Feedback Strategies

(image source: matterapp)

 

I chose Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset and How to Give Bad Feedback Without Being a Jerk for this post. These two articles give great tips about giving feedback.

I have never been good at giving feedback, because I don't know what to say. I know if an essay is good or bad, but beyond that I'm at a loss. How do I tell the person their writing is awful without outright saying it's awful? How do I say it's good without just saying "this is good."?

Be a Mirror explains rather well how to do this — "be specific, focus on what the reader is doing (not on what is missing), focus on the process, and take yourself out of the feedback."

This is such simple advice, and I'm not sure why I never thought to do this. I think I just worry too much about hurting someone's feelings. 

The jerk article really narrows down how to give feedback without being a jerk — "explain why you're giving feedback, take yourself off a pedestal, ask if the person wants feedback, and have a transparent dialogue."

I think this advice tends to lean more toward in person/work feedback, but the advice is sound. Instead of trying to beat around the bush, be direct with your feedback and explain your reasons for the feedback.

I think I need to practice giving feedback, and being more confident in the feedback I give. I know that I'm not just being mean, and if I word it in a way that makes my meaning abundantly clear, then it benefits everyone involved.

Topic Research: Ancient Indian Techonology

 

Ashwathama uses Narayanastra

(Image source: Narayanastra)

 I'm choosing to do Ancient Indian Tech for my project. There is a lot of speculation and myth associated with the stories I'm choosing, so I'm going to have to make it clear that it is fictitious (as a lot of my ideas came from the infamous Ancient Aliens).

 

Vimana Spaceship:

 A mythical flying palace. The Vimana has been associated with aliens. I would like to relay the story from the Ramayana, and include the speculation surrounding the Vimana spaceship in conspiracy circles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypHNy2-JC-Q

 

Nuclear Energy:

This subject is also highly speculative, but there are a lot of urban legends involving it. I want to explore the cities and myths involved, and discuss the possibility of nuclear power in ancient India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngGHwmpNPdg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgTti6-iZ0c

https://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2014/06/reading-guide-sanghi-krishna-key.html

https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4541

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harappa

http://veda.wikidot.com/ancient-city-found-in-india-irradiated-from-atomic-blast (This source is 100% false, but I'm including it for the speculation.)

Astra: Ancient Indian Weapons:  

The weapons associated with the Gods are very powerful, and many speculate that these weapons were akin to modern day weapons. There are stories of Vishnu wielding powerful heat-seeking missiles,  and atomic bombs dropped on ancient cities. I want to tell the myths and stories involving these legends, and then speculate about the weapons having technology like we have in the modern world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astra_(weapon)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narayanastra

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmastra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2_f3YXGGuA

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24663434?seq=1

https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/ancientman/1054.html 

https://www.mysteryofindia.com/2014/08/myth-of-ancient-nuclear-war.html

 

Other Sources:

https://scienceblog.com/20159/science-and-technology-in-ancient-india/

Week 3 Story: Adventure Time: Junkin' Apples

Jake and Finn's Tree Fort. Copyright Cartoon Network (image source: wallpaperflare.com)

Far away, in the land of Ooo sat a mighty tree, inside of which housed the many wares and spoils of our heroes: Finn the Human and Jake the Dog. 

It was a day like any other — that is, if your days consisted of bonking evil wizards on the nose, and partying with rapping bears. 

Jake, perched in front of the stove, was experimenting with a concoction of ice cream and cheeseburgers that was sure to somehow be delicious. Suddenly, there was a hurried knocking at the door.

"FIINNNN," hollered Jake, "there's someone at the doooorrrr! FIIINNN,"

The knocking continued, and exasperated, Jake threw down his wooden spoon, stripped off his apron, and marched to the ladder that led to the front door. 

Approaching the door, the hurried knocking became louder. Annoyed, Jake yelled "yeah, yeah, I'm here, wha dyu want?" and yanking it open, he found Tree Trunks standing there with a worried expression on her face.

"Oohh Jake, thank goodness! I need Finn's help," and waddling past Jake, Tree Trunks began to holler for Finn.

"Finn! Oh Finn!" cried Tree Trunks, "Oh where is that boy?"

Conveniently, Finn walked through the door at the opportune moment, covered in monster junk and dragging a bag of stuff he jacked off them.

"Hey Tree Trunks, what's up?"

"Oh Finn, Ice Cream has stolen all my apples and now I can't make my famous apple pie!"

"Don't worry Tree Trunks, we'll get your apples back and slap down Ice Kind heckin' good," and grabbing his sword, Finn ran off in the direction of the Ice Kingdom, with Jake following close behind.

--------------------------

Arriving at Ice King's Palace, Finn kicks in the door.

"ICE KING! GIVE BACK TREE TRUNKS APPLES OR I'LL BEAT THE TAR OUTTA YA," screamed Finn.

Ice King, seeing who his guests are clapped his hands in excitement and said "Ah Finn and Jake, my friends! Welcome to m —" but before he could finish his greeting, Finn had scaled the room, jumped over an ice table and smacked Ice King right in the eye.

"WAAAHH," wailed the Ice King, "why did you hit me? You've ruined the tea party!" 

Looking around, Finn and Jake noticed penguins gathered around a table of ice. Adorning the table were various cakes and pies and delicious candies and apples.

Enraged, Ice King flew into the air and began shooting ice in every direction.

"DUDE," screamed Jake, who inflated large enough to fill the room. Dodging the ice shrapnel, Jake slammed Ice King into the ground with a giant paw, and held him there.

"You're nuts man, why'd you jack these apples?" asked Jake

"I just wanted to party with my pals," Ice King whimpered, "didn't you get my invites? I decorated them myself."

"We didn't get nuthin'," said Jake

"Gunter, you naughty boy. What did you do with the invites?"

Gunter stared at Ice King with empty, black eyes and gakked "wamp."

(490 words)

happy chaotic penguins

Author Notes: I wasn't really sure how I could adapt the Ramayana story. I was just going to rewrite it, but I thought that was kinda lame. I came up with like a fight scene based off of Tataka and Rama's fight, but this was going to be a Dragon Ball Z styled one. Thing was, I haven't watched Dragon Ball since I was a child, so I couldn't come up with how to write it. So I settled on Adventure Time. I've watched a lot of Adventure Time. I think I did OK, I kinda cringe at writing dialogue. I think I had a rough time writing this, because it took me back to my fanfic days. Oh Lord.

Bibliography: 
Title: The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic
Author: Kamban / R. K. Narayan
Year: 1972

https://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/narayan-ramayana-kamban.html

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part B

Rama fighting Ravana. Image from book Ramayana: Divine Loophole by Sanjay Patel.

Characters:

Rama/Vishnu - Human incarnation of Vishnu; Titular hero of the Ramayana

King Dashartha - Father of Rama

Lakshmana - Brother to Rama

Vishvamitra - Asks for Rama's help fighting the Demons who harass him

Sita/Lakshmi - Rama's wife; Incarnation of Lakshmi

Ravana - King of Lanka; Adversary of Rama

Demons:

Thataka - Demon who was once a human

Maricha - Son of Thataka

Subahu - Son of Thataka

Etymology:

Rama - incarnation of Vishnu, from Sanskrit Ramah, literally "lovely," from stem of ramate "stands still, rests, is pleased."

Vishnu - name of a principal Hindu deity, 1630s, from Sanskrit Vishnu, probably from root vish- and meaning "all-pervader" or "worker."

Bibliography: 
Title: The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic
Author: Kamban / R. K. Narayan
Year: 1972

https://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/narayan-ramayana-kamban.html

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part A

 

 Sarayu River at Bageshwar, Uttarakhand

Setting:

Ayodhya - Birthplace of Lord Rama; Setting of Ramayana; Located in the Kingdom of Kosala; Some believe it to be the origin of the legendary city Ayodhya;

Sarayu - River that runs through the city of Ayodhya

Kosala Kingdom - Ancient Indian kingdom;

 

Etymology:

Ayodhya - "The word "Ayodhya" is a regularly formed derivation of the Sanskrit verb yudh, "to fight, to wage war". Yodhya is the future passive participle, meaning "to be fought"; the initial a is the negative prefix; the whole, therefore, means "not to be fought" or, more idiomatically in English, "invincible"."

Sarayu - "Sanskrit root sar "to flow"; as a masculine stem, saráyu- means "air, wind", i.e. "that which is streaming"."

Geography:

Ayodhya - "Ayodhya has a humid subtropical climate, typical of central India. Summers are long, dry and hot, lasting from late March to mid-June, with average daily temperatures near 32 °C (90 °F). They are followed by the monsoon season which lasts till October, with annual precipitation of approximately 1,067 mm (42.0 in) and average temperatures around 28 °C (82 °F). Winter starts in early November and lasts till the end of January, followed by a short spring in February and early March. Average temperatures are mild, near 16 °C (61 °F), but nights can be colder."

 

Kosala -  "The Kosala region had three major cities, Ayodhya, Saket and Shravasti, and a number of minor towns as Setavya, Ukattha, Dandakappa, Nalakapana and Pankadha. According to the Puranas and the Ramayana epic, Ayodhya was the capital of Kosala during the reign of Ikshvaku and his descendants.^[32] Shravasti is recorded as the capital of Kosala during the Mahajanapada period (6th–5th centuries BCE),^[33] but post-Maurya (2nd–1st centuries BCE) kings issued their coins from Ayodhya"

Sarayu River Range

 

Bibliography: 
Title: The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic
Author: Kamban / R. K. Narayan
Year: 1972

https://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/narayan-ramayana-kamban.html