Week 4: Buck's Ramayana (pp. 1-109)

Assignments - Reading Guide A - Reading Guide B - Ramayana Resources

Character

Your assignment is to write a Character Essay about one of the characters listed at the bottom of this page. If you want to write on a different character, contact me first (make sure you do that at least one day before the deadline so that you can receive an answer back in time). Each week you can take one of two approaches to writing your Character Essay:

Quotations. If you are doing the traditional analytical essay, you may quote a key phrase or a few words from the text, but do NOT quote anything longer than a few words. The words of the essay should contain your thoughts and ideas, not quotes from the book.

Title. You need to include the words "Character Essay for Week ___" in the title you give to the post, along with a title for your actual story (for example, "Character Essay for Week 2: Rama, My Hero")

Length. Your Storytelling post needs to be a minimum of 300 words long (maximum 1000 words). Make sure you do a spellcheck and a word count, and that you proofread your post by reading it out loud.

Image. You are required to include at least one image with the story, along with a link to the webpage where you found the image, plus information about the image. You are free to re-use the images you find at the course website, or you can choose some other image to use that you find on the internet. Remember: even if you are re-using an image from the course website, you need to provide image information about it.

When you are done, complete the Gradebook Declaration.

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

I have published a blog post with the words "Character Essay for Week ___" in the title, along with a specific title for my essay.

My post is between 300 words minimum and 1000 words maximum.

I have spellchecked and proofread the post.

I have included an image, along with Image Information.

LIST OF CHARACTERS FOR THIS WEEK:

Valmiki:
Traditional Essay Option: What kind of person is Valmiki? What are his beliefs and ideals? What are his talents and abilities? What is his role in the story? is Sita? How does Valmiki fit your expectations of an "epic poet"?
or
Creative Writing + Analysis Option: Focus on the moment when Valmiki finds Sita abandoned in the forest. What do they say to each other? What is Valmiki thinking to himself? (You might also attempt to describe the setting also!) After you tell your story, don't forget to include some analysis too.

Ravana:
Traditional Essay Option: You have learned a great deal about Ravana's "back story" that you did not know when reading Narayan's version of the Ramayana. What new elements of Ravana's life and personality are most surprising to you? How have these new stories altered your perception of his character and his role in the epic?
or
Creative Writing + Analysis Option: Focus on the moment when Ravana is about to cast his last head into the fire. What are his thoughts? What prayers does he utter? (You may also choose to include the arrival of Brahma if you want, although this is not required.) After you tell your story, don't forget to include some analysis too.

Janaka:
Traditional Essay Option: Although it is still only a brief sketch, you have learned more about Janaka's character from the information provided here in Buck's version of the story. How would you describe Janaka's character as a king and as a father? What do you make of the story of his conflict with the priests? How does this fit with what you have learned so far about the roles of kings and of priests in the Indian epic tradition?
or
Creative Writing + Analysis Option: Focus on the story of Janaka and the priests, which is told only briefly by Buck. Elaborate on this story, using what you have learned in general about the roles of priests and of kings in the Indian epic tradition. Make sure you include some direct dialogue between Janaka and the priests. After you tell your story, don't forget to include some analysis too.

Prahasta:
Traditional Essay Option: Buck is clearly using the figure of Ravana's general, Prahasta, in order to introduce some comic elements into this story. Analyze the comic aspects of Prahasta's actions, and provide some general comments about what you think of the comic element in the Ramayana. (You might want to compare and contrast Buck and Narayan, although this is not required). Is there more to Prahasta's character than just the comic elements?
or
Creative Writing + Analysis Option: What does Ravana think about Prahasta? Provide a description of Prahasta's character as spoken by Ravana himself. You might find it easier to do this if you invent some occasion for this to happen: is Ravana angry at Prahasta for something? is he praising Prahasta? giving Prahasta some new orders or assignment? After you finish with Ravana's description of Prahasta, don't forget to include some analysis too.

 

Modern Languages MLLL-4993. Indian Epics. Laura Gibbs, Ph.D. The textual material made available at this website is licensed under a Creative Commons License. You must give the original author credit. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one. No claims are made regarding the status of images used at this website; if you own the copyright privileges to any of these images and believe your copyright privileges have been violated, please contact the webmaster. Page last updated: January 15, 2005 1:35 AM