Friday, March 25, 2016

Week 10 Growth Mindset



Hey everyone this is my last post because I will be completing this class!. I felt this meme was a great representation of this course because I had to go out of my comfort zone to write creatively and learn about a culture that I knew nothing about. I did reach m goal and am very happy to have a little more free time now that this course is complete. 

Thanks for reading!

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Trevor's Portfolio

I chose the portfolio option because I do enjoy getting to write about different topics on the weekly readings. I hope to progress my stories and make them better as the weeks go on. For example, I would like to implement more dialogue and utilize better diction for my upcoming/past stories. Hope everyone enjoys!

My First Story:



The Kingdom of Greed

This story is about a king and his mistress having a son that tries to take over the kingdom. He attempts to kill the true prince and the king. This resembles the Ramayana loosely in that the next in line king is either exiled or killed. Please enjoy my story and its changes!

My Second Story:



An Ant's Adventure

This story is about a queen ant being kidnapped by a black widow spider. I focused my story on the story of Rama trying to rescue Sita. I hope you enjoy my take on the Ramayana with insects!

My Third Story:




This story involves the characters of Sita, Vali, and Sugriva. Sita is going to a dance with one of these monkey brothers and all is ruined by one brother's jealous actions. It is a love story that results in the true reason why Sugriva wants to help Rama. I hope you enjoy my take on the Ramayana!

My Fourth Story:




This story is a continuation from my above story Revenge Will Soon Come. Vali is seeking revenge on his brother for ruining his love with Sita. In this story you will see what will happen when he decides to bring the Voice from the Mahabharata into his revenge plot. Hope you enjoy!


Revenge is Poison

Years had passed since Sugriva and Vali had battled at their school dance. Vali was nowhere to be found by the people, but Vali knew exactly where he would be. Vali knew Sugriva resided in the far away city of Kishkindha. Vali wanted his revenge, but he did not quite know how to defeat his younger brother.

At first, Vali tried to get this so called hero Rama to defeat his brother. The plan was perfect, Vali distracts Sugriva while the hiding Rama shoots his magical bow and arrow into Sugriva. The plan was flawless until Vali learned of what he would have to help Rama with.

“Rama, if you complete this task I will forever be in your service. What do you wish of me once my evil brother is defeated?"

Rama replied with the only request Vali would not help with. “Vali, my beloved wife has been kidnapped by the ten-headed Ravana. Her name is Sita and I miss her beautiful face every day."

Vali could not face his once true love. He was scared of what Sita would say once they saw each other. Especially if the avatar of Vishnu himself found out Vali loved his beloved wife. “Rama I am sorry but I cannot help you find Sita for reasons I will not tell.”




With utter disappointment, Vali left Rama to find another way to gain revenge on his brother. As he swung back to his tree house, a celestial being appeared out of nowhere. With a mystical voice, the being told Vali the story of a magical pond.

“Vali, my friend. There once was a group of brothers that were princes. These brothers were exiled from their kingdom and wondered the forest with their mother. All of the brothers were so thirsty one day that I, The Voice, tricked all of these brothers into drinking my poisonous water. I am who you need for your revenge. I will help you on one condition. You must come back every day and give me company for a single hour. If you do not do accompany me, you will face a deathly consequence.”
“I will do whatever you desire.” Vali replied to The Voice.                                                                                                     
As soon as he agreed to the plan, the yaksha vanished. Meanwhile, Sugriva, in hiding, awoke from a slumber to a magical voice. The Voice spoke sweet words to lure Sugriva to the poisonous pond. As Sugriva reached the pond, he took the water into his hands and drank a quick drink of the refreshing water. The poison filled all of his veins. As Sugriva laid their dying in total shock of what had happened, Vali walked out of the bushes to look his brother in his face.

“Sugriva, my brother, you do not look very well. I told you that I would get revenge one day, and that day is today. Goobye Sugrvia.”

Vali had gotten his revenge with the help of The Voice. No longer would his brother walk the earth. With a bit of remorse, Vali quickly left the pond to head back home, completely forgetting about The Voices deal….

To be continued…..

Author’s Note: I mixed the two epics that we read this semester: The Mahabharata and The Ramayana. The timeline is changed from the original story because Vali had not gotten revenge against his brother until after the Pandavas have died. I decided to have all of the Pandavas die from the pond to create a story for the Voice to tell Vali. Also, I included The Voice in my story because I felt he was key in the Mahabharata. The celestial being seems to like making deals with people, therefore I made Vali make a deal with him in order to kill his brother. The Voice ends up killing Sugriva by the poisonous pond instead of Rama killing him with his bow and arrow. I felt that this would allow the reader to fear the Voice even more. I did not like the way Rama killed Sugriva so this allowed me to avoid these actions of Rama. Furthermore, I changed the fact that Vali did not fight Sugriva one on one, but however, hid inside the bushes until after he drank the poisonous water. He did not fight his brother straight on but instead relied on a third party to get his revenge. I plan on continuing this story and finally have Vali meet up with Sita again, along with Rama.

Bibliography: The prose is from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913), and the verse is from Mahabharata, Epic of the Bharatas, by Romesh C. Dutt (1898).


Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Tech Tip Week 14: Embedded Pinterest Pin

Hey everyone I pinned one of my favorite pins of Rama himself. It is a great way to imagine what the characters look like. Hope you enjoy!

Week 10 Reading Diary: Epified Mahabharata Part B

Below is a continuation of me watching the Epified Mahabharata:
·       Karna is a fighter instead of a farmer. Drona will only train the Pandavas and not Karna. I am sure this is why Karna fights against them in the great war.

·       I am getting the hang of the narrator. This part of the story made more sense the first time I read it anyways.


·       He does not win in Draupadi’s swamayarma. Arjuna wins instead so this will fuel his anger against them.




·       I still do not agree with Draupadi having to marry all five of the Pandava brothers instead of the won one won her fair and square. 


·       The Pandavas decide that it will be easier for each of them to marry her for a year at a time instead of all at once. This is different from the original Mahabharata. I am glad that they decided to change what has happened. However, I wish Arjuna was the one who just married her.

·       The drawings still amaze me. They are incredible and fun to look at!


·       Arjuna is exiled because he breaks the rules of the brother’s agreement regarding Draupadi. This is unfair but Arjuna has a lot of experiences in the forest for those 12 years.


·       Arjuna falls in love with another woman during his exile. I wish he wasn’t so quick to change his mind on the women that he loves. 


Tech Tip Week 13: Sidebar Pinterest Board

Hey everyone,

I uploaded my Pinterest Board for this Indian Epics course. Hope you enjoy my pins of Sita, Rama, and other Ramayana characters!

Week 10 Reading Diary: Epified Mahabharata Part A

This week I actually decided to watch the Epified Mahabharta instead of the Ramayana. I felt that I understood the Ramayana a little better than I thought after watching Sita Sings the Blues. Therefore, I wanted to focus on the other epic because I do not have a great grasp on the characters and plotline:
·       The videos are broken up nicely and easy to follow so far.

·       Queen Ganga is again drowning her children in the river. I am still confused on why she is wanting to do this. Hopefully it is explained later on.


·       I enjoyed Sita Sings the Blues a little more because I can follow the narrator better. They are just quick to say names in this one and I keep having to rewind to figure out what is going on.

·       Vyasdeva is extremely ugly but somehow has the three sons: Dhirtharastha, Pandu, and Vidu. I am curious to see how they portray the relationship between both Dhirtharastha and Pandu do to what comes later in the story.

·       Pandu suffers the same fate as the original Mahabharata in that he cannot bear any children or be intimate with anyone else or he will die.


·       Pandu now has the Five sons that he wanted. However, he ends up dying just like the parents of the boy from the forest said.

·       The artwork is very cool! I am glad that you can see how the drawer is actually drawing the images. I tried to draw a few but it did not turn out very well lol. I do like the images in Sita Sings the Blues more because it was more playful and colorful.

·       Margery ends up killing herself after Pandu dies.


·       Drona now enters the story and starts to train the boys. I am glad to see that they stuck with the original because Drona is one of my favorite characters. I am excited to see Draupadi’s
Swamayarma.




Overall, it was a great and creative way to understand this story. I feel I am learning more and more about the Mahabharta.

Epified Mahabharata Link