Famous Last Words: Week 5

I really enjoyed this week's reading and starting the Mahabharta. I did find it very confusing at first because of all the characters involved in the beginning. The storyline is actually starting to make sense after my Wednesday reading assignment. I am excited to see what happens with the Pandavas and their quest to get revenge against Duryodhana for taking Draupadi. I feel that it is going to be similar to the Ramayana except that the ending will be a little happier. Also, Bhima seems to be the best character and reminds me a lot of Rama. I am looking forward to seeing what he does in particular. I hope he is involved in a story plot that I can write about in next week’s storytelling.

My best writing thus far this week was my storytelling again. I had really enjoyed the scene with Baka and Bhima. I felt that it reminded of David and Goliath so I implemented the character of David into my story. The main antagonist was changed to a troll so I felt that was a good change. I really worked on paragraph length this week because I noticed my other stories were sometimes not broken up that well. I want my readers to be able to follow my story so I think I did a better job this week in my story.  If you are curious to read my story about a young man defeating an evil troll in a nearby town, read my story from Week 5.

My other classes have really picked up this past week. I had my first exam of the semester on Thursday and felt I did pretty well. I have two tests next week: Formation Evaluation on Tuesday and Reservoir Engineering on Monday. These exams should be pretty tough so I have been studying a ton for them. I hope I do great on these exams and start the semester off right. Also, drilling lab is starting to really get time consuming. We are required to write a lab report each week and they sometimes take a little longer than desired.

Finally, I “celebrated” my 21^st birthday by studying all night. My friends and I are actually planning on going to Top Golf this weekend so that will hopefully be really fun even though I am not the best golfer.

Source: Top Golf

Overall, this has been a very busy week. I am looking forward to getting past these exams and reading the Mahabharata 

Week 5 Review

Source: Week 5 Announcements 

This was my favorite announcement from the past week because I am a huge scary movie guy. I am from Texas so I am a little biased in saying that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a great movie. I recently watched Psycho and Bates Motel so I think Arizona has my favorite scary movie for sure!

Learning by H.E.A.R.T. Week 5

Source: H.E.A.R.T. Blog

I think this is an interesting idea for people to think about. Happiness is sometimes ignored because of past events that happened. For example, I moved high schools my sophomore year. I was constantly unhappy because I had just moved away from all of my childhood friends. I was always thinking about what could have been and how fun the past was, instead of looking into the future to be happy. I feel that it is necessary to constantly look forward to be happy.

Growth Mindset Challenge Week 5

Source: Growth Mindset Challenges 

I think this is an awesome way to think about challenges. Sometimes it is difficult to start a task that seems a little out of your comfort zone. These tasks, however, really help you fine tune your skills and allow you to push what you actually know. I am looking forward to taking on projects that will require me to push myself and work really hard. Also, this is true only if you have bosses or mentors that will be available for questions!

Thoughts About Comments

I feel the comments to my stories and other posts have been very helpful. I have definitely changed up my writing style for the next week due to constructive criticism on the comments. I do find that I sometimes have trouble writing negative comments so I need to work on that to help the other writers! I also enjoy getting to read different people's stories each week. It allows for a change of pace and a great way to get to see many people's creative ideas. Overall, the comment process is an excellent thing to do in this course!

Week 5 Storytelling: A Troll's Reign

There once was a town named Pawnee. This town was full of laughter, love, and happiness.  The citizen’s days consisted of church and family gatherings. All was well in this little town but a darkness loomed nearby. A troll with teeth as big as the citizens themselves was in a deep slumber. The terrible troll was named Baki. The citizens had heard of his rulings every thousand years, but it was all a distant worry. The distant worry would soon be a cruel, cruel reality…

Source: SodaHead

Baki stretched his long arms after waking from a thousand year slumber. He was very hungry with an appetite for flesh. He performed his ritual of sharpening his teeth and club. As he got ready for his upcoming reign, he spoke words that boomed across the lands. “I’m coming dear Pawnee. Be prepared.” The citizens shivered with fear for they were not expecting those words to be spoken so soon.

Baki swept through the town with his mouth as wide as the sea. He quickly went to the King and ate him with one swift bite. The livestock and the occasion citizen fell into the depths of his mouth. The people ran with fear locking their doors and turning off the lights. The attack continued for the next week until Baki’s belly was completely full. Once he was finished, he started his actual reign over Pawnee. The rule was for each family in the city to alternate each week on offering the troll either eight cows, twenty chickens, or one of the family members themselves. These were the rules, and they would not be altered. One of the local families had neither chickens nor cows, therefore they would have to sacrifice one of the children. This outraged the town of Pawnee and news spread quick.

A nearby town heard of the terrible news. In the town resided a family of five sons that were in hiding from something that no one quite knew about. The youngest and strongest boy was named David. He thought of all the people that were being affected by this cruel creature and felt something needed to be done. He begged and begged his mother to let him go but she resisted. David did not care what she said. Pawnee needed a savior and he would be that for them. Later that night, David packed his sword, slingshot, and rocks before sneaking out to Pawnee.

Source: David

After a fortnight of traveling, David arrived in the middle of the city’s downtown. He stood firm with sword in hand and yelled out to the evil troll. “Baki you have taken your last human. Your last chicken. Your last cow. And especially your last breath.”

Baki jumped out of his makeshift thrown of cow bones. He quickly jolted towards David a swung his massive club, barely missing David’s head. As David ducked he took out his sword and attempted to stab the calf of the troll. The rough hide of the troll snapped the metal sword in two. Baki chuckled with a great laugh for he knew he had an easy win now.

“Ah young boy you are done for now. Give up now and I will make it quick.” Baki continued his laugh, his mouth being spread open. David saw his chance and took advantage of it. He took out the most rugged rock and placed it into the slingshot. David pulled back with all his might and let go of the rock, his last chance. As Baki chuckled, the rock went straight into his mouth and lodged into the troll’s throat. As Baki choked on the rock, David strolled up to him. “You have underestimated me my friend. People of Pawnee, you are forever safe from this monster. No more sacrifices, only happiness!” The citizens peaked out from behind their doors with smiles on their faces. As the town became full of people, they chanted for their new hero. Their new King.

Author’s Note: The inspiration for this story was that of the Mahabharata. The particular section in the Public Domain Edition was Bhima and Baka. Bhima, the son of Pandu, defeats an asura named Baka in a nearby town. This asura is reigning over the town. I chose to be similar to the Mahabharata in that the troll desired sacrifices of animals and if not available, humans. My inspiration for David was that of Bhima. I chose not to make him of a noble origin to being with because I wanted a rag to riches type of story. He differed greatly because at the end of the story Bhima was not chosen to be king. Also, a major difference in my story and that of the Mahabharata is that David’s (Bhima) mother wanted him to defeat the troll (asura). This is vital because defying his mother brings a certain dynamic to the story. I am glad that you read my take on the Mahabharata. Furthermore, David is sort of a take on David and Goliath.

Week 5 Reading Diary: Part B

Below is a continuation of my reading of the Mahabharata:

·       Kunti and the five sons escape the fire before it kills them. Duryodhana and the King believe they are dead however. The family escapes into the forest in order to hide.

·       In the forest, the boys and the mother face the rakshasa Hidimba and his sister Hidimbi. Bhima defeats the evil Hidimba.

·       Hidimbi falls in love with Bhima. This is very similar to that of Shurpanakha and Rama. There are many parallels with the Ramayana and I will continue to try and find similarities. The two elope and have a child.

·       Bhima futher proves his fighting skills against the asura Baka. He defeats him very easily.This also is similar to the Ramayana because Rama is such a great fighter and would do anything to save people. Bhima seems to have characteristics that resemble that of Rama.

Source: Wikipedia

Bhima and Baka

·       Draupadi, a supernatural being, has a swayamwara to be married. The Pandavas hear of this news and attend it. Arjuna was able to bend the bow and shoot it accurately. He has won Draupadi.

·       She will now be married to Draupadi, however, due to them being the sons of Indra, they all are one. Therefore, all five of the sons will be married to the newly won woman. I do find this different than most of the stories because usually there are multiple women to one man. This is very unusual and could have problems later on in the epic.

·       Arjuna is exiled because he breaks one of the rules regarding the five husbands and one woman. He meets the daughter of the nagas and has a son with her. I find it interesting that he continues to marry different women. He is unlike Rama because he desires many women. I enjoy Rama more because it makes the entire story have reason filled with love and a certain dynamic. He finally marries another woman Chitra and has a son.

·       Mayasura builds the Pandavas a huge palace that furthers Duryodhana anger. Yudhishthira is asked to go to a gambling match where he loses Draupadi. This is where the plot changes to that of revenge for the Pandavas against Duryodhana.

·       They are all exiled to the forest for the next 12 year.

Overall, this is a great end to Part B. I am excited to continue reading this epic because of the revenge story that is building up. I am curious to see what the Pandavas do to avenge their exile and the taking of their wife. 

Source: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore 

Weblink

Week 5 Reading Diary: Part A

For this week’s reading, I chose to read the Public Edition of the Mahabharata. I felt that this would be easier to read due to its accessibility online. Thus far, the story has been confusing do to its many characters. Below is what occurred in Part A:

·       Indra is flying through the sky and impregnates a woman fish that gives birth to Satyavati. She then becomes the mother of the writer of the Mahabharata, Vyasa. His name is also Dwaipayana or Island –born. The King below is the father of this son.

Source: Vyasa

·       King Shantanu marries Ganga in human form. She gets pregnant and drowns the first seven of her children. This part is very confusing to me because I do not know why she was doing this. The King disobeys her demands and she leaves him with the last boy alive.

·       King Shantanu desired Satyvati, however, the fisherman demanded that her son must be the heir to the throne. He could not because of the boy from the previous wife Ganga. This boy’s name is Devavrata.

·       The boy helps his father get Satyvati by stating to the fisherman that he will never take the throne. His name changes from Devavrata to Bhishma meaning “Terrible”. I do think that this decision was a terrible one, however, in both the epics the sons do anything for their fathers. I find this to be very unique and something that I want to write in my story.

·       Bihishma takes three princesses in order for them to marry Satyvati’s sons. Both these son’s die, making Bhishma go get the sage Vyasa. He and the two princesses give birth to a pale boy named Pandu and Dhritarashtra.

·       Kunti and Madri both marry the son Pandu. Kunti previously had a son before she married Pandu.

·       Pandu, similarly to Dasharatha, kills someone while hunting and is cursed. This is extremely important in both epics because it usually brings someone into power sooner than they expected. This is vital in the Mahabharata. He has five sons from gods before he ultimately dies from the curse.

·       To die with their beloved king, Madri and Kunti both want to be burned with him. The gods choose Madri to die with the king instead of Kunti and she is burned.

·       The blind son, Dhritarashtra, raises the five sons of Pandu in the royal city of Hastinapura.

·       The son of Dhritarashtra gets jealous of the five sons and plots to kill them. Bhima is poisoned but instead goes into the underworld and obtained the strength of a mighty giant.

·       Drona becomes the teacher of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. As training occurs, the Kauravas become even more jealous of the Pandavas.

·       Kunti son, Karna, comes into the scene of the mock fights and displays his strength. They all prove their skills and become warriors.

·       Duryodhana gets so jealous of every Pandavas feats and wants to set them and their mother on fire.

Overall, this is a great story so far and I am curious to see what occurs in the upcoming sections. Thanks for reading. 


Source: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, , Seeger, and Tagore. Weblink

Tech Tip: Creating a Pinterest

Hey everyone, I created a Pinterest account and created an India Epics board. I searched for Professor Gibb's pin board and located pins that I enjoyed. If you do not have one, I recommend making one to keep up with the course.

Thanks for reading everyone!

-Trevor-