Reading Notes: Public Domain Ramayana Part D

Hanuman
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita

The monkey picks up a mountain and jumps over a sea with it. Not only is he powerful enough to jump across the sea, he can do it while holding a mountain. It is going to be funny to add that much strength to my characters. 

Photo information: Hanuman holding a mountain

Source- Hanuman Photo

Indrajit

Ravana's son Indrajit tricks Rama for a short time and then Vibhishan reveals what actually happened to him. This part of the story will be a great addition to what I want to do with my story.

Battle of Rama and Ravana

The battle between these two will make a great climax to the story. The battle between, what seems to be, two of the strongest people in these stories. The battle was interesting and entertaining to read so it should be easy to do the same with my version of the story. 

Sita

Sita was rescued and her faith to Rama had to be tested. They do reunite which is why I am using the story. The hero wins the epic battle and gets the girl. I am excited to begin writing this weeks story. 

Reading Notes: Public Domain Ramayana Part C

Sugriva's Story
Rama and the Monkeys by Geraldine Hodgson

I will be using this for my story this week. I liked the introduction into the two brother's conflict. I like Sugriva so far, he seems like a good guy but we shall see. May include a twist in the plot of my story if he turns out to be good. Rama and Sugriva make a deal to help each other.

Vali's Death

This is the battle between the brothers. The younger brother wins with some help from Rama. I think I will leave Rama in my story but change how he helps in the battle. 

Sampati

Ravana kills his brother while abducting Sita and in this part of the story he tells Sugriva's army that Ravana is across the sea. I'll use this to lead into the second part of their adventure when they try to find and rescue Sita. 

Hanuman

He goes off to find Sita alone. He is the only one strong enough to jump across the sea and I will use the some of the ideas from his stories and incorporate them into my story. I like Hanuman, he is incredibly powerful and is an interesting character to write a story around. 

Image Information- Vali and Sugriva fighting

Source- Brother's conflict

Feedback Thoughts

 Silencing Critical Voices. 

Using Harsh Feedback  

7 Key Characteristics

Feedforward 

         I enjoyed the silencing critical voices article the most. There are times when I get overwhelmed with work and school work and I start to criticize myself for getting behind or not doing well on an assignment. This site helps lay out positive thinking steps that I can utilize for myself and be able to surpass my negative thoughts with positive ones. My boss at work is great at giving feedback to how we are doing. He gives us one comment on where we should improve and then tells us two things we are doing really well. This helps boost our morale at work and should be useful when giving feedback to everyone's stories. 

Image Info- Giving feedback 

Source- Feedback

Week 2 Storytelling: The Mighty Thor

Thor was the son of Odin and was destined to become ruler over all of Asgard. He was loved by his father’s people and he was fully devoted to them and to his father. Thor’s father had gathered his council to ask them if they thought Thor would be a worthy successor and the men discussed this and all agreed that he would make a great ruler. The king asked once more to make sure that this was what was best for the people and again the men knew that Thor should be king. The people knew of his strength because he had the mighty hammer Mjolnir. He received this weapon by showing his strength in front of the king of Midgard. The king had heard the tales of Thor’s strength but wanted to test his abilities. He told Thor that he could marry his daughter Jane, if he could break the legendary shield of Ysgramor. Thor took his hammer, the one he had before Mjolnir, into battle and with his first strike, he shattered the unbreakable shield into pieces. The sound of the shield breaking was as loud as thunder to everyone in the room. Then the god Ysgramor suddenly appeared in front of everyone, angrily demanding to know who had broken his shield. Thor claimed responsibility for the act and because of this show of honesty and strength Ysgramor gifted Thor with the hammer Mjolnir. The hammer could only be wielded by those who it deemed worthy. Ysgramor tasked Thor with picking up the hammer. Thor approached and could feel the power emanating from the hammer. He reached down and grasped the leather bound handle and then with the slightest effort was able to lift the hammer high in the air. This stunned Ysgramor because never before this had the hammer chosen someone worthy enough to wield it. The God then left them without another word. When he returned from his journey, he started going through the coronation process when a witch appeared accompanied by her son Loki. Odin had made a deal with the witch who had saved his life after he had won a duel with the ice giant king but was fatally wounded. For saving his life Odin offered the witch two favors, any request that she had would be fulfilled. She told him that she would claim these favors in the future and in flash of light and smoke, she vanished.  She did not reveal what she wanted until she talked to Odin the night before the coronation of Thor. She demanded that Loki become king and not Thor. Odin struggled with the decision because he knew that he was betraying his son but he could not break his word either. He told the witch that her son would be king and the next day he told Thor of what had transpired all those years ago and what had happened last night. Thor was upset but listened to his father. The witch then came up with the second demand and that was to banish Thor for 10 years so that Loki could take over without rebellion from Thor’s followers. The next week Odin died and Loki was going to be made king, the council members decided to talk to Thor about this. They knew of the deal that Odin had made and tried to convince Thor that since his father had died the debt was paid and the bargain he had made with the witch was no longer valid. Thor was angry with the men for having no duty and said that he needed to preserve his father’s honor by upholding his father’s debt to the witch. Even Loki wanted him to stay but Thor persisted that it was for his and his father's honor. Thor and his wife Jane left Asgard and made their way to Midgard to serve the time that he had been sentenced. 

Image Information: Thor's Hammer

Source Mjolnir

Author's Note:
Parashurama was a part in the story of Rama where Rama snaps the God Shiva's bow. A bull-man creature, Shiva worshiper, appears to him in a rage because of what Rama had done. Rama then calms the priest and is offered the Bow of Vishnu as a test of his heroism. He is able to string and use the bow which causes the priest to praise Rama for his heroism and glory. This story is preceded by Rama wins Sita. The king tells Rama that if he can bend the bow that the king supplied, that he can have his daughter Sita for marriage. Rama broke the bow leading to the bull-man priest to show up. I also used the story of Kaikeyi and Dasharatha to add to my story. The witch in my story is based on Kaikeyi. She saved Rama's father and her granted her two boons, wishes essentially, and she asked that her son be made king and that Rama be banished for 14 years in the forest. 


Parashurama- The Divine Archer by F. J. Gould  
Rama wins Sita
Kaikeyi and Dasharatha

Reading Notes: Narayan's Ramayana Part 2

Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Rama and Bharata

I liked how noble Rama is here. They inform him that he can go home and become ruler because his father had died. His father had made a deal and a part of it was that his son would not rule and would be banished four 14 years. Rama decided to uphold his father's word instead of returning back to the palace. 

He also shows an extreme devotion to Sita. He loves her very much and same the other way around too. Their relationship takes on many challenges as well as both take on challenges of loyalty. 

Sita

Viradha takes sita captive and Rama goes to save her and slays beast. I liked how they figured out how to slay the almost unkillable beast. 

Image info- Viradha and Rita

Source Viradha

Reading Notes: Narayan's Ramayana

I like Rama right now. I want to focus my story around him. I liked when he broke the bow and brought the wrath of a bull-like man and then made the bull man praise his might and heroism. I know how I want to make a story out of this as well. I am excited to start writing it.

Rama the Heir Apparent
I like this story because the ruler made sure that his council of leaders and important people approve of his son taking over. He does not declare that his son will be ruler but wants to be sure that people approve of his son before letting him rule.

Manthara and Kaikeyi
I like this one because it explains why the antagonists of the story dislikes Rama and why she does not want him to lead. I can see these two betraying or killing Rama so that they can have Bharata become ruler.

Rama is banished- Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie
I liked how Rama kept his word and his father's word by leaving when he was sentenced to be banished for 14 years.

Image Info- Manthara

Source Manthara