Reading Notes: The Elephant Girly-Face, Part B

Reading Notes: The Elephant Girly-Face, Part B

The talk of the robbers awoke Girly-face.
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Plot:
The king had an elephant and his name was Girly-face. This name was given to him because he was kind and gentle. He never hurt anyone, said the keeper. There came a night when robbers came into the territory of where the elephants were kept, near where Girly-face slept. He awoke. The robbers were prepared to kill anyone who was awake. Girly-face took this literally, and felt maybe he was being taught to be good in this way, to have no pity and to not be good. Girly-face, the next day, picked up the keeper with his trunk and threw him, killing him. The other keeper saw this, and for days Girly-face became very ugly to where no one would go near him. The king heard about this and sent one of his wise men to ask Girly-face straight up. The wise man knew Girly-face and saw nothing the matter with him. He concluded, he must have heard the bad men talking and acted upon their words. The keepers responded with confidence that yes, there had been bad men here. So the wise man told the king what happened. He suggested Girly-face be around some good men so he can be a good elephant once more. So they did and Girly-face responded with goodness. Concluding that he must not kill anyone. From then on, Girly-face never struggled with not being good again.

Characters:
The king
Girly-Face
The keeper of the elephants
Other keeper
Wise man

Setting:

Bibliography: The Elephant Girly-Face from Jataka Tales, Ellen C. Babbitt, The Elephant Girly-Face

Reading Notes: The Quarrel of the Quails, Reading Part A

Reading Notes: The Quarrel of the Quails, Reading Part A

Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt
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Plot: Quails lived in a forest and they had a wise leader. A man lived with them there and actually his vocation was to catch quail and sell them. He would find them by hearing the leader's voice. So he mimicked the leader's voice and the quails would be tricked into believing their leader was calling them. He would throw and net and catch them and sell them. The wise leader eventually caught on to this. He told the quails they must end this. He said for the next time the fowler tries to cast a net that each of them must put their heads through the holes in the net so they collectively can fly away to the nearest thorn-bush. Then they can be free. The quails said "sweet let's do it". The next day, they did this and told the leaders. The next day and the next day it kept happening. The wife of the man was angry because there was no money coming in. He explained that the quails are no longer quarreling so he's no longer able to capture them. Soon enough, one quail demanded to know who bumped his head. It broke out in anger. So the fowler took advantage and said for the quails to lift their nets. So he caught them all because they were not unified in agreement.

Setting:
The Forest

Characters:
The Wise Leader
Quails
Man (the fowler)

Bibliography: Jataka Tales, Ellen C. Babbitt, The Quarrel of the Quails, Reading Part A

Reading Notes: Nivedita. Mahabharata, Part A

Reading Notes: Nivedita. Mahabharata. Part A

Drone trains the young princes
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Plot:
The prince sons of Pandu and the prince sons of Dhritarashtra play ball and the balls are rolled into a deep, dark well. A brahmin (Drona) decides to try to receive the ball back by throwing his ring in, shooting an arrow into the well, and then retrieving the ring. The boys tattle by telling their great-uncle Bhishma and he hires Drona to teach the young princes how to be trained. The princes are made to promise that they should help Drona after they are trained for battle. Arjuna says yes. Arjuna immediately is favorited by Drona. Ekalavya tries to join the school but Drona says no. Ekalavya stays in the forest and creates a statue out of Drona and calls it his guru as he too trains to be an archer. Ekalavya eventually loses his thumb due to paying the fee to Drona and he is no longer able to be an archer. Eventually, Yudhishthira enters the pictures and comes to a gambling match between himself and King Dhritarashtra and loses all his earnings. These earnings result in gambling away his own brothers, himself and Draupadi. Now he is a slave to Duryodhana and Draupadi claims that say Yudhishthira loses himself, then he doesn't get to gamble her away because he's not even his own anymore. The pandavas eventually return and Shakuni wins the entire contest. The Pandavas enter into a season of exile for twelve years and the year after their exile ends they go into a season of the utmost disguise. Yudhishthira then appoints Arjuna to seek out more celestial weapons in order to gain more power. In the Himalayas, Arjuna encounters a holy man in disguise of his real father Indra. Indra tests him

Characters:
Pandu
Brahmin
Drona--the brahmin
Bhishma--the boys great uncle
Drupada
King of Panchala
Arjuna-son of Indra
Ekalavya--low-caste, non-Aryan Nishada boy
Bhima
Duryodhana
Karna
Kunti
Yudhishthira
Dakshina
Draupadi
Indra-the god and father of Arjuna

Setting:
The Court
The Himalayas

Bibliography:
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Mahabharata, Sister Nivedita, Reading Guide

Week 8 Progress

Week 8 Progress

A precious puppy of an OU student I met on campus last semester
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I feel like my progress has been slow coming. Like I spoke of in my last post, I feel like I genuinely have a passion for writing but struggle with technology. I am a grandma when it comes to anything with computers besides communication. I could definitely use some help navigating webpages and creating websites/webpages and organizing them in such a way that meets the criteria for the class. If anyone has any tips that would be incredible! 

Other than that, I feel like it has been incredibly rewarding getting to learn about Indian Epics and the culture of India. I took this class because I feel called to go to India next year when our pastor leaves to go plant a church in his home village. I am excited to take what I learn when I go to India!

I am hopeful about more progress that will be made! 

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

Haitian Homes in the village of Minoterie
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Comments have been super helpful for me. I have technically only had comments on my one story but I like how every one is very unique and intricate in their giving of feedback. Feedback can be difficult to give at times but I feel like everyone does a really excellent job at giving positive feedback, as well as constructive gracious feedback.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Week 8 Reading and Writing

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Looking Back

I honestly love writing, but this class has really challenged me because I'm not used to making up stories. I also realized I am pretty horrible at organizing blogs and reading information on a blog, but I will say I becoming less horrible, which is full of hope and excitement that I can (after 6 weeks) finally comprehend the assignment. I am thankful for a professor who is patient and allows grace when I mess up on the assignments and stories. It's been cool to be allowed to do things wrong but learn immediately and over time.

Looking Forward

I'm stoked about getting to become more creative and reading more stories! I look forward to hearing more techniques and learning more from my peers and from Laura!