Spring 2018 Indian Epics

So far, I am managing to balance out this course's time needs fairly well. I don't feel rushed when I complete the reading assignments, as I try to knock all of that out early on in the week. I also feel this leaves me with more time to focus on the creative aspects of the course, which I really appreciate. I am always surprised with how long the hidden editor within chooses to spend once the body of the post is finished, and I would like to allocate more time than I am using now on the really fun stuff: writing those stories. I would like to challenge myself to use more of the EC options, as I've barely touched any so far and it would be so nice to have that cushion as the semester end approaches (bringing final exams along with it). This will be a change I want to implement over the second half of the semester, along with budgeting more time for the storytelling component of the course. Finally, I would also like to push myself into using different approaches for the ...

The majority of the feedback I've received has been very useful; I have never written fiction before, and I was quite nervous for the reception of some of the pieces. The encouragement was very helpful, and there have been some uncanny suggestions which I incorporated immediately. Feedback regarding the website design and functionality was very welcome, as there were things I was not even aware were issues for some browsers (like using light colored text on a light colored background).  I think the feedback I leave is generally useful; there are occasions when I have to gush if the story is that good, but I tend to make suggestions based off of what I would enjoy reading, or how the presentation and layout of a story could be tweaked for more impact. There are definitely many good ideas out there (I loved the stories which were presented in a letter or first-person format)! My introduction post was deliberately a bit vague, but very genuine, and I think others have responde...

The structure of our week is arranged well. I like having a day or two to let the reading sink in before retelling based off of the material. My favorite reading thus far was definitely the free choice option, mine being Nine Ideal Indian Women by Sunity Devee, but the follow-up to that was the Jataku tale collection. The reading notes I am compiling are definitely improving in terms of usefulness; I've found that making a short list of "just the facts" helps a lot with remembering places and people and events (not to mention the spelling!!!), while a few paragraphs about why I focused on one character or story gives me a great launch point when the time to actually write comes. I have also found that including every link I visit while researching helps substantially, and I will try to remember to include this each future reading note post.  I am thrilled with my class project so far; I have never made an actual website before and I can't believe how easy it is t...