Week 9 Story: Picking Sides

Picking Sides

    On a cloudy, dark day, Samoa woke up with his heart set on beating his rival Kumar. They have always been unpleasant with each other, despite them being brothers. Their hate for each other grew to the point of brotherhood meaning nothing to either of them. They always needed teachings from their protector, as they were two royal men of the kingdom. Their protector was the mighty Krishna. Krishna is found as guidance to Samoa and Kumar. While Samoa finds a way to attack his brother, Kumar has other plans of playing outside the rules. Krishna has set rules and specifications that each of them cannot break. This is mostly due to the anger of Kumar and his uncontrollable anger. Kumar aims to put an end to this never-ending battle by planning on cutting Samoa's neck off. This would be a difficult task as Samoa is a very skilled archer, where he keeps distance from his enemy and strike. Kumar, however, is not a force to be reckoned with as he is the commander of their army. Although he is the commander, he is still and evil. He hired assassins to hunt with him in search for Samoa. Samoa is a very skilled hunter and knows how to hide his tracks. Krishna found out about Kumar's evil plan, and decided to help Samoa to get things on an even playing fields. Krishna gives Samoa a magical map that shows his enemy's pinpoint location. Samoa's hunting and archery skills came in clutch as he aimed his longbow to the sky and shoots Kumar from miles away. Kumar is confused as to how Samoa is shooting him from the skies. Samoa released one final stretch and shoots his trusty bow, and he landed his shot with ultimate accuracy and precision. This leaves the kingdom shook as to how, and why such a tragedy happened. 

Arjuna

Authors Notes: This revision was inspired by the story in Mahabharata, Arjuna and Karna. The fight scene between the two was such a strong point in the plot, I decided to take this plot and switch up the dynamics of the characters. While originally Arjuna and Karna is not related, in this revised edition, I made Samoa (Arjuna) and Kumar (Karna) brothers to make a more deeper connection between the two. This allowed me to create a more depth storyline, that I can improve on as weeks go. 

Bibliography: Mahabharata, Section 11: Arjuna and Karna

Reading Notes: Mahabharata: Arjuna and Karna, Part B

 For part B of the reading notes, I decided to focus on the plot with the battle between Arjuna and Karna. I chose this fight scene to create tension between characters, and this allows me to have a wider range of options for my portfolio. In this section, I found the main characters to be Arjuna and Karna. These two gets into a quarrel with supervision from Krishna. Arjuna makes the first move toward Karna, where Karna finds the upper-hand first. Karna breaks Arjuna's bow and charges towards him. Arjuna was supposed to be given a new weapon according to the rules of battle, however, Karna did not allow for this to happen. Arjuna manages to fix his bow and charge towards Karna, where Karna finds himself in a similar situation as Arjuna. Karna's chariot wheel gets stuck on the ground, and Karna asks Krishna for respite, which was denied. Arjuna gets the final blow to Karna with an arrow, thus ending the battle between the two. This story is great for understanding fairness and non-greediness. 

Arjuna and Karna

Bibliography: Mahabharata, Section 11: Arjuna and Karna

Reading Notes: the Adventures of Prince Arjuna, Part A

For this this week's reading notes, I decided to stick to the story of Prince Arjuna. I plan on making a story in terms to this story, which sparked my interest. In the Mahabharata reading guide, the story titles "The Adventures of Prince Arjuna" tells of a Arjuna, son of Pandu and Kunti. He was a prince of the Elephant city. The location of the plot starts at the royal city of Hastinapura, Duryodhana. The Pandavas bring problems to the royal city and the King. Arjuna finds himself in a situation where he enters Draupadi's room, which causes him to go to exile.  A water-nymph named Ulupi takes Arjuna to the underwater land and marries him. This granted Arjuna with a special gift that allowed him to defeat a mighty alligator, who was an ex nymph. This curse was broken by Arjuna when he defeated the cursed alligators. Arjuna is challenged once again in life as he dreams of Agni, a fire-god who tells him to burn the Khandava forest and to destroy the nagas. The nagas are protected by Indra. Arjuna is also the son of Indra. As Arjuna heads to destroy this forest and the nagas, the god Indra comes to do his job and save the nagas by releasing rain from the clouds. 

This plot shows great marks of improvement. While reading this original story, i was able to think of ideas to make a new revised story for my website, which is perfect. 

Arjuna

Bibliography: Mahabharata, The Adventure of Prince Arjuna

Week 8 Progress

 Seeing my progress build in this class has to be one of my favorite features in the design of this course. I am able to see weaknesses and strong suites. I am overall happy with my grade in this course, as I am responsible for my grade. I will do extra bonus work to make-up for missed assignments and points. I am proud of my progress in my writing ability. I feel like at this point in the course, I have grasped the hang of the schedule and weekly routine. I really enjoy being able to use my own imagination and creativity in our writing. I would honestly not change a thing, because this course teaches you responsibility and gives each of us a chance to make improvements, while simultaneously teaching us material about Epics of India. My goal is to not miss any more assignments and receive an A in this course. I will make minor adjustments to my posts to make them more ideal and more fluent. Overall I believe this course is a great way for you to learn and most importantly improve. 

What to Look for In a Continuous Improvement Model

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

 I really enjoy how this class is set up. It provides us with the freedom to push ourselves and find weak spots in our writing and reading. I would rate the feedback process a solid 10/10. I like the ability to have an open mind in our stories and most importantly our feedback. It gives me the opportunity to leave nice yet productive comments on students. I am most definitely getting to know some familiar students through continuous feedback and comments. I am very happy that the class system is set up this way. I have learned numerous different ways of commenting, feedback and feedforward. I really enjoy the idea of an interactive community, however, maybe making the comments and stories more public without search would be a great way to bring students together. Maybe even finding a format, where you can see students live writing their story, or a more interactive platform. Overall I am very pleased with comments and feedback I have received as well as given out. 

Feedback Progression

Week 8 Reading and Writing

 This week's reading and writing really allowed me to analyze my own work, thus allowing me to see areas that need improvement. Looking back at my assignments, I can see that I can do a good job with my writing, however, it could have been made better. Overall I am satisfied with my blogs and website. I do want to make the website more interactable and enjoyable so that way it is more memorable to the audience. In concern to my stories, I believe choosing the option to stick with my imagination and made up stories is working in my favour. This allows me to have a more creative process in my writing. I have noticed throughout my weeks in this course, that I need to improve on my peer review and final drafts. I can do a better job at making sure grammatical errors are gone. Overall I feel like I have been making slight improvement in y writing ability. My favourite reading so far has to be the story of Rama and Sita. This story was able to showcase what brilliant plot and theme look like. This class has shown me a very strategic style of writing when it comes to reading. I use the author's notes in my reading to help analyze inner thoughts. I believe this has helped me improve both my reading and writing skills. I look forward to more interesting readings in this course. I want to analyze themes and deeper meanings behind these stories and make a serious connection of that theme in my revisions. 

Rama

This picture above shows a bold picture of Rama from the stories mentioned in the readings. 

Week 7 Story:

Never Enough

    Timothy, a college teenager who has found himself in a tough situation. After being sacked from multiple jobs, Tim finally admitted to himself that he needs to start taking life seriously. He needed money to live his day to day life. He had no food, and not enough money for rent and bills. One day, his good friend Bryson comes into town with an idea. He tells Tim of this game at the casino called 21. Bryson explains to Tim that there is a method to win the game every time, and it guarantees you money. Trusting Bryson with all his might, Tim and Bryson made their way to the casino. The casino was filled with money-hungry men and women. Timothy grew with excitement to the sound of bells and whistles of contestants winning. Not only did Tim decide to bring every penny to his name, but decided that this would be the day he gets his big break. Bryson explains to Tim how the game works, and that the trick is to stop playing once you triple or double your profit. This was the only simple instruction Bryson gave Timothy before he leaves him to go play some games of his own. Timothy waited patiently in line to play the game. Each contestant that played left with a good sum of money. Finally, it was Timothy's turn to take his crack at the game. He started off with a solid $100 to start off to get a feel for the game and how it worked. After seeing how easy it was, he decided to add all of his money into the pot. It was a total of $500. He won small amounts at first but ended up with a total of $2000. People behind him in line grew with rage as Timothy would not leave the game, as greed for money grew. Timothy is fuming with excitement as he won plenty of money to make do for a little. Bryson sees the line for the game in the distance and Timothy playing. He makes his way over to the game to find out that Timothy had gone way over the limit, and did not stop at the appropriate time. Timothy takes one final greedy take on the game; where he finds himself in an even bigger hole. Timothy's greed and hunger for money resulted in a loss for everyone. Timothy went home with utter sadness and rage. He blamed Bryson for his own mistakes and did not learn from the lesson. He was too stubborn and too hot-headed to take the time to understand and own up to his mistakes. 

Gambling Addiction

Authors Note: For this week, I chose to rewrite my own version from the concept of "The Gambling Match". In this section, the story concerns Duryodhana fighting with the Pandavas. This was due to the gambling game performed with dice. Shakhuni was a character that was very skilled in this game. Knowing that the game had no certainty on a win, they decided to take the risk. In this version of mine, I want to add a scheme in my plot where the character learns from not knowing his limits. 

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata. The Gambling Match

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Notes Part D

 Reading Notes Part D: The Mongoose

For this week's reading notes part D, I chose to write my notes over "The Mongoose". I chose this part of the story because it introduces a new character to the plot that added much meaning. The mongoose was found entering the city with a half golden body. The mongoose spoke up with a beautiful story. The story was of the Brahmin. The man lived off the farm with his wife and kids and eventually, hunger took over due to them only eating corn once a day. They were always hungry, yet they were never greedy. They even fed a guest with their small portion of food. The family fed all their food to the guests to please their appetite. This mark did not go unnoticed as the gods saw this and pleased the family with the blessing of living a worry-free life. They were gifted with the ultimate saving of heading to heaven. The mongoose turned to gold shortly after telling this story. This story shows caring, giving, and praise. The family was kind enough to put their own desperate hunger aside to please some random guests. This good service in return was blessed, thus showing that kindness does not go unnoticed. Be a kind person in the world, and you can change much more than just one life.  

Golden Goose

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Part C

READING NOTES: PART C 

For this week's reading in the Mahabharata, I chose to stick to the plot in the story, where the setting was in the forest and the introduction of Krishna's visit. In this section, you will find Yudihishnthira goes about his destiny into the forest. He had a battle with the brahmins. They were to fight through tough battles with creatures, and better yet hunger. They were to survive on their will to live. The gods play a huge role in this story. The sun gods help Rajah and Yudhishthira in their journey. The sun gods provided them with the gift of food, enough for 12 years to survive with their wives. They did not take the help of the gods easily. They went praying and sent offerings to the gods at temples numerous times. 

Krishna finds his way into the forest with the Pandavas. Krishna was served with the possession of a slave. The slave begs to ask for forgiveness and saving. It was not the job of the husband to save the wife, which is what happened. Draupadi was not saved as she wept. Draupadi questions the gods as to why they would let this happen. This led to war with the demons and how a husband would not look out for his wife and his love. Draupadi wants nothing but revenge. However, Arjuna fights back with the weapons in the collection. Krishna plays a key role in the plot where he tries to find an equal balance between Pandavas and the Kauravas. Krishna attempts to bring them together. 

Lord Krishna's Funeral Vs Lockdown Time Deaths

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata

Week 6 Lab: EmpoWord

This week I decided to go with the story lab, and find an art in the EmpoWord. I was advised to read Chapter 2: Telling a Story. This was an interesting read and very knowledgeable and detailing. Here are several bullet points that made a key impact in my reading experience that is worth taking notes over....

Chapter Two: Telling a Story Notes:

• Initial introduction of narration is given, as it serves as a stem to the story and leads to engage audience. 
• Part one shows the description, narration and reflection side of the story. 
• The dynamic of characters play out a role in a great story. 
• The ability to have different level of role in character in order to have the spectrum of dynamic, flat, round or static characters. 
• Any story has a mood or emotion that usually follows a plot line. (think of this when writing)
• It is also important stay in the same point of view or tense (past, present, future). 
• Plot obviously is an important part of any story, which is why different techniques are key. 
• Three elements to consider are scope, sequence and pacing. 
• Scope refers to the "boundaries of your plot", while sequence and pacing is all about the timing of the plot and when and where something takes place. 
• You have to make a good flow and balance in your story. 
• Chapter two also touches on a strong introduction starting with action or drama. Media res refers to this as an antagonistic, imagistic, and exciting scenes. 
• Always thinks of ways to build your character along with your plot.
• Much like sequencing and spacing your plot, you need to know when not to escalate as well. This is important especially when approaching the end of your story. 
• Explore different techniques of story telling and observe the impact on the audience. 

Types of Characters

This picture above shows visual representations of the different types of characters you can build in your story from static, flat, dynamic and round.