Week 1 Review

I was looking at the announcements for this week and there is a lot of interesting content. My favorite graphic is the one for The Book of Were-Wolves by Sabine Baring-Gould. Were-wolves have always fascinated me. I like reading about stories of mythical creatures in general. A lot of TV shows are based off of transformations that take place under a full moon. A few that come to mind are Dragonball Z and a show that is currently very popular on MTV called Teen Wolf. I will read more about this book if I get time this week!

Source

Storybook Favorites

The first story I chose is “Stories of an Elephant-headed God.” I remember a little bit of the story from when my uncle told it to me when I was a child. The title is very effective at letting me know what the Storybook about because this whole Storybook revolves around Ganesha. I like the idea of writing a poem for the introduction. I thought this was an extremely effective way of getting the readers familiar with the story of Ganesha. It is a creative way of setting the stage for the remainder of the Storybook. I also enjoyed reading the poem. I have glanced at the other parts of the storybook and they are all in poem form. The layout of this Storybook is a poem telling a story about Ganesha accompanied by an illustration of the story. The layout of this storybook is very easy to navigate. I might draw ideas from this Storybook such as the poetic style and the layout.

https://sites.google.com/site/storiesofanelephantheadgod/home

The next story I chose is “A Calendar of Enchantment.” I think the image of the festival of colors drew my attention to the Storybook. I am familiar with many of these festivals because my family and I celebrate some of them. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about these festivals. When I read the title I knew that the Storybook was going to be about several holidays celebrated in India. The introduction does a good job of explaining what the story will be about. It gives a general overview of all the events that will be covered in the Storybook. I like the graphic included which is a calendar of all of the holidays. I have glanced at the rest of the Storybook and I like how the author tells the significance of each holiday with several interesting images. The design of the Storybook is very easy to navigate.  I might draw ideas from this Storybook such as the layout and the use of images.

https://sites.google.com/site/epicfestivalsofindia/home

The next story I chose is “Shadows of the Ishvara.” The image used on the cover of this storybook gave me the idea that this story was going to be about a quest a hero goes on. I posted this picture because it is very captivating and attention grabbing. I thought it would be interesting so I checked it out. The title does not tell me much about what the book is going to be about but that might be because I have not read the whole storybook. My favorite part of this Storybook so far is the introduction. It is very well written and makes me want to read the rest of the story. I like the color schemes and the unique images the author uses in each part of the story. The design of the Storybook is very easy to navigate.  I might draw ideas from this Storybook such as the layout and the use of images.

https://sites.google.com/site/shadowsoftheishvara2/home 

Overview: Epics of India 4993

I am excited to learn about the epics of India. I have never taken a class like this. I am of Indian descent and I have heard about these stories from my grandparents since I was a little kid. Since I am Indian I have a connection to India's culture, music and movies. I have always wanted to learn more about it but have never found the time. This class provides me an excellent opportunity to gain more information about my culture. I chose this picture because I remember my grandparents telling me stories about Hanuman and my mother always plays songs about him.

http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Images%3A%20Hanuman

Storytelling : Angry Birds

The long school year finally came to an end and Tom and his friends Billy and Madison decided they were going to start summer off with a camping trip. They decided to rent a cabin out at a holiday resort in Birdtown. When they arrived at the holiday home they ran into a crazy hermit. The hermit told them about the legend of the abandoned laboratory. He described how scientists from 100 years ago conducted animal research and experimented on the genomes of different species. Furthermore, he said villagers killed the scientists and burned down the laboratory due to their cruel experiments. Many believed that the laboratory was destroyed but the hermit said that he has seen it on one of his late night walks. He heard a lot of strange noises coming from inside. The next morning he returned to the same spot but the laboratory was not there. He assumed that the laboratory only appeared during a full moon. A guest at the resort assured Tom and his friends that the hermit was just crazy and that the abandoned laboratory did not exist. Tom and his friends returned to there cabin and started talking about this mysterious legend. After some discussion they made up their minds to go find out if this laboratory existed. Billy googled when the next full moon would appear. To his luck there was a full moon to be expected tonight. The children set off on their journey and discovered the abandoned laboratory. After going inside the laboratory they heard a strange cackling sound. The ghost of one of the killed scientists appeared and started chasing them. Madison accidentally tripped over a lever in the laboratory. The ghost of the scientist then laughed menacingly and disappeared. Tom and his friends sighed in relief. They then heard a bunch of chirping noises. A swarm of angry birds was released from the laboratory and descended upon the town. The mutated birds ate everything in their path and left the town devastated.

The End.

This story is based off of a map by Tom Gauld:  http://www.tomgauld.com/index.php?/portfolio/map/

A picture of the mutated birds flying: http://mashable.com/category/angry-birds/

Introduction Fall 2015

My name is Aakash Jivan and I am 20 years old. I was born in Roseville, California and moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2007. My mom’s name is Jayshree, my dad’s name is Rajesh, and my sister’s name is Anandi. I also have a pet rabbit named Kokoa. I enjoy spending time with my family whenever I get the opportunity to. Under the text is a picture of my family and I. Since moving to Oklahoma I have been accepted to the University of Oklahoma. My majors at the University of Oklahoma are Biology and Pre-Medicine. After I graduate I plan to go to medical school and achieve my dream of becoming a physician.

I enjoy a variety of activities in my spare time. One of my favorite things to do is to play sports. Every year I am apart of intramural sports at my school including basketball, football, soccer and volleyball. I enjoy sports a lot because it appeals to my competitive nature and also helps me stay in good shape. Another activity I like doing in my free time is listening to music. I am a fan of rap, hip-hop, and R&B. I am a huge fan of Drake. I have every album he has released and have been to a concert of his. In my opinion he is the greatest artist of my generation. Additionally, I enjoy volunteering in hospitals and clinics. This gives me an opportunity to give back to the community while also learning interesting information about the profession I plan to enter.

I did a lot of fun activities over summer break. The two most fun events were my cousin’s wedding and a lake trip with my family. At the wedding I got a chance to catch up with friends and relatives that I have not seen in a long time. I also got to see my older cousin extremely happy as she married her soul mate. The lake trip with my family was also enjoyable. At the lake I went jet skiing for the first time in my life. It was very exciting to speed across the water, and to jump waves. 

Favorite Place

The Sky: I went sky diving in Skiatook City, Oklahoma in December of 2014. Falling from 10,000 feet with nothing but a parachute on my back was one of the most fun and peaceful times of my life. It was awesome to see the whole city from such a high vantage point. This is why I choose the sky as my favorite place. Here is a picture of my view right before I jumped out of the plane.