Week 1: Famous Last Words

To be honest, when I first looked at the webpage and calendar for this class, I was a bit overwhelmed. It took a bit of practice to get familiar with navigating the website, and it seemed like there would be a lot of work to do. I was a bit worried about keeping track of everything and remembering which assignments to do every day. However, having nearly completed the Orientation Week assignments, I now feel more confident and even excited about the class. I will definitely need to remind myself to work ahead! Based on this week’s work, I think the course will be very manageable.

I also enjoyed the content of the course. I thought Sita Sings the Blues was really cool, and I ended up watching the whole thing. I’m excited to read more of the Indian epics, since I’ve studied them before and I know the general characters and stories, but I’ve never read a full version. It was also fun for me to do some creative writing in my first Storytelling post. I haven’t really done anything but academic writing in quite a while, but I enjoy writing fiction and making up stories and dialogue for characters. Plus, it’s always fun to take a story and switch it up, spoof it, add to it, and otherwise make it your own.

I’m taking several other courses that have to do with religion, stories, and people, in some combination, this semester. I’m taking a course on the Qur’an and an Honors course called “American Religious Experience through Biography”. So, I think it will be interesting this semester to see the concept of religion and story play out in different ways, with different focuses, in these courses.  

In other news, how ridiculous is parking here? I circled three different lots for a total of fifteen minutes today, and there was not a single spot open. Finally, I returned to the first lot and found an open metered spot. I took it, but I did not pay the meter; I’ve already paid $250 for a parking pass, so forgive me if I feel entitled to actually having a place – just ONE open place – to park on campus. Hopefully I don’t get a ticket.

How I feel parking. Image Source 

Week 1: Introduction

Hello everyone!

My name is Elena Morgan. I'm from Kansas City, MO. I'm a senior here majoring in Religious Studies with minors in International Area Studies and Philosophy. Along with this course, this semester I'm taking a course on the Qu'ran, a Logic course, an honors colloquium on religious experience through biographies, and I'm doing my honors research project about a Satanist church that's holding a Black Mass in OKC in September. So, if you can't tell, my academic interests are a bit of a mixed bag! I like to study all different cultures through religion, and I especially enjoy the plethora of great courses offered at OU that have to do with non-traditional/non-Western religions (i.e. not Christianity or Judaism - not that there's anything wrong with those, but I like to study less familiar religions and cultures).

I'm involved in Phi Sigma Pi, a small coed honors fraternity, and Gamma Beta Phi, a service fraternity. I'm in the honors college, obviously, and I've been known to frequent some of their events. I did a couple of their book clubs these last two years, but I never stuck with them.. Oh well, I still got the free books!

I work every morning at a hotel breakfast, and between that and school I feel like I don't do much of anything else... I'm so boring, ha ha. And, to make it worse, I think I've actually run out of good TV shows to watch on Netflix. The horror!

I have a rat named Stella and a kitten named Ginny. They're my babies. Here is a picture of them:

(Stella and Ginny; photo taken by me)

Hmm, I need a few more words... so here's the story of Ginny. About a month ago I was browsing Facebook and a friend of mine from high school had posted that she'd rescued a stray kitten near her apartment complex. She couldn't keep the cat, and there were no no-kill shelters in her area, so she was asking if anyone wanted/was able to take Ginny in. Now, I may or may not have been living in a certain apartment complex that didn't allow pets at the time; but, I was thinking of getting a pet when I moved anyway, and there Ginny was pulling at my heartstrings. Oh, and my friend lives in Columbia, MO. So, on my day off work I drove seven hours to Columbia and seven hours back and harbored a fugitive cat in my apartment for a few months. And it was all totally worth it. 

P.S.: I hope I haven't scared anyone off with my rambling about my cat. I feel like every pet owner loves to go on about their pets, and no one else really cares about their stories. I'm not a crazy cat lady, I promise (although I did post an inordinate amount of cat pictures to Facebook when I first got her). 

That's all, folks!

Week 1: Storybook Favorites

The first storybook that caught my eye was the Rakshasa Stone Magazine (based on Rolling Stone magazine). Overall, I was drawn to storybook titles that hinted at some sort of creative take on a familiar publication/genre/website/etc. I actually didn't get the reference at first - I just wanted to see the magazine idea - but when I realized it was a Rolling Stone spoof I was delighted! To me, this was a very creative and interesting way to tell these stories in a fresh, attention-grabbing way. I also like the subtle humor, choosing to feature demons from Indian Epics as "demon music" (aka rock and roll). Moreover, I thought that expressing the ancient tales as music lyrics/albums was an incredible way to take the 'flavor' and emotion of the stories and completely transform them to a different genre. I actually wanted to hear some of the albums described in the storybook!

I then viewed the Post Secret Sanskrit storybook. I was extremely impressed with the formatting and design of this storybook - it looked just like the original Post Secret blog, and the "secrets" pictured looked like real postcards sent in from readers. I think the idea worked very well for presenting the stories the author chose as well. The confessional, modern blog-diary feel of Post Secret allowed the author to be creative and express the inner thoughts and voices of the characters she featured.

Last, I viewed The Oscars: The Heavenly Academy Awards. Again, I appreciated the clever idea to tell the stories of both heroes and villains in the ancient epics through a modern pop-culture format. The greatest strength, in my opinion, of this storybook was the dialogue. The writing was mostly dialogue, formatted like a script of an Academy Awards show. The author gave the characters she featured fun voices which reflected the Indian epics but also brought the stories to a more casual and personal level. It was very fun to read and to imagine these characters walking on a modern stage receiving their awards.

Week 1: Epics of India

I am a Religious Studies major and International Studies minor, so this class is right up my alley. I am very interested in the multi-disciplinary aspect of Religious Studies. Religion is such a universal, yet endlessly varied, subject, and it is so tied into culture. I enjoy studying all world religions from various angles, including philosophy, history, sociology, literature, and art. It is particularly interesting how religion is expressed in art and literature. Religion is not only a (perhaps the most) popular subject matter for art, but it has a dialectical relationship - it both creates and is created, it gives meaning to art and its meaning is explained and changed through art.

I am very interested in the religion/philosophy and the culture of the East, especially India. I have already learned and taken classes about Hinduism, and I have read the Bhagavad Gita, but I haven't read any of the other major Indian Epics, so I am excited to take this class.

I thought Sita Sings the Blues was an interesting artistic piece. I like how the artist combined the ancient epic with a more modern and completely different art form - 1920's blues music. I would have never thought to put the two together, but they seemed made for each other. I love the interesting ways religion transcends time and mixes ancient and modern thinkers.

Week 1 Storytelling: Jack Daw and the Borrowed Feathers Boutique

Once upon a time there was a poor, lowly peasant named Jack Daw. He toiled all day in the fields, only to barely scrape by. All around him, his friends and family were in the same condition. Yet, only a mile down the road, the rich led lives of luxury in the palace. "What's so different between them and me?" Jack wondered. "Oh, if only I could walk a day in their shoes."

Just then, a gypsy wagon teetered and tottered its way down the road, stopping right in front of Jack's hut. A strange, portly little man decked out in voluminous frills and puffs jumped down from the drivers seat and started bustling about the carriage. He unrolled a large banner which read "The Borrowed Feathers Boutique".

The strange man said, "So, you wonder why they're living fat while you're scraping the gutters? Why, it's perfectly clear my boy. Just look at them - they reek of class! In a rich man's world, you've got to play the part! Just step right this way, and I'll replace those rags of yours with garments fit for a king!"

Jack was stunned. It seemed so simple, so obvious! "I don't have much to pay you, only this little hut and one milk cow."

"Sold!" The man replied.

So, Jack donned his new duds and waltzed into the palace. He was sure he would be ho-humming with the bigwigs in no time, making a fortune in whatever mysterious way the other rich folks did.

A Kingly Costume

However, he hadn't strolled ten yards into the courtyard when Jack grew conscious of glaring eyes and hidden sniggers following him. To his humiliation, a palace guard quickly approached him. "What do you think you're doing here boy?"

"Why, uh, my good sir," Jack stammered, "there seems to be a mistake. I'm here to meet my good chap, uh.."

Jack was interrupted with a huge hu-HA! from the guard. "There's no mistake. I haven't the faintest where you've gotten your outfit, but you can't wash the years of dirt from your face or the calluses from your hands. And besides, the way you walk, the way you talk, you failed to greet the ladies you passed by... clearly, you are not bred from upper-class. A peasant's still a peasant, even in king's robes."

Humiliated and dejected, Jack scuttled back out the palace gates. To his dismay, the strange man and his wagon were already gone, along with Jack's house, his few belongings, and his milk cow.

Now, Jack was poorer than when he had started, and could do nothing but wander the roads in his flashy get-up, laughed at by his former friends.

A Royal Fool

Author's Note: 

This tale is based on "The Vain Jackdaw and his Borrowed Feathers" from Aesop's Fables. In the original fable, a jackdaw (a plain, black bird) adorns himself with peacock feathers and tries to join their flock. The peacocks see through his disguise and kick him out, and when he returns to his fellow jackdaws they too scorn him for his arrogance. I re-imagined the story with human characters in a medieval setting. I wove in some nods to the original story, such as the character's name (Jack Daw) and the name of the mysterious gypsy wagon (The Borrowed Feathers Boutique). The original telling of the moral states, "Borrowed feathers do not make fine birds." My own version of the moral is told by the guard: "A peasant's still a peasant, even in king's robes." The lesson of this story is not to try to change who you are with material things, because what's on the outside cannot hide who you are on the inside. 

"The Vain Jackdaw and his Borrowed Feathers" by Aesop, from The Aesop for Children (1919). Illustr. by Milo Winter. Web Source. 

Week 1 - My Favorite Place

My favorite place that I've ever been to is Rome. I was able to go there with a group of theatre students as a freshman in high school, and I instantly fell in love with the city. Of course, when you go to Rome you are surrounded by amazing historical attractions. Our group visited the Colosseum, the ruins of the ancient forum, the Vatican City, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel - and those were just the highlights! It was amazing to be in a place with such ancient and beautiful monuments.

The Colosseum

Source: Wikimedia Commons 

I also loved the general atmosphere of Rome. Yes, it is a huge tourist area, but there is still a distinctive Italian flavor to it. In the main tourist-y parts of the city we visited various open-air markets, selling everything from fine jewelry to cheap souvenirs and knock-off bags, as well as outdoor food vendors selling delicious produce and baked goods. It was never too hard to find a little restaurant with freshly baked bread, olive oil, and the best pizza you've ever tasted. Then, just outside the main city, the residential areas of Rome are picturesque, full of sandy and orange colored buildings packed closely on narrow streets, giving a cozy, not crowded, feeling. Traveling to and from Rome, we drove through countryside lined with silvery-green olive trees. It was just a beautiful, magical place and I wish we could've stayed longer.

Rooftops of Rome

Source: Wikimedia Commons

A typical Roman street

Source: Wikimedia Commons