MLLL 4993

There were two Ted Talks available to watch for this assignment. Below are my notes. The title for the TedTalks should also be a link to the video to watch. A New Theory of Human Intelligence :  Scott Barry Kaufman This talk critiques how intelligence is perceived in the education system. Some individuals are intelligent, but not able to succeed or reach their full potential with the current system because of test-taking or social skills. Kaufman suggests using the '4 C's' system as a better approach to intelligence. They are: Capacity, Competence, Commitment, and Creativity. Part of the reason his story is so compelling is his own history. Kaufman describes his experiences of being held back due to a standardized test but ended up earning a PhD from Yale. Clearly, the test wasn't an accurate representation of his intelligence in terms of perseverance or knowledge. I completely agree that we need to redefine intelligence because everyone has their own strength...

For this assignment, I chose the Elephant Girly-Face jakarta. (This image is taken from the site I found this story from. It can be sourced  here .) The story starts out describing the personality of an elephant owned by a king. The elephant's name is "Girly-Face" because of how gentle his features and personality were. Apparently, there were some robbers that broke into his sanctuary and talking about how robbers have to be ruthless and able to kill. Girly-Face overheard this and thought this was a teaching moment, that he too had to have this mentality. From then on, Girly-Face started attacking anyone trying to come into his sanctuary. It got so bad that the workers had to leave food for him without interacting with him and get the king involved. The king figured out that Girly-Face overheard some robbers and probably took to heart what they said. He then had some "good" people talk in front of Girly-Face so he would learn positive behavior, which ...

I chose the Merchant of Seri  jakarta for this week's story.  (This image is a depiction of one of the merchants with the grandmother and granddaughter mentioned. The image can be sourced  here .) There was a young girl and grandmother who once had money but were now poor. Merchants used to come by their house, selling and buying items. The granddaughter asked the grandma if she could sell a bowl they had because it was never used. The grandmother had kept the bowl despite being so poor because of the nostalgia of her late husband eating from it. Despite this, she was willing to sell it to take care of her granddaughter.  The first merchant she tried to sell it to was greedy. The grandma and granddaughter did not know the price of their bowl, and he knew this, so he told them it was worthless and threw it on the ground. He did this hoping he could try to buy it for cheaper later and sell it at a higher price for a better profit. He left after this. A secon...

The most current version of this story can be read  here . I look down, my hand is red and sticky all over. I can see my thumb is gone, but I can't feel it. In fact, I can't feel anything. My whole body is just, numb.  A bloody piece of my own flesh is nestled in my other hand. My god, what have I done. I look up. "Well, I admire your dedication to me, I really do, but as you see, my talents lie best in the hands of the Kshatriyas. Sorry if that was too soon." Drona snickers before giving me a side wink. "No, no, I understand dear sir. My talent would be nonexistent with you.." I try to respond. I feel a thick lump in my throat and I'm holding back tears. Before I can finish my sentence, I'm interjected with: "You fool! You think I, me, THE   Guru Dronacharya, would ever teach, let alone associate  myself with an ordinary dimwit as you! I only work for the divine or elite! I am designated for greatness! My entire adolescence was spen...

This is a continuation of the Karmic Revolution rendition of the Mahabharata I have been reading for this course. (Photo of Eklavya (right) giving his thumb to guru Drona (left). Eklavya essentially developed his talent through his own perseverance. His talent being stripped away due to a social heirarchy without intending any malice makes it one of the most sad aspects of the Mahabharta, hence why I chose this image. Photo can be sourced  here ). Episode 9: We learn about Kunti's dark secret. She was a smart girl growing up and very loved by her uncle. Durwasa was intimidating to some but not Kunti- when he left the court, he allowed her to summon a God of her choice. She chose the sun god and was given a child. However, this child being out of wedlock would make it difficult for her to keep the child. She placed the child in a basket and led him down a river. Episode 10: Pandu goes to the woods with his wives. Some of the neighboring villages think they are gods. Pandu...

I chose the Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution, Part A because I enjoyed the visualization aspect, similar to the Sita Sings the Blues . Part A particularly focuses on the Mahabharata's creation. (Video still of one of the opening sequences of the Karmic Revolution video series. Photo can be sourced  here ) Intro : It explains the importance of the Mahabharata to the region. It is significant literature because it contains a large source of culture and has been passed down over centuries.  It is rumored to have been from the word of Ganesha. There are many retellings, which have been adapted in different ways.  Episode 1 : King Shantanu falls in love with a river goddess and ends up proposing to her. She says okay, only if he never questions her, which he agrees to. The new Queen ends up drowning a child. As most fathers would, he was upset, but tried to keep to his promise so he never questioned her. She ends up drowning and killing 6 of their children. It wa...

I can definitely see an improvement in the comments I've received from the beginning of the class until now. They're more specific. The people giving feedback are not just critiquing, but explaining why they think that and ways I can improve. I think the more specific comments are the most useful. For example, if someone says they feel the flow is off, it is more helpful than nothing, but knowing specific phrases/wording that are confusing helps me know what I can do. Experiencing this, I've tried to be more specific and offer suggestions in my feedback. I try to write at least one thing (typically more) that I like with one recommendation. I try to explain it from the perspective of the reader, me. I have to realize that the people writing it see the story as a writer, so sometimes critiques might not make sense because they do not see it like that. I think reading other people's writing definitely helps with my own. For one, it gives me ideas (using first/second-...

 I have completed the survey.  I am happy with my progress. My current schedule is not the same as when I completed the time management assignment during the start of this class. I have had to learn how to readjust schedule to make time to not only finish my work, but have ample time to actually produce quality work. I work a lot and am a full-time student so figuring out a weekly routine has made my life much easier. I think I can do a better job of checking my grades- I realized I may have some missing grades for completed assignments since I joined the class late. It is my responsibility to keep on top of things so I can be better about this. I've completed a few extra credit assignments but I want to do more. I think one major editing tool I can do more is to re-read my stories before publishing. I try to do this, but often times kind of skim. I've started actually re-reading it, pretending I'm the reader. Not only do I find grammar mistakes, but it helps me better ma...

I was not super happy with the design of my blog so I changed it a bit after reading this week's assignment. I want to mess around more with it to make it more "bold". I guess if there is anything else my readers notice about layout that I could improve, please let me know! As for my website, I like the layout a lot more than by blog. I still want to make that one more bold in terms of colors/fonts but I'm more content with how it looks layout-wise. At first I wasn't completely sure how to retell my stories, but after practice I feel more comfortable with our class writing. I think the stories I'm the most proud of is my The Trustworthy Crane  story and Fool No More . The first is because I've made so many improvements based on Dr. Gibbs and my classmates tips. The second because I felt the most proud about how I adapted the story and described certain details. I am not sure what my favorite reading is. However, I think I liked the Ramayana as a whole...