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Showing posts from November, 2020

Week 13 Reading Notes: Part B from The Five Tall Sons of Pandu

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 The story left off with Duryodhana and stealing the cattle from the castle in King Virata's kingdom. Arjuna reveals the Pandava's identity after they needed weapons to steal the cattle back from the opposing side. Duryodhana escapes knowing that Arjuna and Uttara are coming with smoke. Arjuna and his mate are still able to recuperate the cattle. Now that their exile has come to an end, they decided it was time to pursue their kingdom.  The two parties have people saying to go to war and others say make peace. Krishna's brother, Satyaki, and Duryodhana decide that war will settle the beef. Even though both parties are at battle against eachother, everyone is aware that it is basically family against family. So, Krishna persuades Arjuna to obey Dharma, which is basically a set of war rules.  In the first round of war, Bhisma leads the armies of Duryodhana and gain advantage. On the second day of battles, the Pandava's are able to make an impressive comeback. Duryodhana w

Week 13 Reading Notes: Part A of The Five Tall Sons of Pandu

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The reading is divided into two parts, Part A and Part B. These reading notes will be over Part A of Richard Wilsons Indian Story Book, The Five Tall Sons of Pandu.  To start with, Pandu is the father of five tall sons. These sons are Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, and a pair of twins, Nakula and Sahadeva. As the original plot of the Mahabharata states, when Pandu dies, his blind brother, Dhritarashtra becomes king. He still has a hundred sons in this version of the story. Duryodhana is still the eldest of all of the hundred sons of the king. Drona trains all the young princes in the arts of war.  After years of training, the princes have grown up and also mastered the arts of war. Drona composes a tournament and all of the cousins engage in mock battles. Duryodhana, the son of the blind king, and Bhima fight so harshly that Drona had to stop their fight to prevent any more escalation. Also, Arjuna is noticed for his impeccable skills in archery. A mysterious unknown man named Karna chal

Week 12 StoryLab: Chapter 2 of a Writing Manual for College Students

 This blog post is a summary of Chapter 2 of a writing manual made for college students. This chapter elaborates on telling a story, which would be extremely beneficial in this course.  The chapter starts with a powerful quote that is indeed very true.  "We're all stories, in the end." - Steven Moffat, Doctor Who The chapter also provides an excellent analogy of how storytelling underlies all sorts of writing. For example, the books gives up an illustration of how chemists analyze observable data to determine the cause and effect behaviors of a natural and synthetic maters. The lab report is basically narrative over the experiment. The characters are the elements and the reaction is the plot! A term I learned in this chapter that wasn't necessarily taught to me growing up is "scope." The books gives an excellent example of how to describe this piece of elemental writing. Scope is basically the edges of a photograph. Like, where and when does it begin and end

Week 12 Reading Notes: Part D of Eastern Stories and Legends

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 The Poisonous Trees The Bodhisatta was born and raised into a merchant. He was trading and doing business with five hundred wagons, he led a team through the forest.  When the team arrived on the outskirts of the forest, he stopped and addressed the others. He told them that the forest contains poisonous trees. He commanded them to consult him before eating anything in the forest.  A what-fruit tree grows inside the forest, outside of a village. This tree grows fruits that resemble a mango. Every single thing about the fruit growing from the tree and the tree itself resembles a mango tree. Even the taste and smell of the fruit resemble that of a mango. Although, if the what fruit from the tree is eaten, it is instant death.  The team going through the forest also had some greedy fellows. These greedy fellows went ahead of the caravan. These greedy fellows encountered this what fruit tree. Some ate the fruit and some waited to consult with the leader over safety measures of the tree. 

Week 12 Reading: Part C of Eastern Stories and Legends

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 These reading notes are for Week 12 Eastern Stories and Legends (Part C) The Hawk and The Osprey There are a few characters  on the shores of a natural lake:  A Hawk on the south shore  a She-Hawk on the west shore on the north, a Lion (king of beasts) on the east, the Osprey (king of birds) in the middle on an island, a Tortoise The hawk on the south shore asks the she-hawk on the west shore to be his wife. She asks the hawk if she has any friends. The hawk didn't have any friends, but the she-hawk asks him to find friends incase trouble were to arise.  The hawk asks his future wife where he could even find any friends at.  She tells him that he can make friends with the tortoise, osprey, and the lion. He does exactly that. The creatures and the hawk all form a bond of friendship and promise to protect each other in times of trouble!  The she-hawk turns into a mother-hawk when she has two sons who weren't quite able to fly yet. During this time, there were hunters foraging an

Week 11 Story: Finish What You Start

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You can now find this story in my portfolio here ! Once upon a time a small horse appeared at the door step of a royal palace that belonged to the king of Benares. The horse was magnificent with its deep black color and its outlined muscles. The silky black hair of the horse was compared to the king's night robe, which was worth thousands of pieces. The king figured it was a gift from nearby civilians who couldn't take care of such a glorious horse. And as expected, the king of Benares took in the horse as his own and raised it lavishly. The horse was fed apples that were specifically grown for the royal family of the king and those he chose to feed as well. The horse was better nourished than seventy-five percent of India's nation at the time. The horse was also fed superb three year old rice out of a diamond rimmed bowl that was worth more than all of the king's servants homes combined. The stall of the horse was decorated with crimson curtains and covered with a cano

Week 11 Reading Notes: Part B from Eastern Stories and Legends

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 The Bull That Demanded Fair Treatment The Bodisat was reincarnated as a bull. A Brahmin was gifted this bull when it was a young calf. The Brahmin named the young calf, Nandi Visala. Nandi was cherished by the Brahmin and basically raised it as his son. He fed it gruel and rice. Nandi was well aware of the amount of work the Brahmin has put into raising him, so he wanted to repay the Brahmin. Nandi knew that no other bull in all of India was as strong as him, so he wanted to show the Brahmin his strength for sustenance.  The bull told the Brahmin to find a rich farmer and bet him a thousand pieces that his ox will move a hundred laden carts. The Brahmin did exactly that. The rich farmer told the Brahmin that there are no ox's that compare to his own. The bet was made between the two that Nandi could move a hundred ladens. The Brahmin filled a 100 carts full of sand, gravel, and stones and tied them all in a row. The Brahmin prepared Nandi and took a seat on the pole. As he was com

Extra Credit Reading - Part A of Eastern Stories and Legends

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 The Hare That Ran Away There was a small hare who was simply scared of the world. This caused the hare to stay ten toes down and observe its surroundings, "diligently." The hare began to question a hypothetical situation... "Suppose the Earth were to fall in, what would happen to me?" The hare repeatedly asked the same question to itself, which basically made it paranoid.  One day, the hare heard a small noise. The small noise was caused by a fruit that fell from a tree. The hare believed that the earth was falling in. The hare stated, "the earth is falling in." As the hare frantically ran from the falling earth, it ran into the older brother hare and also began to act frantically because the other hare kept saying the earth is falling in. At the end of it, the hare caused several animals like deers and elephants to run away frantically as well. They ran into a lion, who is believed to be a reincarnated Buddha, and the lion questioned why everyone was fer