Week 5: Buck's Ramayana (pp. 110-218)

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 If you are doing the traditional analytical essay, you may quote a key phrase or a few words from the text, but do NOT quote anything longer than a few words.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:

Bharata:
Traditional Essay Option: What kind of person is Bharata? What stages do you see in his response to the complicated situation he finds himself in? How does he engage with the other people around him? What are the motivations and principles that drive his behaviors in the midst of all the turmoil?
or
Creative Writing + Analysis Option: Focus on the moment when Bharata is RETURNING to the city after finding Rama in the forest. What thoughts are uppermost in his mind? What are his immediate concerns? How does he explain these events to himself? You can also include a dialogue portion as well: who is the person that Bharata would most want to talk to? What would they say to each other? After you tell your story, don't forget to include some analysis of Bharata's character too.

Anasuya:
Traditional Essay Option: What is the significance of Sita's encounter with Anasuya? What are the different functions that this character plays in the development of the plot? In the development of Sita's character? And what about Anasuya's character itself: how is she depicted in the story? How does the depiction of this woman fit in with the depiction of other women you have met in the story so far?
or
Creative Writing + Analysis Option: Write a dialogue between Atri and Anasuya that takes place after Rama, Sita and Lakshmana have gone on their way. What does Anasuya need to tell Atri about Sita? What does Anasuya want to find out about Rama from Atri? What does Anasuya think about the larger drama that is taking place here, above and beyond Sita's immediate situation as a woman accompanying her husband into forest exile. After you tell your story, don't forget to include some analysis of Anasuya's character too.

Indra:
Traditional Essay Option: Analyze the character of Indra in his interactions with the Valakhilyas and with Garuda. What do you learn about the role this god plays in mythology from his actions and reactions to the events of this story? How does this fit in with what you have seen of Indra in other stories (e.g., Indra and the seduction of Ahalya, or Indra's battle with Ravana).
or
Creative Writing + Analysis Option: We are already told that the sage Kaśyapa gave Indra a lecture on his disregard for the little Valakhilyas. Imagine a second encounter between Indra and Kaśyapa as Indra is on his way to heaven again bearing the amrita he has stolen back from Kadru. Indra needs to tell Kaśyapa about the whole second phase of the story (it's up to you how much Kaśyapa knows about the story of his wives already!). What kind of advice would Kaśyapa give to Indra about this whole story - not just the encounter with the Valakhilyas, but also Indra's encounter with Garuda. After you tell your story, don't forget to also include some analysis of Indra's character too.

Viradha-Tumburu, the Rakshasa-Gandharva
Traditional Essay Option: Now is a good time to think about the general class of characters who are "rakshasas" and the general class of characters who are "gandharvas." How does the specific character of Viradha illustrate what a rakshasa character can be like? And what can you learn about gandharvas from Tumburu's story? You might want to read up on rakshasas and gandharvas in the Encyclopedia area of the site.
or
Creative Writing + Analysis Option: At the end of Buck's narrative, we see Tumburu going back up to heaven to rejoin gandharvas and be reunited with his lover. For your story, have Tumburu explain either to Chitraratha the gandharva king or to his lover (or to both of them), what it was like to live as a rakshasa on earth, and what it was like to be liberated from that existence by Rama. After you tell your story, don't forget to include some analysis of Viradha-Tumburu's character 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