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Showing posts from September, 2018

Story Lab: Story & Friends

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I have chosen to watch one of the  Ted Talks: Story and Friends called The danger of a single story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Imaginary friends and real-world consequences by OU's own Jennifer Barnes. The danger of a single story  by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was quite fascinating. Chimamanda has always wanted to write imaginary stories when she was little. She believed that books should have foreign in them. She wrote about things that recognize the important for people to realize. She brought up my attention that her roommate from college that Nigeria could speak English as well. She wrote stories about people as cars so that they will never starve. She taught me that her stories can help form herself as a better person. Overall, I realize that it is always important to write about the things you feel that are important for readers to know when it comes to creating your own story. The  Imaginary friends and real-world consequences  by OU's own Jennifer Barnes was

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata, Part B

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Notes: Duryodhana was stressed when he found out that the Pandavas were still alive. Bhishma and Vidura encourages Dhritarashtra to make peace. Karna denounces both as traiters and urges for war. He invites the Pandavas back to Hastinapura and gave them parts of his kingdom. The Pandavas build a magnificent city called Indraprastha. Yudhishthira is crowned as king at Indraprastha. Maya was saved from the fire. The Pandavas laugh at Duryodhana when he was fulled with the illusions in the hall. Vyasa comes to visit the Pandavas & wants to warn them about the bad omens. Dhritarashtra agrees to build a great assembly hall, the Crystal Palace, to rival the hall of the Pandavas. Shakuni is going to play in the dice game in Duryodhana's place. Yudhishthira loses everything he owns. Vidura urges Dhritarashtra to put a stop to the dice game, but the game still continues. Yudhishthira then gambles away his brothers and then himself. Duhshasana drags Draupadi by th

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata, Part A

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Notes: Shantanu is the king that rules the city of Hastinaoura. He marries a women where they met by the river and then had babies. Shantanu protests when the eighth child was born. His wife then explains she was the river Ganga incarnated in the form to give birth to eight gods. Vasus was punished with human incarnation for having stolen Vashishtha's cow. Bhishma was the eighth child. Shantanu then falls in love with a different woman named, Satyavati. He wanted to marry her, but her father objects.  They both have two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Amba vows to take revenge on Bhishma. Ambika and Ambalika both married Vichitravirya. Parashara and Satyavati slept with each other and then had a child, Vyasa. Satyavati summons her son to sleep with Vichitravirya's widows.  Dhritarashtra was born blind. Pandu was born looking very pale. Ambalika made her maid sleep with Vyasa in her place.  Vidura was born without any flaw. Dhritarashtra marries Gan

Week 5 Story: To Fall in Love in One Day

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Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named, Becka. She was strolling through the village market looking for bread. John, the King of Iceland, was also strolling through the village and was looking for the perfect gift for his mother. The king picked up a can of Bud Light. "Oh, yeah... this is the one!" After finding the perfect gift for his mother, King John went to the cash register to pay. The cashier began making a conversation with John. "Hey! Did you know that Bud Light helps with your digestive system?" said the cashier. "Wow, who would've known! This will be the perfect gift for my mother after all!" said King John. As King John reached down for his pocket to pay, he looked up and laid eyes upon an angel. "That is the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. I must meet her!" After the King paid for the Bud Light, he walks toward the girl. "Hi, my name is King John. King of Iceland. What's your name

Reading Notes: The Divine Archer, Part B

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Notes: Sugriva fights Vali, but Rama was the one that slays him with an arrow. Rama gave Hanuman his ring as a token for Sita. Hanuman jumps to Lanka over an enormous monster to save Sita. Hanuman found his way to Vibhishana, who is Ravana's brother, but loyal to Rama. Vibhishana takes Hanuman to ashoka grove where Sita is being kept in. Hanuman sees Sita finally alone and told her that Rama is coming while giving her his ring. Hanuman tears up the trees in the grove and the demon soldiers arrest him and brought him to Ravana's court. Ravana sentences Hanuman to death, but his brother protests. Ravana decides to set Hanuman's tail on fire and then makes his tail grow larger and larger. The enormous fire causes the city of Lanka to go on flames, except the house of Vibhishana and Sita's ashoka grove. Hanuman then returns to Rama's camp. The rakshasas are afraid of Rama after the burning of Lanka. Queen Mandodari tries to persuade Ravana and Vibhi

Reading Notes: The Divine Archer, Part A

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Notes: Celebrations for the birth of Dasaratha's four sons by his three queens: Rama, the son of Kaushalya. Bharata, the son of Kaikeyi. Lakshmana & Shatrughna, sons of Sumitra. Rama is the greatest among all four. Rama and Lakshmana went with Visvamitra to fight the demons. Jananka is king of city Videha. Princess Sita, daughter of King Janaka. Sita and Rama fell in love at first sight. Sita prays Rama to the goddess Bhavani, while Rama dreams about her at night. Rama must bend the bow of the god Shiva to win Sita's hand. Rama bends the bow so firmly that is snap. Both Parasurama & our hero Rama are regarded as early incarnations, or avatars, of the god Vishnu. Three brothers of Rama were also being married that day and then couples returned to Ayodhya. King Dasharatha plans to make Rama his successor.  Evil servant Manthara manipulates Queen Kaikeyi, mother of Rama's brother Bharata, so that she will oppose Rama. Since Dasharatha once gran

Comment Wall

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https://sites.google.com/view/ganeshaloveshisfood Ganesha Eating his Favorite Sweet,  Link Text .

Story Lab: Crash Course Mythology

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I have chosen to read and watch the Crash Course Myth  videos. What's so fascinating about this resource is that it pertains a video with words (subtitles) and pictures! I am mostly a visual learner and it helped pertained my knowledge with their facts. One of the videos have taught me that the word myth can pertain to a lot of things. The word myth use to be the name for a false story, but somehow it ended up as a true mythical story that had been retold from the original fiction story. Overall, myth isn't a story. It's a special story. Another fun thing about this resource is that there are animated cartoon pictures involved to have a better visual for the audience. One of their episodes have also taught me that the persephone myth explains the seasons like the cycle of planting and harvesting for the actions of the immortals. Overall, lectures and stories that are shown in a video has helped the readers to become more attached. Another episode,  Theories of Myth

Reading Notes: Narayan's Ramayana, Part D

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Notes: Hanuman crossed the ocean to Lanka and then shrunk back to his regular size. He sees Sita depressed and was about to kill herself until he showed up.  He gave Sita the ring from Rama and she gave him her one piece jewelry she had saved. Hanuman then turns large and destroys the Ashoka Vana. Hanuman lets Indrajit, Ravana's son to capture him to take him to Ravana.  Hanuman told Ravana that Rama advises him to surrender. Ravana's brother, Vibhishana, persuades his brother to not kill Hanuman.  Ravana sets Hanuman's tail on fire and burns Lanka to the ground. Maya, architect of the gods, rebuilds the city. Vibhishana insists that humans are a dangerous threat. He reminds Ravana that he is not protected against the humans and advises him ton release Sita. Ravana rejects his advice cause he doesn't believe in curses and tells his brother to leave or he'll be killed. Vibhishana crosses the ocean to seek asylum with Rama. Rama treats h

Reading Notes: Narayan's Ramayana, Part C

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Notes: Sita was terrified when she heard Rama calling for help. Then Ravana came in disguesed as a poor old hermit. She then founds out his true identity and then picks up the ground where Sita is standing on and flies away with her. Such imagery was used in this scene. Jatayu tries to rescue Sita but was then killed by Ravana. Rama and Lakshmana came in and saw Jatayu dying.  Rama and Lakshmana head south to the monkey kingdom of Kishkinda. The monkey Hanuman disguised himself as a scholar, but Rama can see through his disguise.  Vali is the king of Kishkinda. Vali seems evil since he took Sugriva's wife. Vali has been cursed by the sage Matanga because Vali killed Dundubhi and fell near sage Matanga and angered him. Therefore, Matanga cursed Vali to die if he came to Mount Matanga. Sita thrown down her jewelry while being carried off by Ravana. The monkeys found the jewelry and Surgriva gave it to Rama and agreed to help find her. Surgriva challenges to figh

Feedback Strategies

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One of the articles that got me interested was  What Kinds of Messages Help Kids Grow?  For a person that wants to seek towards the medical route to become a pediatrician, it reminded me that kids are a huge factor as they get older. Most people start off learning the basics and work their way up to become a successful adult when they were toddlers. It makes sense that if you want to provide a strong motivation for a child, award him/her with "Excellent!" and/or "You did great!" However, it is also best to complete those phrases into a sentence where these kids can learn and obtain this information to use later in their future. Whenever I see a child at my youth group doing little good things like picking up a trash that wasn't his or hers, I would say, "Thank you for picking up the trash and throwing it away in the trash bin!" as an example. Another article that got me interested in reading was  How to Give Feedback Without Sounding Like a Jerk . So

Topic Research: Traditional Indian Dishes

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One of the four topics that I am most interested in learning and writing about is the food from India. It is also fascinating to learn about god Ganesha and other gods from India that have their types of favoritism in foods as well. One story that got me interested was Ganesha Love Sweets . Especially, dumplings that are stuffed with sweet coconut and jaggery. Learning this type of recipe would be challenging to make, yet exciting. Another story that got me fascinated about the Indian cuisine is  Kheer . Kheer is a rice pudding that was given to King Dasharatha by the gods. What's excited about this food is that it can be considered as a meal or a dessert. A popular Indian dish that I am interested about is called,  Jalebi . I love pasta. However, this pasta dish seems a little too sweet because it is soaked in sugar syrup. Jalebi,  Link text .

Week 3 Story: It's Life

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Once upon a time, there was a little boy, named Bill. Bill and his mom were about to walk into their favorite restaurant at BJ's for dinner. "Mommy, can I get a pizookie?" said Bill. "Not yet sweetie. You have to order and eat actual food first." said the Mom. "Ugh, you're so extra. Okay, Mommy." said the little boy. As they were ordering their meal, a beautiful young waitress approaches. "Hi, my name is Beyonce and I will be your server for this evening. Would you guys like to start off with a drink?" said the waitress. While the Mom was ordering her drink, the little boy was glaring into the waitresses eyes. "Yes please, can I just get a cup of water with lemon?" said the Mom. "Of course." said the Waitress. "And for you, sir?" "Oh I would have a margarita." said Bill. "Honey, you can't have that... I'm sorry, he'll just have a Dr. Pepper." said the Mother

Reading Notes: Ramayana - The Golden Deer, Part B

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Notes: There were many descriptives about the deer. A lot of imagery added to the story which causes readers to think. Example: " Maricha  assumed the shape of a golden deer with silvern spots; its horns were tipped with sapphire and its eyes were like to blue lotus blooms. This beautiful animal of gentle seeming grazed below the trees until  Sita  beheld it with wondering eyes as she came forth to pluck wild flowers." Add source link for character's names. There was soothing layout added to the story. Example:  '“A deer of wondrous beauty is wandering through the grove. I long to rest at ease on its golden skin.”' Poems were added to the scene. Texture and tone was added to the story. Also, provided a free online film from Nina Paley's contemporary animated,  Sita Sings the Blues . An audio recording was also included in the story. Bibliography:   Ramayana, The Golden Deer . The Golden Deer,  Link Text .

Reading Notes: Ramayana - Crossing the River, Part A

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Notes: Provide links for history/characters names. Example: "Driving fast for two days, Rama reached the boundary of Koshala, and, turning back toward Ayodhya, bade farewell to land and people." Audio was included in the story. Story can be a little confusing. Example: "O best of cities," said he, "I say it to thee and to the deities that guard and dwell with thee: returning from my forest home, my debt paid off, thee and my father and my mother I will see again." Let's make the story more modern with words. Could make a reality story a happy beginning to a sad ending. Could create a story with life lessons. Bibliography:   Ramayana: Crossing River . Sita, Rama, and Lakshmana in The Forest .