Week 15 Review

Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling

Since the thing I enjoyed the most this semester was the storytelling, I thought I'd post this from this week's announcements.

Week 15 Famous Last Words

These really are the Last Words, since this is basically the end of this course. I’m really relieved that this course is almost over, because this semester has been overwhelmingly exhaustive in all areas. After finals, I should have about three days to finally relax. Then I will be moving on to other things. Overall, this week I most enjoyed getting to read the projects and porfolios from the Myth-Folklore class. From reading their posts and such, I think that I would have preferred that class over this one. However, Mythology was the first course I ever took in college, so I’ve already completed that requirement by about five years. 

In the scope of my other courses, I have a ten minute presentation, one two page paper (easy), and three five-page papers due by Friday. It’s a bit of a mountain and I might not make it, because, let’s face it, after five years+ of undergrad, my brain is about to faint. 

Outside of school, I really do not have anything significant occurring in my life, because usually, school dominates my life. Christmastime is approaching, which means it’s time for me to turn into the annual scrooge. I dislike pretty much everything about Christmas, and most people think that I’m a pretty awful human being because of this, but I’ve basically grown to accept it. 

I’m also growing a little bitter about the length of this post. Just out of curiosity, I decided to see how much I’ve writing is expected for this class. I estimated that between both reading diaries, storytelling,  blog commenting, project feedback, and portfolio (shortest writing expectation), each week represents about 1500-2000 words written. This is the equivalent of 6-8, 12pt font, double spaced typed pages. If you factor in the extra credit, you could add up to an additional 1000 words, or 4 pages easily. Seeing this perspective suddenly makes me glad that I'm not in grad school yet.

Done.

Week 15 Tech Tip - Quote Maker

So I decide to check out some of the quote makers and I chose to use Canva. It was actually a lot more fun than I had anticipated. Here's my festive little design.

Made with Canva

Week 15 Curation

1) Nine Myths about Hinduism Debunked
 I found this to be a good read that shed some light on some common misconceptions that many people hold in regards to Hinduism. This might be useful for anyone wondering about how the texts we have been reading are being interpreted in the modern world.

2) The work of Grant Morrison.
 This incredible artwork is a sci-fi inspired version of the Mahabharata. This is hands down my favorite art that I've seen this semester.

Arjun invokes a war goddess

Monster Girl Challenge: Naga by TravJames

3) A Native American inspired version of a Naga

Week 15 Growth Mindset

So, I feel like part of the whole Growth Mindset business requires sometimes realizing that things can go terribly, awfully, and can be utterly overwhelming. I think the trick is to realize that sometimes it's ok to not be in control.

On  Fire - Gunshow

Week 15 - Reading Evaluations

* What readings did you like best?
Public Domain Edition Ramayana, Sister Nivedita's Cradle Tales of Hinduism. 

* What reading diary strategies were most effective for you?
Reading day 1 and 2 in the same day. 

* What did you think of the overall balance between reading - writing - commenting in the class assignments?
  The Volume of reading felt varied between weeks.
The Writing felt extensive and somewhat redundant at times.
Commenting was really the only way to communicate with other classmates, so I really was not displeased with any of these assignments.

* As you look back from the end of the semester, what advice about the reading do you have for students who will be getting started next semester?

Choose a variety early, otherwise the readings become monotonous.

Week 15 Reflections

Overall, I felt like the storytelling exercises were the most enjoyable element of this course. I had not done any creative writing in over ten years, so it was a bit fun to work on this type of writing again.

I mainly took this class to fill a credit, and unfortunately, this class fell to the least of my priorities. I enjoyed reading the myths, and I appreciate the cultural perspective that comes from learning the histories and significance of their respective contents, yet in the perspective of this course, I'm not sure what I will take away.

Week 14 Review

My favorite content from this week's announcements was the small blurb at the end of Saturday's announcements concerning the legend of Krampus. I married into a German family, so I've heard of Krampus before. My husband's grandparents came to America from Bavaria and all of their children, and grandchildren were raised speaking at least some German.

Another version of Krampus is Belsnickel, which is really best described in this video clip from The Office.

Screenshot from YouTube. Video Embedding Disabled

Week 14 Famous Last Words

This week I decided to watch Peter Brook’s Mahabharata instead of reading for a bit of a change. I am doing a massive amount of reading in other areas, so it was a nice change. It was difficult for me to commit to five hours of content, so I ended up watching the majority of the piece on double time. Like I mentioned in the Reading Feedback post, I think this would have been better split between two weeks.

My best writing for this week will definitely be for my Portfolio piece. Although, I don’t necessarily consider myself to be a great fiction writer, I have enjoyed spending time writing the storytelling posts thus far. I don’t really come across writer’s block often for this class, as it tends to be very straightforward, with the exception on commenting on others’ work. I work as a writing tutor, so I tend to analyze the writing of others over my own and it can be hard for me to separate the critique I would give one of my own students versus what I would give to a classmate.  I did very much enjoy getting to read the projects for the Myth-Folklore class! 

My writing work is far from complete, however, as I have three five-page essays due by Friday for other classes! My other classes are coming to a close. I have been taking Nutrition as the final requirement for my GenEd sciences. It’s been more interesting than I had previously expected, but I am quite ready to be done with classes at this point. I am also in a Russian Literature course (in Russian) and a Russian Literature course as an Independent Study, which are extremely time demanding courses. 

Outside of school, I am preparing myself to study abroad in Russia next semester and getting my affairs in order to begin searching for a full-time job. I’m doing my best to elude true adulthood, but it seems to be creeping on me nonetheless. 

Procrastination by Sarah Andersen

Week 14 Tech Tip: Weather Widget

This week I added the weather widget to my blog. I actually kind of felt like this is a little silly, since most of everyone in this class seems to be located mostly within Norman, but it was still kind of fun to put on my blog anyway.

My favorite type of weather is the damp, slow, rainy day that doesn't happen too often in Oklahoma. Even though I've spent most of my life here, I really get tired of the humidity of the summers and would love colder winters. As long as I have at least one somewhat sunny day in a week or so, I'm happy with any rain or fog.

I actually grew up in Moore, which, if anyone is familiar with Oklahoma, they'll know that Moore has been hit multitudes of times by major tornadoes. A video of my home being hit by the last tornado (2013) was actually purchased by several media companies and has been featured in many newscasts and documentaries, which is always weirdly amusing for me to come across. (No one was home and no one was hurt!)

Week 14 Curation

This week I thought that I would share a few images that I found this week. I have been focusing on the story of Krishna and Kaliya for my Portfolio, so most of my research has been aimed towards Krishna.

Krishna fights Kaliya

A young Krishna and cows

I also found KrisnaArt, a collection on Tumblr of exactly that. The operator has also compiled a system of tags which allow for searching by different names or characters.

Week 14 Growth Mindset

For this week, I chose again to make a meme based on some Growth Mindset ideas. I am in the process of finalizing my final semester of college, which will be spent abroad in St. Petersbug, Russia, so I feel like this applies a lot to my life right now!

Transliteration: Oo menya net idei [ee-day-ee] shto ya delayou
Translation: I have no idea what I'm doing.

Made using the Cheezburger maker

Week 14 Reading Feedback

This week I chose to watch Peter Brook's Mahabharata instead of doing any reading. I really like his style, even though the production was a bit outdated in terms of things like effects,  it just made it feel more like a stage than a movie. The length of the film was quite daunting. I actually ended up watching most of it on 2x speed. I think that it would be more suited to being a two week assignment than a one week assignment, but it was still worth watching. I thought it was interesting how all of the actors were of different ethnicity, and I'm wondering what the motivation was behind this choice. Overall, it was great to see a visual representation of the Mahabharata.

The Pandu brothers

Week 14 - Storytelling - Deceptive Waters

A serene lake - by Unsplash on Pixabay

Krishna ran as fast as his legs would carry him out of the grove of trees in the direction of lake where the herders had departed before and where all the cows surely must have followed. Krishna felt deep in his gut that something was not right, but he pressed forward nonetheless.

As he reached the rounded top of the hill he slowed to a stop to survey all that was below him. Krishna fell to his knees. In a perfect circle, laid out around the shores of the crystal clear waters of the lake lay the corpses of the cattle. Young and old alike had fallen over dead. Closest to the shore Krishna could discern the figures of the cattle herders among them. They too lie still. Even the grasses and the trees close to the lake were shriveled and unmoving. The air was unnaturally quiet, void of the sound of any insect or passing bird. All that remained alive was one individual ancient tree, which progressed simply by its age and mass. Its branches stretched out over the surface of the lake, its leaves barely above the pristine surface. 

Rage and grief swelled within Krishna and abandoning all sense of danger, he ran down to where his friends lay. As he wept, something miraculous occurred. Life began to come back to the herdsmen. One by one, they were revived, and embraced on another in joy. Not wanting to risk any further possibility of tragedy, Krishna urged his friends quickly up the hill before speaking. 

“Friends, my heart is heavy. I feel I am responsible for all that has happened to you this day. I should have been more attentive, more protective, or that I should have died with you. Tell me; how has this happened?” 

The youngest of the herders spoke first. “All was well for quite some time. We cooled ourselves in the waters and drank until we were satisfied. When we saw the cattle coming from the other side of the hill, we assumed that it was you who had urged them towards us, and would surely be following. We led the cows to the water and allowed them to drink as well. And then…” He paused, his voice faltering. 

Another herdsman continued the story in his stead, “And then a great serpent rose from the water. He opened his mouth and sprayed a venom across us and then all went black. We were no more.”

Krishna balled his hands into fists. He had heard tales of a serpent that lived in this area long, long ago, whose venom was so powerful, that even the demons and the lesser gods avoided his dwelling place. Its name was Kaliya.

Krishna felt grief and anger in his heart and knew it was his duty to end this serpent, so that none other would have to experience the same anguish that he felt in the death of his friends. Krishna eyed the one living tree and walked towards it. He scrambled up its branches and shimmied out onto the farthest reaching branch, just barely a foot below the deceptive waters of the lake. Despite the growing protests from his friends over the hill, Krishna swung himself down off the branch and plunged himself into the azure depths. 

Krishna’s friends held their breath in growing anticipation. Sweat and tears clouded their eyes and they paced the hill and cried out, afraid to take a step forward to go after Krishna, but holding onto hope that he would reemerge. The water began to bubble and church and the herders gathered in horror and strange fascination. The only thing they could do was wait. 

Below the surface of the waters, Krishna found himself wrapped within the never-ending coils of the great serpent Kaliya. The serpent undulated and pulsed and Krishna comprehended full magnitude of Kaliya’s terror. Where one head would have sufficed, Kaliya sported a multitude, which must have neared one hundred. Krishna felt himself afraid for the first time and fumbled, his lightweight flute floated out of his tunic to the surface above. 

On the shore, the herders felt the end of their world approaching. The sight of Krishna’s favorite flute bobbing on the lake sent a shiver of despair through the hearts of the waiting herdsmen. Suddenly, the sky turned unnaturally black. Meteors streaked through the blackness like fire and the earth trembled beneath them. Despite the risk, the youngest of the herders ran forward and fell on his knees, wailing, “Krishna, return to us!”

As he did this, the earth settled. The waters gurgled yet again and the men assumed that this was truly the final sign of Krishna’s death. Yet, as they collapsed in overwhelming anguish, Krishna emerged. In glowing radiance, he rode on the central head of the serpent. As Krishna stepped onto the land, he dismissed the serpent, who bowed its heads in respect and departed, and the ground beneath his feet was restored. The cattle too raised themselves as if they had merely been sleeping. Krishna spied his flute between the grassy waters of the lake. He plucked it and began to play a familiar melody.

Author’s Note:

This is a continuation of the tale of Krishna Kills the Serpent Kaliya. Since this week I only watched Peter Brook’s Mahabharata, I decided to return to sister Nivedita’s Cradle Tales of Hinduism and write more of this story. In part one of my version, Krishna and his friends are tending their herds in the summer heat. Krishna suggests that they go to a nearby lake to cool themselves while he guards the cattle. Unfortunately, Krishna falls asleep and wakes to find the cattle missing and begins to panic. This is where this story begins.

So far, this portion of the story is not incredibly different from the original. I decided that I wanted to extrapolate on the events and make them more dramatic, since the original mainly focuses on the battle between Krishna and Kaliya. I wanted to include an image that would accurately portray how serene and appealing the lake would have appeared to the herders when they first arrived. According to the original story, the lake was already black and nothing was growing or alive. However, I felt like many people would not willingly wander into something so bleak, so I wanted the lake to appear more appealing.