First, I want to say that your storybook website looks amazing! The image on the home page looks stunning and really fits well with your theme. Lord Shiva controls many worlds so image of space is very effective. I really like the first line of your introduction too. The words, "Welcome to my world" grabbed my attention and made me feel like I was included in the story. It also shows the reader that the author is excited for them to dive into the adventure.
I also enjoy the confidence Lord Shiva has. He is not afraid to come out strong and tell everyone why he is great. It seems like he has many reasons to be confident, as he has accomplished many tasks and is regarded highly. I am curious to see how this confidence is transferred over into your future stories. Does he keep this confidence amidst challenges? Does he fail and then lose confidence at some point? The way you have set up your introduction sets up infinite possibilities in your upcoming stories.
Hey Sirmran, I really liked the way you structured the intro. It was very clear and easy to read. I was curious as to what the three worlds are. It was interesting how you personified this god. It was also kind of comedic when you said you were the one true god but Vishnu is on his way. I liked how you talked about some of Shiva’s avatars because I did not realize he did that or was as popular as Vishnu. I did recognize Hanuman though! You also make shiva seem mystical when you said you may see him but he is formless and he makes his presence known when he wants it to be known. I cannot wait to hear and learn about shiva. Keep up the good work. My only advise is to be a bit more descriptive because I wish I knew a little bit more. But it was a good intro!
Hey Simran, I really like how you explain all the different aspects of Shiva, especially his trishul and snakes. Also, I liked how your introduction is in the first person as if Shiva, himself was addressing the reader. This is something that I am trying to do for my own storybook introduction. I have noticed some typos in your introduction. For example, the sentence “my goals to guide other,” I think you’re trying to say “my goal is to guide others.” Also, I noticed that you wrote “I am the ever-present Shiva” in your introduction twice; once in the beginning and at the end. I think that this statement does not need to be repeated and placing it at the beginning of your introduction might be better. Overall, I really enjoyed your introduction and I think that it is very exciting to be learning more about Shiva as we don’t talk too much about him in this class.
Hello Simran, I really enjoyed reading the introduction to your story. I loved your writing because it really made it seem like Shiva’s presence is right before me speaking directly to me. I also like the way this is written because it sounds like Shiva is explaining himself to someone who does not know him which would be me! One thing I was confused about is what the next stories will be about? Will they be about how Shiva was present in the stories we have already read? One other thing I was confused on was why Shiva wants us to meet his wife? Does his wife play an important role in these stories and is she also a goddess? One thing you can do is maybe give just a sentence more about why Shiva wants us to meet his wife and why? I think just a small phrase saying because (so on and so forth) will be helpful.
HI Simran! I liked your set up! It looked so good. How did you do that?? I also I liked how your introduction was in the first person. I have not seen that, nor thought of that. It will allow you a many artistic qualities third person doesn't. Do you plan to continue that theme? I hope so! The only thing is that I am not quite sure what your story will be about. Yes, it is only an introduction, but I wasn't sure what was cluing me in for the next stories. Is it his wife, or his symbols? The bow Rama broke? Or all of them? Maybe expand on these so it is more clear exactly what you are introducing. In this class we do not learn that much about Shiva, so details are very important and help! It also might help the rest of your story develop.
Hi Simran! I really liked the layout of your website. It looks SO good. It honestly looks like a professional made it. I also really enjoyed your introduction and how it was in first person. It made me feel like Lord Shiva was here. I loved how you started off with "Welcome to my world." It really drew me in and the whole time I was reading the introduction, I just wanted to keep reading because you worded things so well and it kept me wanting to read more. You had so many details and it really helped me understand who Lord Shiva is. You also had a lot of different images, which I liked. It really helps people visualize things and helped me piece things together and bring it to life. You did a great job describing everything and it was so well written. I look forward to reading more and see where you take things with your storybook.
Hey Simran, When I first went to your introduction, I scrolled all the way to the bottom because the way you set it all up was different and engaging. I did read the last paragraph of this and saw that you would have a focus on the different forms of Shiva which was really cool, because I am focusing on some of the forms of Vishnu. I like that you gave props to Vishnu as an up and comer, sorry to all those Brahma advocates. Using Shiva as the storyteller is something that I didn’t think of when I wrote my introduction and after seeing this, it would have been cool. If you could somehow add some introductory details about the three avatars that would be helpful but certainly isn’t needed. I will probably keep up closely with your stories as they will be so similar to mine. However, the way that you present Shiva’s avatars versus Vishnu’s will be interesting and I am looking towards seeing their stories.
You do more with your web design than just a block of text, which is very cool. I like the alternating bands of color. One small formatting suggestion would be to move the image references and bibliographic information to the bottom of the page so as not to break the reader’s immersion. Especially since you present the introduction from a first-person character point of view, rather than your own, I think it’s important to maintain that boundary between the world inside the story and the world outside, unless you’re consciously trying to straddle the divide. (Possibly do the same with your note about “Jai Bholenath,” or rework it to also be discussed from the first-person.)
I’m looking forward to seeing where you go from here, and how you choose to highlight the forms of Shiva. It’s just a guess, but are you planning to do one story for each of a few chosen forms of Shiva? That might be cool.
I just finished looking at your website as you share the life of Shiva through his prospective. This is the first project I have seen in this form and really look forward to continue to look at it and others like it! I am impressed with the detail you are going into describing Shiva in the Intro and Forms. I wonder what you will be adding next when describing his life and the history of his character? I wonder what your website layout would look like if instead of putting everything on one long page you did different subpages you click to?
I came back after reading your introduction because I was interested to see where you would be going with your storybook. It's pretty interesting to how you took a significant possession of Shiva and showed its usage in a story. As you say, it also lets you retell the story in a different voice where the focus is all on the bow. Incorporating karma was also great because it adds another element to the story. The part where you/Shiva says "Karma runs its own story" is good because it shows how karma affects everyone, even if they are the avatar of Vishnu. It might be beneficial to talk about how the gods did have a plan for Rama to defeat Ravana because of the power he had gained. Maybe the gods could have nudged Rama towards breaking the Pinaka, which nudged him to receive the karma that he did. Then it could show how the gods were still playing a part with Rama's future.
I made sure I found my way here this week haha, and I'm really glad I did. Let me just say first that I love the layout of the Storybook and how you've put all the colours and images together. The combinations make it easy to read and eye-catching, and it's clear that every picture is directly related to what you're talking about. The content is engaging and I think your take on Shiva's perspective makes him relatable yet captures that he is an eternal being that isn't too worried about mundane occurrences. The only thing I was left wondering about was how Ravana as the demon king came to be so devoted to Shiva. Perhaps you could mention it even in your Author's note, if you thought it would be important later on. I also wanted to ask if the last section on karma and how it affected Rama for breaking Shiva's bow was part of something you read or if you made it up from Shiva's perspective. Overall, I really liked this take and I feel like I learnt a lot of interesting details about Shiva! I'm looking forward to where you take this next.
First and foremost, the layout of your website is so eye catching. I cannot get over how good it looks. You have set the standards high! I like how you use colors and images to split the story as well as to change the voice of the story in a cohesive way that is easy fro readers to understand. I like how you titled all the stories and gave such great details about the story, I like the creative way you retold the story. It really shows your great writing skills through this story. I like that you made the bow such an important artifact in your story. Many times is over looked but it has an important role to play as well as a fascinating origin/ back story. I like the story version where Sita was the only one who can possess the bow. Overall, you did a great job on your portfolio and I look forward to reading more of your story!
Hey Simran! There are actually a few different things I wanted to say about both your story and your site. First of all, I love your site. You used so many colors, patterns, and themes when constructing it. I can tell you put a lot of thought and effort into making it fun to look at for your audience. Another thing I thought was pretty neat was the way in which you broke your story up into five separate sections. I haven’t seen that in any other blog, and it really helped make each transition within the story seem smooth. It also provided opportunity to incorporate more than just one image on the page which helped set the mood, from the varying color schemes, and also helped the reader to visualize the different details you brought up within the story. For example, the way the characters and the sites look.
Hi Simran! This is an interesting story. I didn't know much about Shiva, and have learned a lot from this story. For example, I had no idea that Hanuman was an incarnation of Shiva. I also appreciate your depiction of karma. The word karma has taken on a different meaning in modern English, and it can be difficult to convey the original meaning. That being said, did you mean to imply that Shiva enacted karma on Rama and Sita for the broken bow? It was my understanding that karma was more a consequence of our actions turning into habits, and bad habits creating bad outcomes than karma being carried out by the gods. for some constructive criticism, the writing and presentation style make the story a bit jumpy. It seems rather disconnected, particularly in the case of the aside about Lanka. After reading the author's note, I understand why you included it, but in the middle of the story it just feels out of place. Is there any way else you could include that idea of lack of desire, or work the Lanka story in more smoothly?
Hello there, Simran! First of all, your project website looks so cool and unique! When I first saw that you used a different website platform than I did to create the page, I was worried that I might not be able to navigate through it very well. That being said, I was very much able to find the three pages with ease! The labels at the top of your home page were actually very similar to the websites other classmates have made. I think the material of your story is awesome by the way! The idea to tell some of these stories from Vishnu's perspective is very clever and makes for some very insightful information in your writing! When talking about the bow, for example, Vishnu is able to give us not only the chronological events of the story, but how he felt about them and his motivations to act/react. I think this idea was really a home run and your story is very compelling.
First of all, let me just say that your website looks absolutely beautiful. I really liked the aesthetics and design. The layout of the website is so simple, yet super easy to navigate. I have not used WiX before, but I'm very impressed with how you designed this project.
I really like the way that you interlay the images into the website. I particularly enjoyed the carousel with the pictures of Hanuman. I don't think I have any other recommendations to give you if anything there were some elements from your website that I would like to incorporate into mine. Some of the problems that I saw were related to the responsive design of the website. When I had my browser in split view, the content did not respond well to chaining display sizes, cutting off images, and displacing some of the text. But this is not your fault, though. I'm merely pointing out that your content will look different depending on the screen size of the reader.
I think it was a very bold choice to write about Shiva’s Bow because, like you mentioned, this now is almost the center focus of the Ramayana and contains a lot of power. Now that you have brought it to my attention, I realize that shiva’s bow was never explained to the reader. At least in the version of the Ramayana that I read, the readers were told the bow was all powerful and nothing else. So I appreciate you adding background to a weapon that has conquered so many lives. At first I found the structure you used to write your story kind of confusing, but after the second side not I realized how difficult it is to tell the story of this weapon in one continuous narrative. I really liked how you separated each side note by color in order to assist the reader In following along period. Lastly, I really enjoyed the casual tone of the story. It made the story much more relatable, and easy to follow.
First off, I want t say that your website design is incredible! I love that the text alignment changes, and the framing of the pictures is really good as well. Also, you went into quite a bit of detail, I was very impressed by the depth with which you explained everything. Also, I'm glad that you went into detail about Pinaka. I really like the magic weapons in these indian epics, so much so that I named my super powerful bow in Minecraft after "Pinaka", so I'm glad that you included that.
I know the Shiva resets the universe every 4 Yugas, but I didn't know that the same events played out each time. I had no idea about the three-hundred Ramayanas or anything else, so I'm glad that you touched on that aspect.
I also didn't know that Hanuman was an avatar of Shiva. Anyways, I really enjoyed reading your stories. I look forward to reading more from you. Keep up the good work!
Hi Simran! Again, I love your website layout and all of the images you use for your blog! They are gorgeous, especially the background image of Rama's bridge which I remember you mentioning before. I did not realise that Hanuman appeared in the Mahabharata and I had never heard the story of Bhima trying to move his tail, so it was cool to hear it for the first time from this perspective. I also enjoyed reading about Hanuman's backstory from Shiva's perspective, and I think it's really unique in that his reincarnation as Hanuman came directly from him as a god, where usually it seems that reincarnations are born to mortal, 'regular' parents (like Rama to Kaushalya). I had a little trouble reading the words on top of your second and final image, but honestly, the images are so nice, I wouldn't suggest you try to darken them or blur them just for the words either (I'm also a little blind so that might also be it!). You know I can't wait to see what you do with the next story!
Simran, I really enjoyed reading your introduction. I thought it was really cool and it flowed very nicely. I especially liked that you linked how you involved other websites in your introduction. It was a cool way to involve other technology sources into your story. It definitely makes the story more interactive and allows the reader to become more engaged in the story by providing other outlets for them to learn about Shiva. Also, it was cool how you went into the other forms of Shiva and just didn't focus on one form. I didn't know Shiva had that many forms, or at least, had forgotten since reading the other texts we are required to read. I also thought the Linga was cool. I didn't know that was such a thing and after reading more about it, it is super interesting. Overall, I thought your introduction was wonderful and I can't wait to read more of your stories!
Hey Simran! Again, I really like the stories from Shiva and this one about Hanuman in particular. It's similar to my kind of story telling as you discuss one of Shiva's avatars just like I am describing a few of Vishnu's avatars. The scrolling story is really cool way to present it, but unfortunately is skipped to the next slide fairly quickly. So I would constantly go back to the previous slide, and eventually copied and pasted it. Once that fixed it, I was able to read the awesome stories. Reading about Hanuman's role in the Mahabharata was cool because I don't remember it being mentioned in the version that I read. His birth was also great because there is so much background knowledge on it which shows the reason why Shiva even reincarnated as Hanuman. When I was reading the first slide for Hanuman, it said that Parvati needed to be a part of Hanuman so that she could be with Shiva. That made me realize that Hanuman truly is Shiva and isn't just an extension of the god. You mention this thought in the author's note which was really helpful in confirming that this is what is actually happening. This was really cool to read and I can't wait to see what's next!
Hi Simran, Wow! Your stories are truly impressive!! I was pleasantly surprised when I started to scroll and see all the content you had shared and written about your topics. use one tab had almost five stories in it. You can really see the enjoyment and work you have put towards the class. One quick thing I noticed before I get into the paragraph feedback portion, on your Hanuman tab you only have the authors notes available and no story. I am sure you are probably just editing right now but just wanted to let you know if you didn't already. In terms of your paragraph formation I thought they were appropriate with your format and the smaller stories you wrote about throughout each page. If there were stories a little longer than others you included multiple paragraphs so great job there!
You site is hands down the most gorgeous one that I have seen all semester. The time you took to make it what you wanted it to be truly shines through. I can clearly see your passion for these stories, your religion, your culture, and your willingness to share it with the world. Not once while I was reading this was I anything but engaged and fascinated at the world you weaved through your website. The layout and design is so original and aesthetically pleasing. I really enjoyed reading all of your author's notes as well and seeing more of how you created the stories. You are such a fabulous writer whose sincerity shines through from beginning to end. You should be very proud of this! You really created something amazing this semester and I am so greatful that I got to read it :)
Hi Simran!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I want to say that your storybook website looks amazing! The image on the home page looks stunning and really fits well with your theme. Lord Shiva controls many worlds so image of space is very effective. I really like the first line of your introduction too. The words, "Welcome to my world" grabbed my attention and made me feel like I was included in the story. It also shows the reader that the author is excited for them to dive into the adventure.
I also enjoy the confidence Lord Shiva has. He is not afraid to come out strong and tell everyone why he is great. It seems like he has many reasons to be confident, as he has accomplished many tasks and is regarded highly. I am curious to see how this confidence is transferred over into your future stories. Does he keep this confidence amidst challenges? Does he fail and then lose confidence at some point? The way you have set up your introduction sets up infinite possibilities in your upcoming stories.
Hey Sirmran, I really liked the way you structured the intro. It was very clear and easy to read. I was curious as to what the three worlds are. It was interesting how you personified this god. It was also kind of comedic when you said you were the one true god but Vishnu is on his way. I liked how you talked about some of Shiva’s avatars because I did not realize he did that or was as popular as Vishnu. I did recognize Hanuman though! You also make shiva seem mystical when you said you may see him but he is formless and he makes his presence known when he wants it to be known. I cannot wait to hear and learn about shiva. Keep up the good work. My only advise is to be a bit more descriptive because I wish I knew a little bit more. But it was a good intro!
ReplyDeleteHey Simran,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you explain all the different aspects of Shiva, especially his trishul and snakes. Also, I liked how your introduction is in the first person as if Shiva, himself was addressing the reader. This is something that I am trying to do for my own storybook introduction. I have noticed some typos in your introduction. For example, the sentence “my goals to guide other,” I think you’re trying to say “my goal is to guide others.” Also, I noticed that you wrote “I am the ever-present Shiva” in your introduction twice; once in the beginning and at the end. I think that this statement does not need to be repeated and placing it at the beginning of your introduction might be better. Overall, I really enjoyed your introduction and I think that it is very exciting to be learning more about Shiva as we don’t talk too much about him in this class.
Hello Simran,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading the introduction to your story. I loved your writing because it really made it seem like Shiva’s presence is right before me speaking directly to me. I also like the way this is written because it sounds like Shiva is explaining himself to someone who does not know him which would be me! One thing I was confused about is what the next stories will be about? Will they be about how Shiva was present in the stories we have already read? One other thing I was confused on was why Shiva wants us to meet his wife? Does his wife play an important role in these stories and is she also a goddess? One thing you can do is maybe give just a sentence more about why Shiva wants us to meet his wife and why? I think just a small phrase saying because (so on and so forth) will be helpful.
HI Simran!
ReplyDeleteI liked your set up! It looked so good. How did you do that?? I also I liked how your introduction was in the first person. I have not seen that, nor thought of that. It will allow you a many artistic qualities third person doesn't. Do you plan to continue that theme? I hope so! The only thing is that I am not quite sure what your story will be about. Yes, it is only an introduction, but I wasn't sure what was cluing me in for the next stories. Is it his wife, or his symbols? The bow Rama broke? Or all of them? Maybe expand on these so it is more clear exactly what you are introducing. In this class we do not learn that much about Shiva, so details are very important and help! It also might help the rest of your story develop.
Hi Simran!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the layout of your website. It looks SO good. It honestly looks like a professional made it. I also really enjoyed your introduction and how it was in first person. It made me feel like Lord Shiva was here. I loved how you started off with "Welcome to my world." It really drew me in and the whole time I was reading the introduction, I just wanted to keep reading because you worded things so well and it kept me wanting to read more. You had so many details and it really helped me understand who Lord Shiva is. You also had a lot of different images, which I liked. It really helps people visualize things and helped me piece things together and bring it to life. You did a great job describing everything and it was so well written. I look forward to reading more and see where you take things with your storybook.
Hey Simran,
ReplyDeleteWhen I first went to your introduction, I scrolled all the way to the bottom because the way you set it all up was different and engaging. I did read the last paragraph of this and saw that you would have a focus on the different forms of Shiva which was really cool, because I am focusing on some of the forms of Vishnu. I like that you gave props to Vishnu as an up and comer, sorry to all those Brahma advocates. Using Shiva as the storyteller is something that I didn’t think of when I wrote my introduction and after seeing this, it would have been cool. If you could somehow add some introductory details about the three avatars that would be helpful but certainly isn’t needed. I will probably keep up closely with your stories as they will be so similar to mine. However, the way that you present Shiva’s avatars versus Vishnu’s will be interesting and I am looking towards seeing their stories.
Hi Simran,
ReplyDeleteNicely done!
You do more with your web design than just a block of text, which is very cool. I like the alternating bands of color. One small formatting suggestion would be to move the image references and bibliographic information to the bottom of the page so as not to break the reader’s immersion. Especially since you present the introduction from a first-person character point of view, rather than your own, I think it’s important to maintain that boundary between the world inside the story and the world outside, unless you’re consciously trying to straddle the divide. (Possibly do the same with your note about “Jai Bholenath,” or rework it to also be discussed from the first-person.)
I’m looking forward to seeing where you go from here, and how you choose to highlight the forms of Shiva. It’s just a guess, but are you planning to do one story for each of a few chosen forms of Shiva? That might be cool.
Thanks,
A.M.
Hi Simran,
ReplyDeleteI just finished looking at your website as you share the life of Shiva through his prospective. This is the first project I have seen in this form and really look forward to continue to look at it and others like it! I am impressed with the detail you are going into describing Shiva in the Intro and Forms. I wonder what you will be adding next when describing his life and the history of his character? I wonder what your website layout would look like if instead of putting everything on one long page you did different subpages you click to?
Hey Simran,
ReplyDeleteI came back after reading your introduction because I was interested to see where you would be going with your storybook. It's pretty interesting to how you took a significant possession of Shiva and showed its usage in a story. As you say, it also lets you retell the story in a different voice where the focus is all on the bow. Incorporating karma was also great because it adds another element to the story. The part where you/Shiva says "Karma runs its own story" is good because it shows how karma affects everyone, even if they are the avatar of Vishnu. It might be beneficial to talk about how the gods did have a plan for Rama to defeat Ravana because of the power he had gained. Maybe the gods could have nudged Rama towards breaking the Pinaka, which nudged him to receive the karma that he did. Then it could show how the gods were still playing a part with Rama's future.
Hey Simran!
ReplyDeleteI made sure I found my way here this week haha, and I'm really glad I did. Let me just say first that I love the layout of the Storybook and how you've put all the colours and images together. The combinations make it easy to read and eye-catching, and it's clear that every picture is directly related to what you're talking about. The content is engaging and I think your take on Shiva's perspective makes him relatable yet captures that he is an eternal being that isn't too worried about mundane occurrences. The only thing I was left wondering about was how Ravana as the demon king came to be so devoted to Shiva. Perhaps you could mention it even in your Author's note, if you thought it would be important later on. I also wanted to ask if the last section on karma and how it affected Rama for breaking Shiva's bow was part of something you read or if you made it up from Shiva's perspective. Overall, I really liked this take and I feel like I learnt a lot of interesting details about Shiva! I'm looking forward to where you take this next.
Hi SImran,
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, the layout of your website is so eye catching. I cannot get over how good it looks. You have set the standards high! I like how you use colors and images to split the story as well as to change the voice of the story in a cohesive way that is easy fro readers to understand. I like how you titled all the stories and gave such great details about the story, I like the creative way you retold the story. It really shows your great writing skills through this story. I like that you made the bow such an important artifact in your story. Many times is over looked but it has an important role to play as well as a fascinating origin/ back story. I like the story version where Sita was the only one who can possess the bow. Overall, you did a great job on your portfolio and I look forward to reading more of your story!
Hey Simran! There are actually a few different things I wanted to say about both your story and your site. First of all, I love your site. You used so many colors, patterns, and themes when constructing it. I can tell you put a lot of thought and effort into making it fun to look at for your audience. Another thing I thought was pretty neat was the way in which you broke your story up into five separate sections. I haven’t seen that in any other blog, and it really helped make each transition within the story seem smooth. It also provided opportunity to incorporate more than just one image on the page which helped set the mood, from the varying color schemes, and also helped the reader to visualize the different details you brought up within the story. For example, the way the characters and the sites look.
ReplyDeleteHi Simran! This is an interesting story. I didn't know much about Shiva, and have learned a lot from this story. For example, I had no idea that Hanuman was an incarnation of Shiva. I also appreciate your depiction of karma. The word karma has taken on a different meaning in modern English, and it can be difficult to convey the original meaning. That being said, did you mean to imply that Shiva enacted karma on Rama and Sita for the broken bow? It was my understanding that karma was more a consequence of our actions turning into habits, and bad habits creating bad outcomes than karma being carried out by the gods. for some constructive criticism, the writing and presentation style make the story a bit jumpy. It seems rather disconnected, particularly in the case of the aside about Lanka. After reading the author's note, I understand why you included it, but in the middle of the story it just feels out of place. Is there any way else you could include that idea of lack of desire, or work the Lanka story in more smoothly?
ReplyDeleteHello there, Simran!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, your project website looks so cool and unique! When I first saw that you used a different website platform than I did to create the page, I was worried that I might not be able to navigate through it very well. That being said, I was very much able to find the three pages with ease! The labels at the top of your home page were actually very similar to the websites other classmates have made. I think the material of your story is awesome by the way! The idea to tell some of these stories from Vishnu's perspective is very clever and makes for some very insightful information in your writing! When talking about the bow, for example, Vishnu is able to give us not only the chronological events of the story, but how he felt about them and his motivations to act/react. I think this idea was really a home run and your story is very compelling.
Hello Simran,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, let me just say that your website looks absolutely beautiful. I really liked the aesthetics and design. The layout of the website is so simple, yet super easy to navigate. I have not used WiX before, but I'm very impressed with how you designed this project.
I really like the way that you interlay the images into the website. I particularly enjoyed the carousel with the pictures of Hanuman. I don't think I have any other recommendations to give you if anything there were some elements from your website that I would like to incorporate into mine. Some of the problems that I saw were related to the responsive design of the website. When I had my browser in split view, the content did not respond well to chaining display sizes, cutting off images, and displacing some of the text. But this is not your fault, though. I'm merely pointing out that your content will look different depending on the screen size of the reader.
I think it was a very bold choice to write about Shiva’s Bow because, like you mentioned, this now is almost the center focus of the Ramayana and contains a lot of power. Now that you have brought it to my attention, I realize that shiva’s bow was never explained to the reader. At least in the version of the Ramayana that I read, the readers were told the bow was all powerful and nothing else. So I appreciate you adding background to a weapon that has conquered so many lives. At first I found the structure you used to write your story kind of confusing, but after the second side not I realized how difficult it is to tell the story of this weapon in one continuous narrative. I really liked how you separated each side note by color in order to assist the reader In following along period. Lastly, I really enjoyed the casual tone of the story. It made the story much more relatable, and easy to follow.
ReplyDeleteHi Simran,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I want t say that your website design is incredible! I love that the text alignment changes, and the framing of the pictures is really good as well. Also, you went into quite a bit of detail, I was very impressed by the depth with which you explained everything. Also, I'm glad that you went into detail about Pinaka. I really like the magic weapons in these indian epics, so much so that I named my super powerful bow in Minecraft after "Pinaka", so I'm glad that you included that.
I know the Shiva resets the universe every 4 Yugas, but I didn't know that the same events played out each time. I had no idea about the three-hundred Ramayanas or anything else, so I'm glad that you touched on that aspect.
I also didn't know that Hanuman was an avatar of Shiva. Anyways, I really enjoyed reading your stories. I look forward to reading more from you. Keep up the good work!
Hi Simran!
ReplyDeleteAgain, I love your website layout and all of the images you use for your blog! They are gorgeous, especially the background image of Rama's bridge which I remember you mentioning before. I did not realise that Hanuman appeared in the Mahabharata and I had never heard the story of Bhima trying to move his tail, so it was cool to hear it for the first time from this perspective. I also enjoyed reading about Hanuman's backstory from Shiva's perspective, and I think it's really unique in that his reincarnation as Hanuman came directly from him as a god, where usually it seems that reincarnations are born to mortal, 'regular' parents (like Rama to Kaushalya). I had a little trouble reading the words on top of your second and final image, but honestly, the images are so nice, I wouldn't suggest you try to darken them or blur them just for the words either (I'm also a little blind so that might also be it!). You know I can't wait to see what you do with the next story!
Simran, I really enjoyed reading your introduction. I thought it was really cool and it flowed very nicely. I especially liked that you linked how you involved other websites in your introduction. It was a cool way to involve other technology sources into your story. It definitely makes the story more interactive and allows the reader to become more engaged in the story by providing other outlets for them to learn about Shiva. Also, it was cool how you went into the other forms of Shiva and just didn't focus on one form. I didn't know Shiva had that many forms, or at least, had forgotten since reading the other texts we are required to read. I also thought the Linga was cool. I didn't know that was such a thing and after reading more about it, it is super interesting. Overall, I thought your introduction was wonderful and I can't wait to read more of your stories!
ReplyDeleteHey Simran!
ReplyDeleteAgain, I really like the stories from Shiva and this one about Hanuman in particular. It's similar to my kind of story telling as you discuss one of Shiva's avatars just like I am describing a few of Vishnu's avatars. The scrolling story is really cool way to present it, but unfortunately is skipped to the next slide fairly quickly. So I would constantly go back to the previous slide, and eventually copied and pasted it. Once that fixed it, I was able to read the awesome stories. Reading about Hanuman's role in the Mahabharata was cool because I don't remember it being mentioned in the version that I read. His birth was also great because there is so much background knowledge on it which shows the reason why Shiva even reincarnated as Hanuman. When I was reading the first slide for Hanuman, it said that Parvati needed to be a part of Hanuman so that she could be with Shiva. That made me realize that Hanuman truly is Shiva and isn't just an extension of the god. You mention this thought in the author's note which was really helpful in confirming that this is what is actually happening. This was really cool to read and I can't wait to see what's next!
Hi Simran,
ReplyDeleteWow! Your stories are truly impressive!! I was pleasantly surprised when I started to scroll and see all the content you had shared and written about your topics. use one tab had almost five stories in it. You can really see the enjoyment and work you have put towards the class. One quick thing I noticed before I get into the paragraph feedback portion, on your Hanuman tab you only have the authors notes available and no story. I am sure you are probably just editing right now but just wanted to let you know if you didn't already. In terms of your paragraph formation I thought they were appropriate with your format and the smaller stories you wrote about throughout each page. If there were stories a little longer than others you included multiple paragraphs so great job there!
Simran,
ReplyDeleteYou site is hands down the most gorgeous one that I have seen all semester. The time you took to make it what you wanted it to be truly shines through. I can clearly see your passion for these stories, your religion, your culture, and your willingness to share it with the world. Not once while I was reading this was I anything but engaged and fascinated at the world you weaved through your website. The layout and design is so original and aesthetically pleasing. I really enjoyed reading all of your author's notes as well and seeing more of how you created the stories. You are such a fabulous writer whose sincerity shines through from beginning to end. You should be very proud of this! You really created something amazing this semester and I am so greatful that I got to read it :)