Mikayla's Epics of India

      I used to be beautiful, I used to be one of the most gorgeous women around. Men would swoon for me and give into my education, they would turn their focus from mediation to me. Maybe that is my fatal flaw, but it is just how my girls and I were. That was all before the curse, however. Now I am damned to a life of swamp servitude. I feel misunderstood, I do not wish to harm anyone, but everyone assumes that my goal is to swallow them whole.  My cure came to me in the form of prince Arjuna. I was cursed to 100 years of living as an alligator, which is no way to truly live. They deemed me a man-eating alligator, which, I guess is not unfair, it is just not very becoming. But when Prince Arjuna came near, and I heard his men's warnings, I knew it was my time to strike. The prince dove confidently into my waters, I had no time to waste. I meant him no harm, I did not bite on to attack, this is my only way out.  I lunge as fast as possible up to his long legs and, as gentle as an a

      This reading was very interesting! Although I am not sure how I will be able to incorporate this into my own storybook, I am still really glad I read this story. The story is interesting because oftentimes the king of the story isn't killed off in this manner. King Krishna was meditating in the woods when a hunter mistook him for a deer and gets shot at. The region descends into chaos after this happens, there is a great wave that swallows the city and everything is up in arms and uncertain. In his early life, Krishna was one of the greatest heroes of India so he left behind a great legacy, But of course, this is Indian mythology so nothing is really as simple as it seems. There is much more than meets the eye with Krishna's death and nothing will remain the same. I really enjoyed this story, overall, although it was not my favorite. I have enjoyed other stories much more in the past, but this one was not bad. I do not think I will write a story about it, but I still real

  This week's reading is awesome! I really enjoyed reading the story of The Adventure of Prince Arjuna because it gives me more of a perspective on the things I have previously read that have featured him. The reading is chock full of adventure and insight, and I really enjoyed just diving into the story. It gave me a lot of inspiration for how to write my story this upcoming week, and how to incorporate more adventurous language into my writing. I normally stick to the same sorts of stories every week, but this week I would like to challenge myself to incorporate more dialogue and a more first-person perspective. I really hope that I am able to come back to this story later in the week for a bit of inspiration as to what to write about, and what style I should write it in.  Source information:  The Adventures of Prince Arjuna Image information: Burning of Khandava forest .

1. Looking back . These assignments are working relatively well for me, and this being my second time taking this class, I find them rather effective. I am pretty happy with how my blog and my website are looking, I like the aesthetic I have gone with much better this semester than the last. I think my chosen topic being animals will go well with my last semester's project being about dogs, even if I was never able to complete it. Naturally, my favorite reading has been about animals. Specifically the Mongoose story I wrote about. My reading notes have helped me, but I find myself forgetting about them when it comes time to write my stories. My research strategies usually end up turning into google deep dives, so maybe I am not doing well with the research strategies and need to find a new one.    2. Image.  This is my favorite image that I have used thus far because it is art created by an Indian artist named Madhubani. I really like the "vibe" that this image creates, a

  1.   Looking back . Are you happy with your progress so far? What are you most proud of? Do you have a good weekly routine? What are the class assignments that you enjoy the most? Are you using any of the extra credit options? How have things gone in terms of developing your blog and building your website?        - So far, the end of week points will be 7 points short of an A in the class. Although I am unhappy with my progress, I am still proud of myself for making it this far. My weekly routine is sort of a hot mess, and I am not necessarily happy with the lack of progress I have made. The class assignments I enjoy the most are these types of assignments, where I am forced to reflect. I often move so quickly through the week that I realize I have basically zombie walked through the entire thing. I am going to have to use some extra credit options to make sure that I get back on track, but 7 points will not be too difficult to make up. Things are going well with developing my blog,

  1. Feedback in . Overall, how would you rate the quality of the comments and feedback you are receiving from other students in the class? What kinds of comments are you finding to be the most useful?      - The sort of comments I am finding most useful are those that point me in a specific direction and that give me critical feedback, rather than just saying good job. 2. Feedback out . Similarly, how would you rate the quality of the comments and feedback you are leaving for other students? Have you found some good strategies that help you give detailed feedback? Are you getting some good ideas for your own writing as you analyze other people's writing?     -I think I am leaving pretty good feedback, even though I could stand to be more specific. Being able to give other people feedback is contributing to my own growth as well because it helps to point out things I should be doing. 3. Blog comments . Do you have a sense of getting to know people by connecting with them at their b

  Grandpa Kartik was a giver. He never was seen with materialistic items, he only had what he needed and gave the rest away. In a journal entry I read while going through his thins to donate, he wrote: "April 24th, 1902: My whole life I have been told that I need to give more than I have. That I should not have excess. Even if that same principle has not been supplied to me on behalf of others, I have made sure that I am not living with more than I need or more than I can consume. There have been times I have been run dry, unfortunately. Gone to the point of starvation to help another in need, because I know that karma will take care of me in the long run. I give the rest of what I hav-" And then it ends. There are no more journal entries after this, and the remainder of this one is smudged in what looks like coffee, or maybe tea. Either way, the ink has washed away the last thing that my grandfather wrote. It feels so easy for something too simple to wash away an entire memo

      Yay! A story that features an animal as an  integral part of the story. This story features starvation and how a starving family gave all of their rations of food to feed their guest. Even a small child gave up her food to their starving guest. After that, the guest finally arose and made it apparent that it was Dharma. Because of the families' sacrifice, they were blessed from then on. The mongoose had warned the family, appearing as such: "A mongoose, half of whose body was golden, appeared and said, "Ye kings, this great sacrifice is not equal to a little measure of powdered barley given away by a liberal brahmin of Kurukshetra , who was observing the unccha vow." I think that I could effectively recreate this story as a tale of good faith and giving those what you do not necessarily have. I think this story tells a very valuable tale that could easily be adjusted into being a fable for children to digest and learn to give to those whenever possible. Image i

  This week's reading of part C of the Mahabharata was rather fascinating. I really have enjoyed all of the readings this week and really value all of the stories that are being told. Although there has not been a lot that I can use for my portfolio so far, there are certain elements of storytelling that I have found that I would like to incorporate into my project. For example, jealousy being a huge theme of the story is something that I could write about. I could retell this story from an animal kingdom's perspective. Rather than searching for animals myself, I could just rewrite the story to fit into the world of animals. For this specific story, I think that I could change the characters to the animal that best suits their personality. I think some people are loyal dogs, and some people are vicious predators. Each character should feel self-explanatory. Overall, I really enjoyed this reading.  Image information: Dhritarashtra and Duryodhana Source Story:  Duryodhana's J

    Never Knew I Died         My entire life has been a series of disappointments. I never have expectations and I always end up being disappointed. I never feel like I am seen or heard, no one pays any mind to me. I feel invisible like I could walk through walls. My parents treat me like a missing person but I have been right in front of their eyes all along, they cry for me every night, but I never left. They talk about me in the past tense, I never understood why. They aren't happy on my birthday, and they never buy me any toys anymore. They took all of my things and boxed them up and hid them in the attic. It's not fair, they treat me like a ghost. A Terrible Costume     This year for Halloween I want to go as something I have never been before. We often wear costumes of the things we fear, the things that we want to be, or the things we could only imagine in our worst nightmare. This year, with the collection of sexy nurses and spooky zombies, I want to be something never