though he does die, the oppressed people in surrounding kingdoms know what he has down and they too rise up and fight back.  The moral of the story is that evil will never win.  I wanted to give a God a little part because this story was really only about vengeance.  In the end vengeance can consume you and will most likely lead to your death. Often when vengeance is talked about, there are always negative repercussions.  Sure, this is true in this story but it also shows that vengeance can signal that people who are being opposed can change that and take back their life.

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. The Night Raid. The Night Raid

Reading Notes Part D: The Night Raid

This story is really short and sweet, but it gets to the point right away.  With the telling of this story I feel like it really isn’t dragged out or nothing is lingered on for a set amount of time.  What I meant by that is that too often story tend to linger on certain details and aspects of the story without really telling us the purpose of it in the end.  With The Night Raid the exact opposite occurs.  We are introduced to our leader character right away and we find out what he is really all about.  We understand that the son is after vengeance and right off the bat that lets us as the reader know that this will not end well.  The reason that I say this is because everyone knows that a person seeking out vengeance does not go the way that they want, it usually ends in tragedy.  What is also interesting about this story is that this act of vengeance that is being told to us incites a much larger battle that the person is not able to watch because they are dying.  It shows that seeking vengeance sometimes has long lasting consequences that sometimes we cannot see the scope of.

Even though I said we know who the main character was of the story, the introduction of another character who seems to be equally as important sort of confused me.  If they had just focus on the first young man we had met and made it all about his vengeance and how that incited a larger battle I would understand it so much more clearly.  With the addition of this other character, its kind of makes us wonder who we should be following along with. The story is great for the simple fact that short and sweet is sometimes the best way to do something.  While it does have some problems that story overall, was very enjoyable.

Seige of Cuddalore. (1890)
Richard Simkin. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. The Night Raid. The Night Raid

Reading Notes Part C: The Battle Begins

I really enjoyed reading this story a lot. What makes this story so much different than anything that I have read so far in this class is that with this war story we don’t just get a brief synopsis we get most of the war.  It seems like to often when reading about war in myths or folklore, people often focus on the beginning of the war or the end.  There seems to be never in between, but with this story we are given insight into how each character is thinking while also being provided details on what is occurring.  I feel like the more descriptive that stories can be about the battles of war, the more people will get a better understanding of how much of a blood bath its way was back then.  What we also get in this story is a very descriptive detail about what is going between both sides. We get a better understanding of the casualties that are suffered and the damage that is being caused by all the killing.  It seemed that each guy kept winning every other day but there seemed to be no clear victor.

One problem that I have with this story is the fact that it is not split up into more parts. I mean, I understand them wanting to get the full range of the battle down in one chapter, but it is a little boring.  If they had split this story up into two or three chapters dedicated to one sides perspective the other sides perspective, then the final battle I think it would have made for a great story. I feel that making story’s sometimes too long can feel monotonous to a reader and have them lose interest very quickly.  Overall, I did enjoy the story and hope for more like it in the future.

War Elephant. (NA)

NA. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. The Battle Begins. The Battle Begins

Week 6: The House of Fire

Once upon a time there was this mischievous little kid only named as Luke. He was known around the town of Errandale as a trickster and a bully.  No one knew who his parents were, he was often seen running around town in the same clothes he had on the week before.  Nobody ever paid attention to him, he would usually bully the little children were playing outside.  All the time he seemed to get away with whatever mischievous little thing he was doing. All his tricks seemed harmless until one fateful day.

The Day of The Fire

Luke was wandering around one fateful Autumn day when he came across what he thought was an abandoned farmhouse at the edge of town.  Now, Luke had seen this farm house a couple of times and he was always intrigued by how tall a fire would be if the building somehow caught on fire. Now unbeknownst to everyone in town Luke loved playing with fire because he was a pyromaniac.  That same Autumn day Luke was walking by the farm house he decided that night he would set it on fire.  He waited until the sun went down then went with his little lighter and stared to gather some dead leaves. He stacked the leaves and dry twigs he had gathered outside the barn door at both ends.  When he though the coast was clear he proceeded to light the brush, he had collected on fire. As the fire started to engulf the building he suddenly heard screaming and coughing from inside the barn.  He started to panicky because he though that no one was inside and that it was just abandoned.  Without thinking Luke made his way to the side of the barn and as he was trying to find a way in he saw that there was a couple of rotten boards.  He ran over to them and started to kick them out and eventually they broke.  He crawled through as fast as he could and when he was inside he saw that a family of four had been living there.  He rushed up to the father and told him that he had a way they could escape.  Luke led the family through the boards and out to safety. 

As the family started to hug one another the father asked Luke, “Where is your family son?”

Luke couldn’t reply because he was a mute, but he started to right out in the dirt that he was an orphan and his family had been burned to death by an evil with.  The old man thanks him profusely and give him a long hug after learning what had happened to his family.  He then proceeded to ask Luke if he would like to live with them for the rest of his life and Luke’s eyes teared up.  No one had ever been nice to him and people had always treated him with disgust.  He finally found somewhere he belong and from that day forward, Luke acted like a model citizen and never caused any more trouble.

Barn of Fire. (NA)

NA. Source: Pexels

Authors: I took this story from The House of Fire. I changed a considerable amount.  I wanted this story to be way different than what was shown in the original.  I didn’t want anyone to die and I wanted to give the main character a sad backstory that explained why he was the way he was.  In the original story the people inside the house that caught fire and I wanted Luke to be able to save them in this one. It gives his character a kind of redeeming quality that was missing. I know Luke never tells them he set the fire, I wanted to leave that up into interpretation for the reader to decide if he ever told them.

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. The House of Fire. The House of Fire

Reading Notes Part B: The House of Fire

There is so much to say about this story.  When I first chose this tory to read I thought it was going to have a different ending completely.  Usually when I ready myths or folklores, they have somewhat of a decent ending. I am trying to remember the last story that I read that had the evil villains succeeding and I am drawing a blank.  What was even more shocking was that men wished harm to a woman and children.  That is usually very frowned upon in any culture and I don’t believe there are many stories that deal with that.  I remember feeling happy when I thought the wicked captain and his man died in the flames. Unfortunately, that feeling went away once an innocent woman and her children perished by the flames that somehow reached where they were staying.  It also blows my mind that the prince and king could celebrate so freely for the deaths of what they thought was the queen and her sons. It just really shows how heartless those two men were and how they were not fit to be royalty. Even though the main targets of the evil plan lived, the queen’s son was directly responsible for the deaths of innocents. It makes me wonder how he is going to feel after knowing what he did.

I was wondering why they needed to have the children and mom die in the first place.  I feel that it really didn’t serve any purpose for the theme of the story. I guess a purpose of them dying would be to let others know that even though you are trying to beat evil, sometimes there are tragic consequences. Also, this story shows that a false narrative can cause a domino effect that maybe hard to come back from.  Overall, I did enjoy this story, it just stunk that a woman and her kids died for no real reason.

Purochan. (1968)

Ramnadayandatta Shastri Pandey. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. The House of Fire. The House of Fire

Reading Notes Part A: Drona's Revenge

This story is a lot more interesting in regard to the battle sequences that happen.  The overall descriptions that are going on throughout this story just seem to reinforce the idea that Indian mythology is all about the details, even if they are small.  It seems that all the stories that I have read up until this point are the most intricate and detailed that I have ever read.  They want us to know who each character is and who we should be focusing on.  With this story it lets us know right away that we are dealing with Drona and his pupils.  The overarching theme to this story seems to be that sometimes battle is necessary to combat the trials of evil the invade a good land. Like many other stories that I have read across the last two semesters, the battle sequence does not last long.  One thing I have always been curious is why is that? I have been researching and cannot seem to find an answer about why the battles we read about are not gory and detailed letting us know the horrors of battle.  It would seem that this story, like most of the ones that I have read care more about the politics that happen after the battle.  While that is all good and well it is rather boring, and I think most people would agree. Sometimes it is hard to try to figure out who the good characters and evil ones are.  The reason I say this is because it sometimes seems that the ones we considered to be good end up being the ones that are the most hated.  Overall, I did really enjoy this story.  I feel like I say that a lot but I do go through some stories that are rather boring and I only like to write notes on the ones that can hold my interest like this one.

Drona. (August 15, 2107)

Mughal. Source: Wikipedia

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Drona's Revenge. Drona's Revenge

Week 5 Story: The Divine Archer

John was leading his troops into battle against his ex-best friend Devin.  John and Devin had a falling out a long time ago over John marrying Devin’s ex fiancé.  John couldn’t help it though, when he saw Rachel, he felt an instant connection with her.  Devin had been ok with the marriage for a while but as time had passed a deep seated hatred had started to eat away at him until it eventually consumed him.  Almost 5 years to the day after John had been married, Devin decided that enough was enough.  He told his army to gear up for war, they were going after John.

Present Day

John’s men seemed to be more skilled and proficient at fighting, while Devin’s men seemed to be struggling.  In John’s heart he knew he should stop the fighting, but he was afraid that if he did then Devin would try to sneak attack him.  As John was fighting he came across Devin.  

John yelled, “Devin, stop this madness! There is no need for us to fight.  We were like Brothers once.”

Devin responded, “Yes we WERE brothers, but now I have nothing but anger for what you did to me!  The only thing that will cease this anger is your death.”

John knew that unless he did something the battle would only end when everyone was dead.  So, John, being the respectable and manly man that he was, he laid down his sword.

He said to Devin, “Strike me down if you must, but your anger will always linger.”

Devin looked at him with hatred in his eyes but lowered his sword.

He said, “You maybe right…”and then he proceeded to swing his sword at Johns head. As John saw the sword heading toward him he closed his eyes. The next thing that either of them knew, the sword broke in half on John’s neck.  Devin stared in disbelief as he looked at the hilt of his sword. 

When John opened his eyes, he looked at Devin with sadness and said, “Hate will never beat the light Devin. Now go home and leave all this anger behind you.”

Devin was so startled he had no idea what to do. As soon as John spoke to him something inside of him let go of the hate and he just crumpled to the ground in tears. 

As John walked away from Devin he said, “I will always be here for you my friend. If you decide you ever want to talk more amicably.”

Rama and Ravana fighting. (February 28, 2018)

Gita Press Gorakhpur. Source: Wikicommons

Authors Note: I wanted to tell the story of Rama fighting Ravana. Even though Rama is victorious, I wanted this story to show compassion and that violence and death are not always the answers. I also wanted to change the backstory of why the two were fighting. I also wanted there to be some dialogue to show John (Rama) as a objector to the fight and one of the most compassionate people. Devin (Ravana) represents the anger that festers inside someone if left uncheck.

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. The Divine Archer. The Divine Archer

Reading Notes Part B: The Divine Archer

Part B of this reading, to me at least, was a lot more entertaining than the first part.  The reason that I say this is because we get to see Rama go on a question to find his love.  Along the way he encounters a multitude of different types of characters who help him in achieving his goal.  Also, there a part in the story where battling is taking place and I am a huge battle person so that is the most fascinating part of any story.   What is also great about this story is that it shows the trials and tribulations that Rama faces in his later life.  I don’t know what it is but I just generally. Love learned about myths that involve a main character in the latter part of his life.  I feel like so much time is spent on his youth and young adult hood we never really get to experience the things he goes through as an adult. Beside that fact what is great about these stories in Part B is that it introduces us to other characters that are just as important to Indian folklore.  This way it gives us a brief tease of what we can expect to read about when we come to these characters.

Unfortunately, with the battle phases they didn’t seem to cover much ground.  I always find it weird that people never want to elaborate inn books about the brutality of war.  Everyone knows how brutal it is because we see it on tv every day, so why not in books beside military ones.  I feel like being more descriptive about everything that Rama and Sita are going through would have been more helpful because it would have allowed us to get a more visceral reaction if we had known what was going on with them.  Even though there are some negatives with this section of the story I still feel like it outdid the first part I read, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Rama and Site Playing. (February 22, 2018)

Gita Press Gorakhpur. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. The Divine Archer. The Divine Archer

Reading Notes: Part A The Divine Archer

I really enjoyed reading this story. Even though Part A is considerably longer than what we are used to me really enjoyed how in depth it goes.  The descriptions that are given throughout the first part of the book are exquisite.  It makes me feel that I am really there when I am reading it.  I have always said that in order to capture a reader’s attention you must have immaculate detail as well as an interesting narrative that continues to drive the story forward. This story does just that.  I also like that in the context of section A we get a bunch of little stories that are all tied together.  The book does a great job at showing the culture of Indian and the different stories that are still prevalent to this day and age.  I can for sure say that when I was reading these stories, it definitely brought back some life lessons that I have learned in my life. All the characters that I have come across in this novel seem to represent a different way of life.  On top of that I feel that there are definitely illusions to other myths from other cultures. Rama breaking the bow that no one could bend reminds me of the sword and the stone.  

While there are a lot of great qualities to this first section there are also some negatives.  I felt like some of the wording and portrayal of the characters were kind of repetitive.  The stories seemed to drag on for pages at a time. I am always appreciative of the authors trying to get as much detail into the novel as possible but sometimes it can be a little too much. Overall, I thought the stories were great, while a little wordy at times.

Rama and Sita. (October 21, 2016)

Infinite Eyes. Source: Flickr

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Divine Archer. Divine Archer

Tech Tip: Twine

Instead of doing a story I decided to check out Twine.  I have heard of twine but never used it.  I thought that it was very enjoyable creating a game others can play.  I think it definitely would be neat to create a story on twine.  It would make it more interactive and that way whoever is playing the game would not lose interest.  By actively participating they are presented the same choices as the characters in the story.  In a way they are choosing their own fate as well as their characters.

Twine would be a really cool way to do a storybook for our project.  It would be a interactive experience for all involved. The people would be able to see the consequences of the choices that they make.  Sure, they can go back and choose different choices but they will always be haunted by the first choice they made.

I have included the link if anyone wants to play.  It is a real simple dumb game but I thought it might make people laugh.  I am planning to do another one that will be longer and more detailed.

Storybook Plan

When I do this storybook I will focus on three different horrors in Indian culture and connect them all together in the last story.  The type of stories that I will be giving are suspenseful, terrifying, yet ones that have heart.  I think the common connection that I will have will be focusing on the main character Milo.  These evil entities attack Milo when he is at his lowest after he loses his family.  They eventually end up teaching him that life is worth living and to preserve the memories of his family.

The first story will focus on the Bakasura and how he disguised himself as an elderly gentlemen and tried to feed off Milos sadness. Milo will meet a acquaintance named Phoebe who has been tryin to vanquish Bakasura since he killed her brother.

The second story will have Milo come upon a Vetala, that is inhabiting the body of his dead mother.  Milo will come across his friend Seth who will try to help him banish the vetala from his mothers bodies and she can have a proper burial.

The third and final story will have Milo fighting against the previous two demons and Hidimba, the demon King.  Milo's friends will join him as they face off against their greatest foes and finally rid their world of evil.

The message that this story will provide is that no matter what bad happens in your life, it is worth living no matter how dark the days get.  Perseverance is something everyone can do with friends by your side.  Another message will be no one is truly alone who has friends.

Comment Wall

This is my comment wall

Creepy child. (NA)

Author: Na. Source: Needpix

Here is a link to my storybook

Reading Notes Part D:Rama Attacks

The story that I chose for part D was rather short.  While it was short it was enough to whet my appetite and left me wanting more.  Any good story or myth should always leave the reader wanting more. Like I have said in past notes, I really appreciate how descriptive these stories are and even though it is only two paragraphs I felt I learned more in those two paragraphs than I have in reading a chapter of a science fiction book. When it talked about the “clouds raining blood” or “snow-white clouds,” I had no problem visualizing what was being read.  I have always been a person who craves details so that way I can imagine the story in my head.  I am more of a visualizer and the more descriptions and details that I read the clearer the picture becomes in my head like some other people.

I feel like I am going to have do some research about why there are monkeys in these stories that I am reading.  What is the reason for the monkeys? I intend to find out.  Also, one thing that I did not like is the story did not go into detail when describing the battle that rage. It was kind of anti-climactic when Rama’s head was brought to Sita.  I was hoping we would get to find out how he died and if it was a glories death or silent. One thing I have noticed that is different between Indian lore and Greek lore is describing battles and fights.  The Greeks were very descriptive and sometimes went a little to overboard, but it brought the battle to life, whereas Indian lore doesn’t really describe the battles.  Overall, the story was a good quick read I just hope the ones I read after are more descriptive.

Rama and Sita. (1957)

NA. Source: Wikipedia

Bibliography. Gibbs, Laura. Rama Attacks. Rama Attacks