Reading Notes: A Flowering Tree, Part C

For this reading notes, I decided to continue reading A Flowering Tree and Other Oral Tales from India by A.K. Ramanujan. The stories in this book are very fun and I would highly suggest reading them if you get the chance! I read stories thirteen through seventeen for this set of reading notes.

Many of the stories have very odd twists and turns especially at the very end of the story. Stories thirteen and fourteen both dealt with bad family relations. In story thirteen after two daughters were born to a dog, the older one ends up killing the dog mother in fear of anyone finding out she was born to a dog. This made me so sad, however the older daughter ended up getting exactly what she deserved since she ended up being killed by a snake. In story fourteen, a husband goes away to war and his wife is infatuated with his brother. When he doesn't accept her advances, she turns him into a dog. His brother ends up returning home from war and is able to turn his brother back into a human. After this, he ends up whipping his wife. Both of these stories are so violent and it shocked me when I was reading the stories. Although in both stories the women somewhat got what they deserved, it was disturbing to read this, especially since this story book is almost aimed towards children! However, it teaches very valuable lessons!

As I was reading, I was thinking about somethings I could write about for my stories this week. Here are a few ideas:
13. A Dog's Daughters

• I could write from the view of the snake
• I could write from the view of the dog
• I could write from the view of the king/queens and what happened to their puppy children

14. A Dog's Story

• I could write where he whips his brother instead
• I could write where wife turns into dog

15. Dolls

• I could write from dolls view
• I could make the dolls even more creepy and have them kill

16. Double Double

• I could give the story more detail

17. Dumma and Dummi

• I could write where the fart doesn't scare the tiger, instead it gives them away and the tiger kills them both
• I could write where the fart actually kills the tiger and wife

Bibliography

A Flowering Tree and Other Oral Tales from India by A.K. Ramamujan, Web Source

Creepy Doll, Online Source

Week 10 Review

As I was going through the class announcements from this past week, I found this spelling picture that I really liked. I think I like it because it links back to OU and the Seed Sower found on the South Oval!

(Sew vs. Sow,

Sunday's Announcements)

Tech Tip: Reverse Image Search

Susanoo slaying the Yamata no Orochi, by Toyohara Chikanobu,

Web Source

Reading Notes: A Flowering Tree, Part B

For this set of reading notes, I continued reading A Flowering Tree and Other Oral Tales from India by A.K. Ramanujan. I read stories seven through twelve. Once again, I was amazed by this book. I love the way that these stories are told. I feel like I am reading fairy tales and watching characters come to life. As I was reading, I was getting a lot of great ideas about possible stories for both my storybook and weekly stories to write.

In The Clever Daughter-in-law I was amazed by how much damage the daughter-in-law could do. Obviously the mother-in-law and husband deserved getting schemed in the end. It is amazing all the things she could accomplish to make them fall to her and for her to be "ruler of the house." There was so much detail that was written in this story and I could just see it all playing out in front of me. I could see the statue of the goddess having it's hand over it's mouth and I could see the daughter-in-law beating the statue's head. Then, when it talked about how the daughter-in-law bit the robbers tongue off, I was so surprised and disgusted! It was truly a fantastic story.

As I was reading, I started thinking about ways that I could incorporate these stories into my writings. Here are a few things I came up with:

7. Cannibal Sister

• I could rewrite about Betsey
• I could write how Betsy is a demoness

8. Chain Tale

• I could write how one thing always leads to another

9. Another Chain Tale: What an Ant can do

• I could write about revenge/karma
• Could write where the underdog wins
• Could write my own chain tale

10. Clever Daughter-in-law

• Can definitely use for storybook
• Write Betsy as the daughter-in-law

11. Couple of Misers

• I could rewrite where they touch things and they turn into different things other than rupees/growing in length

12. Dead Prince and the Talking Doll

• I could write how the doll was possessed and killed the acrobat girl

Bibliography

A Flowering Tree and Other Oral Tales from India by A.K. Ramanujan, Online Source

Picture of an Ant, Web Source

Tech Tip: Canvas Mobile App

I already had the Canvas app downloaded on my phone, so I didn't need to go through the installation process. I really enjoy using the app because it is super easy to use, plus it's so much better than D2L. I would highly suggest using the app because if you ever forget to do a declaration, it is so easy to go and use it on your phone if your not close to your computer! Plus, it's super easy to keep up on all your school work for classes that use Canvas.

Week 9 Review: Procrastination

As I was looking through this weeks class announcements, I found this hilarious picture in Sunday's announcements. As the school year continues, it gets easier and easier to procrastinate, so I really relate to this picture!

(Procrastination Flowchart,

Sunday's announcements)

Story: Why I Didn't get my Twelve Hours of Sleep

I was making my usual late night rounds around the house, not necessarily to protect the house, but instead to try and find a nice midnight snack. I know Linda and Bob are trying to help me lose a few pounds, but I'm pretty happy with how I am. Plus, I love food too much. Anyway, as I was saying...I was making my late night rounds. After I got my food (yum) I was walking back to sleep with Linda and Bob. God, this freaking necklace they make me wear. It makes me so mad. Plus, it has a stupid little bell on it. Like, I get it, I'm the one thing y'all live for, but I'm not going anywhere. Whatever. Okay, sorry, I will actually stay on track...I'm in Linda and Bob's room.

I hopped up onto the bed and was trying to get comfortable. I was thinking about how ready I was to pass out. I could feel all the food in my stomach sinking. Sleeping on a full belly is always the best. So, right as I was closing my eyes, about to drift into my twelve hour nap (don't judge, I've got to rest to be this beautiful), I hear something. It sounded like a little squeal, almost like someone screaming but they couldn't get it out. I tried ignoring it, but this sound would not stop. Since I couldn't fall asleep, I had to figure out what this sound was. Do you know what's weird? Once Bob hits the hay, his mouth is wide open. He just lets it go. I've seen multiple bugs fly and crawl in there. But Linda, her mouth is shut tight. I think she knows bugs will go in there, so she knows she's got to protect herself. She's a pretty smart lady.

Tonight though, something was different. As I was exploring and trying to find the annoying creature making that horrendous noise that is disrupting me from my precious beauty sleep, Linda's mouth was barely open. Unless you watch her sleep, like I do, you probably wouldn't think anything of it. It'd probably even look like it was closed. Nope! It was open in comparison to what it normally is. So, I got closer to her. God, I hope this bell doesn't wake them up. Ring-a-ding-ding. So annoying.
As I closed in on Linda, the noise got louder and louder. I decided to go up to her barely open mouth and see if I was just imaging things or if there actually was some random noise coming from Linda. Yikes. She had some garlic and onion tonight and definitely didn't brush well enough. That's when the little squeals became clear.

"Hey! Hey! Help us", they said.

'What the heck?' I thought to myself. This is not Linda. But the sounds are coming from Linda?

"Help us! We are stuck."

I asked them what they wanted. I tried to sound irritated because they are cutting in on some much needed rest time.

"We've been stuck in here for years! This lady has just kept us inside of herself. We don't have much time, so we need to tell you everything."

I told them that they were crazy.

"No, don't you understand? This is important. We are an important song and story that need to be told and this lady has just kept us inside of her! She hasn't uttered a word about us for all these years and this is the only chance we may have for a long time!"

Okay, fine, let's hear it.

"Well, many years ago, there was a woman and a man. They lived alone in the woods. Every night they sang a song together. One day, this lady, the one who has kept us captive, came into the woods with a man. They were looking for shelter and"

Hello? Where did they go?

I felt Linda petting me. I guess she realized that she had her mouth open and woke up. That was a lame story anyway, thank goodness it's over. Then, I went right in-between Linda and Bob, plopped myself down, and slept the rest of the night.

Author's Note:

I based this story off the first story in A Flowering Tree. This story is all about a woman who has kept a story and a song to herself for many years. One night, they escape from her mouth and become a coat and shoes. This causes friction between her and her husband. Eventually, he realized that nothing happened and that the coat and shoes are the story and song. He asked his wife about the story and song, but she had no recollection of the story and song since it escaped her. This story is all about the importance of telling stories.

Bibliography:

A Flowering Tree and Other Oral Tales from India by A.K. Ramanujan, Online Source

Photo of a Cat, Web Source

Reading Notes: A Flowering Tree, Part A

I have chosen to begin reading A Flowering Tree and Other Oral Tales from India by A.K. Ramanujan for this week and the coming weeks. It is filled with multiple small stories, very similar to Aesop's Fables. I grew up reading Aesop's Fables, so I figured I would really enjoy this book and so far I have! Plus, I feel as though I can get a lot of good ideas from these stories for my storybook project.

This week, I read the first six stories from A Flowering Tree. Some of them were very odd and there were multiple occasions where family members wanted to marry their sister or daughter. Each of the stories were very interesting and fun to read. I really like how these stories are written because they are short and easy to read. It's also nice to have each story be completely different because this way I don't lose interest in what I'm reading.

The first story tells the story of a woman who would never tell a story that she knew or sing a song she knew. Eventually they escaped and disguised themselves as a coat and shoes. This caused problems within her marriage. This story is very important because it shows the repercussions of what happens if you don't tell stories and why stories need to be told. I fell as though this goes back to my storybook because it is all written in a journal setting about the main characters life, which can be represented as a storytelling!

As I was reading, I was thinking how I could possible re-write these stories and these are some ideas I came up with:

1. A Story and a Song

• I could write what the song and story that the woman kept in was
• I could write in my storybook how Betsy had to write what happened so she wouldn't forget

2. Acacia Trees

• I could write themes of karma and dharma in my storybook

3. The Adventure of a Disobedient Prince

• I could write in a fairytale setting where the Granny is the fairy god-mother
• I could write where after all the things happen, he goes back to thank the Granny for being the reason he got his first wife in the first place

4. Bride for a Dead Man

• I could write where Chennavva kills herself

5. A Brother, a Sister, and a Snake

• I could write how the stepmother wouldn't leave

6. A Buffalo without Bones

• I could write how she actually dies
• I could write where she chooses one of the three cousins

Bibliography

A Flowering Tree and Other Oral Tales from India by A.K. Ramanujan, Online Source

Photo of coat on a coat rack, Web Source

Tech Tip: Google Timer

A time management trick I use is I focus a certain amount of time on just one assignment. If I'm having a really difficult time focusing, I will usually put my phone far away from me since I usually waste a lot of time looking at things on there. Now that I know I can get a timer from Google, it'll be so much easier to do this since I don't need to use my phone for a timer!

Week 8 Review: Selfie Cat

As I was going through this weeks announcements, I came across this picture that I think is just so funny! I always think taking the perfect selfies are very difficult, so I relate to this picture!

(Selfie Cat,

Saturday announcements)

Week 8 Growth Mindset

As I was reviewing my original post regarding the growth mindset from week one, I was happy to see that I've stuck true to what I had written. It turns out that my graduate level course is actually my favorite and the teacher makes things very easy to understand.

Reading through the list on the assignment page, I realized that through this class I am able to take constructive feedback much better than I had been before. I would like good feedback because I know that that is what is going to help me succeed in all my classes, and even life outside of school. Something I really need to work on in this class especially is not waiting until the last minute to do assignments. For the past two or so weeks, I've waited until right before the deadline to complete my work, so the more ahead I can be in this class the better.

One way this class can help with strengths is that it can help me to push past just doing the minimum. This builds on learning rather than going for the grade. Although the popular saying in college of "C's get degrees" rings true, I would much rather earn my degree than just get it. This means that I have to work hard to understand the materials I'm learning in other classes and use this to solve real life problems one day.

One of my biggest weaknesses in my life is not asking questions. I always think that people don't have time to answer them, and even worse that people will make fun of me for the questions I ask because they tend to be no-brainers a lot of the time. Through this class I've learned that it is okay to ask questions and that it is a necessary part of learning. This is something that I am trying to implement into all of my classes!

(Stretch yourself to learn something new,

Growth Mindset meme page)

Week 8 Reflections

As I was going through my reading notes, I am very happy with how I have written them and utilized them in my writing. I feel as though I don't spend time on summarizing what has happened in the reading, but rather how the story was told. This helps me narrow in on my choice for what type of story to tell for the week. One thing that really helps me with this decision is while I read, I take notes of what I could change and I write this into bullet points at the end of my reading notes. It's very easy to find good ideas this way! Something I really need to work on is my reading schedule. Especially now that the semester has started to pick up, things are starting to pile on and this is getting pushed back until the last minute. If I can start the readings sooner, I'll get even more ideas of what to write about!

Looking back at my stories, I have really enjoyed all of them. The only one I haven't enjoyed was this past weeks story. I feel as though I didn't really have a good idea of what to write about, so I just wrote something random and it didn't come out very well. I've never really been a fan of writing because I never thought of myself as a good writer, however through this class I've seen how fun writing is! It's a nice break from all the math and science I spend so much time on! I'm really enjoying writing my storybook and I have a pretty good idea of where to spin it. I think it'll be a fun story to read and write!

It's a lot of fun to be able to see all the different writing styles and techniques so many people use in this class! It shows just how different we all are. It's also fun to see how people can take these Indian Epics and make them their own...very neat! As I read through some people's stories, I feel as though there are quite a few people who write to the 500 word minimum and just stop their story there when they could keep writing and end the story really nicely. I've tried to not do that and give as much detail in the end as I put into the beginning of the story. I feel as though I give good feedback on stories, however if I read the story multiple times I think I can give even better feedback to others!

(Writing Process,

Web source)

Tech Tip: Poster

The photo I used was found by the random generator on the AutoMotivator source and the quote is an original from me.

Week 7 Review: Another Strategy

As I was looking through this weeks announcements, I found this growth mindset cat in Tuesday's announcements that I thought was super funny! I feel like I look like this sometimes, and another strategy is exactly what I need!

(Another Strategy,

Tuesday's announcements)

Story: Draupadi's Life

One day, Draupadi was exploring her new home in the forest. Although this is not where she ever imagined herself, she was happy here. She was trying to make the most of her time that she will be sending here. Luckily, she had good company in her five husbands. Sure, she would miss real life in civilization, but she was happy. Surrounded by the green of the forest, she was excited to see what the next thirteen years held for her.

Speaking of where Draupadi imagined herself, lets be real...it's nothing like where she's at now. As a girl she dreamed of getting the perfect house with the perfect husband and eventually raising a perfect family. This is what she saw in her dreams every night when she went to bed. Instead, she did have a perfect house, but then she was forced to move out to the forest. Instead of one husband, she got five. She wondered how in the world things ended up the way they did. However, she realized that she didn't have it all so bad. Sure, she was in the forest now, but in thirteen years she'll be back in civilization where she belongs in a beautiful house, ready to raise a family. Maybe it's odd that she has five husbands, but better to be loved five times as much than to not be loved at all.

Back to our time with Draupadi in the woods. One thing about Draupadi is that she was gorgeous. Easily one of the most beautiful women in the town she once lived in, the envy of all women. The women wanted to be her while the men simply wanted her. So, it came as no surprise when Jayadratha saw her that he immediately fell in love. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, the butterflies in his stomach. How am I going to talk to a woman so beautiful he asked himself. 

He finally gained the courage and walked up to Draupadi while passing her in the woods. He asked for her name and he eventually told her that he loved her. She was shocked as she just met this stranger...how could he love me she thought. Loyal wife to many as she is, Draupadi shut down all of Jayadratha's advances. She was kind about it in the beginning, politely telling him no and that she was already married. He wasn't getting the picture. He kept telling her how she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on and that she was his one true love. He became more and more aggressive and Draupadi decided it was time to leave this man she had just met. 

As Draupadi was turning to walk away, Jayadratha caught her wrist and picked her up. Draupadi put up a good fight. She screamed and yelled, calling for her husbands. Surely one must come to her rescue. As Jayadratha carried Draupadi away, Draupadi's husbands heard her cries for help. They ran to Draupadi's defense and saw all that had occurred. They knew that if they fought Jayadratha together, they could easily defeat this man in a matter of seconds. Almost without any struggle, the Pandavas defeated the evil Jayadratha and Draupadi was safely returned to her husbands. This was the moment when Draupadi truly fell in love with each of her husbands. She realized that they are the key to a happy and perfect life, and she wouldn't trade it for the world.

Author's Note:

For this story, I decided to go into detail about Draupadi's thoughts on her life and also when Jayadratha kidnapped her. I felt as though there is very little detail about her kidnapping the story so I chose to expand on that. There is also very little detail into Draupadi's thoughts, so I wanted to write about her and how she felt about her life while being in exile married to five men.

Bibliography

Public Domain Mahabharata, Online Source

Death of Jayadratha, Web Source

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part C

This week's reading had so many exciting and thrilling things going on, it was hard to keep up! I left off at the Pandavas beginning of their exile. In the Ramayana, there was so much that happened during Rama's exile and the Mahabharata did not disappoint! There was so much detail that went into everything in this part of the Mahabharata reading. I really enjoyed reading about the Pandavas life in exile...it felt like I was there living with them in the forest.

One thing I really enjoyed about this part of the reading was that the Ramayana and the Mahabharata had a major crossover with Hanuman. It was nice to revisit this character. I wish he had played a bigger part in this epic, however he did teach Bhima a very important lesson when it came to life. The riddle part of the epic was also a ver good and clever part to the story.

The detail that was put into the final part of this reading, which was the beginning of the battle, was incredible. It felt as though I was there watching the battle take place. I hope I can implement this type of writing into some of my retellings. I can't wait to finish up the entire epic and see what happens!

While reading, I came up with a few thoughts for my retelling for the week. They are as follows:

44. Arjuna and Indra

• I could write where Arjuna was lured by the giant women
• I could go into detail about Arjuna's battle

46. Bhima and Hanuman

• I could write where Hanuman is roadkill that Bhima finds and he takes it home to cook up

49. Jauadratha and Draupadi

• I could go into depth with this story of Jayadratha taking Draupadi

50. Riddles at the Lake

• Wow! I did not see that the Voice was Dharma coming at all!

51. The Court of King Virata

• I could go into depth about the Pandavas stay in Virata

52. Bhima and Kichaka

• I could write where Bhima and Draupadi kill people on a regular basis using Draupadi as bait

59. Bhagavad-Gita

• I like that this was written in rhyme but still had a dialogue feel...this made it very easy to understand

Bibliography

Public Domain Mahabharata, link to Reading Guide C

Painting of the Pandavas and Draupadi, Web source

Tech Tip: Hashtags and Retweets

For this tech tip, I decided to look into hashtags and retweets on Twitter. They are something that are used practically daily for anyone on Twitter, so it's a good thing to really understand. I decided to retweet the following item because I really like elephants, so I figured that it would be perfect! It's Vishnu blessing the elephants..so awesome!

Here is the link to this retweet:
https://twitter.com/OnlineMythIndia/status/781523804522684416

I then decided to look into #boomsoon. I chose this hashtag because "Boom Soon" is easily my favorite saying at the University, plus with all the great football tweets from this past weekend and saxeT week this week, I knew there would be some great tweets!

Week 6 Review: Edit Ruthlessly

While going through this weeks announcements, I really liked this post you made about editing. I have a problem where I'll write way more words in a sentence than necessary, so this really related to me!

(Edit Ruthlessly,

Sunday's announcements)