Week 7 Reading- Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition Part D

When a character vows to seek revenge in a story, they generally to accomplish the revenge. I may like to do a story in which the revenge looks like it will be fulfilled, but then it isn't.

I love the family ties that are included in most of these stories, where characters are completely willing to die for those that they love and consider family.

The helplessness feeling that Abhimanyu feels is something that I admire greatly in stories, and hope to successfully do in this story.

This section has a great deal of death of family members related to the main characters.

The idea of trickery in order to accomplish evil purposes has never been a cool thing in my eyes, even in most stories.

Killing sleeping individuals is not cool, but still a nice aspect to a story that could be added in order to supports the whole trickery style.

A story that puts in you in the character's shoes is one that I try to implement, especially when I am writing a very sad or intense story.

Animal sacrificing is something I had completely forgot about for mythological stories, but i definitely see how it can greatly contribute to the style as a whole.

The decision to end their time on earth can be thought of as a mature decision, to understand that could leave a lasting impact on a reader.

Ending the story in a quote could be beneficial, as it leaves the reader with something special from a character that they could see as a good close to a long epic.

Bibliography: Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition


Cool pic of Arjuna confronting Karna.(Arjuna confronts Karna)

Week 7 Reading- Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition Part C

The idea of exile, like shown here with Pandavas draws a close comparison to the ramayana, which gets me thinking that maybe this is common in many indian epics.

The term "god" was used so loosely amongst peope that I kind of like it.

Another comparison to the Ramayana is cool to me because it now makes it even easier to read and follow along.

A battle for respect, and nothing more, isn't as common in these stories like it is in our stories nowadays.

Most important characters have a item or specific characteristic about them. I like this concept because it makes it easier to know them.

A disguise, like seen in many stories is something I could incorporate in my stories.

The urging of someone to fight, causing motivation is a cool concept that I could definitely use.

Making the appeals to Karna would be something very intriguing, as the unknown becoming known would seem almost to insane to comprehend.

The idea that family ties run so deep, is something I could use.

When a character warns of doom, it is almost always a foreshadowing of what is going to happen.


Bibliography: Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition


(from life in the forest. Draupadi and the Pandavas in the forest.)

Week 6 story planning: King Shantanu's Rage and Downfall

Plan:

 This story that I'm planning to write for next week is about King Shantanu. When reading the

Mahabharata, what stuck out to me was that King Shantanu's first wife abandoned him. I found this most interesting because he is a king and it's strange to think of a king being left. I've decided to make a sad story focusing on King Shantanu's mental state after his first wife left him, and before he found Satyavati. I think it is important to be able to capture a character's true mental state during a tragic event in order to fully understand what they are going through. While the Mahabharata doesn't focus much on the actual split between King Shantanu and Ganga, and more so on the child they produced, I am going to create a depressing time period between Ganga and Satyavati.

Style: The style for this story is going to be very dark, with a lot of King Shantanu's self dialogue with himself. In general, when people are depressed, they have a lot of self doubt. With self doubt, comes a lot of questioning that you do for yourself. We've seen throughout history, that no matter how much wealth or fame somebody has, they can still be depressed. This is what I plan on doing with King Shantanu. The king is all powerful and can do anything he wants, but none of the fame or power will cure his broken heart. 

Characters; 

Ganga: She will play a very small role in this story, as she will only be there for the beginning when she is leaving. This is because I don't want the reader to know what type of person she is, just that she left King Shantanu.

King Shantanu: The king will be the only main character in the story. He will spend most of his time alone, wondering why his first wife, Ganga, was the way she was. He will have a lot of self dialogue and depressing thoughts.

The King's aids; You will never learn their names but they will temporarily check on the King until he tells them to go away.

     (King Shantanu with his second wife after his first left him. (King Shantanu and Satyavati.)

: PDE Mahabharata: King Shantanu and Satyavati. (Link)

Week 6 Reading- Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition Part B

The family relations of characters, like thst of Vidura to Pandu, creates a sense of family bonding that I feel at times.

It's nice to see that Bhima and Hidimbi have a nice love affair unlike Rama and Sita.

A love story is something I would use, but I would necessarily include a good ending.

Five husbands at once is a bit much, no?

The idea of a previous lifetime is something I could look into more, and I am actually doing in my storybook.

A river stronghold is something I have mentioned in previous stories, I believe, I may continue to do so in future stories.

Another epic, and another exile. I'm starting to think I should include something similar in the stories in my storybook.

The lively and vivid storytelling style is something I definitely could do, but I think I would prefer something more dark.

                                                      (Kunti's escape. Kunti and the Pandavas escape.)

Week 6 Reading- Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition Part A

The idea of nobody on earth being cool enough to write something down, intrigues me.

Also, it seems to be a common appearance for a work to supposedly contain everything that is needed to be known for life.

i love the abundance of character in the Mahabharata. It gives th eability to create many different stories from scratch.

I predict that King Shantanu will be yet another victim of love, in which love will destroy him or cause him to do something stupid.

The creation of names in these epics is probably my favorite thing. You can tell almost everything about a character based on their name.

Seizing women in battle is better seizing them through a competition.

The author being in their own story is awesome.

Complex characters like Karna are cool. Reminds me of the word Karma.

While very different, the similarities to the Ramayana are definitely there. I like this because I was a fan of the Ramayana.

                                                   (Cool Arjuna statue. image source)

Week 5 Story: The Rakshasa that wept

Complete devastation. Everywhere. Dead bodies of villagers were laid across the entire countryside. Fires were raging on several huts and in fields spread out. The few survivors that remained tried to hide under or behind whatever they could find, praying and hoping that the deadly rakshasa was gone and wouldn't come back. 

But Ravana wasn't done.

Ravana reappeared and searched for anybody he could find. He flipped over debris after debris from the destruction that he had caused earlier, and killed everybody he found on site. Body after body, Ravana didn't care. When found, most villagers didn't even try to run because they knew it was pointless. 

Ravana thinks he has killed all of the villagers until he hears a baby crying. He rushes over to the sounds of the crying to find a mother holding her baby. Ravana grabs the baby from the mother's arms and tosses it to the ground. He then takes the mother, snaps her in half and throws her limp body into the nearby river. Ravana approaches the baby on the ground where he left it, face down. He turns the baby over, but he suddenly stops.

As Ravana looks into the baby's eyes, it's as if he's trapped in time with no escape. In the eyes of the baby is the story of something very dark and sinister. It is Ravana's story, from beginning to now. All of the deaths, all of the disaster, all of the pain. All caused by Ravana. 

Ravana falls to the ground after snapping out of stranglehold of the baby's powers. He doesn't understand how he feels this way. He is a rakshasa, He isn't supposed feel bad about any of his actions. He thought his purpose was to destroy. Ravana begins to cry.

Suddenly, a very strong beam of light comes down from the sky. It is one of the gods. In Ravana's depressing state, he is too distracted to know what is happening. The god calls Ravana's name and begins to explain what is occurring. While the gods typically don't wish to intervene in many of the mortals' problems, they felt they had to do something. Ravana was wiping out people at an alarming rate. There seemed to be no purpose to his destruction. The gods decided to place a baby with eyes that can show a person's story in a village that was in Ravana's wrecking path.

It was a longshot, but what the gods hoped would happen, happened. Even a rakshasa can see the error in his ways.

                                               (Ravana before his demise. Link)

Author's note: I've always been interested in Rakshasas and Rakshasis, so I decided to do a story about one, but I also wanted to throw a twist in there, They are always thought to be very vicious, so I thought it would be cool to add a new concept.

Bibliography: Ramayana Online Public Domain Edition Link

Feedback focus

In terms of usefulness to me, I would rank the three categories in the folowing way:

1. Reading Out loud

2.Using a Timer

3. Copy-and-Delete

I am extremely surprised every time I read out loud how much it helps me retain the information of what I just read. It's always so helpful when I need to read something that is extremely important, like for an exam or something. Never before had I thought that this technique could be used in order to give somebody effective feedback. I think that's pretty cool. This is the reason I chose reading out loud as my number one strategy for giving effective feedback.

Setting a timer is something I had never thought about in regards to reading, but i think it's a pretty good idea. In a way, I think it could be good because it will give me a set amount of time that I know i will need to remain completely focused. However, for somebody like me, this may not be the best strategy because I may feel like I would need to rush the timer, haha.

Copy and delete is my least favorite category, but I still see why it may be beneficial to others. I think stopping every so often to write down a good idea or detail that you noticed could be a good idea in theory, but for somebody like me, stopping to write something down may actually hurt me. This is because reading and writing are two different things for me, and I would only be able to remember one at a time. 

                               (It is important to zoom in on what you find important. Link)