Epics of India

The current version of this story can be found at my Portfolio here! The battle was near, and both sides waited in a moment of tense anticipation. On one side, Perseus’ dad stood armed and ready ahead of his troops, prepared to charge forward at any second. Poseidon had led them thus far, and those who followed him had faith in his ability to lead them to victory. On the other side, his nemesis Zeus stood in a similar manner. Both knew that they would be the deciding factor in the battle, as each was capable of wiping out the other’s entire army with ease. In a moment of weakness, Zeus came up with a plan to defeat Poseidon in battle. With both sides about to rush forward, Zeus raised his hand in the air, as if he wanted to pause and say something. Poseidon was confused. “What is the meaning of this?”, he asked. Zeus smirked, and yelled across the battlefield. “Oh nothing. I just thought you’d like to know that we captured your son Perseus and killed him.” “That can’t be, P...

For my second reading for week 7, I read part D of the public domain version of the Mahabharata. For this section of the reading, I chose to focus on death, which was wildly abundant in this section. First came the death of Abhimanyu. It seems that all great stories must be associated with the occurrence of tragedy, and the life of Arjuna is no exception. His son, who is described as being pure and innocent, has his head done in by a mace trapped behind enemy lines, which seems like a horrible way to go. He was blinded badly right before then, highlighting his innocent and lack of ability to defend himself, just to exemplify the lack of mercy shown to him. Next came Bhima’s son, which was slightly less dramatic but still a heat tragedy for the side of the Pandavas. It seems that many of these fights occurred solely between two people, which of the rest of the armies just watching on. This adds to the dramatic scene of each fight, although it seems like if they really wanted to pro...

For the first part of my week 7 reading, I read part C of the public domain version of the Mahabharata . \ For this reading, I chose to focus on the conflicting morals that are highlighted throughout the stories. The first one which is discussed is forgiveness. Often the Pandavas discuss the importance of forgiveness, that it is the truth, and yet Arjun, eager for battle, seems to generally be fairly unforgiving. He wrecks an entire city of demons, slaying all that come before him. I know they’re Econ’s, but it still doesn’t seem very forgiving to go attack them without being provoked and destroy their entire city. Another concept which seemed odd was Bhima’s killing animals for fun. He was amused by the monkey that he could not move, and was often described as being the thoughtful and selfless caretaker of his family, but he was killing elephants and then using those dead elephants to kill more elephants for fun. It seems odd to include this and doesn’t seem very fitting. Lastly...

For my story lab this week, I decided to look at Jon Winokur's "Advice to Writers" website . The most fascinating advice I took from this website is Ken Kalfus' suggestion to simply, "turn off the f***ing router." I love his thoughts on the distractions of the internet and the level of originality it can take away from our own writing, and would agree that if you truly want to write something that is personal to you and that you're passionate about, the best place to start is within you and to avoid as many distractions as possible. I personally don't care much for the use of electronics, so I think that if I ever do commit myself to writing, ignoring the internet won't be a problem. Still great advice regardless, and I like the level of dedication he goes to, as he says to actually just turn off your router instead of just "don't use the internet". I also liked Nina Sadowsky's thoughts on writer's block. She doesn't...

For my reading of part B of the public domain version of the Mahabharata, I chose to focus on the setting. The extreme variety of natural settings, palaces, cities, and rivers was fascinating, and each seemed to have an impact on the story. The forests almost always implied a certain level of mystery or mischief. Often the environment was described as being scenic, but it usually either burned down or was filled with rakshashas. The palaces were always described as being filled with riches and fair women, although the nature of them changed. They either belonged to noble or mischievous people, and often were involved in scenes of jealousy or revenge. The cities were generally used to describe stopping points for the characters, and was almost always where children were born. The rivers had a magical element to them, involving nymphs, rakshashas, and gods. Everything that happened at the rivers had a mystical element to it, and generally involved at least some interaction with the go...

For this week's reading, I read parts A and B of the Mahabharata, taken from the public domain edition.  For this reading, I chose not to focus on character development (because there were so many), and instead focused on morals. I found all of the moral lessons that were present in the Mahabharata quite interesting. These included raising a child to not be proud, loyal devotion to a husband, not making unwise vows out of love, and that karma always wins. It was also shocking how often and how willingly people did favors just to get the chance to fight and kill someone. People would sacrifice their lives, their childrens' lives, and the lives of complete strangers just for revenge. It really seemed like the entirety of part A was about Karma and revenge, and about different sons being too proud and fighting each other, often not even realizing who they were fighting against. Image of Bhima and his mace

For my extra credit reading this week, I chose to write about the second part of Sita Sings the Blues. For this part, I chose to focus on the setting. It’s interesting how the creators used the different scenes in day and night to help the viewers associate certain moods or motives within the plot. Night time generally is either associated with trickery or love, while the fighting and talking takes place more during the day. I enjoyed how the different settings were only used to portray a single idea or action, whereas most of the other discussions took place between the three narrators. This made the story much more easy to follow. Generally when traveling is involved, the creators go to lengths to make the environment seem as vast as possible. I’m unsure of why this is, but they’re fairly consistent with it and it seems to add to the plot. It’s also interesting how everything is done symmetrically. Everyone lines up evenly, when rakshashas die, they die in even numbers on bot...

For the reading these week, I chose to watch Sita Sings the Blues, and these notes will cover the first half of the movie. For this half, I wanted to focus on character development. First, I enjoyed the discussion at the beginning introducing all the characters. They seem to be somewhat confused which made me feel a bit better about being as confused as I was when they were all introduced. It’s also interesting how they introduce Sita as a follower and someone who would live in the shadow of their significant other, when we know this not to be true as the story unfolds. The other side of Ravana that is revealed in the movie is also fascinating. In the Ramayana version that I read, he is portrayed to basically be this devil king, but in the movie he is described a a fairly good king, with the only negative thing he did being kidnapping Sita. The movie also goes to great lengths to show Sita’s loyalty to Rama, so it will be interesting how they show her relationship with Rama devel...

After several long days they were finally back together, and it was hard to believe that what they’d been through was real. Congressman Rama sat in embrace with Sita and thought about what had transpired.  3 days ago, Rama had been cleaning up the kitchen after dinner when he heard a scream come from the living room. He took off towards the room only to find a broken window and shattered glass covering the floor.  “Sita? Sita!”, he called out, but no answer was heard.  When the police arrived to their home, an investigation began, and it was determined that Sita had been kidnapped. By who they weren’t sure, but it seemed like Rama had been targeted due to his powerful position.  A few days passed without.a word. The police continued their investigation efforts, and Rama drove around town trying to find anyone who may be able to help, but nothing turned up. Then suddenly on the third day, Rama left his home to find a note taped to the front door. The ...

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This week for the story lab assignment, I chose the EmpoWord assignment, reading Chapter 2 on the guide to telling a story. I loved the last interpretation of the Doctor Who quote on the first page: “Our individual stories have no definite conclusion until we can no longer tell them ourselves. How can you tell a piece of your story while it’s still up to you?” Off all the interpretations the author provides for the quote, I enjoyed this one the most because it seems the most impactful and implies more so than the others that you can control your own story.  One idea from this article I’d like to apply to my own writing is the use of sequence and pacing to signify importance. Giving certain events or ideas more time than others, and even placing them out of order on occasion, can really help create an impactful moment for the reader and help them understand why I’m writing. Freytag’s pyramid is the common method for storytelling, but I’d like to experiment with other methods...

On reading D for this week, I wanted to focus on plot and mainly the ending, because that was fairly frustrating for me. Rama, being this person who is described through most of the Ramayana as a person with flawless morals and actions, seems to make a very stupid judgment call and lives the rest of his life somewhat in sadness because of it. After everything he had been through with Sita, he banished her to the woods because she was kidnapped. He claims that her body is no longer pure, although from the viewpoints we were given, it seems that all she did was sit trapped underneath a tree with no man, including Ravana, really making any physical contact with her. She then gives birth to his two sons and he doesn’t even know about it because she is in exile. It was powerful at the end when Rama asked her to come back and she left to go be with the gods. It felt fitting and that Rama had that coming, since he had been horrible to her all for the sake of preserving the people’s view of h...

On reading C for this week, I wanted to focus on setting. First, the description of Ravana’s court and Lanka was quite interesting, with the town being very expansive and spread out, full of rakshashas, and also having the Ashoka grove where Sita was being kept. Lanka, being hidden by clouds and separated by water, is attached with a mysterious and looming vibe, and is also deemed to be powerful given all of the palaces and treasures that are associated with it. The Ashoka grove is fairly contrasting to that though, and a part of this is likely due to the fact that it is where Sita is staying, and palaces full of rakshashas wouldn’t be fitting. The Ashoka grove isn’t described in much detail though, so I’m curious as to how Hanuman was able to talk to Sita in secret.  The setting for Ravana’s hall is also not described in great detail, although you are given the impression that it’s a large room full of tension and anxiety, and that all are fairly fearful of Ravana. The set...