Week 3 Reading Diary B: Narayan's Ramayana Continued

(Sitas Exile by Raja Ravi Varma 1848 - 1906) First off, I felt horrible that Ravana set Hanuman's tail on fire. While reading this section, I totally pictured it like a build up to an epic battle in some Marvel or DC film. You know in the Avengers where they all are fighting and then entire city is torn to bits? Yeah, that is how I pictured the battle of Rama versus Ravana. P.S. The good guys, like Rama, totally always win. I am starting...

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Week 3 Reading Diary A: Narayan's Ramayana

(An image of Vali courtesy of Wikipedia) I read a bit a head and waited to do my posts until I had finished the book. The third section, or first section of week 3, was what really interested me in the role of women in Indian epics. Sita, while duped by Ravana a few times, is very adamant about him going away. He is so obsessed by her though, it is a bit scary. I've become so into this Rama-Ravana-Sita story that I found a bit relief reading...

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Week 2: Review

Last semester, I was completely dedicated to making a review every week. It was by far one of my favorite extra credit opportunities to participate in. So, despite not doing one for the first week of classes, I will start posting them again this week. My favorite find this week was from the post on Monday, January 25. It is a cartoon by Tom Gauld about mythical scientific creatures. I know that it is more Myth and Folklore than Indian Epics,...

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Indian Epics Topics Brainstorm

(India and the Middle East by Jan Huyghen van Linschoten Amsterdam, 1596) 1. Possible topic: The god Vishnu Out of all of the Hindu/Indian gods, the one I am most interested in is Vishnu. While I know he is the central god to most Indians, I would like to learn a lot more about him. I have come more interested in him after reading The Ramayana. I think writing about the different lives of Vishnu could be really fun. Research so far: I've...

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Week 2 Storytelling: The Courageous Prince

(Reclaiming a desert into a forest by Atul Kulkarni) A long time ago, there was a prince and his name was Rama. This prince was just a boy, you see, but a boy with great courage and mighty tasks ahead of him. He had to hear the stories of ones before him and fix them. He could not become king if he was unable to help these people and one of his three brothers would take his place. Rama was eager to fix these stories and create peace...

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Week 2 Reading Diary B: Narayan's Ramayana Continued

(This is how I pictured Ravana looked when Sita realized who he was found on Google/IcyTales.com) I found it sweet that Sita wanted to accompany Rama during exile. I was both surprised and not at Rama's decision to stay in exile after his father's death. On one hand, we would not have the rest of this story to read. On the other, I feel like Rama would have avoided so much trouble if he just went back. It is safe to say that I am not a big fan...

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Week 2 Reading Diary A: Narayan's Ramayana

(An image of Vishnu found on DeviantArt) To start off, I think reading Narayan's edition of Ramayana makes the story much easier to understand. I took a glance at the public domain version of the tales and they seemed a bit too much for me. Perhaps it is because I am so unfamiliar with the subject, but I hope to become more comfortable with the Ramayana. Maybe in the future I can look at the public domain version of the stories...

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Week 1 Tech Tip: Blogger Design Templates

(A cute cat totally making a new blog found on Google Images) Originally, I had the most basic template on this blog. Shortly after making this blog, I looked for a cool template design online. If you google for them, you can find really nice free ones online. I have a few minor tweaks to make, but having a fun template is an easy way to express yourself through this blog. I highly recommend that you take a second to google for templates or...

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Week 1: Learning Challenges

(A happiness meme that was on the Learning by HEART blog by Laura Gibbs) I am excited to try out some of these learning by HEART challenges. While the Time portion of HEART is probably the most useful section to me, I am more interested in the Health/Happiness portion.  I think your health and happiness impact every aspect of your life and so I want to do some of these challenges when I am stressed out during the semester to see if...

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Week 1: Growth Mindset

(This image came from the Growth Mindset Memes blog by Laura Gibbs) In Mythology and Folklore last semester, we learned about Growth Mindset. I completed a few of the challenges and felt that they were a good way to refresh your perspective on how to handle your classes or workload. This semester, I want to challenge myself to do more of the challenges and see how I grow from challenge to challenge.  I will be using this blog as...

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Week 1: Storybook Favorites

Last semester, I made a storybook and now looking at these storybooks makes me proud of all of the work that these students put into their storybooks because I know how much work goes into them. After going through a fair share of them, below are three of my favorite Indian Epic storybooks. Epic Women Tell All: I love the simplicity of this storybook. It is so easy to navigate and understand. The writing style is really fun too. When reading it,...

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Week 1: Course Overview

While reading about the two epics that this class will focus on, I decided that for the Ramayana, I will be reading R. K. Narayan's Ramayana. I think reading it in a modern style will help me understand the epic much more clearly.  (Krishna Killing the Crane-Demon, Bakasura (Kalighat album, circa 1880) San Diego Museum of Art at Flickr) I was drawn to this picture because one of the few things I know about Indian...

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Week 1 Storytelling: The Crab Who Could Walk

"Why in the world do you walk sideways like that?" said a Mother Crab to her son. "You should always walk straight forward with your toes turned out." "Why in the world do you walk sideways like that?" said a Mother Crab to her son. "You should always walk straight forward with your toes turned out." "Show me how to walk, mother dear," answered the little Crab obediently, "I want to learn." So the old Crab tried and tried to walk straight forward....

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Introduction

Hello everyone! (The Richmond skyline at night found here.) My name is Christina Hughes; I am 23  and am a fifth year senior here at OU. I am both happy and sad that I will be graduating in May. I was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. I am majoring in Public Relations and Letters, but I want to go to graduate school for Urban Planning. I have a strong fascination with cities, especially those with a minimal negative impact on the...

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Comment Wall

(Meme of Toy Story characters) Feel free to comment her...

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My Favorite Place

 (A personal photo of our family friend's son playing at the beach; photo from August 2015 ) I love to visit any beach on the East Coast. I've been very fortunate to spend a lot of time near the ocean when I go home to Virginia. Pictured above is Duck, North Carolina, where a family friend has a house 100 feet from the beach front. We do not typically go during the busiest part of the season, but it is guaranteed that we have at least...

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