Week Ten: Famous Last Words

This week I have just been trying to get back on my feet and recover from Spring Break. It can be really tough to get myself back into the mindset of school, learning, and HOEMWORK! In my Jews and Other Germans course, I received my mid-term essay grade and I got a one hundred percent. I was shocked! I was really happy with the grade, obviously. Now, we are prepping for our group presentations, which I am nervous for. The actual assignment does not seem too difficult, but I hate public speaking and I do not trust partners in group projects in general. In my French Advanced Phonetics course, I am struggling a little because the grading has gotten tougher as the semester goes by, but I think I can swing a B so long as I keep working. In my French Culture through Film course, I am doing well. The most recent quiz was actually so easy I worried I had missed something really important, but I do not think I did. I am still awaiting the grade for that quiz. We were supposed to have our mid-term paper—in French!—due today, but it was postponed until next Monday, thankfully! In my Techniques of Teaching a Foreign Language course, I am doing excellent. I have gotten either a ninety or a one hundred on every single assignment, so far. I also feel like I learn something important for my career every single class period! Last week, we had class during the tornado that took place in Moore, just fifteen minutes away. My teacher, who is originally from Russia, was extremely nervous and scared, so we had class in the basement of the library. I was okay with this; better safe than sorry, right? Some students seemed annoyed, which I thought was silly. I am also doing well in my Epics of India course, as you can see. Though, I am rather behind this week, I will be turning this extra credit assignment in with just about ten minutes to spare!

(Image from Crowd Album, Moore Tornado 2015)

Week Ten: Storytelling Post: Draupadi's Dilemma

     That is it. I am done. I should NOT have to put up with this! I am Draupadi, the queen and wife of all five of the Pandavas. It is enough that I am forced to go by a fake name, serving a queen rather than being one myself. I will not accept this mistreatment any longer. Kichaka, the queen’s brother, has been harassing ever since my arrival here. What’s worse, the queen has done nothing to stop her brother’s advances! I do not know how she holds her head up high; I would feel such shame were my own family to act in such a disgraceful manner. Recently, Kichaka’s advances have increased in frequency and forcefulness. I worry what it will come to, if I don’t do something to scare him off soon. That is why I decided to discuss the matter with one of my husbands, Arjuna. I would have liked to seek out the protection of Bhima, but seeing as I would not have any husbands at all for protection if it were not for Arjuna, I felt it was only polite to ask for his assistance first.

     “Draupadi, my wife, what is it? You know we are not supposed to see one another.”

     “Yes, yes, I know. But, this is important. I need your help.”

     “What is the matter?”

     “Kichaka has been harassing me; I fear what will happen if his advances continue to progress sin         the manner which they have so far. He recently tried to remove my sari as I walked down the               hallway to my room! I don’t know what to do, Arjuna…”

      “Did you discuss this matter with the queen, Kichaka is her brother, after all.”

     “Yes, I tried to anyways. The queen would not even listen to me. She is always so jealous of me,          this seemed to just add to her list of reasons for disliking me.”

     “Well, what will you do?”

     “Ugh! Well I had hoped my loving husband would find a way to protect me!”

     “Oh, well… Uh… You know I do not like to cause unnecessary harm to anyone…”

     “’Unnecessary?’ This is your wife’s honor we are talking about! What will people say if it gets out      that I was exposed to another man?”

     “You are married to five men, already, Draupadi… What difference does it make?”

     “How could you!? Have you no sense of pride in your wife?”



     And with that, the conversation between Arjuna and Draupadi was effectively ended. Having tried to go about things in the more polite manner, Draupadi now felt it was acceptable for her to request the help of Bhima. She would discuss matters with him tonight…

Author’s Note: I wrote this story because I wondered how the story would have been different had it been a different one of the Pandava’s helping Draupadi. However, I had a hard time imagining Arjuna actually handling things effectively, considering his commitment to avoiding cruelty. I knew that Arjuna was the one who won Draupadi’s hand in marriage in the first place, so it was logical from my point of view for her to feel an obligation to ask for his help first, despite her reluctance to do so. I like this story because it could easily be a small detail of the original, without actually changing how everything began or ended. I chose the



Bibliography:

Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.





(Image from Wikimedia)

Week Teen: Reading Diary B: The Battle

I found the end of this story a little startling. It seemed like the battle took forever to finally happen and forever to end once it had finally began—and suddenly it was over in a flash and everything has resolved itself and the book is finished. I feel a little dazed, haha. I found it interesting how the book managed to wrap everything up so quickly, though. I had mixed feelings about Krishna’s people and city both being destroyed in one way or another. There was a lot of death in this reading. It was depressing, especially taking into account how much of it was unnecessary. 

(Image from Wikimedia)

Week Ten: Reading Diary A: War Is Coming

I think the most interesting part of this reading for me was when Draupadi was raped, as well as the events that followed. Although it was difficult to read about this—not that there was much detail given—I found it very interesting that such an old story even identified this. Many cultures—past and present—tend to ignore rape, preferring to blame the woman or brush it under the rug, so to speak. I like that this story identified the injustice. I also appreciate that when the woman asked for help and protection from her partner she received just that. I felt this was a pretty progressive story, given it’s age. Below is a picture of Draupadi complaining to Bhima about Kichaka.

(Image from Wikimedia)

Week Nine: Famous Last Words

So it is the Sunday before class starts back again, and I am panicking. I have reading to do for my Jews and Other Germans class, we will be discussing the upcoming group presentations tomorrow in class, I have a presentation to give in French for my French Phonetics class tomorrow—I have not even began researching my topic, I have two reading assignments and a project due Wednesday for my Teaching Foreign Languages class, and in my French Film class I have to write a short report over the movie we watched. I am so stressed!

However, I did have a good time at home. My dad and stepmom were in Ireland for Saint Patrick’s Day, so I did not see them. I did get to see my stepmom’s mom, my younger brother and sister, my older sister and her fiancé, and my mom and stepdad! My boyfriend and I took my little sister to Alabaster Caverns, which is about 40 minutes from where all of my parents live. It was a good trip! We went hiking and found the entrance to a water cave. We peaked inside and saw an old cot, which was a big surprise! It was really pretty and sunny outside, too. Going into the cave was a bit of a shock because it was so cold. We got a lot of cool pictures of the rocks and even some of the bats.

Everybody also got together for a bar-be-que which was a lot of fun. My boyfriend cooked Korean ribs and chicken stuffed with cheese and my stepmom’s mom cooked corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, and brownies! It was a really good meal and we had a lot of fun with everybody together. Our last night there, my boyfriend and I took my younger siblings bowling so we could get some time away from the crowd with them. They are ten and sixteen, which seems young but they are both growing up so much! They used to fight constantly but in the last year they have really bonded and grown to care about each other more. They are a lot easier to be around when they aren’t bickering constantly!

(Personal photo of myself and my younger sister, outside the entrance to a water cave at Alabaster Caverns State Park)

Week Nine: Storytelling: A Widow, to Be or Not to Be?

My husband has died. Died. He is actually dead... I cannot wrap my mind around this. I cannot accept this. I do not know how to go on. My entire identity is intrinsically tied to his. I am a wife before I am anything else. My life was completely centered around him. He was my rock, my anchor. Now I feel lost. I am drifting aimlessly. What am I, if not the wife of Pandu?

Oh, no. It cannot be. I cannot even bring myself to think the wretched word, let alone say it aloud. Let alone identify with it. I refuse. I will not be pitied in such a way. I will not be that lonely woman. I will not be that sad woman. I will not be the woman without any purpose in life. I cannot stand the thought of it. I must do something about this.

Pandu is dead? I still cannot believe it. I was sure he would live forever, or close to it. I never thought much about what I would do were I to be relieved of my duties as a wife. Now that the opportunities presented itself, I cannot suppress the giddy excitement building up inside me. 

Oh, but this will not do. The poor man had not even went through his funeral rights yet. I shall have to maintain a respectful disposition until it is all over and done with. He was a fair husband, after all. 

At the funeral, I make my decision. My life has been dedicated to Pandu. What worth is there in a life that has lost all meaning? There is none. That is why I have decided to ascend the funeral pyre. I shall die with dignity. I will not be remembered as the pathetic widow.

I am standing in the crowd trying not to fidget. I am anxious to start my new life, even as I watch my old one literally go up in flames before me. What is that? I see someone going up the funeral pyre. They must be mad! It is Madri? Oh, my. I suppose I should have expected this. She always was such a loyal wife to Pandu and a very considerate co-wife, as well. I will miss her.

After the ceremony ended, I began to travel. I went wherever I pleased. I discovered new lands. I swam in the sea. I knew men other than Pandu. I experienced joy and freedom at such levels which I thought only existed in dreams. I hope to remain forevermore a widow.

Author's Note: I choose to do this sorry because I am both fascinated and horrified by the tradition of killing oneself over a significant other. In Indian culture it was sometimes not only accepted but even expected today a wife ascend the funeral pyre of her husband! And in western society, we idolize stories like Romeo and Juliet, a case of a double suicide over "love at first sight." I wanted to do this story because I wanted to try to make both characters more relatable. I wanted rafts to understand that Madri truly couldn't imagine life without her husband, while Kunti felt she had a whole new lease on life. I choose the image below because it is how I pictured Kunti on the beach, after the funeral had passed. It is not actually am image of Kunti, but it is how I pictured her.

Bibliography: Narayan, R.K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

(Image Information)

Week Nine: Reading Diary B: The Gambling Story

I am going to discuss the dice game because it is the most ridiculous part of the reading for today, in my humble opinion. I cannot believe that moron gambled away all of his ridiculous wealth over a stupid game. But I want to know why the hell his brothers did not intervene!? I would NOT stand by and watch my sibling throw away all of the SHARED wealth within my family, let alone my own freedom and that of my wife! What kind of person just stands by and watches this? And also, how is it fair for one man to roll the dice whilst another gains the winnings? Why was this not argued? It was a pretty obvious trap from my point of view! It was cool that the wife was protected from the disgusting men trying to undress her, though. I did actually like that part. Personally though, I would have left his ass if my husband did that. I liked how she was smart enough to argue that her husband no longer had the right to bet her freedom, since he had already lost his own. She was smart, even though they ignored her. I chose the image below because the queen looks serene, as if she has so much faith in her protector that she is not even disgruntled by her present situation, plus she looks pretty!

(Image taken from Yessy)

Week Nine: Reading Diary A: Beginning A New Epic

So my favorite part of this reading was the beginning, even though it was completely insane when I first began reading it. It was interesting because I was at a complete loss as to why the mother—aka the Ganga river/goddess—was killing her children so coldly. Though we now have most of that explained, I still wonder at how the father managed to remain silent throughout the first seven deaths. I cannot even imagine the pain of losing one child, let alone seven, and to their own mother, no less. That is a type of pain I simply cannot imagine. I wonder how he continued to love his wife in spite of all of this. I would think we would grow to hate and resent her for not only having killed seven out of their eight children, but then simply leaving him after he finally questioned her! Even though she was there only to serve a purpose, he had no way of knowing all of this and had surely come to care for his wife deeply over the years. (Image Information)

Week Eight: Famous Last Words

So this week I am getting back into the swing of things with this class. I have had a brutal two weeks in my other classes and I was—luckily—pretty far ahead in this class. I decided to relax my hard work in this class in order to give myself more time to commit to my others classes. I had a teaching presentation, an exam, a quiz, and a mid-term essay! It was not fun at all! My essay ended up being much more difficult than I had expected; I barely finished it by the deadline! I was stressed out and cranky all week long! But, it is all over now and I can enjoy that this week has gone much better and been much less stressful—especially because I did not have class on Wednesday thanks to the snow! J

I spent the weekend and yesterday (Wednesday) playing video games, drinking wine, and eating pizza (and tipping the poor delivery guy four bucks every time, out of weather-associated guilt). Needless to say, I got some much needed relaxation time thanks to the snow. However, it also made it nearly impossible to motivate myself, in light of the weather. I also had to cancel all of my plans I had this past weekend because no one wanted to drive. L I was supposed to meet up with my friend from high school, who just recently moved to Oklahoma City, on Friday for dinner and drinks so we could catch up. On Saturday, I was supposed to go to lunch with my Arabic language partner. Even though I am no longer learning Arabic, we stayed partners because she really wants to practice her English and we enjoy hanging out a lot. Saturday evening I was planning to hang out with a friend who I recently connected with. Unfortunately, all of those plans had to be cancelled thanks to the weather! And then on Wednesday I was supposed to have dinner with my brother who just moved to Oklahoma City from Fort Worth! I think I need to start watching the weather before making plans… Here is a picture of myself and some friends, including my friend Logan, whom I was supposed to see this past weekend.

(Personal photo of myself and my friends)

Commenting Review Week

I really appreciate comments that have details, as I said in my previous post about writing. I hate hearing “you need to work on your [insert vague grammar point here] without being shown at least a few examples of the issue. I also hate being told “great writing” without specific points being made. What did I do that was good? How can I repeat it if I don’t know what it is? I like to read through the comments on my storytelling posts when I am preparing my projects. That way I can remember all the corrections pointed out to me. I usually focus on an aspect of a story that really stuck out to me, when leaving short comments. Sometimes the formatting or grammar of a story is so bad that it really takes away from the story, in which case I will focus on that. If the story uses bland, repetitive vocabulary, I will focus on potential ways to improve that. I have not had a class before with this much peer review/commenting. I have mixed feelings about it. It gives several perspectives on each story I write, which is nice. On the other hand, its frustrating because so many comments do not have any real benefit because they are so vague or because students just tell me good job without giving any real critiques. I think it would be interesting to require at least one small critique per comment, which might encourage students to do more than just say good job. It is okay to politely make suggestions!

Wikimedia

Portfolio Guide

Sita Self-Imolates
This was my first story for my portfolio. It retells the story from the point after Rama winds the battle with Ravana. In my story, Sita has a very different reaction than in the original.
Queen Sita
For my second story, I chose to pretend that Sita had willingly gone away with Ravana, rather than being kidnapped.
My Maria
This is a light-hearted story which focuses on Kumbhakarna, Ravana's large, sleepy, and very hungry brother.
The Descent of the Ganga
This is a dramatic tale of the Ganga and her descent to Earth, mixed in with a good life lesson for all.

Writing Review Week

I cannot decide which one is my favorite story. So far I have written two different stories which I really like—one was about the Ganga coming down and the other was a reworking of Sita’s reaction to Rama’s rejection and judgment. I enjoyed the language I used in order to describe the personification of the Ganga, quite a lot. I am really proud of the way I used the story of Sita to demonstrate my own beliefs and the hypocrisy that we see in society even today. I really hope to continue putting my creativity to the test with this class, while also improving my grammar by learning from my mistakes and the corrections I see. I like getting the feedback, although I honestly value teacher feedback much more as it feels not only more experienced but less biased in nature. I had a student comment on my story of Sita and tell me I had changed it too much from the original, an idea I immediately disregarded but it was annoying all the same. I appreciate feedback about specific things, not vague comments like “use clearer wording in your story”. Where is my story unclear? I don’t know, because the commenter did not tell me. I really do enjoy getting most of the feedback I receive. For one, it is generally very positive and encouraging. It makes me feel proud of my work. On the other hand, when it is critical it is usually—though not always—beneficial to my writing. I chose the image below because it is my favorite storytelling picture.

(Wikimedia)

Reading Review Week

My suggestion for future students is to focus on the reading for Monday, because it is the one assignment I have struggled with. I would often finish the weekend assignments at the last minute and think I was finally finished, only to remember the reading coming up. This was especially problematic if I waited until Monday morning to do the weekend assignments! I haven’t had any overlap in this class and my others, though three of my other four classes overlap quite a bit at the moment. They are all discussing antisemitism in one way or another, which can be rather difficult to read/listen to day after day, but I feel I am learning something important and beneficial for my career and personal growth. As far as the reading diaries go, I do not usually review them for doing my storytelling assignments, but I do feel they help me nonetheless because they allow me to collect my thoughts in a concise, clear, coherent manner which makes me remember what I have read much, much better. I have found that it is best to note DETAILS of the reading. I will remember the general plot, and if I don’t the reading guide will be there to save me. However, I often forget details, which can be very important for the storytelling assignment and help to tie in your new version of the story with the original, should you choose to do that. I also like noting character names and brief descriptions, because I am horrible with names. I chose this image because it is from my favorite scene in the battle for Sita!

(Wikimedia)