Week 7 Reading Diary A

Pages 325-373
The Ramayana by William Buck

Important Parts
-Rama and Ravana are still fighting to get Sita back.
-Ravana is becoming more and more cocky and gets mad at the time God, Kala, who was on his side. Ravana doesn't worry about it too much though.
-Rama and Ravana eventually end up directly fighting each other.
-Rama cuts off Ravana's heads but they keep coming back.
-Ravana disguises himself as Indra, however, Rama sniffs this out. Rama is now ahead.
-Rama eventually kills Ravana.
-Vibhishana takes over as king of Lanka and Rama and Sita get back together.
-Rama and Sita hurry back to Ayodhya because his brother, Bharata, was going to kill himself if Rama wasn't back at the end of his exile.

Famous Last Words Week 6

Hello again. Just wanted to keep everyone up to date with my writing for this class and what is going on in my life at the moment. I went to the Oklahoma vs Tennessee game and had a great time, even though we killed them and it wasn’t much of a game. I really enjoyed watching the Oklahoma vs West Virginia game last week because the game was really close and entertaining until the end! This week we had a bye week, but next week we play Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. And the week after that is the best time of the year… OU/Texas weekend. I cannot wait for this game, even though we will probably kill them because they are not very good this year. As you can see, I really like Oklahoma football. So I decided to do my Storybook project over it! I had to write an introduction for the Storybook and design my Storybook site. I really enjoyed this because I have never written anything like this before, nor used the majority of the technology tools that we are using for this class, so it makes the writing fun, informative, and useful for the future. I have not decided how I want to write my first story yet, but I’m sure I will think of something creative soon! I’ve really enjoyed the freedom this class offers because it allows me to actually enjoy the writing I’m doing and not simply write something over a certain topic because I have to. I think the writing for this class is also useful because it is pushing me to be more and more creative every assignment. Creativity is very limited as an undergraduate science major, so this class offers a unique opportunity to be creative in class.

(OU/TX logo Credit: SoonerSports)

Week 6 Storytelling: Fat Cat Hanuman

        “I must catch this mouse!” Hanuman thought as he ran around the streets of Lanka. He had transformed into a cat in order to be incognito while in Lanka searching for Sita, however, it was now backfiring on him. Hanuman, although powerful, was having the natural, overpowering thoughts of a cat. All he wanted to do was eat, sleep, and chase mice. This proved to be a problem for Hanuman because he kept getting side tracked from the mission of determining the location where Ravana was keeping Sita hostage. Although, one day his cat-like instincts proved to be just what he needed to locate Sita....

            Exhausted from chasing a mouse around the town square of Lanka, Hanuman decided to take a long nap, however, he was brutality interrupted from his nap by a heavenly, appetizing smell. Was it steak? Was it fish? Hanuman had to investigate, so he got up and put his trusty nose and taste buds to work. Hanuman tracked the smell across the entire town of Lanka. He tracked it across rivers and streams until he tracked it to a large house on a hill just outside of the city. Licking his lips, Hanuman ran up to the door, eager to get his paws on whatever smelled so good. However, he was immediately stopped in his tracks when he saw the decorative sign on the front door that read “Welcome to Ravana’s House!” in fancy letters and coloring. Hanuman had ironically used his lazy, fat cat-like instincts to find Ravana’s house where Sita probably was! However, cats have a hidden side behind their lazy, fat exteriors… they are naturally sly animals. Hanuman went into stealth mode and slowly opened the door to Ravana’s house. Although the delectable smell of a prime rib was stronger than ever, he did not let this distract him from the task of finding Sita. As Hanuman made his way to the kitchen, he saw one of Ravana’s wives cooking but could not find any sign of Ravana or Sita. By this point, his fat cat-like instincts overpowered his slyness and Hanuman pounced on the prime rib she was cooking. Ravana’s wife was startled, as Hanuman ate the entire prime rib in one bite. However, instead of getting mad at Hanuman, she was impressed that he ate an entire prime rib in one, huge bite. Hanuman and Ravana’s wife conversed about the Ravana and Sita situation for a bit and eventually she told Hanuman to go check in the grove for Sita. Hanuman made his way out of the house and into the grove where he saw Sita across the way, however, the prime rib was starting to take a toll on him and before he could move any further, he flopped down on the ground and into a deep cat-nap.

(Hanuman and his counterpart, Garfield/Credit: Blogspot and Wikipedia)

Authors Note: I decided to add some humor to the part of Hanuman taking on the role of a cat disguise while in Lanka searching for Sita. 

William Buck: The Ramayana 

Week 6 Reading Diary B

Pages: 270-324
The Ramayana by William Buck

-Hunuman tells Rama what he discovered about Sita's kidnapping across the ocean in Lanka.
-They decide to build a bridge so Rama can get to the city
-The bridge was built by Nala, the sea monkey.
-Rama and his group make a plan to go across the bridge to get Sita from Ravana.
-However, Ravana has Shuka, a hawk, watching Rama the entire time.
-Ravana uses magic powers to show Sita a fake head of Rama so that she thinks he is dead and that Ravana has killed him.
-However, Phrahasta enters the room with Sita and Ravana and lets Ravana know that Rama has entered the city. This gives away Ravana's ploy with the fake head of Rama.
-Ravana and Rama fight. In the process, Kumbhakarna (Ravana's brother) kills Rama's forces, however, Rama ends up killing him. He also kills Ravana's son, Indrajit.
-Now the only people left to fight are Ravana and Rama.

Week 6 Reading Diary A

Pages: 219-270
The Ramayana by William Buck

-Hanuman tells the story of Sita's brutal abduction to Jambavan.
-Sampati is Jatayu's brother and Jatayu overheard the story Hanuman was telling. Jatayu is sad because his brother, Sampati, was killed.
-Jatayu provides insight to the Sita abduction. He said he saw Ravana leap across the ocean to a town called Lanka.
-Hanuman and the people searching for Sita decide that Hanuman leap across the ocean.
-Hanuman encounters many different obstacles as he leaps across the ocean. He was eaten by Sinhika, but escaped through her ear. He finally makes it to Lanka.
-Hanuman takes on the role of a cat while in Lanka so he can move around undetected.
-Hanuman finds Ravana's house, but does not find Sita there. Ravana's wives tell him to search in the ashoka grove.
-Ravana is trying to convince Sita to like him, but Sita refuses. When Ravana leaves, Hanuman makes contact with Sita. Sita tells Hanuman a message to give to Rama.
-Hanuman decides to burn down Lanka, but manages to tell Sita that Rama will be back to save her.

Week 5 Storytelling: Rama Evades Bharata

Ayodhya was in mourning.  King Dasaratha was dead and the kingdom was now in need of a leader. It was clear who Aydohya wanted to appoint king. However, there was one major problem; he had been in exile for years. It was clear in Aydohya that Rama was to take Dasaratha’s place on the throne. The kingdom begged that he come back, so Bharata set out to find Rama and bring him back to Aydohya. Bharata traveled a long distance before he came to a dense wooded area. Bharata was a man and was not scared of the woods, however, this forest was different. He pressed on for 3 days and 3 nights but remained lost. As he sat dejected sat in the forest, he heard a noise in the distance. “Food!” Bharata thought.

“Hello,” came a voice behind him that started Bharata. “I’m Valmiki! What’s your name?”

As Bharata and Valmiki began to converse, Bharata discovered that Valmiki had helped Sita find Rama in the wood a couple of years before. Bharata was so excited that he now had a lead to Rama’s whereabouts. Valmiki led Bharata out of the forest and pointed him in the direction that Sita traveled to find Rama. Bharata set out over the mountainous terrain in search of Rama.

However, news got to Rama that Dasaratha had died and that Bharata was looking for him. Rama was an honest man and did not want to disobey his father’s exile order, so he decided to hide from Bharata. If Bharata was to find him, he would have a hard time telling him that he was not coming back to Aydohya. As Bharata pressed on his journey to find Rama, Rama continued his hideout. Bharata searched for years for Rama but was unsuccessful in finding him. The moral of the story shows just how loyal Rama was to Dasaratha that he would evade someone who was trying to find him and bring him back to the Kingdom.

(Bharata in the forest. Credit: Richard Shaw Brown)

Author's Note: I thought it was interesting that Rama did not want to return to the kingdom even though Dasaratha had died. I wanted to add more to this, so I chose to add to Bharata's search for Rama and show Rama evading Bharata to remain loyal to Dasaratha.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976) Ramayana: King Rama's Way

Week 5: Reading Diary A

Reading diary for pages 110-161 of The Ramayana by William Buck.

-Rama is still in exile and Dasaratha is dead.
-Bharata sets out to hunt him down.
-Rama, Lakshama, and Sita are still actively meeting other people during the exile. They meet Atri, and he tells them the story of Mandakarni.
-They also meet Agastya, who is a warrior who defeated two demons and brought down the Vindhya Hills.
-Valakhilya warns Rama of the demons in the forest and asks for his help.
-As Rama is discussing the issue of Kardu and Vinata's eggs with Sita, a demon takes Sita.
-The demon is Viradha and Rama and Lakshama defeat him

* I would like to use the story of Rama defeating Viradha in my Storybook.

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Famous Last Words Week 4

This weekend on campus will be a really fun time. OU plays Tennessee this weekend, and it is going to be a great matchup. OU is coming off a strong win against Tulsa last weekend and are heading into the game 2-0. There will be a lot of fun tailgates on Lindsey Street outside the stadium and on campus corner. I am getting all my work done for this class early, so I can enjoy the game this weekend.

I am really excited for it to cool down this weekend. The high for the game on Saturday is in the 70s and the low is in the 50s. Time to bust out the jacket! I was curious as to why it the weather was dropping into the 70s from the upper 90s so quickly when I came across this article.

Record Shattering Snowfall

           

Looks like we are going to have above average snowfall for this winter in Oklahoma! I’m really excited because I’ve only had one snow day while at OU so far, and it was not anything special. When I was in HS in Tulsa, we had multiple snow days that forced school to close for a couple of days. Probably the worst winter weather event I lived through was the Ice Storm in 2008. It was the strangest winter weather because it wasn’t snowing and it wasn’t sleeting. It was raining water that was 1-2 degrees above freezing, so when it made contact with the surfaces on the ground that were below freezing, the water instantly froze and created ice on everything. I live in an older part of town and the power lines are above ground, so when ice accumulated on the branches from the freezing rain, the branches would snap and break the power lines. Also, the power lines were sagging due to the ice and some were almost touching the ground! I, like many other Tulsans, didn’t have power for 7 days, which caused school (and final exams!) to be canceled for an entire week. But it wasn’t any fun because there was no snow on the ground, just ice everywhere, so I really hope that doesn’t happen again this year!

(Weather map from Empire News)

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Week 4 Storytelling: Prideful Sita

“Go, Sita, you must leave the kingdom now!” exclaimed King Rama. Even though they had loved each other and were married, Rama was forced to send her into exile. Sita was scared. She thought about all the dangers that lurked outside the kingdom. How was she supposed to hunt, find shelter, and protect herself? Although these things lingered at the back of Sita’s mind, she was too proud as a woman to let them overtake her thoughts. As she pressed onwards, she diligently searched for any signs of shelter or food in a dense wooded area.

            Just then, Sita heard a loud noise behind her that startled her. “Why hello there!” shouted a short man with a high-pitched voice. Sita instantly started to run away from the man. As she ran, she heard the man scream, “I’m not going to hurt you! You just look lost!”. Sita, still on her toes, stopped running and walked back to the man.

            “My name is Valmiki! What is your name?” said the man.

            “I’m Sita”, she said in a confused voice.

            “Nice to meet you, Sita! What are you doing all alone in the forest?”

            Sita then explained to Valmiki that her husband had sent her into exile and that she was trying to find a new place to shelter and find food. Shocked that a beautiful woman was alone in the middle of the woods, Valmiki instinctively asked Sita if she needed any help. Initially, Sita was put off by Valmiki’s request.

 “I’m a strong woman,” she told Valmiki, “I can fend for myself in these woods.”

Valmiki chuckled to himself, knowing that she would not survive without his help.

“You are a very prideful woman,” Valmiki said, “but no amount of pride can conquer these dense, dangerous woods.”

Angry that Valmiki did not think she could survive, she stormed away. As she walked down the trail, a giant hawk swooped down and nearly attacked her. Frightened and now realizing that she actually was in danger, she ran back to find Valmiki. After a couple hundred yards, she saw Valmiki sitting on a stump with a snickering grin on his face.

“See, I told you that you wouldn’t survive on your own out here”, he said. “Let me show you the way to my village.”

Sita agreed and followed Valmiki to his village where she built her own home and gathered her own food. She was prideful of her new home, but she knew she wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for Valmiki in the woods that day.

Authors Note: 

I chose to retell the story of Sita being sent into exile where she meets Valmiki. I wanted to give her a prideful attitude because it is hard to just walk away from your husband. I also added dialog to make Valmiki seem like a Hobbit in the woods. 

(Valmiki in the woods. Credit: Speakingtree.in)

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way