Indian Epics Fall 2019

The first article I read was " How to Give Bad Feedback Without Being a Jerk ," and it was something that I felt I struggle with. When peer reviewing papers or giving feedback I often have to catch myself before saying something that makes me sound like a jerk. One of the opinions that the author gave was that if you put yourself on a level playing field as the other person, it will help you not sound as if you are superior to them. I also find myself questioning the stylistic choices of writers that I am giving feedback for and comparing them to my own. This makes me come off like I am saying that my style of writing is superior when that is not always the case. The author of this article also says that giving praise before and after criticism is not the best choice of action. Rather than giving what may be unsubstantial praise, explain why you are giving criticism. I would greatly benefit from putting this into action. The second article I read was " Why do so Ma...

For my storybook, Kumbhakarna makes a great character to play the main role due to the curse that he receives and my personal interests. The first story that I am getting information from is  Kumbhakarna: The Sleeping Giant , a comic book found in the OU library. This tells the origin of the curse and why Kumbhakarna has it. This is necessary to start my story and give background as to where his deep sleeping came from. For another source, I found a book titled Iliad of the East  that contains a chapter about Kumbhakarna. It tells of the giant who sleeps and a more in depth story than the comic could give. I think this would greatly helped by providing more detail on the characters of the story. I do not think Kumbhakarna is as bad of a guy as the stories make him out to be. This book would also provides the story of his time while sleeping. I think it would be a great idea to tell the story of a dream he had while asleep. The dream could be about how Kumbhakarna saves the ...

Day 1: Today I, Ahalya, decided to start writing a diary. There has been a lot on my mind lately and this was the only way I could get it out. If I continue to bottle it up any more, I am going to burst.  Day 2: It has been three days since I have returned to Gautama and he still continues to act as if nothing has changed. Typical man. Acts like everything is fine and dandy after turning me to stone for 16 years. He has not even said sorry! Day 4: Gautama asked if I wanted to go on a date in two days. Maybe he will finally apologize for turning me to stone after all those years. All I need is closure and I think I am going to get it. Day 5: Gautama told me to wear my nicest outfit. I have a few to choose from, but I think I am going to go with the red one. It was always his favorite. Day 6: The date was going so well and as soon as I thought he was going to apologize, he asked if i had any money to pay! HE FORGOT HIS WALLET. I am done. Day 7: As I was packing up ...

Rama's Initiation: The sage that appeared before the king is very mysterious and has yet to show what his motives are. For someone to ask another person to take two of their children away from them is a stretch that I am not sure many would have agreed. I could see why the king was hesitant but it still surprised me that he allowed it. Sages must be powerful beings or the king is inherently trying to repay a sage because a sage is what gave him children. Yagna = ritual sacrifice Thataka's Story: "A woman of demoniac tendencies loses all consideration to be treated as a woman." Rama becomes the hero of the world extremely quickly. I am assuming the actually story was much longer. I still have many questions though. How did the sage know? Do most sages know things like this? If so, then a most stories could start with a prophecy from a sage. Lastly, the brother was not mentioned at all in in this chapter.  Mahabali's Story:   This is another story o...