Reflections: Looking Back

I have had a really fun time writing for this class. I have had fun exploring different writing styles. My absolute favorite story that I have written is the first story of my portfolio Till Death Do Us Part. From this story I decided to focus on stories that weren't explored clearly in the text.

My favorite reading has been the Ramayana and I really liked the movie Sita Sings the Blues. That movie really left a big impression on me. This story inspired me to explore a possible different ending for the Ramayana. I learned that I prefer stories with a little romance and are about more than just fighting.

Writing

I haven't ever done an online class before, so this has been a new experience for me. But I have really enjoyed getting to know people online through this class. I also really like reading the different stories online.

I normally work on the class Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday. I will usually work an hour or two each of those days. I have used this schedule the entire semester and it works for me.

I think one of the most important things that I have learned is that I am capable of being creative and writing well.

Storytelling Week 7: The Cycle of the Sun

She was outside of her comfort zone and was somewhere she wouldn't normally have been: a party. She was a bookworm to say the least. Her friends had forced her to come out for the night because they believed she needed to socialize and meet new people. Needless to say, she wasn't having a good time. Everyone was incredibly intoxicated, and then someone spilt booze all over her shirt. That's when she saw him standing in the corner. He was tall and well built like a steady oak tree. He had dark features but his eyes radiated like the sun. He was also handsome, and in her mind he was way too handsome to talk to her. But then he did.

He came right up to her, looked her in the eye and introduced himself. "My name is James." His voice was deep and almost poetic.
"My name is Carol," she replied.
James and Carol spent the night making fun of all the drunk kids and had a wonderful time together.

"It's almost morning. I'm going to need to leave to go get some sleep," Carol said.
"Let me walk you home," James said.

James walked Carol home. They stopped for a moment on the beach to admire the rising sun. They embraced the warmth of its colors. The reds and oranges washed over their bodies and became to brighten the blues in the sky.

"This is beauty," Carol said.
"Yes, it is," James said, looking right at her.

James and Carol spent the next week at each other's side. Completely inseparable. Some might say they had fallen in love. But there was one problem.

"I'm not a student," James said.
"What do you mean?" Carol said, as she took another sip of her coffee.
"I'm not a student. I lied to you to make you like me. Truth is I'm not from here. I'm the son of a sailor. I leave port tomorrow to return to Ireland. I didn't want to lie to you, but I'm just a sailor. How could someone like you ever like me?"
"James, I don't care what you are or where you are from. Let me come with you. Let me be with you. I'd give it all up for you."
"No, Carol, you can't. I can't have you give up your dreams. This is your life. Mine is on the ocean."

Carol looked him in the eyes but didn't know what to say. After a few long moments she said, "I need to go home now."
James replied, "Let me walk you home one last time."

As they walked home the sun began to set. They stopped for a moment to reflect on everything that they had shared that past week. The reds and oranges began to sink beneath the ground and the darkness of night overtook it. They said goodbye and knew they would never meet again.

The next day James woke before the sun rose. He knew his dad would want to set sail before the day truly began. He put on his sea-worn robes and headed to the dock. As they pulled away from the dock, James faced the direction where sun was supposed to rise. He waited to see the red and orange. He wanted to feel the warmth of the sun like that first sun rise with Carol. But it never came. It was cloudy day that day. And the sun was hidden behind the clouds and all James saw was grey.

Author's Note:
So although this might be a stretch, I was inspired by the story of Hidimbi and Bhima. Bhima is one of the five brothers in the Mahabharata. A rakshasa sends his sister Hidimbi to kill them, but instead she falls in love. She changes from her true form into a beautiful woman. They get married, have a son, but then she leaves to another world. I wanted to write about an encounter like this. I wanted to explore the idea of two people meeting, quickly falling in love, one hiding their true identity, and then they are forced to leave to the separate life that they know. I'm in a Spanish literature class right now and we have read a lot of stories that focus on color, so I decided to really focus this story on the sun and the colors it brings. I have learned in my Spanish class that color can really bring a lot of emotions forward, so I wanted to experiment with that. I had a lot of fun writing this story. Focusing on an inanimate object as a source for inspiration is something I haven't done before, so I enjoyed experimenting. I hope you enjoy my story!

Bibliography: Peter Brook's Mahabharata 1989

Picture Information:
1. Sunrise Wikimedia Commons
2. Sunset Wikimedia Commons
3. Grey Sky Pixabay

Reading Diary B: Peter Brook's Mahabharata

Alright a lot went on during this part of the movie. I liked the gambling match and how the robe of their wife went on and on. The men weren't able to abuse her. I thought the story of the one brother meeting the monster woman in the wilderness and killing her brother was interesting. There might be a story to write with that. Maybe a chance encounter with a stranger and they aren't who they say they are, then they are forced to only love for a short time because that person must return to their original life.

Again the water test is interesting. The answering the questions from the lake. I really enjoyed this part of the movie but I think it is too complex to write a story about.

But yes, now as I am reflecting on what I have watched over the past two days I think writing a story of a chance love encounter would be the best option. Maybe give them the names of the original characters in the story, or maybe not. Maybe I can even talk about the person who had to leave's feelings after they left. Then I would be able to stay in the theme of the stories that were untold. I'm pretty excited about this story, it appears to go along with the idea of star crossed lovers. This is always a fun topic to work with. In a way the remind me of Romeo and Juliet.

Wikipedia Star Crossed Lovers

Reference: Peter Brook's Mahabharata Reading Guide

Reading Diary A: Peter Brook's Mahabharata

So I am watching the movie this week. It is actually pretty good. I like the fact that in the beginning the guy is telling this as a story to be recorded. I think this is a really interesting story technique. Throughout the movie the original three characters will talk to each other. This makes this story more approachable because I really didn't like the novel version. I think I could write a story about the girl having 5 husbands and how she feels about it.

Someone in the story said it was a double negative because one of the brothers liked gambling but he was very bad for it. I don't know what I can do with this but I liked this saying.

Gambling

I started watching the dice match although I wasn't supposed to until tomorrow and I stopped right in the middle of it. So there is a lot of suspense which I think I could work with. But I think I want to write a story about a gambling match and losing everything.

Reference:
Peter Brook's Mahabharata Reading Guide

Storytelling Week 6: Piper

"Hey, Joan! Throw that bag of marshmallows over here!" Jim shouted.
"Ok daddy!"

Jim felt it was necessary to take his kids out to the woods for the weekend. They were too "techy" and it was getting harder and harder for Jim to relate to them.

"Dad I'm bored." Junior said, as he sat slouching in a red lawn chair.
"Well how about I tell you a story." Said Jim.
"Oh I love stories daddy!" Said Joan.

"There once lived a very wealthy man. A man who had so much money that he was never in need and had everything he could ever want. Except this man did have something he needed; his dog Piper. Piper was his only remaining friend. "

"All of his family and friends didn't want to be around him because of his love of money. Now there were a lot of people who were jealous of the man's wealth and wanted to take it for themselves. But they didn't know how. They tried stealing his money, but that didn't work because he kept his money hidden. They had to come up with something creative. So one day the bad people walked into his backyard and stole Piper while she was asleep in her dog house. They called the man and told him that they had Piper and would return her once he gave them all of his money. But the man didn't want to give up his money. So, he lied and only gave the bad men a little portion of his massive wealth. The bad men knew he was lying so they called back and told the man that they had killed Piper, even though they really hadn't. The wealthy man was so upset that he just lay on his floor in his massive mansion. The bad men came and stole everything he had. He didn't move, he just laid on the floor. One day Piper came home. The men had let her go and she found her way back. The once wealthy man rejoiced and was never without his dog again."

"Wow dad that was an awful story." Said Junior.
Joan agreed.
"But there is a moral to this story. You two are so attached to your phones and iPads that you might miss the opportunity to be with someone you love when they need you. You need to give people your full attention not just a portion of it."

The kids didn't give up technology that day. To be honest they never gave up their technology, but they began to spend more time with their family and loved ones. They began to reengage in life.

Author's Note: 
For this story I was inspired by the death of Drona. Although my story follows a somewhat different line of events, Drona was still the inspiration. I really had a hard time finding inspiration in the Mahabharata and this story was hard to write. So essentially I tried to give a moral to the story and add a family who is out camping.

Bibliography:
The Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan Web Source Reading Guide

Photo:
Old Time Farm Shepherd Wikipedia

Reading Diary B: Narayan's Mahabharata

Lots of dying and lots of killing. I just don't love stories that have this much war and violence in them. I just didn't feel like there was anything else to the story. One by one the brothers dye. I don't think I should find the story of Krishna's death humorous but I did. Who mistakes someone's feet as birds feet. I just think that is strange. I don't think there is a story there for me.

Depiction of the Mahabharata

Wikimedia Commons

Maybe what I can do is work with Parikshit. He carries on the Pandava line. He is th eking of Hastinapura. Maybe I can tell either his story. I could also do a bed time story when he is a young child and tell the story of the Pandavas, or at least part of the story. I don't think this book overall gave me a lot to work with in my theme which is disappointment. I wasn't able to connect with this characters.

Maybe I could tell a grieving story. There is a lot of grief in this story, so maybe I can tell how one of them is coping with it. Maybe I could change the setting to a woman who has lost a husband at war and is left behind with his children. I could have the military send her a letter of what happened and work with that.

Reference:
Mahabharata Reading Guide

Reading Diary A: Narayan's Mahabharata

So overall, I am still just having a hard time connecting with this story as I did with the Ramayana. I found the story of the brothers going to the lake interesting. Impatience got most of them killed, but in the end it was a test. I'm not sure how I can use that story with the theme of my portfolio but maybe there is something there. 

I also like the story of essentially the rape of Draupadi. What I found interesting was the first husband that she went to didn't really help her at all or take interest in what happened to her. I also thought it was interested that the queen was concerned with her wellbeing, I don't imagine queens being worried about something like this.

Kichaka and Draupadi

Wikipedia

I want to find something in this story to get excited about and it just hasn't happened for me yet. In the first story I mentioned I like the fact that the brothers are brought back to life again and all of them are blessed. I personally would have just blessed the brother who did what he was supposed to but not the others. One thing I liked about the Ramayana was that there was a break between all the pain and fighting, there was always something exciting going on. But this story is very depressing. Make I can work with the depressing feeling a make a story out of it.

Reference:
Mahabharata Reading Guide