Casey's Blogs: Indian Epics 4993-995

The Crow That Thought it Knew The Brahmadatta reigned as the king of the Benares. The Bodhisatta was the marsh cow. There was a famine in Kasi and no food could be spared. A crow took his lady crow to the woods. This crow saw that another person was able to gather fish, so he wanted to become his servant. Viraka agreed to this and gave him his leftovers which he then gave to his wife crow. He then chose to fish on his own. He was not a crow that was born to swim. Therefore when he tried to fish he drowned even though he was warned not to. His lady crow wept for him and returned to Benares. The Judas Tree The Brahmadatta and the king had four sons. They all wanted to see the Judas tree. The charioteer took them all, but not at the same time, rather he took them individually at different stages of the tree. They all reported back what they saw, but it was all different depending on when they went. They realized that they had not asked the charioteer what the tree was like at differen

The Hawk and the Osprey There lived a hawk, a she-hawk, lion, and osprey. A tortoise lived on a small island.  The hawk asked the she-hawk to marry him. But, she wouldn't marry him until they had friends. He formed a friendship with the other animals and promised to protect them and vice versa. Some men tried to catch the young birds but the osprey protected them by putting the fire out. He switched with the tortoise due to being tired. The other animals came to help them and chased the men away. Then they all reflected on the importance of friendship. The Grandmother's Golden Dish There was a Bodisat who was a dealer in tin and brass. He sold his products on his side of the street that was allotted to him. There was a family that was reduced to poverty and they had some gold, but did not know that it was gold. They unknowingly traded it to one of the merchants for an ornament. He ended up not taking it so they went to another merchant who told them the real value of the ob

This week has been crazy. It was the first week back from Spring Break and I had a two test, a paper, and homework due. Thankfully I was able to study some over the break, but there is always never enough time. I also worked quite a bit so that made studying somewhat difficult. I think it was a mistake taking seventeen hours my last semester because senioritis is hitting me hard. Additionally, I am applying to other schools and going to graduate program interviews. It makes studying that much more difficult, so hopefully my GPA does not tank at the end of the semester. To cope with all of this I try to workout, rock climb, and remain active, but due to time constraints this does not always happen. Rock climbing is what I enjoy the most because it is physical and mental. Each route is a puzzle and it requires you to be in good condition to move your body around in ways that you normally wouldn't consider. I usually try to go two to three times a week and I feel that it is really he

I looked more into the Pandava brothers on Wikipedia. I specifically looked at Arjuna who is the third Pandava brother. His name means earning and that he a very virtuous person. He is very focused and has complete devotion to Krishna. My second page was completely devoted to Arjuna himself. In pop culture and modern references, he is mentioned a decent amount. The name Arjuna is a popular name for many Hindu male children. There is also a series of asteroids that are named after Arjuna. The Arjuna Award is presented to a male athlete every year for their achievement. Lastly Arjun is the name of a third generation battle tank in the Indian Army. The third page I looked at was the Arjuna asteroids. They are a dynamic group of asteroids in the solar system. They are near Earth objects whose orbit is very earth like. They have low inclination and periods that are similar to earth. The fourth page I looked up was near earth objects. They are object that orbit earth closely. It is considere

An Underappreciated Key to College Success: Sleep I learned that sleep plays an important role in our ability to remember things from that day and the studying that we do that day. I also learned that people who get less sleep are likely to have increased stress and an increased likelihood to drop classes. It confirmed my knowledge that colleges are doing little to counteract this problem or provide information on how to handle this. Something I would like to look into more is how the brains function declines after prolonged time being awake. I'm going to make a more concerted effort to stay on top of my studies and create a regular sleep cycle so that I am getting enough sleep each day. (ZZZ: NY Times) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/13/well/an-underappreciated-key-to-college-success-sleep.html

Learning Process In this post I learned that learning is a cyclic process. It confirmed that feedback is an important part of learning and that you should seek out input from outside sources. Something new I learned it that cues can help us perceive things either in a new way, or it can make us better at recalling certain things. Something I would be more interested in learning about is our deciding process that occurs in the brain. (Learning Process: Growth Mindset )

I installed the Canvas app on my android phone. It works good surprisingly and it is super helpful because it has a widget extension that I can just add to my home screen and look at my grades quickly. It is also nice because I can access all the files quickly. Overall it is a great app and I would recommend it !

Old Gambling Debts It's a dark and cold night on the planet of Korriban. A slight breeze whistles through the air. Dark Lord Yudhishthira walks through the crowd with his mind focused and ready to dominate. As he gets closer and closer to his destination his blood started to pulsate throughout his body. A shine started to appear on his forehead with the perspiration that was developing. He could feel his hands become clammy. Adrenaline rushed through his veins. He thought to himself that this always seemed so weird. Through his Sith training, he learned how to control his emotions and channel them into a rage. but every time he came to this place none of his training mattered anymore. It was toxic, he knew this, but still, he could not keep from coming to this place over and over again. It was a rush every time and he was addicted. He was only a few meters away now and his muscles began to tense up in anticipation for the battle that was about to happen. As he approached his dest

The Bull That Demanded Fair Treatment The Bodisat became a bull. A Brahmin took care of him with great care. He requested that his strength is put to the test against other cattle. The bet was made and then they filled 100 wagons full of material. The Bodisat was offended that he was called a wretch and decided not to move. The Brahmin was suddenly overcome with grief. The Bodisat told him what he did wrong then encouraged him to bet again, he did, and then the Bodisat moved all of the carts. In all, the Bodisat acquired his vast wealth. The Bull That Proved His Gratitude The Bodisat returned to life again like a bull. He was given to an old woman and became known as "the old woman's Blackie." He was good-tempered and quiet. He wanted to work for hire because his mother was poor. A merchant needed some carts pulled, saw the Bodisat and asked if he wanted to do it. He wouldn't move until he was promised a reward. He did as he was asked and then was not given the co

Eastern Stories and Legends The Hare that Ran Away Buddha is reborn as a lion and begins to help fellow animals. He begins to help a nervous hare who was afraid that the earth is going to fall in. A large fruit fell and hit the floor which scared the hare and caused her to become afraid. She told all the other hares who followed her. Then all the larger animals heard and followed her. The lion stops them and asks to be shown where the earth was falling in. They go back and see that it was just fruit.  The Monkey and the Crocodile The Bodhisatta turned into a monkey and came from the Himalayas. A Crocodile was in the Ganges and wanted to eat the big monkey. She prayed to her gods. She tempted the monkey to cross the river. The monkey climbed on top of the crocodile and they traveled across the Ganges. The crocodile then plunged down into the water. The monkey convinces the crocodile that his heart is on the trees with fig. He tricked the crocodile and then made fun of him. He

The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata - The Princes of Elephant City C.A. Kincaid The Pandavas chose to spend a year in the court of King Virata while they are still disguised. Yudhishthira finally catches on how to gamble and disguises himself as well. All of the brothers and Draupadi leave their weapons in a Shami tree so that no one can find them. Kickaka tries to rape Draupadi, but Bhima avenges her. When the person comes to rape her, he realizes it isn't her. In fact, it is Bhima and he kills him. The Queen forgives her, but the people want to burn Draupadi. Bhima rescues her. The brothers get into a battle and are victorious. they reveal themselves to the King. The King then gets to decide how he handles the brother; whether or not they are to go into exile or not. Then there is a larger battle and Arjuna wounds Bhisma so that he lays there and dies. Ganga causes the battle to cease for a short period until the solstice. Bhima kills Duhshasana and drinks his blood. Duryodhana agr

The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata - The Princes of Elephant City C.A. Kincaid This story occurs after the reign of King Bharata. Vichitravirya has died and left his two sons Dhritarashtra and Pandu. Dhritarashtra is blind and Pandu becomes king. Pandu has five sons; the Pandava brothers. Pandu dies and Dhritarashtra becomes king. He gives birth to one hundred sons. Together, they are the descendants of Bharata. The Pandavas are the best students and this makes Duryodhana mad. He is further infuriated when he is not named heir of the kingdom. He plots to kill the brothers, but they are warned and escape from him. They flee to the forest and disguise themselves. The demon Hidimbi sees Bhima and falls in love with him. The demon disguises herself as a beautiful woman and warns him of what her brother plans to do. They run off together, but Bhima returns eventually. Arjuna wins the archery contest but this angers the royal suitors. Draupadi becomes the bride of all five brothers. Duryodhan

I have missed some assignments, but overall, I am still doing great point-wise. I should have completed the projects that I did not do, but due to time constraints, I wasn't able to. Thankfully, there are a lot of points that are divided up in this class and is helpful. In the end, if I want to make up those points then I can just do the extra credit assignments that I have yet to do any. I have no changes that I want to make going forward except making sure I complete all my assignments. Therefore, I will try to work ahead so some of the assignments do not sneak up on me later. (We can do it: Wikipedia )

1. I think the feedback tool that we use in the class is very awesome. It adds another depth of feedback from my peers that I would otherwise not receive. They have also been very positive and helpful when writing my stories. It has also been a good way to get to know them even though we are not in an actual classroom setting. 2. The feedback quality has been superb. I like thinking about what needs to be added to the story to give it more depth. I then suggest it in my feedback so that they can add it into their story if they want to. 3. I think that through the blog comments I have been able to get to know some of my fellow classmates. I have been happy with my introduction post and my classmate's blog post. They have all provided excellent information about themselves. 4. All of the feedback assignments have been useful to me. 5. This image describes how I feel about the feedback process. It's a cyclic process and it begins with writing first and then receiving feedb

My reading and writing have been good. On top of my other course work, it has been some work to get it completed, but it has still been a good experience. I am happy with the blog. I've never used it before so I didn't have any expectations prior to using the blog. The same goes for my project website. The writing has been good as well. I thought it might be tough to come up with stories, but it has been relatively easy to start my story and finish it. I consider my biggest accomplishment in the class to be completing the required readings. I read through the books and it did take some time, but I was able to complete it with all my additional work. My favorite reading has been the Ramayana. My reading notes help me immensely with my writing. It is super helpful to have it there with me to write my stories so I can remember the piece that I am trying to write about. My reading strategies are to go over comma splicing, thoroughly reading through my story, and splitting up my par