Indian Epics

For my Story Lab I decided to read EmpoWord and the chapter on telling a story. It talks about how storytelling is often a part of our writing and thinking. It can be seen in things like music or science. When telling a story it is important to narrow your scope to include only the important details. Things like pacing are also relevant with it being important to give consideration to how much time each event is given. I also learned about the different POVs and the different techniques I can use. One thing that stood out to me was the part about dialogue. I've been trying to incorporate dialog into my story and sometimes it's difficult to make it flow. I feel like this chapter taught me skills that I can use as I continue to write my storybook. Writing Bibliography: https://content.library.pdx.edu/files/PDXScholar/empoword/96/#zoom=z

I decided to do my extra credit reading on Gandhari: A Mother Blinded by Love. In the comic she receives a blessing from Shiva that she will have 100 sons. She marries Dhritarashtra the blind. In order to share his burden she blindfolds herself. She gives birth to a lump and cuts it up into 101 pieces and puts each in a jar of ghee. They take shape in 2 years and form 100 sons and a daughter. The eldest brays like a donkey when he is born which symbolizes a bad omen. When he grows up he is jealous of his cousins the 5 Pandavas (Pandu and Kunti's sons). He tries to poison his cousin Bhima but fails. They play the dice game. Ghandari Comic Bibliography: Gandhari: A Mother Blinded by Love

For my reading notes this week I chose to watch the film adaptation of the Mahabharata. I enjoyed this version because it was interesting to see it in the form of a movie. The movie contains people from all different cultures. Vyasa tells the story of the three women who Bhima wins. One leaves because she is love with another king. Their husband dies and the two women have to sleep with Vyasa to have babies. One baby is blind and the other is pale. The pale one, Pandu, is cursed and if he sleeps with his wife he will die.His wife Kunti has a special mantra. She calls down the sun God and has a baby with him. I liked the way the movie is easy to understand and fun to watch. I'm looking forward to watching more of it. Film Adaptation of Mahabharata Bibliography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EENh1hxkD6E&t=0m5s Title:   The Mahabharata Director : Peter Brook Scriptwriters:   Jean-Claude Carriere and Peter Brook Year:  1989