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.