Week 2 Reading Overview

I plan on reading the second option of Ramayana-- the Public Domain Edition. First and foremost, this option is free, which was a major draw to me choosing it. Also, I think this version will allow me to view the story from different points of view. From looking at this version from a glance, it seems that I will be able to compare and analyze different styles for each of the episodes. I hope this will allow me to achieve a more holistic view of my first Indian epic reading experience. For this version, I forsee the old-fashioned language being a good challenge for my reading. Also, the illustrations and notes are appealing to me as I have always been a visual-oriented learner. Finally, I am excited to use the audio version to listen to this story. This makes it convenience to listen to this story, even when I am on-the-go during a busy day. 

My comic books of choice:

1. Dasharatha: The Story of Rama's Father (click!)

From the description, you can tell that this story will be very suspenseful. The central plot begins with a major conflict of a hunting accident. From a glance, it seems like I will get the story of Dasharatha from a life course perspective in relation to this accident-- from the accident to his eventual death. 

2. The Sons of Rama: Luv and Kush— The Invincible Twins (click!)

When reading, I have always loved the character development and relationship between family members in stories. This is especially true for the connection between twins! I am interested to see the origin of how Rama got separated from his two sons.

My videos of choice:

1. Rama and the Ramayana: Crash Course World Mythology #27 (click!)

I have often used John Green and the crash course videos as resources for other educational purposes. I love the format of the videos, and the narrator presents information in an ordered, structured way that makes it easy to follow along. I would definitely consider reading this as an introduction to our first Ramayana reading. 

2. Powerful women of Hindu mythology, EPIFIED (click!)

In the Mythology and Folklore course, I was fascinated to see the way which women and goddess were presented into the stories. This could be a good resource to see the impact of the women characters in the Indian epics. This could also possibly be a storybook idea!

Indra, Flickr

Image of choice: 

I thought this image was absolutely fascinating. There is a sense of symmetry yet the borders of this order is interrupted with the marble-like swirl effect. It is beautiful. I do not have any background information of Indra. However, I would be interested in learning more, as he is an important God of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.