Indian Epics

(Image created at canva.com ) This mantra is something that I try to remember through out my day. It is important to live in a way that makes you happy. Whether that be surrounding yourself with people who love and appreciate you and vice-versa or simply by choosing things to do and performing actions that you love, everyone should live what they love. 

These notes are an outline of section D of the public domain edition of Ramayana online. If you would like to view the other outlines they are linked below: Section A Section B Section C Rama and the army need to figure out how to get across the water from India to Lanka Ravana uses his illusion powers to cause Sita despair Tries to convince her that Rama is dead Garuda (enemy of nagas) heals Rama's army who have been injured by naga-weapons Lakshmana slays Indrajit (Ravana's son) and Ravana wants revenge Ravana rides into battle and tries to kill Lakshmana and almost succeeds but thanks to healing herbs Lakshmana doesn't die The gods watch as the fighting continues The god are the ones who ultimately predetermined Rama to kill Ravana The sage Agastya comes to give Rama advice on how to kill Ravana Rama kills Ravana (yay!) Sita and Rama are finally able to see each other but Sita feels different about Rama, something has changed Sita is q...

These notes are an outline of section C of the public domain edition of Ramayana online. Here are the links for the other note sections: Section A Section B Rama and Lakshmana leave to meet the monkey-god, Hanuman   Sugriva talks about his feud with Vali and Sugriva asks Rama to help him in battle  Tara (wife of Vali) asks Rama not to fight with Sugriva  Rama hides in a bush during battle to kill Vali Everyone is sad about Vali's death , even Sugriva ( Vibhishna leaves Ravana to join Rama ) Finding Sita Sugriva says he will help Rama find Sita but they have to wait for the rainy season to be over Rainy season is over and Sugriva sends armies of monkeys and bears to find Sita Jatayu's (the bird) brother Sampati tells the army they are headed in the right direction towards Lanka Sampati cannot fly because his wings were burnt Hanuman (leader of the bears) finds Ravana in Lanka but cannot find Sita Hanuman finds Sita in a grove of ashok...

Like I said last week, feedback is something that I am used to doing in my classes but something that isn't always easy to do if you have to give negative feedback. This week I decided to read the articles " The Difference Between Praise and Feedback " by MindShift and " Be a Mirror " by Gravity Goldberg. In the article "The Difference Between Praise and Feedback" the thing that stood out to me the most and something that I agreed with was how they talked about how praise is often "sugarcoated." Praise and feedback won't mean very much to a person if they hear the same thing over and over again such as "good job" or "you aced that." After you head those responses enough time it's almost like you just brush it off of your shoulder. But when constructive feedback is given and a reason is given for why a person might have liked what you did, it give you more of an impact. ( GIPHY ) In the article "Be a M...

Based on my feedback from last week as well as the topics that I have expressed interest in, my favorite topic by far are the Jataka tales . I really liked the ideas that Laura gave me for connecting the tales together. I really liked the tales with turtles as the main characters and I also like the tales that took place at water. There are so many possibilities that I could do by connecting the stories that have water as their setting. Something that I could do to connect stories together is connect the Jataka tales, "The Crab and the Crane," "How the Turtle Saves His Own Life," and "The Monkey and the Crocodile." All three of those stories not only connect because the setting is around a body of water but they also have interlocking themes. (Crane eating the fish from "The Crab and the Crane" ) In the tale, "The Crab and the Crane" the crab fights for his life. The crane tricks a pond full of fish that the pond that he is f...

On a sunny and warm Sunday morning, Brothers Harry and Henry were taking a nice walk with Harry's wife in a neighborhood next to theirs. They talked and laughed like any family members would do on a leisure filled Sunday morning. In the distance Harry's wife noticed something weird. A patch in the sky was gloomy and black, unlike the sky all above them. Curiously, Harry, Henry and Harry's wife walked towards the direction of the dark patch in the sky. The weather became chilly and gave them all goose bumps. Something was off. It was as if sadness and death has taken over the area that was just under the dark sky. But the three were still intrigued so they continued to walk towards the dark sky. Suddenly there was a loud booming noise and out from a patch of trees a creature slowly emerged and its bright red eyes stared straight at them. "Don't move..." whispered Henry. "We need to run..." Harry whispered back. From the shock of seeing the...

These notes are an outline of section B of the PDE version of Ramayana . When I did notes for section A I really enjoyed doing them in bullet form because for me it was easier to follow the events that took place, the character's lives and how they are all connected to each other. King's Death: Bharata does not know that his brother (Rama) has been exiled and his father is dead because he has been in the kingdom of Kaikeyas with this mother's sire When he find out, he first has to go to his father's funeral and mourn for a couple of days He then goes to the forest and tries to get his brother, Rama to come back home Rama will not go back home so Bharata takes Rama's shoes as a gift to remember him and he doesn't go back home either or won't until Rama comes back home ( Rama gives Bharata his sandals ) In the Forest: Sita is abducted by an evil demon and Rama and Lakshmana have to fight it Rama tries to kill the demon with sharp w...

These notes are an outline of the events and stories that take place in reading section A of Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition . I decided that this note taking style would help me follow along with the events and characters of Ramayana that stand out to me. Background:  King Dasharatha = ruler of Koshala kingdom in Ayodhya (Solar Dynasty) Ayodhya= beautiful kingdom full of happy people King wanted sons so horse sacrifice was performed and he was told he would have 4 sons (Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, Shatrughna) King Janaka= ruler of Videha kingdom in Mithila Ravana (from heaven) can only defeat the god Vishnu in human form, which he will do through King Dasharatha's son, Rama (Vishvamitra speaks to King Dasharatha, in the bottom right corner are Rama and Lakshmana.) Sons are grown: Vishwamitra (sage) needs help from Rama and Lakshmana to fight demons that are disturbing Vishvamitra This would begin "manhood" for Rama and Lakshmana Rama a...

Feedback is something that I am used to. In almost all of the classes that I have been in whether it be online or in-class lecture I have learned to give feedback. After reading Laura's assignment description it really made me think and agree with the fact that most people are afraid of harsh feedback even though it could help the person succeed in the future. I don't think I have ever received negative feedback from a peer from anything I have worked, so that might prove that students are afraid to give their peers feedback. But I have received negative feedback from professors, which I have taken to change what I have done and make it better. Just today I went to my professor Robert Pritchard who is the advisor for PRSSA and Lindsey + Asp and I had him look over my resume before I sent it to my contact at the Marriott Convention Center at the NCED for Lindsey + Asp. He gave me a lot of feedback on what I had done wrong and gave me an example on how I could improve it. By ...

A topic that I am interested in for the project are the Jataka Tales . I really enjoyed reading some of the stories this week, especially the story that I rewrote , "How the Turtle Saved His Own Life." I think I enjoyed them so much because they reminded me of fairy tales that my parents would read to me as a child. If I continue on with this topic for the final project I think that I would either like to rewrite "The Crab and the Crane" or something I haven't read already such as "The Princes and the Water-Sprite" . (Image from "The Princes and the Water-Sprite" from the Jataka Tales ) Another topic that I am interested in for the project is karma. Karma is something that I have always heard about as a kind of cliche saying. So far, what I know about karma is that it stands for every action will have a reaction. If people do something bad then then something bad will happen back to them and if people do something good then something...

UPDATED version of this story can be found here . On a day just like any other, two young sisters Hazel and Molly skipped to a pond near their house. The pond had become an every day adventure since a nearby ditch flooded into the pond and transported new aquatic life. Hazel and Molly would watch the tadpoles buzz by, the dragonflies land on their lily pads and the sunfish with bright orange bellies scavenging for their next meals. Every day the young sisters would giggle and snicker as they watched the pond. One day, as Turtle was fast asleep with his head under a rock he was woken up by the giggling of the two young sisters. This was the seventh day in a row that the sisters had woken them up by their loud and high pitched noises. Turtle had had enough. Turtle slowly swam over to the side of the pond where Hazel and Molly were skipping and singing and made a small splashing noise with his front legs in the water. Hazel asked Molly, "What was that?" Molly answer...

When I opened the link for Jataka Anthology  I was immediately drawn to the title and the stories of the Two Turtle Jatakas . I love turtles so it's a fun twist to read stories about turtles and two drastically different personalities. One turtle outwits the other faces death.  "The Turtle and The King" story from Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt was about a turtle that was found by young princes in a lake that their father, the king, had made for them. The princes went to the lake to look at the fishes that their father got for them but they also saw a turtle. The princes had never seen a turtle before and thought it was a demon. The princes were afraid and told the king and the king ordered his men to find the turtle and kill it. The men who were ordered to kill the turtle suggested to throw the turtle into the lake where the water flows into the river. The turtle spoke and objected trying to make himself seem as though he was terrified of that fate but in reality...

After reading about the different types of reading materials that I will encounter as this semester goes on I think I have a pretty good idea about what kinds of reading materials and characters that I will enjoy the most. I think I will be interested in the character Ramayana because the epic will be about a war that Ramayana has with the king of demons. To me that sounds exciting. I'm curious because I don't know anything about Indian epics and I think this is a good place to start my journey. Based on the options for reading the story of Ramayana I think I would prefer to read the public domain edition . This option seems better suited for me because of the different writing styles the authors will use. I will most likely become more interested in the story if told from different points of view and illustrations always help too. (Manuscript illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra from Wikipedia ) As for the stories for the second half of the semester I think I...

 Managing my time is something that I feel 100% confident about. Since I was in middle school my friends have been making fun of how organized I am. My notebooks are labeled, my stationary is separated, my planner is color-coded, etc. It might seem too organized for some people but it's what has always worked for me. ( Giphy ) I picked the article " The Myth of 'Too Busy '" by Tim Grahl to read. I thought this article was really interesting because that is something that I use a lot. I am always "too busy" to do something. I often put things aside, especially social things aside because I feel like I am too busy with other things like school work to do something, when in reality I really didn't prioritize my time well. That is something that I need to work on this semester. I am approaching the end of my college career and I need to make more time for my friends. There is always enough time I just need to manage my free-time better. The othe...

I would consider myself somewhat fluent in online class navigations. Almost all of the work that I do for my classes revolve around knowing how to use different blogging and website platforms. I feel very prepared for the work that I will be doing in this online class. However, there is always room for improvement. I am not familiar with graphic creations so I am looking forward to playing with those different technologies and learning how to use them. I am also not very familiar with Wikipedia sites. I didn't even know that you could create your own website off of Wikipedia like professor Gibbs is using for Indian Epics. I enjoy working in Google Docs, that is something that is very useful in my classes especially for group projects so everyone can work on the same document or slideshow at the same time and see edits made in real-time. I really like the online classroom environment. I like being able to complete my work on my own time and even get ahead if I need to. ( ...

So far, I have really enjoyed the layout of this online course. It is unlike any other online course I have taken, which honestly makes it more interesting. I am looking forward to the reading and storytelling portions of our assignments every week. I don't have a lot of free time to read expect for when I read for class so I am excited to read new and interesting material and then reflect on it in my own stories.  In the past I have taken writing for PR online and PR publications online (which is where I learned how to use Photoshop and InDesign) and something that those classes and Indian Epics have in common with each other is writing blog posts and reflecting on what I have learned in the classes. I think this is a really useful way to keep track of what people are actually learning throughout the semester and another bonus is that I can pop my Indian Epic's blog link onto my portfolio website when this class is finished.  I think I am most intrigued by the ext...

Before watching the videos " The Power of Believing That You Can Improve " and " Make Challenge the New Comfort Zone " I had never heard about professor Carol Dweck's growth mindset research. After watching the videos I realized that I had always heard about the power of being "thirsty" for more information. Throughout my whole life I have always been taught to be curious especially in college and to learn and grow from mistakes.  I think that professor Dweck's growth mindset research has finally put those cliche sayings into context and meaning for me. Children are taught from the time they start school that when things are easy that means they are doing something right. When in reality, yes it's great for them that they are getting things correct but they should be wanting to challenge themselves and learn more. Can you imagine how smart people would be if they were to have challenged themselves starting in grade school?  Personall...

Hi, my name is Chelsea Journee and I am from The Woodlands, Texas. The Woodlands is about 30 minutes north of Houston, Texas. My family and I have lived in the same house my entire life so it was a big change for me when I decided to go to college in a different state. I am currently a first semester senior (by hours) at OU. I am studying public relations and my minor is general business. On campus I am pretty involved. I am in a social sorority, I am an account manager for Lindsey + Asp (OU's student-run PR and ad agency) and I am also the treasurer for PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America). (Personal Photo: My sorority family) (Personal Photo: PRSSA executive leadership outside of Gaylord Hall) I enjoy lounging around with my dogs while watching Netflix in my free-time. My dog's names are Jasper and Snickers. Jasper is a miniature dashchund that loves to lay in anyone's lap and we don't really know what Snickers is because we rescued her...

This storybook project seems really interesting. I enjoyed reading the creative and engaging ideas that past students have come up with. The storybook's title " 1000 Ways to Die: Demon Edition " instantly stood out to me. I clicked on it and was laughing to myself about how the author of this storybook made it seem like it was really a script from the TV show " 1000 Ways to Die ." The author of this storybook made me want to continue to read and find out how these Indian Demons died or how they even killed others. This storybook opened my eyes to the possibility and creativeness that I could use on my own storybook.  Another storybook that caught my attention while I was reading through the titles was " Yama's Hair Salon ". I immediately was drawn to the way that the author was telling their story. The author did a really good job at balancing the different voices and opinions of the people/characters in her story. I think the introduction ...

(Sam Rayburn Reservoir: Wiki ) When I think about my childhood, I think about going to my grandparent's house. My grandparents lived on lake Sam Rayburn in Brookeland, Texas. They had a huge backyard that backed up to the lake with a koi fish pond and a vegetable garden.  (Personal Photo: My dad and me) I learned how to swim, how to fish, how to drive a car and how to be a big sister at lake Sam Rayburn. I also learned how to kayak which is something that I still love to do. Growing up around the lake and at my grandparents house didn't only teach me how to do all of those activities it also turned me into the person I am today. (Personal Photo: Kayaking) Unfortunately, my grandparents no longer live on lake Sam Rayburn but I will always have those memories at the lake surrounded by my family.                                       (Personal Photo: M...

This blog post is a test for my new online Indian Epics course.