Cartoon Analysis Essay: Week 11

For my analysis I chose the cartoon above, chiefly because of its tie-in to something that is near and dear to my heart: Optometry. As I have previously mentioned, I am preparing to go to Optometry school after graduation from OU.  I absolutely cannot wait to be able to serve patients like this little one, hopefully being able to correct his eye insufficiency while also correcting this point of view. I think part of what makes this cartoon appeal to me is that it is inherently true, but not in the way the boy thinks. The glasses are simply a corrective instrument that allows one to better interpret information, but cannot read or comprehend anything on their own.

This blissfully ignorant idea from the child in the cartoon is quite beautiful -- being able to read by solely by wearing these magical omnipotent frames. The first thing that comes to mind that makes this cartoon effective is the title over the glasses display that reads, "Reading Glasses". The child comprehends this as "glasses that read" instead of the intrinsic meaning, "Glasses that better allow you to read".

 I also found the right-center child's expression to be particularly hilarious, especially when considering the situation. Judging by his eyes and his leaned position while gazing at the frames, I can tell the child is having a tough time resolving the frames and signs around the room. His mouth also appears to be agape, which conveys a sense of either shock or wonder at the magical lenses that are presented in front of him.I think the cartoonist has done an excellent job of conveying the lack of resolution power the child has in his eyes currently.

In addition to the main character, there are some parts of the environment that add to the cartoon's humorous appeal. I like to imagine that the other child standing near the speaker is confused by the boy's statement. He could either be thinking, "This stupid guy over here thinks the glasses read for him", or, "I had NO idea that they had glasses that read for you. I gotta get me some!"

Storytelling Post Week 11: First Encounter

Siddhartha erupted from his bed, drenched in sweat from head to toe. He couldn't help but have these horrific dreams -- beggars were crawling around the streets, vandals were breaking windows and screaming expletives at the shop owners, and women were even being molested and raped when out past the late hour. He knew not how these travesties could occur, and he also knew not how he was seeing them. He had never ventured far from the palace. In fact, he believed his father would never let that happen. One day, Siddhartha came up to his father to ask to explore the adjacent streets around the palace. Siddhartha could see the tumult that such a request was causing his father. Siddhartha immdeiately regretted his request and began to inch away from his father, realizing that Siddhartha's request would be too heavy on the heart of the old man. Siddhartha had already turned away when his father put a firm hand onto his shoulder.

His father responded, "My beautiful and strong elephant, you have been held under captivity for far too long. I will permit this request. Let me coordinate.with some of my associates so I will know that you will be under supervision of safely watching eyes."

Siddhartha's father sent his most trustworthy guards and associates around to clean up the streets around the palace. The father knew what Siddhartha needed this trip to clear his mind and conscience, bit this did not mean that Siddhartha needed to see evvery unsightly detail. The king even went so far as to pay the taverns nearby to close their doors for the day. The king thought this would keep the regular patrons from contaminating the beautiful mind of his Siddhartha.

After his final finishing touches on cleaning and decorating the city, the king returned home to Siddhartha to give him permission to travel out on the next morning. Siddhartha, who originally would have been ecstatic to finally escape the confines of the palace, s
eemed aloof upon hearing his father's words. Siddhartha thought to himself, "I made this request of my father so that I may see the good and bad of the world for what it is.But now, I fear that I may not be able to handle the sadness and treachery that exists in the real world." He decided to sleep on it, which only lead to the same sequence of dreams he had the night before.

Wikipedia

The next morning, his father greeted him outside the palace with a beautiful gilded chariot. He appreciated this favor, but he decided to only ride it as far as his father could see. As soon as he leapt down from his perch, he was confronted by a man. The man was missing a few teeth and was covered in day-old soot. The man promised to him, "Oh Siddhartha! I will watch this chariot for you until you return!" Despite his appearance, the man was surely a kind soul, Siddhartha thought.



Author's note:

For my story, I decided to adapt Siddhartha's first encounter outside of the city. I thought it might be interesting to incorporate some level of premonition on Siddhartha's journey through his dreams. I tried to make it apparent that the father's efforts to coddle and protect Siddhartha would be pointless -- which is also sort of the moral of my story.

Link to Life of Buddha

Reading Diary: Life of Buddha Week 11

 Link to Life of Buddha


Link to Untextbook Options

• Nothing like a nice Spring night dream about six-tusked elephants coming down from the sky.
• Disquietude sounds like it's either not a real word, or that it is contemporary slang.
• I don't know about Maya, but I would probably seek another sort of help if I were continually having nightmares about flying elephants.
• Palanquins are the things that they carry around royalty in. They have at four people to put the wooden planks on their shoulders.
• Baby Siddhartha is greeted by the world in absolute blissfulness.
• The brahman;s sang, which I felt was not something common to many brahmans.
• Asita is apparently a person of many austerities, which is pleasing to the gods. The only reason I know the word Austere is because of the Series of Unfortunate Events books. So the gods find the hermit Asita appealing because of his stern demeanor. He's not one of those hippie hermits
• Siddhartha is seen by the King as an award for his deeds. However, I think the king misunderstands this in that Siddhartha is clearly a gift for all of the world.
• I think it's interesting that Buddha is incorporated into Hinduism in some cultures. He is incorporated as an avatar of Vishnu.
• I think it's strange that Siddhartha's presence caused so many prosperous things to happen to the king so directly. I never interpreted Buddha as a lucky charm as person, although I know many people use icons and statuettes of him to wish good luck.
• That is such a cop out ending to Maya's life. The joy of childbirth was "too sweet" for Maya. I don't think that has been said by anyone ever. Maya only met the gleeful reaction of baby Buddha, but never (on earth, at least) saw what he would become.
•  If there was ever any doubt, Siddhartha's life has definite divine important after seeing holy statues come to life to kneel at his feet. The song they sang is interesting because it implies that Siddhartha is greater than the gods that have fallen before him. That would be a lot to swallow as a young man.
• What a cool tie-in to the Ramayana.. Visvamitra, the original mentor to Rama was also the same to young Siddhartha. I don't know the supposed tim-line, but I wonder if one knew about the other?
• The four sights mark an important time where young Buddha is finally able to go out unto the world.
• I can already tell what I would like to write about in my short story: The Four Sights that inspired Buddha to go on his divine journey.
• I think it's interesting that Siddhartha had a wife. I didn't know much of this story before, but I totally expected him to have been a hermit without any interest in marriage or intimate relationships.
• I think one of the most interesting things about this passage is how Siddhartha never settles for the spiritual explanations of his elders. He uses the weaknesses of their points to seek enlightenment.
• The Siddhartha the Hermit chapter answered most of my previous questions. I had totally forgotten that he does not go on his hermitage until later in life. He has all of the reasons that a normal hermit would for going on such a quest, but he seems like he is being truthful to it.
• I know that Siddhartha is important to the royal family, but they must know he has much more important things to do to the world than just stay there with them. One should have offered to go with them like Rama's brother.
• Ascetic: characterized by practice of severe discipline to self and abstention from all forms of indulgence
• I was fairly convinced that I would write about the Four Sights, but Buddha's thooughts while sitting underneath the Bodhi Tree could be really fun to do as well. AND finally I actually know of one scene from this story -- sitting down under the Bodhi tree with the legs being crossed is so iconic.
• 
  I thought to include more note, but honestly I had already written so much that I felt the notes would be too tasking to read anyway. I wish I better utillized the brevity of some of the Reading Diaries done earlier.

Storytelling Wk. 2: Tale From the Riverside

Source: Wikipedia

"Dad, I don't think there's another river quite like the Ganges," said the boy, as he was gently nestled into his bed. "But why must the Ganges flow so much and so violently?"

His father softly responded, "The Ganges has its own story that explains its mysterious ways. Our family name, Samprashana, means 'friends of wings' and this is because our ancestors were close companions to the river cranes on the Ganges. It is said that a crane would land on the window sill each morning and greet our ancestors, exchanging a story for a small token of nourishment." The father dimmed the lights in the room and continued, 'Be still, my son, for here is one of the many stories our ancestors have passed down to us."

While the crane was not there to see it from the beginning, he was a very close friend to the mother of the Earth. Because the crane was clever and observant, Mother trusted him with keeping tabs on the living creatures of the valley and their needs. It was mostly a menial quest. Sometimes he would report about a quarrel between mongooses, or he would tell the mother of an intense battle between two great hawks. Eventually a whole new creature appeared in the valley. This beast made the land work for him. It called itself man.

Men were intelligent, emotional, violent, and amazing, the crane thought. Unfortunately, this ability led them to even threaten some of the gods. Men could move quickly on the backs of other animals, and were often haughty enough to challenge the gods to races. One day, a man started a race against one of the gods, and while the god was very powerful, he had not practiced enough riding the horse. The man could make the quickest of turns, highest of jumps, and stop without hurting his horse. This man made the god utterly furious. The god then hid the man's horse in the sunless underworld.

The man could no longer race the gods and thus felt powerless. He made it his lifelong quest to find his racehorse, but after millions of excavations it seemed he would be forever the simple human that he was. At the ancient age of five thousand he finally discovered the horse in the light-less world and he died there of happiness. The god was pleased that his challenger had been defeated, and he began to boast to all of the other men in the world.

The crane could tell that the men were unhappy with how their brother was treated and led to die. They began to rebel against the earth, putting their waste and trash directly into the earth. The crane pleaded to Mother, "We must ease their sorrow or else your beauty will be ruined!" Mother, stricken with grief, cried down from the high heavens and washed the valley and the sunless place with her tears. Her sadness was so terrible that the entire valley began to flood away. The crane knew what he had to do. He dove straight down with the strongest of strikes. The sheer force of his dive made folds in the land that rose up and made what today is the Himalayas. Mother's flood was thus corralled by the mighty mountains, and the river began to look much like it does today.

He had managed to nourish the people's shores, wash away the remains of the man and his horse, and also serve his divine purpose.

"Good night, my little crane," whispered the father as the light washed away.

Sarus Crane - Wikipedia

Author's note:

The story I tried to re-tell was the Ganges Story from the Ramayana (Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana.). 

In the original story, Sakara is a fortunate ruler who has planned out a great horse sacrifice. This sacrifice involves the passing of a decorated horse through each area of a country, and this passage is a declaration of the ruler's power. Any opposition to the horse is an act of war. This is where Indra comes in, or the man in my story. Indra goes on to hide the horse behind a meditating saint. Sakara's sons are assigned to dig until they find Sakara's horse. They finally discover Indra's hiding place and the saint is wrongly accused of stealing the horse. This saint is then tortured. This leads to Bhagiratha, similar to the crane in the story, agreeing with Shiva to help avoid the full wrath of Ganga descending upon the earth. The tortured saint thus receives salvation, and the valley is not wiped out by the powerful Ganga.

I tried to refrain from using many of the names in the story because I think the story should appeal on a general level, like a fable. I also changed the horse sacrifice in the Ganges story to a race, mainly because I think a boy would find a race with gods to be very exciting. The crane also took some of the roles that multiple characters did in the story because I wanted him to be the most heroic crane a boy could imagine. 

After it all - Storytelling Week 9

The war was over now. The Pandavas are back.  The soldiers could be seen hugging their wives and children next to the fire place. Life was perfect, unless you happened to see the wives and children who no longer had someone to hug. They spent this evening clinging to each other, just hoping that war would never have to happen again.

The Pandavas, as happy as they were, knew it would be no easy task to face the King and his wife the upcoming day. The royal family lost every single one of their century of sons. The King's wife Gandhari had little flecks of each of her children in her eyes, and with each of her inconsiderable tears came also a little of each son back to life for a mere instant. This was clearly a time of sorrow despite the victory.



The King's words escaped, "Where is Bhima? I request the presence of his neck in my grasp." The King began to whirlwind with his fists in hopes he could land one square blow onto the man responsible for the death of so many he loved. Bhima watched from a distance, feeling cowardly because he kept himself away from the violently-swinging King. The king began to call out, "I know you are in here, Bhima." The tension in the room began to peak.  His assistant, acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, fetched a fine iron cast of Bhima, knowing that the statue would certainly evoke feelings that could hopefully relieve the king.

The King embraced the cast, giving it all the crushing force that he could muster with his once fine-tuned body. The cast began to wane under the grip of the King, and eventually gave in to the might of his force. By the time the sight-less King laid the cast to rest, it was hardly recognizable as Bhima any longer.

Bhima watched all of this in his own tomb of somber regret, laying himself face down on the lounge in the next room over. He knew what transpired had to happen, but regardless, he was reconciled in knowing that his iron likeness could be used to heal the old king.

This is approximately what Bhima's expression would have been. Source: Link

Author's Note:
I was running pretty dry for this week, so the point of this story was to include more details on this exchange between the King, Kishna, Bhima, and his statue. I'm not sure why Bhima felt that he had to stay in the King's presence, but I think it was somewhat due to guilt.

Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

Reading Diary B: Week 10

Krishna's mission

• Dhritarashtra finds out that Krishna will soon arrive, and he calls for a lavish reception. This is a different opinion than what Vidura insists what Krishna would like. Krishna is believed to stand for what if right. Krishna in this story is depicted as the harbringer of peace, and yet Duryodhana is the polar opposite, with plans to take Krishna prisoner and has no hope for any peace or reconcilliation

War

• Krishna, while opposed to war in general, still insists that Dhrishtadyumna become the commander of the troops.
• The Bhagavad-Gita is essentially the hype up song for the entire battle. I could see writing a contemporary version of the exchange between Arjuna and Krishna before the battle turning into a coach trying to get his football team hyped up in preparation for the state championship game. After the hype music is over, the team has become electric and proceeds to fly out to the field to take on the opposing team.

Bhishma's Death

• Bhishma is shot from behind by Arjuna, which definitely correlates back to the story in the Ramayana where it was not right to shoot someone in the back. 
• This is an example of another one of the themes in these Epics where a woman is used to exacerbate the fatal flaw of Bhishma.

Ganga and Bhishma

• Bhishma is finally cremated and laid out on the shores on the Ganges, in a cyclical example of Karma. This is a nice juxtaposition of how nice of a mother the Ganges had become once Bhishma died compared to what she was when drowning her first 7 sons.
• Since I have written a twitter conversation previously, there's no reason that the interaction between Bhishma and his mother can't be done through social media again! 

Reading Diary A

Duryodhana and the gandharvas

•  Gandharva is a name used for distinct heavenly beings
• In hinduism, they are male nature spirits, husbands of Apsaras. They have superb musical ability. Often depicted as singers in the court of Gods.
• Pandavas are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu. All married to Draupadi, although they have other wives
• There needs to be a part of the story where Dhritashtra brings all of his spies and the Pandavas to drink at a bar an talk of this occasion.

Voice in the lake

•   Pandavas are approached by a brahmin.
• Instead of mysterious golden deer from Rama, the animal sage comes in form of a mysterious giant deer. The Pandavas also have difficulty catching the deer without a bow like Rama has. 
• This story is actually incredibly sad if it does not end with Yama returning the Pandavas to life.
• Title of this section of the story: Tough love from father.

In the Court of King Virata

•  A common theme in both of these epics have been exiles. Why might this be important as a punishment?
•  There is more gambling in this story.
• Probably the most serious note of the story so far.  Draupadi is raped and requests for revenge at the hands of Bhima. This is a prompt for a court drama. You would initially be cheering for Bhima to get his revenge, but once he goes too far and kills Kichaka, knowing that Bhima is destined for jail. The scene could close with Drapadi moving away to start a new life.
• 
  

Reading Diary A: Week 9

Shantanu

• Kuru king of Hastinapura. Descendant of the race of Bharata.
• Falls in love with the beautiful Ganges river woman, although they agree to never question her actions. It is only after the 8th son is about to be drowned that he questions her.
• The children were "vasus" or cursed by Vasishtha. The first 7 were drowned to be freed from the mortal world into heaven, but the 8th was sentenced to living out life as a great man, but also must remain celibate.
• I know reincarnation is a thing, but punishing 7 babies for stealing a cow in another life seems harsh. I don''t care how beautiful my wife is, or how proper of a wife she is, you're not going to get away with drowning babies.
• It's unclear to me why some get "freed". Was their punishment only to live 1 year of life as a baby? Or did she feel bad about the terrible life they would live if they grew up?
• Shantanu loves those water ladies, now falling in love with the daughter of a fisherman
• I knew an Indian student at OU named Satya, although I'm pretty sure his full name had at least 3x as many characters as Satya. I think he was a computer science major, for what it's worth

Pandavas and Kauravas

• The moral of these stories should be "Don't mess with animals, because they could belong to gods or even be a god". If you can't go out and shoot a deer, in fear that it may be a celestial being, what can you do? People gotta eat.
• The gods in these stories can be so meddlesome and fickle. The celestial deer is clearly distraught over his own death and thus stops a man from ever being able to make love ever again. That's cruel.

Bhima

• Our first encounter with a rakshasa. This demon falls in love with Bhima, much like Ravana's sister, but instead has a child with her. Ravana's sister would be so proud!
• I also just realized that Bhima kills one rakshasa, so he definitely knows how dangerous they are, and then he marries another. Sounds like a good plan.

Reading Diary Week 8: Assessment

• Is there information from the instructions that you had not noticed before? 
• What are the main strategies you use in writing your Diary posts? 
• Do you have specific Diary tips that would be useful for other students?
• Do you use the same Diary style/strategy each time?
• Are your Diary posts more or less the same length each time, or do they vary?
• Overall, would you say your Diary posts are too long, too short, or just about right? 
• Is there something you have started doing in your Diary posts that you wish you had done from the beginning?
• Is there something you might start doing in your Diary posts now that you have not done so far? 
• Do you include images in your Diary posts?  
• Do you include favorite quotes or phrases in your Diary posts?
• Do you make connections to other stories / books / movies in your posts?
• Do you take the notes while you are reading or afterwards? 
• When you look back at your old Diary posts, are they useful?
• What could you do to make the Diary posts more useful for future reference?
• Do you use your Diary posts when you are writing the other blogs posts each week?
• Overall, how good a job would say you are doing with the reading assignments?
• In general, do you remember a lot of the reading in this class, or not so much? 
• In general, do you remember reading in your other classes? Or do you mostly focus on preparing for exams? 
• What are the reading strategies that are most effective for you for short-term memory? What about strategies for long-term memory? 

After reviewing the instructions, there was nothing that I explicitly did not notice before, but I realize after reviewing my posts that I spent the first couple of weeks doing a summary, and then eventually progressing to actual thoughts on some of the reading.
In my posts I generally tried to record points or thoughts about the reading I found the most interesting. I tried to use the Reading Diary as a way to foster ideas or prompts for my storytelling for that week, but I largely didn't use any of my possible prompts. I would suggest that other students try to write a little bit after they read each seciton, and not go back to post after reading the passage in its entirety. I think I would suggest this because of the volume of some of the readings each night. I've never included an image in my diary posts, but I think it could be useful to start looking up photos of some of the subjects so that you have a good foundation to choose from once you pick your storytelling topic or even just for your portfolio. With the reading assignments, my biggest problem was trying to not skip any sections, especially when they got slow and/or boring. I think I remember a lot of the reading from Narayan's version, but Buck's version of the reading seems like such a blur to me despite it being the most recent one. I think my old diary posts could be very useful for those times when I'm stuck without a prompt for my next re-telling post. I say all of this in confidence, but I still remember pretty much only relying on the book when working on storytelling posts. Part of this was because I like to include more details in my post, and I don't use the diary to record such details

Storytelling Wk. 6: Next is Reclamation

Jea Gazis Flickr

The scrawny youngster dragged his feet as he approached the group, being extra careful to not look at any one member the wrong way. His wispy dark hair flew past him in the arid wind and he only managed to keep his yellow headgear attached by tying a bright red shoelace around it. The dirt of the entire playground lay nestled in his shirt and pants. Still with his eyes affixed to the cracks in the pavement, he asked, "Can I play over here with you guys?'

The playground was meant to be fun. It should have been fun. For Vibs, it wasn't. Before that day, Vibs spent most of his time trying not to get stepped on while excavating in the sandbox. His only real interaction with people would last as long as it took him to apologize, usually a woefully stutter-ridden "S-s-sorry!" Vibs had no interest in standing in the way of anybody.

Probably the most interesting thing about Vibs was his proximity to something far less kind and unassuming. Vibs was the brother of Ray, the biggest, baddest, and whiniest punk to ever patrol a jungle gym. Ray was not one to be crossed, and most of the kids who had crossed him didn't come out for recess any more. Ray was also manipulative. Despite his overwhelming size, he managed to convince teachers that it was he who was being bullied or having lunch money stolen. Even though Ray was obviously a bad fruit, most knew better than to ever get near him. Thus, his effect on the playground was minimized to mostly fear and not treachery.

That changed one day when I brought my new Spalding basketball to recess. It had a cool leather print and was one of those internalized air pump balls that couldn't go flat even if you tried. I took a long shot, probably about ten feet farther from the hoop than I should have been, and missed the goal completely. I was obviously embarrassed, but that emotion I felt does not compare to what I felt when the ball bounced off the head of the recess ruffian.

Much unlike his usual primal nature, he did not beat me into submission nor yell until his throat dried up. Instead, Ray simply grabbed the ball and sat on it. That's not to say he didn't acknowledge its beauty -- he wouldn't stop touching the new leather with his grimy gauntlets. I was already devastated whenever Ray snatched it, but knowing Ray had my ball made it somehow easier. It was like knowing that it had been blown into oblivion -- completely unreachable, unlike losing a ball across a fence. I had already begun to cope with life after my ball. That's why I couldn't comprehend what Vibs was doing when he tried to kick the ball out from underneath his brother. Ray lashed out, "What are you doing, Squirt?!" to which Vibs replied, much louder than he had ever spoken to someone on this playground, "It's not your ball to take. Give it back, or I'm telling Mom."

Ray proceeded to turn away from all of us, being sure to never come up off this new perch. I groaned as the leather began to stretch and grind between the friction of the massive Ray and the grisly pavement underneath. Vibs again tried to reason with his oaf of a brother, "Ray, maybe they'll let you play with them if you give the ball back. Not everyone is as mean as you are." To this response, Ray huffed out a, "No, I'm alright where I am," and then again turned his back on Vibs.

Vibs would not get another chance to plead with Ray. His slight frame was sent in full somersault down the hill by Ray as he ran off with the ball, clearly playing football with my basketball. The moment was too ugly for any of us to watch. I was so sure that Vibs was buried in all of the dust kicked up in the scuffle, but he managed to get up quickly enough to keep his hat from ending up in the street.

...

So now I stand back in front of Vibs, the bravest runt on the playground, and say, "Of course you can play, but your brother still has my ball." Vibs replies, showing once again that his beast of a brother could not faze him, "I think I know what we can do to get it back."

Author's note:

I realized as I wrote this that a huge chunk of my story actually covers much earlier in the book, where Ravana steals Sita (or Ray steals the basketball from Rama) and I hope that part was okay to include in order to tell my story of Vibihshana's conflict with Ravana and his eventual leaving of Ravana's side to join Rama. I also was not trying to objectify Sita as a basketball, but instead trying to find a relatable object of children on a playground. I still can't figure out how to describe the scene, either from Rama's perspective or Vibs. Rama gets the perspective of Vibs being sent through the dust, and can talk about the size and personality difference between the brothers. I had a difficult time locating a picture of boys fighting over a basketball, so I ended up using it to set the scene on the playground, before Vibs is sent to the dust. I thought modifying the names into something more like what kids could comfortably use made the story flow better than just having their full names. It was hard to describe how Vibs would show him treasures of the Lankan land, so I decided getting the ball back from Ravana would be relevant symbolism.

Source
Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.