Reading Diary B Week 14

The festival was my favorite part of this weeks reading.

• Yudhishthira announces there will be a festival 
• There was food and gifts for everyone who came 
• Yudhishthira meets a mongoose at the festival
• The mongoose has a pretty golden color
• The mongoose got this color from rolling in the grains that a poor family had offered to Yama
• Yama disguises himself as a hungry traveler
• The entire coat of the mongoose turned gold from generosity 
• His goal was to become completely gold
•  Yudhishthira thanks the mongoose for visiting
• He sends him off with food and red silk to give his wife

Reading Diary A Week 14

I thought Duryodhana was an interesting character in this weeks reading.

• He is the oldest of 100 sons
• His parents are named King Dhritarashtra and Queen Gandhari
• He was disqualified to be able to take over the throne
•  He made the waters of the lake impenetrable using powers of illusion
• Yudhishthira thinks he should fight one of the Pandavas
• Their is a fight between him and Bhima
• Bhima smashes is thighs
• He finally did this after promising to after a long time

Reading Diary B Week 13

I found the death of Drona to be very interesting

• In battle Drona kills Drupada
• Drupada is his enemy
• Drona cannot handle that his son dies and he weeps
• He does not know this but his son is not actually dead
• Instead, it is an elephant with his sons name instead
• Drona puts down his weapons to mourn
• Dhristadyumna, the son of Drupada, beheads Drona
•  Arjuna is very sad that Drona died
• Drona's son wants revenge and has a very big weapon
• His son's weapon falls when commanded to

Reading Diary A Week 13

I found King Virata to be interesting in this portion of the reading.

• Pandavas spent a year in his court
• Was married to Queen Sudeshna
• Father of Prince Uttara and Princess Uttarā, who married Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna
• Ruler of Matsya kingdom
• Bhima becomes his cook
• Sahadeva impresses Virata by being able to predict an eclipse
• He agrees to put Sahadeva in charge of tending the cattle

Famous Last Words Week 12

This has been a very long and busy week for me.  This is because I have had many homework assignments due for all of my classes.  I have a paper due for every single class soon and then finals will begin around the corner! I am very thankful for Thursday to be my last day of classes every week.  Having a three day weekend really helps.  I look forward to being able to have fun and relax this weekend.  My parents are even coming in town for Dad's weekend.  My aunt and uncle are coming with them as well for the Baylor game.  I personally do not want to go to the Baylor game because it is going to be freezing cold.  I will probably watch it from my house or inside a restaurant.  I am very excited to catch up and be able to spend time with my family on Saturday.  It is nice having parents who will come visit me so I do not have to go home as often.  For this last month, I have been working very hard to look for internships this summer in Washington D.C.  I am very excited for what my future holds.  It is such a nice feeling to figure out a passion and then act on it.  I am a little nervous to be on my own but I know I will be fine.  Time really has flown by recently.  I am very in shock how fast this semester has gone by.  It is such a bittersweet feeling knowing it will be coming to an end soon.  I do look forward to starting over with my classes next semester. Winter break will be a nice break from school but I will miss my friends so much!   

Washington DC Skyline. Nabna

Storytelling Week 12 Chris and Molly

Their once was a CEO named Chris.  Chris was a very successful man who worked his way up the company he started working for when he was only 21 years old.  Chris attended many fundraising Galas with other big CEOs like himself.  At the Winter Gala, he was seated at a table with other CEOs and their dates.  Chris sadly did not bring a date to this event so he felt very awkward.  He noticed a beautiful young women across the table.  He was upset that she was clearly already taken.  Everyone began introducing themselves to one another.  He sighed in relief when a man named Mark introduced the beautiful young women Molly, as his daughter.  Molly was the most charming lady he had ever seen.  After dinner was served, Chris asked Molly to dance.  They had a wonderful night and Chris was immediately hooked.  He knew he had to have Molly as his girlfriend.  When the night ended, he got her number and asked her on a date for next week.  They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.  Little did Chris know, many other men swooned over Molly.  This was going to have a to be a competition because he was not the only one asking her on dates. Molly gave every man a chance and went on dates with all of them.  After a couple months, the men made her choose.  This was a very hard choice.  Deep down, Molly knew what her heart wanted her to do.  She then made the decision to date Chris and leave the rest behind.  One of the men who Molly dated was particularly unhappy and wanted revenge.  His name was Eric and he would not let this go.  He vowed to ruin Chris and Molly's life together.  Five years later, Chris and Molly were happily married.  Out of nowhere, Eric showed up to their house and knocked the door down.  He took out a knife and charged towards the couple.  Chris then quickly took a pan and knocked Eric upside the head.  Then, Molly dialed 911 and told the cops to come immediately.  The cops sped over and arrested Eric.  The couple then lived happily ever after undisturbed.  

Source: Wikipedia. Gala Etiquette

Authors Note:
I did the storytelling post different than all my others.  I changed the names of the original characters, the setting, and the time period.  Nala and Damayanti's names were changed to Chris and Molly.  Vidarbha and Kali's names were changed to Mark and Eric.  I made Chris and Mark a CEO because in Buck's version they were kings.  I wanted to retell the story in a more modern thing because I thought it would be a lot more relateable and fun.  I also added a creepy plot twist  to the end. 

Bibliography:
Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata.

Reading Diary B Week 12

I thought Jayadratha was very interesting in this section of the book.

• Jayadratha was the husband of Duhsala
• He is also the brother-in-law of Duryodhana
• He sees Draupadi in the forest
• He grabs her and carries her off in his chariot
• The Pandavas then run after them and catch them
• Yudhishthira asks Draupadi for permission to spare Jayadratha's life
• Draupadi agrees and they let Jayadratha go unharmed 
• He is very lucky that he got away with this

Reading Diary A Week 12

I found Nala and Damayanti to be very interesting in this part of the book.

• Nala was king of the Nishada people
• Damayanti was the daughter of king Vidarbha 
• Nala was very in love with Damayanti
• A swan caused Damayanti to fall in love with Nala by telling her how wonderful he is
• Nala was on the way to meet Damayanti and ran into some gods
• The gods names were Indra, Agni, Varuna, and Yama 
• All of them wanted Damayanti 
•  Indra sent Nala to explain to Damayanti that she needed to choose a god for her husband  
• The gods all disguised themselves as Nala
• Somehow, Damayanti was still able to identify him
• The evil spirit Kali also wanted Damayanti
• He vowed to ruin their happiness and take Nali

Storytelling Week 11 Satyvati

One windy day in the middle of September, a fisherman caught a big green fish.  The fisherman was very excited to finally catch something. The fish just happened to be the first catch of the day.  He examines the fish and notices it has an oddly large lump in its throat.  The fisherman decided to cut open the fish and see what was inside.  The fisherman then gasped for air at what he saw.  He took a small baby girl out of the throat of the fish.  He had never seen anything like this happen before.  The fisherman had always wanted a kid so he decided to raise her as his own.  He decided to name his precious daughter Satyavati.  Satyavati was brought up as a commoner and assisted her father as a fisherman.  This was her only option job wise because she wreaked of fish.  Her only friend was her father, they spent most of their time together.  One day, when Satyvati was 18 years old, she fell in love with a guru named Parashara.  Together, they had an adorable child named Vyasa.  As a gift, Parashara makes Satyavati smell like flowers instead of fish.  Satyavati is very thankful for this generous gift.  Little does Parashara know, his generous gift would turn out to hurt him.   

Five years after being with Parashara, King Shantanu discovers the lovely Satyavati.  He is absoulutely taken back by her amazing scent.  The King has never smelled something so wonderful in his entire life.  Parashara is very hurt by this.  He is in love with Satyavati and wants to be with her for eternity but Satyavati wants to be with the King so he does not have a choice but to let her be.  The King is thrilled and cannot wait to marry Satyavati so that she will be all his.  Bhishma lets Satyavati's child be the successor of the King.  King Shantanu and Satyavati are very happy about this and decide to go out celebrating.  Bhishma's good deed makes the king want to reward him.  Bhishma was rewarded with 500 pounds of pure gold blocks.             

Shantanu and Ganga. Source: Wikipedia

Author's Note:
I chose this story to retell because I thought it was extremely bizarre.  In Buck's version, Parashara's feelings were barely expressed.  I really tried to get into his head and imagine what he was thinking.  I added my own little details that were also not in Buck's story.  I did this to make it a little more interesting.  I changed the way Bhishma was rewarded as well because I do not like his original reward.  

Bibliography:

Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata. 

Reading Diary B Week 11

I think Bhima was the most interesting character in this portion of the reading.

• He is the second of the Pandavas brothers
• Bhima has immense might 
• He sets fire to the house 
• He kills Purochana
• Him and his brothers flee through the tunnel to the boat
• They then disguise themselves as Brahims
• Kunti decides to send him out to fight the demon
• He defeated the demon without any weapons
• Bhima has a lot of strength 
• He is responsible for slaying all 100 Kaurava brothers

Reading Diary A Week 11

I found Satyavati to be a very interesting character in this week's reading. 

• She was born from a fish who swallowed her father Chedi's  semen
• A fisherman catches the fish and notices their is a baby girl inside
• He raises the girl as his own
• She was brought up as a commoner
• She helped her father do his job
• He named her Satyavati
• A sage named Parashara fell in love with her
• They had a child together names Vyasa.  
• Parashara makes her smell like flowers instead of fish as a gift
• King Shantanu discovers her
• He marries her because of her amazing scent
• Her child is now the successor of the king
• Bhishma does this and is rewarded
• Bhishma gets to choose when he dies

Storytelling Week 10 Revenge

Dhrishtadyumna is not happy about Drona humiliating his father.  He feels so many different emotions for his father's sake.  He is upset, angry, and embarrassed.  Dhrishtadyumna lived to protect his family members physically and emotionally.  Even though one cannot tell by looking at him, he even has a soft side.  He will do anything and everything to protect the reputation of someone he loves.  Sometimes, Dhrishtadyumna just does not know how to handle his emotions in a mature matter.  He tends to have a tiny bit of anger problem which happens to be a reoccuring issue.  His friends tell him to get help but he always denies it.  With that noted, he hates Drona with every fiber in his body.  He knows revenge will be the only way to satisfy his pain. Dhrishtadyumna tries to think of the one thing that is most important to Drona.  He wants to involve the most important thing like Drona involved his father.  He will not give up until Drona pays for his mistakes.  Dhrishtadyumna then asked many people for advice for how he could handle this situation.  He had all of his family and friends give their opinion.  Dhrishtadyumna knew that he would only be happy if Drona was put to death.  His friends try to talk him out of this harsh punishment but once again he does not listen. He keeps in mind that Drona is a very skilled guru and would be hard to beat in a battle.  Dhrishtadyumna knows he needs to come up with a way to make him weak.  Krishna finally gives Dhrishtadyumna the idea to pretend Drona's son is dead. 

The next day, Dhrishtadyumna and his friends capture Drona and challenge him to a battle.  Drona was not wanting to have this battle but knew he would be able to defeat Dhrishtadyumna.  Out of nowhere, a distant voice called out to Drona and informed him that his son was now dead.  Drona felt paralyzed from this and fell to his knees.  He was so hurt that his precious son was no longer here.  Then, Dhrishtadyumna creeped up behind him when he was down and chopped off his head.  He even decided to take the head with him and hang it from his fireplace so that he could look at his accomplishment daily.  Dhrishtadyumna was finally content and relieved.    

Guru Drona. Source: Wikipedia

Author's Note:
I chose this story because I did not feel like the book went in depth enough about Dhrishtadyumn's feelings.  I figured if he was upset enough to kill Drona then there were clearly some intense feelings that needed to be told.  I also added a little bit of humor by making Dhrishtadyumn have an anger problem and taking the chopped head with him.      

Bibliography:  
Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.













      

Reading Diary B Week 10

I found Drona's character to be intriguing in this part of the reading as well.

• He is the royal guru to Kauravas
• He has many military skills
• Dhrishtadyumna tries to kill him
• Dhrishtadyumna wants revenge for Drona humiliating his father
• Drona gets away
• Drona becomes commanding general of  Duryodhana's army
• He tries to capture Yudhishthira
• People try to bring Drona down by using his son 
• His son is his weakness
• Krishna has the idea to lie to him and tell him his son is dead
• Drona is very hurt by this and is unable to move
• This gave  Dhrishtadyumna the opportunity to cut off his head and kill him

Reading Diary A Week 10

I found Duryodhana to be a very interesting character in this weeks reading. 

• Oldest son of Dhirtarashtra
• He is disqualified as the heir to the throne even though he his the oldest
• He is the enemy of most
• He decides to make a camp
• He does this to humiliate the Pandavas 
• Gandharva is sent to provoke him
• They battle and Duryodhana is taken captive
• The Pandavas decide to rescue him 
• His entire plan ended up being ironic

Storytelling Week 9 Drona and Arjuna

Drona was an incredible man who was extremely impressive for his time.  He had military skills that were absolutely breath-taking.  He was the best of the best when it came to gurus.  Only the luckiest families would be able to send their sons to him for extensive training.  Drona was the royal guru for the Kauravas and the Pandavas.  His own son Ashwatthaman, was also trained by him.  The boys were very lucky to have this extensive training.  All of the boys were very competitive with each other.  They each wanted to be the top of the class.  This would prove them to be a great warrior.  Many of them thought Ashwatthaman would be the best, but this was not always the case.  One of the boy's tests was to shoot an artificial bird.  The boys tried their very best but only one had the right focus.  Arjuna came out on top above all the other students.  He was gleaming from pride.  Drona was very proud of him and became his new favorite student, even over his son  Little did Drona know, very soon Arjuna would earn and even higher place in his heart.

About a week later, Drona fell into a river.  He started swimming around in panic.  He was not the strongest swimmer because his mighty skills were outside the water.  He almost made it out, but then a crocodile grabbed his foot.  Arjuna, being the studious pupil that he was, showed up early for class.  He noticed something was not right.  Drona was no where in sight.  Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Drona struggling in the water.  Arjuna notices a crocodile was biting one of Drona's leg.  Arjuna takes a branch off a tree, and starts beating the crocodile with it.  He was not going to let his guru die like this.  He continues beating the crocodile, and finally the animal lets go of Drona's foot.  The crocodile swims away, and he pulls Drona out of the water.  They get his leg cleaned up before any of the other students show up for class.  Drona was very thankful for his brave pupil. He would have not even been alive if it was not for him.  Arjuna would always hold a special place in his heart.  Drona knows he needs to reward his student with something magnificent.  He decides to reward him by giving him a secret weapon. 

Drona, a father, a teacher. Source:Ritsin.

Author's Note:
I chose this story from Reading A week 9.  I found the character Drona to be very interesting.  I based my story off of Narayan's, but added more details.  I made Drona and Arjuna out to be very heroic men.  I put a stress on both characters specifically because I thought they were the most important.    

Bibliography:
Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

Reading Diary B Week 9

I found the Pandavas to be interesting in this part of the Reading Diary. 

• They are the five sons of Pandu 
• Their names are Bhima, Nakula, Sahadeva, Yudhisthira, and Arjuna 
• Their mothers are Kunti and Madri
• Each son was married to the same women Draupadi
• Duryodhana did not like to hear that the sons were still alive
• Dhritarashtra does not hate them like his son Duryodhana does
• Dhritarashtra is encouraged to make peace with them but also gets some conflicting advice 
• He gives the Pandavas an invitation to return to Hastinapura 
• Dhiristarashtra gives them a part of his kingdom
• They decide to build an amazing kingdom
• They are warned that conflict may arise due to them all sharing one wife

Reading Diary A Week 9

I think Drona is a very interesting character in this weeks reading.

• He is the royal guru to Kauravas and the Pandavas
• He trains the boys along with his own son Ashwatthaman  
• He had impressive military skills
• The pupils have to shoot an artificial bird for their test
• Arjuna is the only student who passed his test
• Arjuna rescues Drona from a crocodile 
• Arjuna is rewarded with a weapon for the good deed
• Drona wants his students to capture king Drupada
• This is because Drona was betrayed by Drupada
• They had once been friends
• Drona wants revenge
• The king is captured and brought to Drona
• Drona takes half of the kingdom and gives the other half back

Reading Diary Assessment

Reading Diaries have been very useful for me.  After doing two weekly, I have gotten very used to them.  They are a lot faster now to complete than they were at the start of the semester.  It gives me the opportunity to take notes on the reading assignments for the week.  I make sure to type out all of the useful information from the chapter.  Typically, I choose a favorite character or two from the reading that day.  This is the style I have used from the start.  I write about the character and really try to get to know them.  I try to find emotions, characteristics, looks, and actions from the character.  This is useful because it allows me to look back when I have forgotten information.  I also use the reading dairies to write my storytelling post for the week.  The reading diaries are a great assistant for that assignment.  I switch off writing my story based off the reading diary a and reading diary b.  For me, that is when the reading diaries are most useful.  I think my reading diary lengths are perfect for my needs.  I do not typically include images in my diary post because I do not think that would be beneficial for me personally.  I also do not include quotes from the reading even though I think that is a good idea.  I have only had to miss one reading diary post this entire semester.  Overall, the reading diaries have been a great addition to this class.  I remember a lot of the readings from this class because of them.  I feel like I will try to incorporate reading diaries for my future classes.  I think it could be useful for classes other than this one next semester.  Reading diaries can be a good study tool for tests.         

Storytelling Week 7 Mother Earth

 

                                                                 Mother Earth

Earth Western Hemisphere transparent. Source:Wikipedia.

                                                                      

Mother Earth was very tired of Rama not believing that Sita was still pure.  She did not like her son-in-law not trusting her precious daughter.  She believed that he did not deserve Sita.  She hoped that one day her daughter would realize she could do better.  Mother Earth Knew the truth.  She was so upset that the entire earth was flooded.  When she was unhappy, the rest of the world suffered as well.  Everyone’s crops were flooded and houses were damaged.  People all around the world knew something must be very very wrong.  Mother Earth prayed and prayed to be given the opportunity to take her daughter away.  She knew she could make her daughter happy without Rama in her life.  Mother Earth fell asleep and dreamed of having her daughter back in her arms.  She was hoping that one day soon, her daughter would come to her senses. When Sita came to her one afternoon, she was absolutely thrilled.  She had no idea that the very next day would be the day.  Mother Earth was so happy that the Sun was out and it was the perfect temperature of 75 degrees all around the world.  All of the people around the world rejoiced!  They could now return to work and go on with their lives.  Sita asked her mother to take her if she had been faithful to Rama.  Sita had sworn back and forth that she was innocent but still needed to prove herself.  Mother Earth emerged from the ground and Sita was in awe from her beauty.  She was patient, fair, and darling.  She had all of the perfect characteristics.  Mother Earth takes Sita and brings her underground with her.  After this, the whole world froze.  Everything was completely peaceful.  Everything in the world felt whole and equal.  Harmony was restored.  There was no more war, stealing, or murder.  Everyone on earth was happy except for one person and that is Rama.  Rama knew this was bad. He knew he should have trusted his wife, but now it is a little too late.  He would now be punished by being alone for the rest of this time on earth.  He would now be lonely and have a very dull life.  He continued to rule and ruled for a thousand more years.  A thousand more lonely years.  He knew he would never see his wife on land again.   

Author's Note:

I chose this story because it was my favorite out of the reading this week.  I put my own twist to it by adding emotions and details.  I wanted to portray the thoughts of Mother Earth and how her emotions affects the entire world.

 

Bibliography:

Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.