Indian Epics Blog

This week, I read more stories from the Jatakas Anthology. While they were all interesting in their own right, three stood out in particular. First is The Hawk and The Osprey . This is an interesting story because it involves the animals all working together, but there is no real peril for any character near the end. The hawk goes through different friends to protect himself, and the humans take three times to eventually relent. The interesting way the story is told is in repetition and the patterns used in order to show the cycle the hawk goes through to protect their kin. Next there was The Grateful Beasts and the Ungrateful Prince . The most interesting part of this story is the Hermit's role in the story. It seems set up for the Prince to be the main character, and I was under the impression that he would experience some kind of lesson. However, the Hermit is the main one. The other interesting part of the story is that the snake, parrot, and rat all are willing to meet the...

This week, in addition to a focus on a Growth Mindset, I had the opportunity to learn more about feedback- specifically, negative feedback. Often when I have heard about feedback, it does not have a positive or a negative spin on it, rather, it is just associated with a report on how the event went. But two articles that I covered show that we often run and hide from negative feedback, resulting in a pigeonholed experience where we do not grow. The first article is titled "How to Get Past Negativity Bias in Order to Hardwire Positive Experiences ." It is an interesting take on feedback as a whole, where the author asserts that we are hardwired evolutionarily to avoid negative feedback because, often, it could result in harms to survival. The argument is that in order to get past our negativity bias, we need to take steps back and link the negative experience to positive ones, enrich the experience as a whole, and to remember them as linked events in our mind. This is an i...

For a project in this class, I have had the chance to look over a vast array of topics such as Dharma, Traveling India, or even Epic Heroes. While each one has it's own inherent interest, four in particular stand out. Those four are Weapons of the Gods, Indra, the Thunder God, Epic Heroes, and Brothers. For the first topic of interest: Weapons of the Gods . I find this one particularly interesting because they are generally weapons that transcend the laws of physics, and they are generally a violent manifestation of the god themselves. For example, one of Zeus' weapons might be a thunderbolt. I have little knowledge of different Gods' weapons, but most of my knowledge would come from Greek mythology, such as Hephaestus' hammer. I would like to learn more about Gods' weapons in general, and I believe that reading more of these stories will help. In particular, I would enjoy reading stories about how the weapons possessed immense power, and a mortal stole them, or a...

A lion sat on his perch, under a nice shady tree. Off in the distance, he saw the monkeys playing in the trees. Beneath the tree was a rabbit, seemingly worried. Though this would generally be cause for an issue, there were many other animals around the plains, and the lion had to divert his attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a coconut fall from the tree and land on the rabbit. Seemingly frightened, the rabbit jolted away, screaming that the world was ending. Generally, the lion would race to stop the rabbit and set him straight, but this time, he had hatched a better plan, and decided to watch the rabbit scamper. As the rabbit continued it's flee, more and more animals continued to join his cause. The stampede grew in size, volume, and speed, growing quicker and quicker as time went on. The lion decided to quash the fear and restore a sense of calm to the lands, so he bounded down to the stampede. As he raced down, the stampede grew larger and larger, but he k...

While I will get more in depth per story, all of the stories within the Anthology that I read wasted no time in developing the characters themselves as the moral of the story was often far more important. As opposed to using humans that would have to have traits built in and developed, animals that have connotations attached to them are favored. For example, a smart character is casted to be a monkey, a gullible character is casted to be a fish, and a sinister character is casted to be a crocodile. Three stories that stuck out as a writer are: The Foolish, Timid Rabbit by Ellen C. Babbitt This one is interesting because as the stories draws on, you can feel the urgency and rush of the stampede. It slowly starts with one character running, then many of a character, then a few more species, then many species, each new specie of animal being larger than the last to note some kind of animalistic divergence from the norm. The Cunning Crane and the Crab by W. H. D Rouse This one st...

Today, I had the opportunity to see the different options available for reading during Indian Epics, and I was able to become more acquainted with the characters themselves. I looked at the Amar Chitra Katha, and three stories in particular stood out. The first was the Tales of Shiva , because of it's use of animals as evil spirits, and the many incarnations that Shiva takes. The second is Krishna and Rukmini  because it deals with a more grounded idea that transcends cultures. It's a story about two people wanting to be together, and an external conflict that won't allow it to happen. The final one is Kamadhendu  because I've always found Indian culture's reverence of the cow to be fascinating, and I believe learning more about this character will be a good insight into why exactly they believe what they do. Overall, while there are many interesting characters and stories to choose from, these are the three that stood out the most. Kamadhendu, Origin...

My sophomore year, first semester, I was hitting a wall, and I failed a test in Real Analysis. I would have to get a 100 on every homework, quiz, midterm, and a 95% on the final to get an A in the class. In the process, I would likely need to throw all of my other classes too, so it became a question of prioritizing that one class, or the other five. I'll spoil the ending and say I got an A in analysis as well as my other classes, but it was not because I suddenly sacrificed my time like no other- I just became more efficient at using it. I read two different articles over time strategies, one which covers beating procrastination, the other over prioritization of tasks. How to Beat Procrastination Beating procrastination is likely the first step one needs to overcome in the path to achieving something. Often times, we can see a huge list of things we need to do, and we become so discouraged by the volume of duties, that we put it off all together. In this article, Caroline Webb ...

This class uses a wide array of different technologies to assist students- far more than just Canvas. I actually am very excited about this because up until now (my former blog posts as evidence), my main excitement of the class was learning Indian Epics; however, with the emphasis on modular technology skills as well, there will be a more lasting impact. As an engineering major, we are told that if we have the free time, we should pick up computer science skills, such as programming, or online design skills. The issue is, with such a packed semester, it can be hard to add in different classes. Though I had the free time, I chose to add math instead of CS. With this class, I do not expect to gain an in-depth knowledge of programming nor website design, but rather, an introduction to basic image manipulation or website design to allow me to further skills later if I wish. An edited statement- Looking forward to learning about Indian Epics and more about technology in the classroom! ...

I had the chance to see all of the classifications of the different required assignments as well as the extra credit options that the class contains. Central to these assignments is an emphasis on effective dissemination of information. There are reading assignments for us to learn the material, storytelling assignments for us to have a chance to increase our skills, then feedback/project oriented assignments to give us the chance to see how other students are doing. Overall, I believe this seems like a large amount of work, but not because the work itself sums to a large amount of time, rather, because it is a litany of different kinds of assignments. I'm looking forward to the class structure as a whole though because of the free form nature of the assignments. While there are set due dates for some of the assignments, they are spaced out enough for more freedom to tackle the class when one is free. The year is well-defined and thought out, and I hope that I will learn a lot!...

I've had the chance to hear about the Growth Mindset in two other areas before today: Dean's Leadership Council and The OU Math Center. Both involve working as a student mentor/assistant to ensure academic and collegiate success. The overall idea of the growth mindset strikes me as a great idea, and the criticisms against it seem to be moreso against poor implementations of the idea, rather than the idea itself. Though I had the chance to hear about the growth mindset earlier and even the studies that were run on the kids, I did not know about the overall results and the "Not Yet" grade. I find this to be a great idea, because it pushes the idea that the end of the semester is not the final indicator of success, but rather, the chance to continue for the next semester. The main reason I find the Growth Mindset to be so persuasive is because it stresses the idea of inspiration. I would like to work more ideas from the mindset itself into my life and see what result...

My name is Sean, and I am double majoring in chemical engineering and mathematics. I enjoy mathematics and computations, and the engineering program marries these two very well, while the mathematics program introduces a theoretical side. I hope to learn enough about mathematical modeling and refinery operations to become a financial forecaster for crude training. Favorite Foods: My favorite food of all time is the szechuan chicken with hot chile oil from a restaurant in my hometown called Szechuans. But other great foods include: gumbo, steak, and kettle chips. I had the chance to intern at ExxonMobil in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where I consumed a large amount of cajun food. I had gumbo 3-4 times per week and while there are many kinds of gumbo, the best is by far chicken and sausage. Free Time: In my free time, I enjoy playing soccer, running, and racquetball. Soccer is a sport I've played for the past 15-16 years, and I've played for many teams including intramural and c...

As this class moves further in the semester, I have had the chance to see a few different Storybook projects. Below are three that especially caught my attention. Stepmother's Prison I've always found prison to be a fascinating story concept because of the power it has. Some consider the loss of freedom to be the punishment itself; others will consider the society of criminals to be the real punishment. Either way, this story grabs my attention because of the niche crime it appears to represent. Wicked stepmothers are a common archetype in stories, but mixing them with prisons is a somewhat different take. The blog divides the story into each inmate's tale, and it invites the reader to find out who truly deserves to be in prison. Remains of the Dungeon Rachitova in Romania, Source: Stepmother's Prison Tales from the Arabian Nights My first introduction to the Arabian Nights was through a Looney Tunes episode where Bugs outsmarts Daffy at every turn to ke...

Last summer, my family had the opportunity to go on a cruise around Hawaii, where we stopped at many different islands within the week. Of all the things one would here about Hawaii: the beaches, the food, the people, and the weather, it can be difficult to explain exactly what about the area I liked the most because each trait amalgamated so well to create a great experience. Though it can be difficult to choose the best part of the trip, there were three key things that stood out to me when compared to any other location: the inland areas, the food, and of course, the beaches. The cruise we went on featured great shore-trips where we had the chance to go inland and try out things such as river kayaking, rappelling down waterfalls, and biking on volcanos. It gives a great sense of what the area is really about as opposed to tourism. The food itself was different because of the freshness it exuded. Each morning there was an array of different fruits available for breakfast that had...

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