Reading Review Week

The readings in the course thus far have been different versions of the traditional Indian epic, the Ramayana. We started with Narayan’s version, which is the first version I’ve ever encountered. In fact, I’ve never read any sort of indian epic until this class, which is why I took it! After two weeks of reading Narayan’s version, we turned to Buck’s version of the Ramayana. It may just be preferential because it was my first, but I preferred Narayan’s version, I felt that Buck’s version pointed more focus on parts of the story that I personally did not find quite as important. I really enjoyed the Reading Diaries because they help keep me on track with the readings. In retrospect, I forgot quite a bit of what I had read. One thing I have really enjoyed is the Pinterest portfolio. It gives me a visual to what these character are like because I am very much a visual learner. My favorite character from the Ramayana is Hanuman. Upon further investigation on Pinterest, many other people found him as a really strong, loyal, and cornerstone character also. The photos I found of him always depict him in a very loyal manner.

If I had one word of advice for future students, it would be to get your work done ahead of time. Although past students seem to have pounded that into our class, I couldn’t agree with them more. The assignments really don’t take very long but it is important to get ahead instead of behind because it can seem overwhelming. If you don’t understand the reading at first, read the the Reading Guides. They are so helpful! Also, if you can’t decide what you think about a character, make sure to look up the Ramayana online. There are many different websites talking about the story because it is such a legacy.

Photo of Hanuman and Rama found online.