Famous Last Words Week 6

            I’m so glad that this week is over.  It has really been tough to recover from such a busy weekend.  I am so ready for Spring Break.  It is so close but so far away, and there are so many hurdles to jump before I can get there.  This week hasn’t been too bad, but I need to sleep for a week.

            After reading a few projects this week from my fellow classmates, I am very impressed with people’s writings so far.  I felt like the storybook projects that I read were really creative and intriguing.  Although almost everyone is still on their Introduction, I was very impressed with the narratives that some people have created and how they have planned to insert their individual stories within that narrative.  I also felt the same with the few Portfolios Projects that I have read this week, which were also good.  Usually, when you read someone else’s story you can easily see grammar mistakes, but I had a tough time critiquing other people’s work because the problems were less obvious.  Everyone’s writing skills have definitely improved.  I feel the same way with my Portfolio Project.  This week I got a really good review from Laura.  It makes me nervous because I feel like my work will probably not always be that good.  I just don’t want her expectations to be set too high because I really don’t know if I can bring that kind of writing week after week.  It is a bit terrifying because it is a lot of work to write like that every time.  I just worry that I may get overwhelmed and start to slack and then she’ll question me more harshly because of it.  Oh well, I guess I dug myself into that hole without really knowing it.  I just want to sleep this week off.  

A lovely picture of a bed.  Source: Wikipedia

Reading Diary B Week 6: Kumbhakarna

            Kumbhakarna is a character who really sticks out to me.  For one, he is a Rakshasa who has a conscience.  For example, he urges Ravana to give Sita back to Rama because he believes that it is wrong to steal another man's wife.  However, Ravana's power and influence sways Kumbhakarna to fight Rama.  Kumbhakarna is interesting is his introduction.  He is introduced as someone who must sleep for six months for every day he stays awake.  Another thing is that they describe making this enormous breakfast, and then Buck describes Suka waking him up.  I thought that this part was hilarious because it takes the clashing of two giant cymbals.  It reminded me of trying to wake up a child or teenager to get up for school.  I thought it was a cute description, and it actually made me like Kumbhakarna as a character, which is why I hate what happened to him.

            The third and final reason that I found Kumbhakarna to be so interesting was what happened to him.  Kumbhakarna is described as a relentless warrior.  He will not die or give up.  In fact, he stays alive through a fatal arrow through his chest, losing both of his arms, and losing both of his legs.  After all this, Kumbhakarna is still described as trying to kill Rama.  “Still he managed to move, something carried him on,” (Buck 306).  After all that, Rama has to decapitate Kumbhakarna in order to stop him.  At first, I found Kumbhakarna to be really endearing, but after he has such intense hate for Rama, I don’t like him as much.  Aside from that, I think that Kumbhakarna is still an interesting character.

Kumbhakarna in battle. Source: Wikimedia

Reading Diary A Week 6: Sinhika

            Out of this reading section, the part that really struck me was Hanuman’s encounter with the Rakshasi Sinhika.  I know that this section is very short (less than a page which ranges between 226-227), but I liked that so little was told about her such as her back-story, which would make a possible storytelling blog.  Where did she come from?  How did she become this horrible sea monster?  What does her body look like?  Does she have any possible redeeming qualities?  Was she really that hungry to risk her life?  The part that I love about this section was the beautiful imagery that Buck uses.  Of course, this imagery that I have just described as beautiful is actually describing Sinhika as an ugly sea monster, but I love it.  As a writer, I gag when people use such creative imagery.

Some of my favorite quotes:

“...holding Hanuman’s shadow in her claws and looking at him with tiny red eyes,” (Buck 226).

“She opened her ugly mouth and bared her yellow scaly teeth,” (Buck 226).

“...with a long tongue,” (Buck 227).

            I felt that by describing her teeth as scaly was so creative.  I mean I would have never thought to describe teeth in such a way.  Overall, I love the descriptions that Buck gives about Sinhika.  I also really enjoyed Buck’s imagery of Hanuman and other parts of this section. 

Some of these quotes include:

“...his sharp fingernails,” (Buck 227).

“Her blood burst and spread throughout the water, and the fish came quickly to eat her,” (Buck 227).

            Essentially, this section caught my eye because of the wonderful descriptions.  I think it would make a great storytelling post.

Hanuman and Sinhika.  Source: Wikimedia