Reading

The reading I liked best was the TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS because it has many dependent stories about different cultures in India. It is also long enough for the rest of reading assignment after Ramayana and Mahabharata end. Some stories in 22 goblins are very long, so I can read two or three stories on each reading day. The variety of stories also provide good ideas of storytelling.

The reading - writing - commenting in the class assignments is balanced for normal students. And for students who do not enjoy commenting like me, extra credit assignments can always be very good substitutes.

Tech Tip: Cheezburger

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This cat is call GuaPi. It is really cute, so I used one of Guapi's picture to make this LOLCat.

Reflections

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Overall I have to say this online course is the best one I have ever taken. I took some online courses before and only this one is well organized in informative. Currently some online courses are like regular classes without classroom experience; this is bad because students who choose online courses are looking for a different experience, not avoiding class experience.

I am most proud of my project and I did learn more than writing skills and India Epic knowledge. The most valuable experience I learnt was making a blog, making a website, and persistence.

I will continue making post in a new blog to write down my progress of programming study. I would a valuable experience.

Tech Tip: Theme

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Since my storybook is about soul, I want to find some soul-like themes. However, I did not find one I liked by search the keyword soul. I tried to search dark and shadow, then I found a nice one and applied it to my website.

Reading Diary B: TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS 19th&20th

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The first story I read today is The Man, his Wife, and her Lover, who all died for Love. This is a story about betrayal. A husband's wife falls in love with another man in secret. When her husband goes to work, she meets the man. One day the man accidently falls down and dies. The wife is very sad, so she also jumps down and dies. As her husband comes back and sees them, he is so heart-broken that he also kills himself.

The other story is The Four Brothers who brought a Dead Lion to Life. Four men want to do something amazing to please their king, so they go into an ancient place. When they find a skeleton, they decide to bring it back to life. After many efforts, they finally make it back to flesh. It is a lion. Then the lion kill all four and eat them up.

Reading Diary A: TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS 17th&18th

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The 17th goblin's story happened in a city named Ujjain. There was a race of magic spell. One side had very strong power and skill, and the other side was a little weak but the boy had a pure heart. Finally the boy with pure heart won even though he made a small mistake on spelling. The King was also impressed by the boy, so he answered the goblin's question without hesitation.

Then the 18th goblin told a story of murdering. A boy was conducting a murder with his parents. However, they were caught by guards. Before his execution, the boy laughed for his final liberation of bounding within his body. The King also answered the exact answer; he said the boy finally realized that being killed by his king was actually his salvation.

Tech Tip: Poster-Maker

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I made a poster by using Automotivator. The wake up means more than wake up your body; it means your spirit must be also woken up!

Week 13 Growth Mindset: LEARN FROM OTHERS

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I like to learn from others as everyone has a unique way to think about same question.

During this semester, I read a lot of tech tips from other's blog. Most of then are very helpful.

Moreover, I learn from my professors. They have developed a very successful way to do certain work. One example is my Commercial Banking professor; he likes to make plans to make everything clear.

Reading Diary B: TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS 15th&16th

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I got a long story and a short story today. Both of them are really good.

The first story happens in the Himalaya Mount. In The Fairy Prince Cloud-chariot and the Serpent Shell-crest, two important characters made great sacrifices for the King in the story. And the goblin asked the King whose sacrifice is more than the other's. The King thought that Shell-crest did more sacrifice because Cloud-chariot knew what he would do and the results after he did.

The second story, The King who died for Love of his General's Wife; the General follows him in Death, tells me a sad story. The general of the king loves a same woman that the king loves, so he decides to help his king to get the woman. After the marriage, the king was very angry about the woman, so the king burns himself to death. Meanwhile the general decides to do the same thing, so he dies after his king.

Reading Diary A: TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS 13th&14th

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Today I read the 13th goblin, The Girl who showed Great Devotion to the Thief, and the 14th goblin, The Man who changed into a Woman at Will. The first story is really interesting.

In the 13th goblin, a beautiful girl does not want to marry anyone. When the thief in the city has been caught and executed, the girl tells everyone that she only marries this thief. God is impressed by her spirit, so god promise her to restore her husband's life and make him a good man. Then they live in a happy life.

In the 14th goblin, a man change him into a woman on purpose. And he makes a lot of chaotic incidences accidentally until everything losses control.

Week 12: Growth Mindset

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Today I want to introduce a good method of time management I learnt from my Commercial Banking class. This strategy is making plan.

I sounds simple and it is simple. However, this simple method helps a lot. In the morning, I spend 5 minutes on making a plan for today. And in the whole day I follow my plan and do things efficiently. The time we can save will be much much more than the time we spend on making a plan.

This strategy is learnt from my professor Stock. He use plans to make his progress very clear and nobody gets confused about progress of the class.

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

Today I learnt how to add a weather widget in my blog. However, I you are the owner of the blog, you need to click the "view blog" button on top of your blog page to see the weather widget.

My favorite whether is cloudy and cool days. My least favorite weather is raining days.

Week 12 Storytelling: A Man In Dog

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Her car has been on fire. I have to get her out quickly or she may die for severe burns. Despite the fire was burning me, I jumped into the car from broken window and unfastened her seat belt. The door was hard to open, so I used my legs to force the door open.

Fortunately, Billy is a large dog and I feed him very well, otherwise I could not move this girl. We just ran away less than 50 yards, and the car is completely burned up. She looked okay, but a lot of my dog hair was burnt. When I touched my head, there was almost not hair on it. Fortunately, the skin did not burn and I thought animal hair grows very fast.

Ambulance soon came; the girl was carried to the ambulance. I was taken by a police car and we followed the ambulance to the hospital.

A nurse helped me a bath. After that I was waiting at the waiting area. Three hours later, the girl came out.

“Lucy, you only have couple minor burns. I already cleaned them and I think no additional treatment is needed,” said the doctor. “You dog saved you! If you stayed in the car, you probably won’t die but most of your skin would have to be replaced.”

“Wait, this is not my dog,” said Lucy confusedly. Then she hugged and said to me gratefully. “Thank you so much for saving me! Your hair burned a lot and you are still with me now!”

All of a sudden she noticed my collar.

 “Here is his address. We live very close. Shall we go home together? I have to thank your owner.” Lucy said happily.

I was shocked for her hug because I have never been hugged by a girl in my 26 years’ life. I suddenly came up with a thought.

“I do not want to be a human anymore!”

We went home together. When I approached my door, I realized that I could not let Lucy see Billy in human body. I quickly ran into my house through an open window and locked the door. Lucy knocked my door for a while and she left a letter of thanks.

Billy did not wear pants and he looked very upset. When I checked my fridge I found no food. I ordered a pizza for Billy for he was supposed to eat human food.

As the pizza order was on the road, I tried to comfort Billy in dog’s way. I licked Billy’s face and suddenly I realized that I returned in my own body.

“I am very hungry!” I yelled.

When pizza arrived, I gave the delivery man a very nice tip and started eating immediately. After dinner I recalled the moment I returned to my body and I found the area of my face I licked had a mole there.

“This mole is very suspicious,” I said to Billy. “Should I let you lick it again? No, forget it. What if I cannot switch back? I do not want to be a dog forever.”

I opened my Facebook and I wanted to share this with my friend. The old post was still laughed by many people. Then I found I got a private message.

“Before you became a dog, your dog must have licked your body. The place where the dog licked must have a mole. If you lick the mole again, you will become a human again. Reply if you want to know more. Or delete this message now for you safety.”

Author’s Note:

I write this story based on the 9th goblin I read from the TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS from this week. In the 9^th goblin story, a beautiful girl wants to select one from three candidates as her husband. They all have a special talent in a career. In the end of the story, the King answers the goblin that the girl should choose the warrior as he likes warriors.

I want to add some hero trait to my character, so Evan saved the girl and accidently found why he became a dog. Then he will be involved in a series of peculiar incidences. 

My story will be continued next week. The following plot will be based on what I will read in TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS.

Biography:

TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS

Reading Diary B: TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS 11th&12th

The 11th goblin is a really long story, but the story is really enjoyable. I had two exams today, so I have a leisure evening time to spend on reading. The 12th is short though.

In the 11th goblin, a high-minded counsellor takes care of his king's kingdom for a long time. But rumors appear that people say the counsellor wants to take over the king's country. To end these, the counsellor decides to travel though his king does not want him leave.

When he comes back, the king falls in love with another girl, so the counsellor's heart breaks and dies.

The second story tells an innocent man is kill by coincidences made by unconscious people. The question is which one is responsible for his death. The king says the man himself should be blamed because everyone else cannot be blamed.

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Reading Diary A: TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS 9th&10th

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Today I read the 9th goblin and the 10th goblin.

The first story is about a pretty girl selecting her husband. There are three candidates. One of them has amazing skill on making clothes, one of them knows how to communicate with animals, and one the them is a warrior. The king finally says the girl should marry the warrior because a true warrior is much better than a weaver or a farmer.

The second story is that a king wants to know which one of his queens is the most delicate one. And I totally agree the reasoning in the end; the king says the queen who is hurt just by sound is the most delicate one. The other two are hurt by being touched physically.

From what I read in the 9th goblin, I will continue my story based one the girl the dog would save. My dog character would be a dog hero.

Tech Tip: Quotemakers

This tech tip is actually very addicted! I played it for half an hour like a game.

Here is my creation.

Self-made Pic by Canva

Week 11 Growth Mindset

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This week I want to talk about persistence.

Accumulation has an infinite power. What I read from my economic book is that accumulation of knowledge is the primary factor of economic growth in the past and in the foreseeable future. 

If my goal is to shake this world by coding skills, I think I need to practice millions of times. It looks scary; however, when we think about practice 100 times a day, one year means 36500 times. If I keep going, I will eventually become the 1% of programmers.

Week 11 Storytelling: A Man In Dog

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DAY 1

My name is Evan. I work in an IT company five days a week. My life is prosaic and I do not have a passion to find a girlfriend. I live with my dog Billy, and now I am a dog as well.

However I am actually a human whose soul is accidently swapped with my dog Billy.

It was a Monday morning; I woke up and found I was sleeping on the ground in the sitting-room.

“How could I?” I was very confused because I did remember I slept in my bedroom. Then I saw a man lied in front of me, watching me with his eyes wide with expectation of food.

“Wait! You are me! Do not lick me!” the man scared me and he was trying to lick me like my Billy does.

Billy, which is my dog in my body, was hungry. Suddenly he found the refrigerator and his instinct for food miraculously helped him to open the door.

“No, Billy. That is MY yogurt for breakfast!” I yelled to him but Billy stood up and ate my yogurt.

“Alas! My dog becomes me, and it eats my yogurt.” I was very upset. “My life is already hard, now it is even harder.”

“WAIT! Why am I thinking about yogurt? My current problem is why the hell I become a dog!” I quickly found the problem and forced me not to think like a dog.

DAY 2

I certainly did not go to work because I could not work in a dog body. I stayed in my house, thinking about how to switch back and playing with Billy. I must admit that the dog food tasted really good! I fed Billy with pasta and candy.

I tried to call my friends, asking them what to do if they become a dog. They could not help me because nobody became a dog before. Also I posted the question on Facebook and everybody thought I was insane or joking.

“It looks like I have to help myself as expected.” I was very frustrated.

“I still remember that Billy licked me once before I woke up.” I started thinking.

Then I tried to write; though my handwriting was horrible, people could read it.

“HELP! I BECOME A DOG!” I wrote this on paper and went out of my house with the paper in my mouth.

When I was walking on sideway, a rope unexpectedly looped my neck and I was caught by a masked gunman. He put me in a cage in his car and drove away.

“WTF! What is he doing? Why am I so unlucky?”

When I looked around and found there were several other cages in the car. I got a couple dog brothers in these cages. As I was thinking about how to communicate with them, a violent smash hit the car, and I lost consciousness for a while.

When I woke up, I found the cage was open. That was a fierce traffic accident. I jumped out of the car and found the car was burning.

“Damn it! I have to leave now because the car can explode at any moment.” I was running away very quickly because I did not want to die there. Moreover Billy still occupied my body. If I died here and my friends visit me, it would be a crazy thing I never wanted to think about.

I turned around when I thought I was at a safe distance. I was seeing a girl in another car; she was unconscious and bleeding on her head. I decided to save her because the girl in fact saved me from the man.

(to be continued)

Author’s Note:

My idea is from the 6^th goblin from the TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS. In the original story, a woman mistakenly switched the heads of her husband and her brother. As a result she faces a problem that which man she should choose as her husband.

I picked the idea of switching, but I switch souls of a man and his dog. It would be really interest, so decided to write the story for up to four weeks.

Biography:

TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS

Reading Diary B: TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS 7th&8th

Today I read the 7th and the 8th goblins.

In the first story, a king was accidently dropped into a sea. However the king found in a beautiful city. I will not use this story because it is really boring. And the question goblin asked was not tricky.

In the second story, three brothers argued about whom of them are the cleverest one. A king gave them tests and all three of them passed the test easily. The king however thought the brother of cotton specialist is the cleverest one. I do not agree; I think the woman specialist is the best one.

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Reading Diary A: TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS 5th&6th

I read the 5th and the 6th goblins today.

For the first story, I think King's point is that the one who takes the most risk deserves the girl. The clever man and the wise man are only assistants of the brave man.

The second story is short, but it really gives me a hard choice. Lovely accidentally switches the heads of her husband and her brother, so the question is which one of them should be her husband. I agree with the king's point and I may pick this as my storytelling this week.

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Tech Tip: Adjusting the Google Site Navigation Panel

This is a very useful tip as Google's default setting is not good for most people.

For a faster instruction:
1. Click the gear icon on the top right corner of your site page
2. Choose "Edit site layout"
3. Move cursor on your Navigation Panel and click
4. Uncheck "automatically organize my navigation"

Now you can edit your navigation panel.

Week 10 Growth Mindset

Giving up things sounds bad, but giving up some less competent fields is indeedly a smart choice.

We only have 24 hours, which is not much, so we want to use our time wisely. For the fields or majors you are not good at, you may let them go. We should do works that we can utilize our max power, and never waste time on inefficiency works. One approved evidence for this is that this sociality has workers in different industries; and they are good at their jobs.

I have been struggling with accounting for three years. Though I do not understand why finance major has that many required accounting courses, I am about to finish my last accounting course. Luckily account courses are not included in my major GPA. I could explain this to my future interviewers.

To sum up, spend your time on valuable targets. Do not waste time on things that others can do much better than you do.

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Week 10 Storytelling: A Kind Thief

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It was a wonderful night. People went home after their day shifts. Kids were having fantastic dreams.  

All of a sudden, a furtive guy walked into an apartment complex. He carefully watched the light in rooms and checked vehicles outside apartment. Eventually he selected room 633 as his target.

“Good day for me! It looks nobody is inside, “the thief said tiredly, “I can get a long break after this one.”

He took out his tools for that type of lock. However when he was about to unlock the door of 633, he suddenly smells smoke through the door.

“Damn it, “the thief said quietly and angrily, “I spent many days to find out this family’s schedule. Now I have to leave before cops came. What a bad luck!”

Meanwhile he heard something strange, so the thief listened at the door for a moment. He found the sound was a kid’s crying. The thief wanted to save the kid but he did not want to get into trouble. When he was hesitating, the fire alarm started ringing and neighbors were coming out and seeing what is happening.

“It looks very urgent. The kid may be killed by smoke before help comes,” a woman said, “Shall we smash this door to save the kid?”

Everybody agreed and they started smashing the door; however, the door has a very good quality and they cannot even made the door loose.

“Let me try! They called me to come here for fixing their lock. I think I can open the door.” the thief said quickly and tensely. Others all agreed as they cannot open the door by using force. The thief took out his tool and cracked the lock very fast. A man rushed in the room and took the kid out; the kid was still crying but alive.

Now the cops and firefighters eventually arrived. They controlled and eliminated the fire quickly.

“You are a true hero, man! We may have lost the kid without your help,” a police officer thanked to the thief and asked, “Are you on a night shift? You have a tired look.”

“Yeah…you know…tough times. I have to work more on these days to support my family,” he responded in hesitate. “I am actually going to find a new job tomorrow. I do not like what my life looks like today.”

“Well, good luck on your interview! I will be on my patrol duty,” the officer said to him and patted him on the shoulder. “Remember your kindness will give you a payback; wickedness does not go altogether unrequited.”

Author's Note:

I was inspired by the two stories in the third goblin. The argument about men and women made me think about kindness of human. I use the story about the bad woman as a reference. I create a thief with the same goodness in my story.

Biography:

TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS

Reading Diary B: TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS 3rd&4th

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Today I read two stories of third goblin and the fourthgoblin. Still, these goblins asked very tricky questions.

In the first story, a parrot and a thrush argued about whether man or women are worse. They told two different stories to audiences. I personally like the second one; the thief was brave and the woman was unholy.

In the second story, the hero saved his king at the cost of his everything. However the King told goblin that the hero’s sacrifice was his duty; the king in the story had a right to use available lives to save himself. I nonetheless not quite agree on this point.

The story of men and women would be my storytelling this week.

Reading Diary A: TWENTY-TWO GOBLINS 1st&2nd

Today I read the introduction and first two stories of the Twenty-TwoGoblins. An interest thing I found was the Goblin in India and the goblins in my mind are very different.

Here in the first two stories. The goblin told the O King two long winded stories and it asked the King two perplexing questions. However, the King answered correctly and even beyond what the goblin thought in its mind.

I like the second story better, but I will read another two stories tomorrow. I will pick one story as my storytelling for this week.

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Week 9 Storytelling: Amba's Story Part 2

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Amba was wandering in a forest after she was rejected by her relatives and Rama. She met a stranger, but she did not want to talk. The stranger was Parashurama, a mighty hero.

“I can feel your sorrow. Why are you so sad?” Parashurama asked Amba.

Amba was immersing herself in the sorrow, so she did not recognize Parashurama. However she told Parashurama her story unconsciously. After listening to her story, Parashurama became very angry. He told Amba that he will defeat Bhishma and force him to marry Amba.

Bhishma and Parashurama started their fight in a wasteland. The fight attracted many audiences including some gods. But the fight is very strange; they cannot hurt each other as they knew how they would fight in a battle. Finally gods stopped their fight since the fight could last forever if they continued. Parashurama then stormed out of the battle, leaving Amba.

“Bhishma is too powerful! I cannot defeat him,” Amba said sadly.

Suddenly Amba came up with an idea; she decided to do asceticism.

“I cannot defeat Bhishma by myself, but I can prey to gods. If gods help me, Bhishma will die for sure,” Amba regained confidence and started her asceticism.

Amba suffered pains and trials for years. When she was about to give up, Shiva appeared.

“Your iron will impress me, Amba. What do you want?” said Shiva.

“I want to become a man, a warrior powerful enough to kill Bhishma!” Amba yelled to Shiva.

“I cannot do this for you in this life. What about I grant you the strength to kill Bhishma in your next life? You will be born as a girl but you will become a boy short after you birth,” Shiva suggested.

“So be it, dear Shiva. Thank you for your mercy.”

“I love destruction more than mercy. I am ready to watch a vengeance show!” Shiva smiled and said.

Amba wanted to kill Bhishma so much that she jumped into fire and ended her life. As promised, Amba, who is now Shikhandi, was born for Bhishma’s death. Shikhandi, however, could not remember anything from previous life. The fate led her to the designated ending; she was exiled and trained as a great warrior. As she grew up, Shikhandi became a man.

Few years after, Shikhandi’s chance came. In the Kurukshetra War, Shikhandi lastly faced Bhishma. However, Shikhandi was like a shield for Arjuna; when Shikhandi stand before Arjuna, Bhishma could not hurt Arjuna. As a result, Arjuna finally defeated Bhishma with the great help from Shikhandi.

When Shikhandi saw Bhishma’s death, he felt a strange fatigue. Shikhandi felt like he finished a great mission but he did not know what it is. Unexpectedly Shikhandi fainted at the moment when Bhishma’s soul went to heaven. When Shikhandi woke up, he could not call anything about Bhishma.

“Only now can Amba really die in peace and pleasure,” Shiva appeared and disappeared quietly in the sky above the battle ground.

Author’s Note:

Amba was not a main character in the epics but she was important for Bhishma. She had an unfortunate life because of Bhishma. Though Bhishma could not take all the responsibility for her situation, Amba viewed Bhishma as a primary reason. As a result, Amba tried to kill Bhishma at no cost, even with her life. During the Kurukshetra War, Amba fulfilled her destiny when Shikhandi helped Arjuna kill Bhishma.

Biography:

Brook. Mahabharata.

Reading Diary B: Peter Brook's Mahabharata

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I watched the rest part of the movie and I was impressed by the epic again. Though Amba has little scene in the last part, I will write Amba’s story of vengeance from Amba’s view.

My story will start from the fight between Parashurama and Bhishma. They could not defeat each other so they stopping fighting. Parashurama told Amba he could not help her to convince Bhishma. Amba was very frustrated so she decided to do ascetic practices. Finally Shiva was moved by her merit and Shiva promised her an opportunity to defeat Bhishma in the future.

The rest of my storytelling will be the fight in the war. I will use a lot of direct dialogues between Bhishma and Shikhandi, who was previously Amba. The whole story will be based on Amba's view.

Reading Diary A: Peter Brook's Mahabharata

Today I watched the part B of the film that I picked in week 7.

Unfortunately, Bhishma died in the very beginning of the part B. One thing I noticed was that Shikhandi did not remember his last life. He did not know why Bhishma did not fight him. I may change this in my storytelling.

I will tell Amba's will and the final fight with Bhishma. Though I may not see Amba in the following part of the film, I will watch the rest to see the story's ending.

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Reading Plan

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I will choose from the online reading options as they are easy to access. After I explored all options, I think I will read the Twenty-Two Goblins in the following three weeks. Maybe I need to find one more reading after that; and I could just write a summary or an expansion of the story.

I choose a goblin story because I really knew little about this creature. In the video game World of Warcraft, goblin is an available race for players to choose. And I know goblins love precious and they will collect precious as many as they can.

I believe I can learn more about goblins in the reading. I might read it one more time in the last two weeks if I could not find another good reading.

Reflections: Looking Forward

Before Week 8 begins, I have 216 points on my grade book, which is higher than an A. I think I am on the right track of an A grade.

For the second half of the semester, I would avoid anything requires me to write comments over 100 words, which is the Project Feedback. I will do extra credit instead. Tech Tip, Growth Mindset, and Curate and Share would be good substitutes for the project feedback assignments. If a feedback does not require me to read and comment on others’ blogs or project sites, I would definitely do it.

Tech Tip would be the easiest one. I will probably do all the Tech Tip in one day since repeating work is much easier to do. As a result, I will lose 4 points each week if I only do the Tech Tip. The expected points I can get would be 216+26+7*26=424>410. I have 14 points for emergency. I think it would be good enough.

Instead of doing it on Sunday, I will try to finish up on Friday night.

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Reflections: Looking Back

Only when I checked my calendar did I realize that half semester has gone. If I spend the same amount time, this semester ends.

My storybook is the writing I most proud of. When I was facing the choice between portfolio and storybook, my first reaction was portfolio. Why should I choose harder choice as a foreign language already made writing hard? I however want to try something challengeable, something that I never did before. This is the only course I could write something; and the topics are highly flexible. I chose storybook finally because I wanted to create my own story thought it might be boring and childish. Moreover I know I cannot grow without those inevitable failures, which are already made by native speakers in their elementary and middle schools.

My favorite read is Bhishma’s whole life in the Mahabharata because Bhishma is a man with honor. Bhishma is a person who holds his oath during his life. He protects and helps his brothers. He made a great kingdom. Even though he faces a war that he dislikes, he fights to his death without hesitating. 

Honestly, I personally did not like those comment and feedback stuffs in this course. If I have the option to not comment, I will not. If the feedback is not about others’ blogs or sites, I will do them gladly. Reading others’ storytelling cannot give me pleasure; I like reading the reading assignments much better than reading my classmates’. I, no offense, want to read works that are more classical. It is appreciated that in this course I have the option to omit those. In the following half semester, I will do extra credit instead of commenting and feedback. Thanks to my professor, I can write what I like to. I like the project very much, so I will keep doing the project and revising it again and again.

I did most of this course in the library because I have a lot of time between two classes. Going home is a bad choice as I could not find a parking spot when I came back to school. I try to use those pieces of time to finish small topic; I usually did the project on Sunday since I want to take break on Friday and Saturday. My writing tool is Word and I like it very much for it convenient tools. I use Dropbox to save my work when I did homework on a public computer.

I really appreciated helps from professor.

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Week 7 Storytelling: Amba's Story Part 1

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Amba is a daughter of the Kashi King. She and her two younger sisters are princesses of the Kashi Kingdom. Amba has a secret that she is covertly falling in love with the Salva, king of Saubala.

Bhishma has a nephew brother who is in the age of marriage. However, his nephew is still young and weak, so Bhishma decides to help him find wife. By defeating Salva, Bhishma wins all three princesses and takes them back to his kingdom. While Bhishma is on the way home, Amba is in extremes of anxiety.

“Why is this? I am in love with Salva! I do not want to marry anyone other than Salva. No, I have to talk with Bhishma. I hope he will let me go.” Amba says to herself.

When they take a short break on the road, Amba meets Bhishma and tells him the secret that she already fell in love with King Salva.

“Could you let me go back to Salva? Please! I cannot imagine the life without my Salva! ” Amba begs.

Bhishma thinks for a while and agrees. “I respect your love. You can go now.”

“Thank you for your generosity! My two sisters will be your nephew’s good queens.” Amba seethes. Then she leaves to Kashi.

But things are not like in the planned way she had first thought. When she goes to Salva, Salva thinks it would be a burning shame if he accepts a woman who is previously taken away from him in the legal way. Salva has to reject Amba for his reputation.

“What could I do? Where should I go? I am abandoned by my love.” Amba is very sad and she finds his dad, hoping his dad will take her in. His dad, nonetheless, refuses to take her in because Kashi King thinks Amba is disgracing his family. The Kashi King thinks the fight result is sacred; Amba is now legally owned by Bhishma.

Amba is in desperation and hopelessness. The last way she finds is going back to Bhishma and marrying Bhishma. Suddenly she feels that could be a good plan, but she does not know Bhishma’s oath.

“I am yours, Bhishma. I will marry you.” Amba finds Bhishma and tells him her current situation.

“I cannot. I vowed not to be married in my life. The reason I did the fight is to find wife for my nephew. My oath can never be changed. ” Bhishma tells Amba the truth.

Amba is shocked. She leaves without a word. Although many people are responsible for her unfortunate encounters, Amba has a conclusion that Bhishma is the most responsible one.

“I am not able to have love and family anymore. The only thing I want to do in my life is revenge on Bhishma. His death is my destiny.” Amba whispers to herself and she does not realize what a dreadful decision she has made.

Author’s Notes:

I got my inspiration from the film PeterBrook's Mahabharata. Though the reading assignment in this week does not have too much about Amba, I want to share this character. Amba’s decision is actually Bhishma’s end. She is able to kill Bhishma in the end to fulfill her oath. This storytelling is only the beginning. I will continue to write more in the following weeks.

Biography:

Brook. Mahabharata.

Reading Diary B: Brook. Mahabharata.

I am a little upset because I did not see Amba in the movie today.

Amba is a very important character because she is the last part of Bhishma's fate. I could not say Bhishma did wrong to Amba; either could I say Amba is an insane woman. The culture is this. Bhishma could not accept Amba because of his oat; Amba lost her love and reputation because of Bhishma.

A small misunderstanding lead to a big result. I will write about Amba's story from Amba's view. I might not have enough content from the movie, so I will use the original Mahabharata I read to enrich my storytelling. The topic is decided, which is The Old Hate.

Reading Diary A: Brook. Mahabharata.

This film is very informative. The main story line is based on the original story in the Mahabharata book I read.

The character I focused on is Amba. Though there was not too much about Amba, the first 20 minutes decides Amba's fate and explains why Amba hates Bhishma so much. 

I will use many direct dialogues between Amba and Bhishma. These should let my readers know Amba's struggle and Bhishma's insisting on his oath.

I need more information about Amba in the next part of the film.

Week 6 Storytelling: Bhishma's fall

Image source: Bhishma Falls

Bhishma told his enemy the way to defeat him.

“If Arjuna shoots me when he is behind Shikhandi, Amba’s currently avatar, then I cannot do anything to fight back. Shikhandi was a female in his previous cycle, I would not hurt him.”

On day 10, Pandu let Shikhandi stand in front of the battle. And all the soldiers were charging to Bhishma under commander’s order. Bhishma killed countless enemies; however Shikhandi has approached Bhishma during the fight. Bhishma did not try to dodge Shikhandi’s attack, nor did he shoot one arrow to Shikhandi. 

“Maybe my time is coming. What a long epic journey it has been. I die today not because I am weak; I die today for my family, for my kingdom, and for my oath.” Bhishma told to himself.

Thus Bhishma stopped fighting with Arjuna. Arjuna destroy Bhishma’s bow and javelin. Then Bhishma took his sword and shield and wanted to jump down, attempting to fight on the ground. Arjuna nevertheless break Bhishma’s sword and shield, so all the soldiers started attacking Bhishma from all sides. Bhishma is finally defeated with uncountable arrows on his body, falling from his chariot in the setting sun. 

The war suddenly freeze and the sun is in shadow. Everyone’s heart was falling as Bhishma was falling. All the soldiers lower their heads in sadness. Commanders of both sides put their weapons off; they came to Bhishma with respect and saluted Bhishma solemnly. Bhishma’s body did not touch the ground as so many arrows in his body. He lied on the bed of arrow, which was the highest honor of a warrior.

Bhishma spoke to those who stood in front of him. “My head is not comfortable. Give me a warrior’s pillow!”

Some people brought few cushions, but Bhishma rejected for those were not warrior’s pillow. Then Arjuna took three arrows from his quiver and stuck them into ground. With the sharp arrowheads supporting his head, Bhishma said gladly.

“This is the pillow I want! Do not heal me. Let me die and burn me with these arrows.”

Pandus and Gurus were sitting together around Bhishma as guards. Kings saluted Bhishma with their most respect. 

“I am thirsty.” Bhishma said.

Some soldiers gave Bhishma water and food but Bhishma rejected them. Again, Arjuna understood Bhishma’s thought; he shot an arrow to the ground. The ground was split and water welled from ground to Bhishma’s mouth. 

End.

Author’s Notes:

I did not change the original storyline because I like Bhishma’s loyalty and good moral character. I focus on writing the scene after he is defeated on the battlefield. Two sides of the war respect Bhishma, and Bhishma accepted his fate as he died.

Bibliography:

PDE Mahabharata

Image: Bhishma on the bed of arrows. 

(illustrated Mahabharata)