Clara's Blog

This week I really enjoyed the reading and managed to complete both readings on time and catch up from last week. I fell behind in Week 3, so I didn't want to stay behind this week. Part D of the Ramayana was my favorite reading so far. I felt like I was more interested during the reading compared to how I had been in the past, probably because it had the most action and turning points of the readings. I liked the story I wrote this week, but I'm still working on strategies to get into mindset to write stories. I feel like it takes me awhile to be able to get into a good work flow when it comes to writing stories. I read someone's story about Rama and Sita earlier that used amazing detail, adjectives, and literary devices that really brought the story to life. I really enjoyed reading their story and their writing style, so I might try to implement some of those strategies into my writing. I have exams in all my classes this and next, but I enjoy being able to use this clas...

I have completed the back up and the check up part of the assignment. This week I watched the video  Why We Worship Trees . The video states that trees are associated with gods, and they are worshipped to show their gratitude. Different trees are associated with different gods. My favorite graphic this week was the poem "Advice from a Tree". I thought this poem was short and easy, while still getting an important message across. Advice from a Tree

Catalyst I started my Wikipedia Trails with catalyst. I have a test in my biology class this week and was learning about catalysts right before I did my online work, so I decided to start my Wikipedia Trail with them. Formaldehyde From catalysts, I clicked on formaldehyde. I have a lot friends in anatomy lab right now, and they always complain about the smell of formaldehyde, so it grabbed my attention. Milky Way Galaxy From formaldehyde, there was a link to the galaxy. I've always been interested in the stars and space, so the a link to the galaxy seemed interesting to me. Galileo Galilei From the Milky Way, I clicked on the link about the "father of observational astronomy" Galileo Galilei. I clicked on the link of Galileo because I was interested to learn about his contributions to astronomy and what he observed. Galileo Galilei (Source:  Wikipedia )

For my Learning Challenge this week I read the article  "The Surprising Link Between Laughter and Learning" by Dana Asher. Before reading the article, I knew that laughter was a positive outlet for aggression, but I didn't know the complete impact laughter had. The article connects laughter to learning and leadership. The article states that laughter shows vulnerability, which leads to self-awareness and trust. After reading this article, I'm interested in learning about other benefits of laughter and the benefits of having an overall greater happiness. Laughing face (Source: Pixabay )

For this week's Growth Mindset, I read the article  "6 Bad Mental Habits that Sabotage Your Success" by Amy Morin. This article confirmed how powerful the mind is. If we think positively about ourselves, we perform better, while negative thoughts can lead to poor performance. This article taught me that negative thoughts can effect everyone, even aspiring Olympic athletes will work with sport psychologists to improve their mental strength. The article gives tips to avoid the 6 unhealthy habits that harm mental strength. I think I'm most interested in the habit about negative predictions turning into self-fulfilling prophecies. To prevent myself from catastrophizing my future I'm going to quit dwelling on the worst case "what if" scenarios. Growth Mindset (Source:  Flickr )

For this tech tip I decided to play the Ninja Cat game, since last week I said I wanted to improve my typing speed. I thought this game was really fun, unfortunately it wasn't working well for me, so I kept losing. I tried some other games, but they all seemed to load too slow. Typing (Source: Pixabay )

For my storybook project I want to write about Sita's life from her point of view, possibly as journal entries. I'm currently thinking of breaking it into the three sections of Sita's life into before she meets Rama, when she is  with Rama, and after she is sent into exile. Vedavati is said to be the previous incarnation of Sita. Vedavati is dedicated to winning Lord Vishnu as her husband and having a child with him. Eventually, Vedavati enters a fire and dies to avoid being with Ravana. Before her death she tells Ravana she will be born again for his destruction. I think all the similarities between Sita and Vedavita would be interesting to write about along with Sita's birth from the earth. I would most likely condense majority of Rama and Sita's story from the  PDE Ramayana into their life together in the jungle and her being captured by Ravana. I would also probably add their intitial feelings they had for each other at first sight.  My final story ide...

Sita and Rama returned to Ayodhya filled with joy that their long and exhausting years of exile were finally over. Under Rama's reign the city flourished. There were no diseases, plenty of crops grew during the harvest season with plenty of rainfall during the rainy seasons. Despite Ayodhya's success under Rama's reign, rumors about his queen, still circulated between around the city questioning her loyalty to the king while she was Ravana's hostage. "Sita was not faithful to Rama while she was captured by Ravana, how could Rama stay with a woman who stayed with another man?" they would say. Sita knew what the people said about her, but after proving herself to Rama, she didn't acknowledge what they thought because Rama knew her virtues. Eventually, his people's criticisms convinced Rama to send Sita back into exile. Rama battled internally with losing the respect of his subjects and banishing his innocent wife. He finally decided to tell Sita that s...

Public Domain Edition of the Ramayana by M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.  The 4th part of the Ramayana begins with a dilemma for Rama and the army. Unlike Hanuman who can use his superpowers to jump to Lanka, Rama and the armies were unable to pass the ocean. The King of Ocean guides Rama to seek Nala to build a bridge to Lanka, this bridge was called "Rama's Bridge". Ravana's spies advised Ravana to surrender Sita and not go to war, but Ravana refused. Ravana tries to fool Sita into thinking that Rama is dead, but she eventually realizes it is only an illusion. Then the big battle begins, eventually Indrajit uses his invisibility power to injure Rama and his army. Then when they thought they had lost the battle, Garuda comes and heals them. To help them fight, the rakshasas woke Kumbharkarna, a man-eating demon. Rama was able to defeat Kumbhakarna using a flaming arrow. Indrajit then used a Brahma-weapo...

Hanuman, the monkey god, disguises himself as a beggar. Once he finds Rama and Lakshmana, he is excited they can be an ally and takes them to see Sugriva. Once there,  Sugriva tells Rama and Lakshmana the story of how Sugriva lost his wife because of his older brother, Vali. Sugriva goes with Rama to fight Vali. Vali's wife, Tara, begs Vali not to fight Sugriva, but he doesn't listen. Sugriva and Vali flight, but Rama delivers the arrow that ultimately kills Vali. Sugriva and Tara mourn Vali's death and Sugriva is made king. Sugriva promises to help Rama once the month of Kartik passes, but Rama isn't able to stay in cities, so he remains in the jungle waiting for Sugriva. Sugriva is slow to help Rama once the rainy season passes, so Rama sends Lakshmana to threaten him. Shortly after, Sugriva sends armies out to search for Sita. During their search, the armies were unable to find Sita, but they met Jatayu's brother, Sampati. Sampati informed the monkeys that Sita w...