Feedback Thoughts

Feedback Thoughts

By: Maria Dawson

This picture I found from Inkscape shows how feedback is more of a cycle to your story instead of a one-time thing.

The first post I read about was called, A fixed mindset could be holding you back — here's how to change it. I decided to read over this post because I know I suffer from having a certain thing in mind and sometimes do not know how I can change. In this post by Anna Kelsey-Sugg and Ann Arnold, they share ways on how you can change from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Some examples they gave include "acknowledge and embrace your weaknesses and view challenges as opportunities". These are two I struggle daily with because I feel like I should try and hide my flaws when instead I need to express them and know it is okay to have flaws. I also struggle with the second example because I often shut down or thing badly about myself when it comes to setbacks or challenges. This is the main thing I want to work on while taking this class because I know there will be challenges to writing stories and some days I will not know what to do. But once I finish I know I feel accomplished and ready to tackle a new problem. 

The second article I read was by Maria Popova called, Make Good Art: Neil Gaiman’s Advice on the Creative Life, Adapted by Design Legend Chip Kidd. While I did not choose this article because the author and I share the same name, while it might enhance the experience, I choose this because I want to learn how to be more creative. In my life, it is sometimes hard for me to come up with new ideas especially when I have never done this thing before such as writing stories in this class. This article says that you should not be scared to take new risks and take this opportunity to be more artistic in new ways. Since this is a new form of art for me I and scared but also excited to see what I can create. 

Topic Brainstorm

BrainStorming for Projects

By: Maria Dawson 

I like this picture of brainstorming because you can produce so many ideas before one really sticks out to you. This picture is from OpenClipart.

For this project, I want to first focus on the previous categories I found interesting in week 1. The first one I enjoyed reading stories about was God and Goddesses. I find myself drawn to these particular types of stories because there is so much that can be done with them. For example, a god or goddess can be made out of anything such as the sky god or Tales of Vishnu: The Gentle God. I think there is a lot that can be done with this category which interests me because I have a hard time staying in one particular category.

I am also interested in writing about heroes and heroines for some of the same reasons as gods but also different reasons. While there are a lot of different stories when it comes to heroes and anyone can be a hero making it easy to write about. However, with this category, I feel more drawn too because I believe it would be easy for me to create new stories into modern-day stories with heroes, which is an aspect I enjoy. I found a post on the New York Times that intrigues me about how an old Indian epic can survive in the modern world. 

Going along with the modern aspect of the writing I want to create I would also enjoy taking this writing and mixing it with science. Another topic that caught my eye pertaining to this is the Geography of the Ramayana while this one might be tough to create an entire storybook out of I am always up for a challenge and I am interested in hearing the stories and creating my own spin on them. For example, Ayodhya is the birthplace of the Rama which would be very interesting to create a storybook on the different cites and what was born where. 

The last storybook topic I would be interested in writing over is Food. This topic would be interesting to write about because I feel like it could be overlooked in the involvement in the stories involved in it. For example, if you were reading over the story Hanuman where kheer plays a huge involvement within the story allowing the story to progress. I am also interested in how the food at festivals play a role in creating atmosphere and topics in a story.

Week 2 Story: The Legend of the Rebbarg Eciov

The Legend of the Rebbarg Eciov

By Maria Dawson

This is what I picture the infamous cave to look like on Mt. Rehgih. Picture by: Rafael Saldaña named "old mine entrance".

Tucked away at the top of a snowy mountain lay a cave said to be home of the rebbarg eciov. This legendary being is known to steal the voices of those who bring conflict into its home on the top of Mount Rehgih.  

“Hey, Harry, I thought I told you to grab the matchstick from the car,” says our first brave soul coming to track this legendary being.

“Man, would you just look in your backpack before you ask me dumb questions, John” Replies Harry, John’s companion for this outing.

“Ope, found it, say do you really think we will be able to spot the ebbarg eciov today?” asked Harry.

“Well, I can tell you what I do know” answers, John. “First, once we get to the mouth of the cave we can not speak. Second, legend has it there will be whispers talking to us trying to get us to talk but we can not reciprocate. Third, caves are dark”.

“No bull they are dark hints why I asked about the flashlight! Anyways I am not scared of any whispers nothing in that cave can hurt me” declares Harry.

The two climb their way up the 1,500 ft. elevation from the base of the mountain to the opening of the cave. Signs read out “DO NOT ENTER REBBARG ECIOV LIVES”.

“Stupid Hoax,” says Harry while reading the signs.

“Hey now let’s just get our duct tape over our mouths and finish what we came here to do, it is too early to rile up the gods” implies John.

The two stop to take a drink and a few breathes before preceding to duct tape their mouths as a barrier. After a couple of minutes, the boys head with one hand over their mouth and a flashlight in the other.

The cave is very quiet at first the only audible sound is the whistling of the wind and the blood rushing through their bodies. Once they have been walking a solid minute into the cave the whistle seems to now sound like a humming.

The men look at each other with a puzzled look on their face almost to say, “Do you hear that too?” Just then a sharp voice says, “Hello John. Hello, Harry”. They stop in their tracks in disbelief, could this really be the rebbarg eciov?

Now listening to the wind very hard they can start to make out a chant as is someone was right behind them saying “I know your deepest secrets John” “I know your deepest secrets, Harry”.

Louder the voice grew to pick out Harry by name almost yelling “Talk to me Harry, help me, I love you”. Except this voice sounds family, its Harry’s wife! Yelling for him in the distance. John grabs his arm tight trying to keep him back, but it does not stop Harry from leaving John tearing off his duct tape yelling after his wife “I’m coming to you Melissa!”.

Before Harry was able to get too far away from John a blinding light appeared knocking them both back. Then a holographic figure arose from the ground taking a weeping Harry in its grasp. “IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY PLEASE FORGI..” “A distinct gurgle is heard from Harry and he is thrown back on the dirt floor.

As soon as the figured appeared it was gone, leaving John and Harry alone in the dark cave again. John grabbed Harry and the two-run as fast as they can out of the cave leaving all their things behind.

Once outside John is yelling at Harry “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING I WARNED YOU HOW COULD YOU”.

Still stunned, Harry, white as a ghost and for the first time had nothing to say because he had no voice. It was stolen by the Voice Grabber.

Authors Note: 

This story is a retelling of The Turtle and the Geese with the main plot staying the same as one of the main characters not keeping their mouth closed when they should along. However, I added in my personal twists with some other new bits to the storyline. 

Bibliography:

The Turtle who Couldn't Stop Talking  from Jaraka tales by Ellen C. Babbit 

Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

Reading Notes on Turtle/Geese and Crane/Crab

By: Maria Dawson

This image gives a clear picture of the story over the turtle and two geese. This image is named The Boastful Turtle by OpenClipart.

For this week's reading notes I could not decide between the story of the Crane and the Crab or the Turtle and Geese of being my favorite Anthology. The first story that was my favorite was written by Ellen C. Babbit and titled The Turtle who Couldn't Stop Talking. This specific story first got my attention from the vivid detail the author was able to give with only a few sentences, you can truly imagine yourself in the story watching this unfold. The moral of this story is about learning when the right time to speak is and when you should keep things to yourself. Unfortunately for this turtle, he had to learn the hard way about when he should talk and when he should not. My main takeaway from this short story is learning how to tell a life lesson from the views of a simple construct such as from one turtle and two geese. Another life lesson is found in my other favorite reading from this week from the author W. H. D. Rouse and titled The Cunning Crane and the Crab. For this life lesson, the crane learns that being misleading will only get him so far in life and how someone is able to see through his disguise. The main details I paid attention to for this short story is the style of each line broken up in spaces in between creating flow and a personal style. This story also goes back and forth between dialogue in the characters as well as narration.  

Week 2 Reading Overview

Week 2: Intro into RamayanaBy: Maria Dawson 

Here is a picture represented Ramayana I found while browsing. By: Sarah Welch 

Of the two versions, we get to choose from to complete the reading over Ramayana I have chosen to focus on the public domain version. I want to focus on this version over the other one cause I am curious to read this because of the many different authors and styles for each episode instead of just one novel. I am more of a short story type of gal instead of reading one long main story. I find it fun to read different interruptions of the same storyline and this is primarily the reason I want to read this style of the Ramayana. 

When I first opened the comic book page my eyes immediately gravitated to the hero/heroines ta and knew I needed to choose one of these. I decided on Fa Hien: The Fearless Monk because when I think of a monk today I think of someone who keeps to themselves and I am very interested to hear his tales of fearlessness. The next comic I decided on was in the folktales tab and titled The Deadly Feast: Jataka Tales - Wisdom Conquers All because I am curious about the type of wisdom that is spread within this comic. The two videos I found the most interesting while browsing was: Ancient Technology - Atlantis and India and Revelations: Celebrating LGBTQ Stories Through Bharathanatyam Dance. I chose the ancient technology video because I am very interested to learn what type of technology or science-related items they had in ancient times. I chose the LGBTQ stories because I am very interested to see how this topic can be interpreted into dance.