Showing posts with label Week 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Week 2. Show all posts

Monday, January 30, 2017

Feedback Thoughts by Ryan McElyea

Criticism can be Harsh but Beneficial. Source: tiny buddha

 Overcoming the Fear of Feedback

I think this is something that I can really relate to. I remember early on in my college education I would always be scared when there were comments or something from the professor that pointed out the flaws or mistakes in my paper. It made me feel sad that I missed some of the stuff and made me really anxious. During my first internship after sophomore year, I realized that the people giving you feedback have more experience in the subject than you and they are trying to help you grow. So even though it may be scary to get this feedback especially if it is negative, but they only do it to better you in the future. It is more helpful to receive feedback than nothing at all.

Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset

I like this article because it is similar to the "put yourself in the other person's shoes" quote. It is important to give feedback that is not harsh even though it is negative. There is no need to talk down on someone when giving feedback. It is important to just address the topics or themes that they may have missed in their work and maybe give an example on how they can improve. It is important to leave tips that encourage a growing mindset as the title implies.

7 Key Characteristics of Better Learning Feedback

I like the characteristics that this article gives for leaving feedback. The 7 characteristics mentioned are: goal-referenced, transparent, actionable, user-friendly, timely, ongoing, and consistent. Goal-referenced is feedback that can help them achieve a goal or action. Transparent is just information on what topics may have been missed or misrepresented in the work. Actionable means that there must be a way to fix it, maybe offer suggestions.  User-friendly is give it in terms that they can understand and don't use jargon the receiver may not know. Timely is give the feedback where there is still time for them to revise it instead of waiting until the last minute. Ongoing means that the encouragement for growth does not stop after just one time. Consistent is not changing the way that you give feedback or say something one time and something completely different the next.

5 Tips For Taking Feedback Like a Champ

I really like the tips that this article includes in regards to receiving feedback. The first tip is "realize that feeling uncomfortable is healthy, normal, and part of the growth process." I completely agree with this because I know exactly what this uncomfortable moment  feels like, but once you realize that it is towards your growth, it is much better. "Having growth areas is a good thing" is another topic and I believe this is true as well. There is no way that you can be an expert in every subject so there is always room to grow. Overall, just realizing that feedback benefits your growth is something that can lead the uncomfortable experience into a rewarding one.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Week 2 Story Planning: Ramayana PDE

Cultural Silhouette. Source 

Public Domain Ramayana, link to the reading online.

Characters:

Rama

  • Son of King Dasaratha and Queen Kausalya
  • Prince of Ayodya
  • Vishnu as a human avatar
  • Married to Sita

Sita

  • King Janak is her father
  • Married to Rama
  • Lakshmi, goddess avatar, Vishnu's consort

Ravana

  • Rakshasa cannot be killy by a god

Lakshmana

  • Rama's brother
  • Married to Sita's younger sister, Urmila

King Dasaratha

  • King of Ayodhya
  • Well liked king

Viswamitra

  • A sage
  • Wise man
  • Was once a king
  • Gained powers through meditation
  • Takes Rama to defeat a demon and lift the bow of Siva

Ganga

  • Goddess
  • Daughter of Himavan
  • Siva brought her to earth and she became the river Ganges

Siva

  • Able to tame the powers of the other gods
  • Married to Parvati

Lava

  • One of the sons of Rama, but does not know

Kusha

  • One of the sons of Rama, but does not know

Vasishta

  • Offers King Dasaratha advice

Rishyaringa

  • Great rishi
  • Presided over the sacrifice that King Dasaratha offers to get a son
  • Combination of deer and man

Tataka

  • Beautiful woman transformed into demon when she tried to seduce Agastya
  • Drinks blood of living creatures and kills everything
  • Rama slays her and breaks her curse

Kaikeyi

  • King Dasaratha's third and youngest wife
  • Saved King Dasaratha's life in battle and he said he will do anything she asks

Sumitra

  • Second wife of Dasaratha
  • Mother of Lakshmana and Shatrughna

Kausalya

  • First wife of Dasaratha, however they do not have a close relationship

Manthara

  • Asks King Dasaratha to exile Rama nd crown Bharata as king

Guha

  • King of the hunters
  • Loyal to Rama

Bharata

  • Son of King Dasaratha

Shatrughna

  • Lakshmana's twin
  • Follows Bharata everywhere

Sumantra

  • Chief counselor of Dasaratha
  • Brings Rama into exile

Surpanakha

  • Ravana's sister
  • Attempts to seduce Rama and kill Sita

Maricha

  • Ravana's uncle
  • Rama defeated him with a magic weapon

Khara

  • Ravana's cousin
  • Likes to kill rishis
  • Rules an area near a forest

Jatayu

  • Golden eagle
  • Speaks like a human
  • Loyal to King Dasaratha
  • Pledges service to Rama
  • Dies defending Sita from Ravana

Kabandha

  • Bad rakshasa
  • Has no legs or head

Sugriva

  • king of the vanaras (magical monkeys)

Hanuman

  • Advisor to Sugriva
  • Son of the win god Vayu

Vibheeshana

  • Ravana's younger brother
  • Joins Rama's army

Sampati

  • Golden eagle
  • Jatayu's brother
  • Wings burned when he flew too close to the sun

Jambavan

  • King of Riksharaj (magical bears)
  • Ally of Sugriva and Rama

Indrajit

  • Ravana's favorite son
  • captured Indra, the king of the gods

Kumbhakarna

  • Ravana's brother
  • Giant with infinite strength
  • Sleeps for six months at a time before waking up and eating everything

Agastya

  • Blesses Rama

I am planning on using a lot of the main characters to make a full on war style story. Rama and his allies and friends will be on one side and a lot of Ravana will be on the other side. I will probably cut a lot of these characters down but I wanted to list them all out and see what they could offer to either side.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Reading Notes: Public Domain Ramayana, Part B

When Viradha abducted Sita and battling Rama and Lakshmana. Source


Public Domain Ramayana, link to the reading online.


  • Bharata has no idea his father, Dasharatha died or that Rama was exiled
  • Bharata wants to look for Rama
  • Before Bharata can look for Rama, he must perform funeral rites for his father
  • Bharata finds Rama in Chitrakuta
  • Neither Rama or Bharata want to return to Ayodhya
  • Rama gives Bharata his sandals to represent his absence
  • Rama and Lakshmana battle a demon in the forest that abducted Sita
  • Viradha, the demon, cannot be wounded by any sharp weapon
  • The demon's real name is Tumburu and an ancient curse connects him to Rama
  • Rama meets a sage named Agastya, one of the most famous of the Indian rishis
  • Ravana's sister falls in love with Rama
  • Rama obviously does not feel the same way about her because he is with Sita
  • Rama suggests that she try to seduce his brother
  • Ravana seeks Maricha's help to abduct Sita
  • Sita is enchanted by a golden deer
  • The golden deer is able to imitate Rama's voice
  • Rakshasas have the ability to change their shapes
  • Ravana disguses himself as a sage of the forst in order to get close to Sita when Rama and Lakshmana left her alone
  • Jatayu, the mighty bird, does battle with Ravana because he tries to save Sita
  • Ravana carries Sita into the sky and while being carried, Sita drops her jewelry in hopes that Rama will find it and he can track her down  
  • Brahma is happy to see that his plan to destroy Ravana is going to play through Rama
  • Ravana forces Sita to go with him to Lanka
  • Brahma put a curse on Ravana so that he cannot rape Sita, this means that he tries to seduce her and she refuses to sleep with him
  • Rama and Lakshmana find out what happened to Sita from Jatayu
  • Rama and Lakshmana run into a woman named Shabari who has been waiting for them
  • She said that holy men told her long ago that Rama would come to her
  • The woman is caught in a time wrap
  • Now that Shabari's destiny was complete, she asked Rama to perform her funeral rites
I definitely feel like this reading was a lot more dense than the part A but it definitely did have a lot more action. Part A was more focused on character and setting development.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Reading Notes: Public Domain Ramayana, Part A

Rama and Lakshmana battle the rakshasas. Source

Public Domain Ramayana, link to the reading online.


King Dasharatha

  • Ruler of the Koshala kingdom
  • Lives in Ayodhya
  • Mighty and powerful
  • Heart full of sorrow because no son had been born to him be either of his 3 queens.
  • Conducts a horse sacrifice to obtain offspring
  • His chief wife, Kaushalya, plays a leading role
  • Gods promise him four sons.
King Janaka

  • king of the Videha kingdom
  • Lives in Mithilia
  • For someone to marry his daughter, the suitor must bend the bow of the god Shiva
Story
  • City of Ayodhya is the capital of Koshala
  • Ayodhya was full of prosperous and happy people
  • Reading about what the actual horse sacrifice is super strange
  • The horse gets puts in fancy jewels and gets killed for sacrifice (sacred scimitar)
  • Dasharatha needs to defeat Ravana, the King of the Rakshasas
  • The god Vishnu comes to help but Ravana cannot be defeated by gods therefore Vishnu is born on earth as Rama, the son of Dasharatha
  • Rama and his brother Lakshmana go with Vishvamitra to fight demons
  • Rama receives supernatural weapons as rewards after then fight
  • Sagar Island is where the goddess Ganga (the river Ganges) descended
  • Gautama cursed Indra and Ahalya for being disguised as him and seducing Ahalya
  • Rama falls in love with Sita (heavenly and eternal love)
  • Sita, Janaka family, is an avatar of the goddess Lakshmi, Vishnu's consort
  • Rama wins Janaka's challenge and gets to marry Sita
  • Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna find wives from the Janaka family
  • Dasharatha must decide which son will be the heir
  • Kaikeyi demands that Dasharatah sends RAma into exhile while making Bharata his heir
  • Rama always obeys his father without question
  • Sita and Lakshmana want to accompany Rama into exile
  • 14 years of exile in forest
  • As Dassharatha dies, he remembers an accident when he was cursed to lose a son
  • None of his sons are present at the time of his death
  • Rama and Lakshmana have gone into exile
  • Bharata and Shatrugna are away in the kingdom of Ashwapata