Biography: The Sweet Smell of Car Exhaust

Ahh, the strong smell of the gasoline exhaust of a car. Most may think that it is a disgusting smell that could trigger coughing. However, when I smell it, while I do think about the negative affect of the exhaust on our planet, I cannot help but think of home.

As I was walking out of my last final of Fall 2019, there was a car revving their engine. Out released a the scent of gas exhaust. As weird as it sounds, smelling this weird smell made me smile. Anytime my sister or I would smell the sweet smell car exhaust, we would always look at each other and say "Smells like the Philippines." While the Philippines has its own concerns regarding pollution, that is besides the point.

This happened a few days before I was to depart for vacation in the Philippines. Leading up to my departure, I had constant doubts for a few months about even wanting to go to the Philippines. I had not been there in such a long time (about 10 years) that I was nervous and was afraid my family there would make fun of me for whatever reason. I also was worried about not feeling like I belonged when I was with my family. However, when I smelled the gasoline exhaust from the passing car, I felt some sort of peace. It was like God was telling me that it was going to be okay - that seeing my family would be okay.

Shown in the image above are tricycles. This is a very common of transportation in the provinces of the Philippines. This is a cheap way for people to get from point A to B without walking. It is also provides a job for many. Depending on the provinces and the distance traveled, the cost of a single person to ride a tricycle differs. However, in non-touristy areas the cost to get to the center of the city from the outskirts is about 20 pesos ($0.40). There are many tricycles across the country which results in a smell of gas exhaust that you realize as walk around town. Therefore, this smell lead to the biography above. 

Author's Note:
Wow. Through writing this biography, I just realized a little bit more about myself and my feelings. I did not realize what the real reason I was afraid to go back to the Philippines until I just let myself write. Wow. I should write to myself more.
On another note, I have written a lot about the my birth country in this class. I just want to share some wonderful experiences I had there with the readers just so they have opportunity to learn about new place. In this biography I wanted to write a story prompted by a vivid memory of a smell. I wrote in the first person because I really dived into my feelings. I hope to read this in the future and smile.

Extra Credit Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part D

Public Domain Edition of the Mahabharata, Part D

By:Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore

Reading Notes - Character Analyzation:

• The following were notes on the scenes that I thought were particularly important to analyze the character Arjuna:
• Revolted against the idea of fighting against Shikhandin.
• Arjuna loved Shikhandin as a child so the idea of fighting against him was brutal.
• Arjuna and Bhishma fought in war.
• Arjuna's arrows pierced Bhishma which lead to Bhishma's death.
•  Arjuna was told that his son was slain.
• Rightly so, this news really hurt him as he wept for his slain son.
• He then cursed the murderers of his son. 
• He said that he never wanted to reached heaven if he did not kill Jayadratha (who he believed killed his son) the following day.
• Jayadratha was told of Arjuna's vow and became fearful.
• Many people tried to fight Arjuna and the two men who accompanied him (Bhima and Satyaki) before he could reach Jayadratha, including:
• Duryodhana
• Karna
• Bhurishrava
• Many others fought Arjuna and his men but did not succeed.
• Finally, Arjuna beheld Jayadratha who was guarded by warriors. 
• Arjuna easily killed Jayadratha.
• This killing caused a right of continuous fighting by men who really had no reason to fight.
• Arjuna asked for a truce and the warriors agreed. 
• Yet again, Arjuna is in another fight. This time he is in a fight with Susharman when Karna fought against the Pandava army.
• In my opinion, it seems like Arjuna is a very good, effective, and skilled warrior but he is in too many battles.
• Arjuna battled against Karna. 
• This is a close battle because both are seen as mighty.
• During battle, Arjuna asked Karna to pause the fight because his bow-string was severed.
• Karna obviously did not care and dismissed Arjuna's request. 
• Then the opposite situation occurred: Karna asked Arjuna to pause in battle because his chariot sunk into the ground.
• Differently, however, Arjuna did pause in battle.
• Krishna pointed out that Arjuna did as Karna asked when he needed it but Karna did not do the same. 
• As Krishna said this, he spoke the name of Arjuna's son.
• This triggered Arjuna which caused him to be outraged and shot at Karna's head.
• Arjuna defeated and killed Karna.

(Image Source)

By analyzing Arjuna, he seemed to be a great warrior, as he defeated many. I believe this image really shows this aspect of the character analyzed.

Bibliography: Public Domain Edition of the Mahabharata, Part D Multiple Authors from Various Sources: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

The quality of the comments and feedback that I am getting from my peer students is very helpful! It helps me realize what may be missing in the story from a reader's perspective. Since I live out stories in my mind, I sometimes forget to consider things that may not be assumed by others. Therefore, the "Let's Pretend" and TAG feedback methods have been very helpful to me. 

Furthermore, I would like to believe that the quality of the comments and feedback that I am giving to my peer students is helpful. I really enjoy giving feedback through the WWW and "Let's Pretend" methods. Particularly the "Let's Pretend" method allows me to think of the story in a wholistic view because I am pretending that I am a character in the story. Furthermore, I am getting some good ideas for my own writing from analyzing other people's writing. For example, I have read stories that instead of bluntly telling the reader particular information, they use descriptive words to allow the reader to infer information. Therefore, I have tried to incorporate this tactic in my own writing.

Through blog comments, I feel like I have been getting to know people! I have recognized great diversity in the people, their interests and majors, in this class. I have realized that I have taken a lot classes with students in my major but I don't know any of their interests. I love how this class is structured that we get to meet others even past their name and major. I love my Introduction post, so I hope people are getting to know me too.

Looking forward, I want to use the TAG method more. I feel like that feedback method has been helpful to me so I want to do the same for others. I feel like my peers could possibly give me feedback in the style WWW to help me improve too? I like my Comment Wall and Introduction so I will be keeping that the same and get feedback there. 

(Image Sources: (1) and (2))

I have chosen this photo because it is an accurate representation of how I feel about my peers giving my feedback. They have really guided me by giving my honest opinions from their perspectives. I think through their feedback, I have improved in my writing. I truly feel like the orange kitty in this photo. I also feel like collectively, as a whole, my peers are represented by the black cat. 

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Reflecting back on the reading and writing that I have done throughout this class, I become very happy with myself. Reading has never been my forte or even something I just enjoyed. I struggle with reading at an appropriate speed as well as comprehending what I have read. However, when I look at my reading notes, I give myself grace because I was able to comprehend the stories. Furthermore, at the beginning of this course, writing the stories was what excited me the most for this class. It has kept its end of the bargain! Writing the stories is still my favorite part. I notice that when I write I go into another world. A world where I can control what happens and use my imagination again. I have felt like I pushed my imagination to the corner of my brain these past few years, but I remember how my second grade teacher told me to never loose it. So, it feels good to use my imagination again.

Also, I can see how my reading notes and stories have improved throughout the semester. I have used different reading techniques and that has really helped me explore the story in different ways each week. Furthermore, I can see that my writing has improved because, in my opinion, they have become more engaging. 

Looking forward, I want to keep improving on my reading and writing. I believe there is always room for improvement, so it is great that we get to reflect on what we have done and where we want to go. Regarding my reading, I want to keep using reading techniques. However, I want to use different reading techniques and not repeat the ones that I have used. Regarding my writing, especially for my portfolio, I want to condense the wordiness of my stories. Naturally, I am a very talkative person, and I think that is translated in most of my stories. Therefore, I want to work on condensing the number of words while still telling the story in its entirety. 

(Image Source)

The above image was used for my "Extra Credit Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana, Part C" assignment. Looking through my past reading notes, I recalled using most of the images. However, the image above, I do not remember choosing. It made me really interested in the notes that I took again. I was then reminded of the courage of Sita and Hanuman in their respective ways when Sita was being captured. It was a gentle reminder that we all should be courageous too.