Week 2: Reading Diary A: Ramayana Online 1-20

The reading that I chose is Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition.

What caught my interest first was the fact that no other god was able to defeat Ravana. He could be defeated by humans or monkeys though and so the god Vishnu decided to be reincarnated as the four sons of Dasharatha and therefore Dasharatha's three wives delivered the four sons. Kaushalya had Rama, Kaikeyi had Bharata, and Sumitra had Lakshmana and Shatrughna.

Ahalya is the next story that I liked. Ahalya was seduced by Indra who was disguising himself as her husband. I liked this story because of the way it was told. It was told in the form of poetry and I think that really helped to tell this story. When she was caught by her husband, he punished her and Rama was the only one who could return her back to her original form.

Rama Wins Sita: I really enjoyed this story too. Rama wins the love of Sita by winning the challenge set forth by her father. It was love at first sight with Rama and Sita so it was awesome that he was the one who was able to beat the challenge when many others tried and failed.

Manthara and Kaikeyi: This story is interesting because it introduces Manthara, whom is a bitter woman and old nurse of Bharata. She is able to convince Bharata's mother, Kaikeyi, to become jealous of the fact that Rama was going to become heir. Manthara is described as quite an ugly woman and she is able to cause chaos with Kaikeyi.

Manthara found on blog

Week 1 Curation

My main sources of curation and sharing are pinterest and bookmarking. Pinterest has to be one of my favorites though because it is so easy to search and find stuff that is interesting. I am also able to put the items in different catagories and then it brings up more things that I might be interested in. I also like to use my browser for bookmarking when I find different webpages that I like or that I will need at a later time. I usually use both options quite often because of my job and school.

The other sources sound like great ones too. I have yet to try things like twitter but I am interested in getting more information on the Known. I am very interested in it since this is the first time I have ever heard of it.



Funny Meme about Pinterest. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Growth Mindset

I love the idea of the growth mindset. It takes out the failing aspect and shows that everything is possible. I feel like it takes the group out of it and focuses on the individual. It shows that everyone has an equal chance to accomplish things, some just haven't yet. Most grades just reward the correct answer and this idea rewards the thoughts and processes too. It makes it more worth it to get through the steps and really challenge yourself. Getting out of your comfort zone helps the brain make new connections that assist with learning. It encourages those who have had things easy to actually want to have challenges. I really like this concept.

I had never heard of this concept before and after reading about it, I am quite surprised that it is just coming to my attention. It makes so much sense. I really am excited to try the growth mindset challenges that this class is offering. In school, I do tend to run from a challenge but I am definitely going to try this growth mindset idea.

Meme from the Growth Mindset Meme blog

Storybook Favorites

After browsing through numerous storybooks, there were many of them that caught my interest. These are the three that I think were interesting.

The first storybook that caught my attention was Karma for Kids. The title is what I noticed first. It just sounded interesting so I wanted to see what it was. I have children and always watch my nieces and nephews and so the introduction made me laugh. I have been in the similar scenario of having children fighting and trying to figure out what the best way to have them get along would be. I think the introduction was well written and it made me want to read more about the stories of karma.

The second storybook was Ravana's Diary. I like the idea of using a diary to tell stories. It is able to describe how the writer of the diary views situations and is able to show their true feelings. It is all from their point of view which always makes an interesting story. I also like how the background looks like an open book. I think this layout helps you to feel like you are in fact reading someone's diary. The introduction helps to show how the storybook is going to be. It starts with Ravana's wife who wants to show that Ravana isn't just the evil person that everyone thinks he is. I am completely unfamiliar with what the storybook is based off of but it still seems to be one that I would want to read.

The last storybook that I am going to talk about is Rama vs Sita. This was the random storybook that was listed on the storybook page so obviously I am going to look at it. I like the idea of using a trial to tell the stories. It gives a unique perspective and in a way forces the characters to defend their actions in the stories. I think it sounds like it would be a really good storybook.




Image used in the storybook Rama vs Sita

Overview

I have never taken an epics class so this is all pretty new to me. I am excited to get started though just because I love learning new things. As I was looking, the thing that caught my attention the most was the variety of the reading. There are so many different options and I even saw that there are comic books options. I am not a big fan of comic books but I know many people who are so I think that it is just cool that it is one of the options. I love the variety.

I have taken a religion class before but it was an introduction to religion class so I don't feel like I got that much out of it. It was a very basic explanation of the different parts of the religions. I have never meditated before but I hear that it is very calming and helps people to feel good.

Overall, I am very excited to work on this class. I took the mythology class last semester and I loved how different all the readings were. I felt like I was learning so much about so many different things. I look forward to learning more about the epics of India and the format of the class definitely helps me to want to learn.





Image of Tulsidas: Ram Charit Manas

Introduction

My name is Stephanie Holliman. Everyone calls me Stevi. I sometimes even forget that my real name is Stephanie. I am 25 years old and my major is psychology. I was born and raised in Oklahoma and I could not imagine living anywhere else. I am married with two children. My son’s name is Bentley and he is 5 years old. My daughter’s name is Bransyn and she is 1 year old. Mostly everything in my life revolves around my kids.

I am going to be graduating this semester with my bachelors in psychology. I already have an Associates in Applied Sciences in EMS that I got a couple years ago. I am a nationally registered and state certified paramedic but I am no longer working as a paramedic because I decided that I wanted to do something different with my life. That is why I am working towards my psychology degree. I started college when I was 17 years old. I feel like I have been in school for forever but I know that it will be worth it in the end.

My life is pretty busy now. I used to play soccer. I still love playing but I am not able to do it as much. Between kids, school, and work there just isn’t much time for anything else. I am okay with that though because things are going pretty good. I am quite content with spending most of my time with my family.

The free time that I get is spent with my children, my nieces and nephews. There is a total of 9 children between my sisters and I. There are numerous days where I watch all of them by myself. We have fun though. We love to play outside and go to the park. I spend a lot of time coloring and playing with play-doh. I love it. It reminds me to enjoy the little things in life.

Personal photo of my kids on Easter 2015.

Storytelling for Week 1: Prince Jack and Princess Jill

"Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after."

(Traditional nursery rhyme)

Jack and Jill were the children of King Frank and Queen Jennifer. They were quite spoiled being the children of royalty. They would run through the castle and destroy everything in their path. Their parents soon grew tired of how out of control the children had become. They enlisted the help of the maids. The maids were glad to help. They had grown tired of constantly cleaning up after the spoiled children.

They wanted to start right away. They knew that this task would not be an easy one. So they waited until the children had run through the kitchen and tracked mud all over the freshly mopped floor. The king and queen noticed that the children had made quite a mess. They told the children that since they made the mess, it was now their job to clean it up.

The children complained and did not want to clean up the mess. They did not feel like it was their job. This made the maids even angrier. They told the children that they had to go get the water in order to clean the floors. The children went to the sink to begin gathering the water to mop the floor. The maids decided that it would be too easy for the children if they were able to get the water out of the sink. So the maids told the children that the water in the sink was not the correct water to mop the floor. The children, never having cleaned a day in their lives, believed this to be true.

The maids then led the children outside to the very large hill that led to a water well.

“That is the correct water” the maids exclaimed, trying to contain their laughter. “You will need to take this bucket and fill it up and then you may bring it down and clean.”

The children looked up at the hill. It seemed like a lot of trouble just for some water, but they began climbing nonetheless. Once up at the top of the hill, the children filled up the water bucket. Jack handed Jill the bucket, but Jill did not want to have to be the one to carry it. It was much too heavy. So she shoved the bucket back at Jack. She hit him so hard that he and the bucket went flying down the hill. She tried to reach out and catch him but all she managed to grab was his crown. This caused her to lose her balance and she fell on top of the crown, causing it to break.

Jack and Jill tumbled down the hill and landed on the ground. They realized how hard it was to clean the floor. They ran to the maids to apologize. The maids felt that they had learned their lesson and sent them on their way.

Jack and Jill by Sue Clark.Wikimedia Commons

 Author's Note:  This story was written based on the nursery rhyme "Jack fell down, and broke his crown" that was found in The Nursery Rhyme Book that was edited by Andrew Lang (1897). This nursery rhyme is about Jack and Jill. They climbed up a hill and fell down it. There was very little detail in the original nursery rhyme so I was able to create whatever story I though worked best.I thought it would be interesting if Jack and Jill were spoiled children and had to climb up the hill as a form of punishment.  

My favorite place: Disney World

My favorite place is Disney World. My husband and I took our kids there for the first time ever this summer. We only went for one day but we had so much fun. My son is only five and he rode on roller coasters for the first time. The first roller coaster he went on was even Space Mountain which, if you didn't know, is extremely fast and mostly in the dark. He wasn't even scared and he had so much fun. My daughter is only one year old and even she was able to enjoy most of the rides that we went on. I am definitely planning on going back soon. It was pretty much the best vacation ever.

Personal photo taken in April 2015 at Disney World in Florida

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Personal Photo of my daughter Bransyn. Taken in March 2015.

Personal photo of my son Bentley. Taken in August 2015.

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