(Bhima Cooking at the Court in Virata. Source: SnappyGoat)
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Week 14 Lab: Advice to Writers
Advice to Writers One of the reasons that I was initially drawn to this class was that I wanted to get more into writing. Now that I h...
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Hi everyone! My name is Maya- I am a Senior here at OU majoring in classical voice performance- so, opera! Where I come from is a mil... -
Bhima stared. He could not believe his ears. Yudhistira's words echoed in his mind, replaying and reverberating there. "I allow y...
Hi Maya! This is such a fun and exciting storybook! I cannot wait to see what stories you do and the recipes that accompany them. I think that this is also a good idea as you can add the history of the dishes as well if they have a background outside of Bhima cooking them. I think that you have a very well set up blog even though it is just your homepage right now. You have an image that goes perfectly with you theme and a sweet and short introduction so people know exactly what they are about to read. I am very intrigued to see the finished product and follow you along your way of creating this delicious storybook. I hope that you are doing well and will find you blog in a couple weeks to check in on the first story! Have a good week and happy writing!
ReplyDeleteHello Maya, what an inventive story idea! Bhima being a cook in Virata’s court was something I simply read and then didn’t think of again during the story, but you’ve taken this small nugget of a detail and pulled from it an entire culinary tale. I love that these tales are being told to us through bedtime stories for Bhima’s children. By giving a present setting to these tales, you have now built in a way to clarify any inconsistencies in the original tales: Bhima’s children can now pipe up and ask questions on behalf of the reader while still maintaining a cohesive story. I especially enjoyed learning that Bhima does have children; that was something I did not know previously and it gives a whole new dimension to Bhima as a character. Instead of simply being this solemn, vengeful warrior who is eager to reclaim his kingdom, he also has a softer side, that of a doting father who loves to please his children. Again, fantastic job!
ReplyDeleteHey Maya, I love the idea you chose for this storybook. It seems very original and unique. The idea of Bhima being this chef who is adding stories as she cooks and adding to her recipes through the stories is really something. I think that the webpage is setup very nicely and will continue to fill out as the semester goes on. The art you selected gives me an old chef vibe. I don't know how to describe it, maybe like an old cookbook. Even though, the first story was not very long, I think that if the stories continue out like this it should be very entertaining. Although, I would recommend making the first story a little longer. Maybe with a better backstory of why Bhima was inspired to be a chef. Or a story about Bhima specifically working as a chef.
ReplyDeleteHey Maya!
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of you making this storybook throughout Bhima’s time as a chef. It would be cool if you could name parts of the story as ingredients to the recipes you are creating. I thought your image on the home screen compliments your ideas for your storybook. Your intro is just absolutely wonderful. It is so sweet that all three siblings, however different in age and personalities, gather around for story time. I think it is cute that all the kids snuggle and gather close for storytelling. It brings nostalgia over me from whenever I was younger. I think it is typical of Bhima to assume that his kids want to hear the classic stories but sometimes the stories that take place during a normal day are just as nice. I think you should have the names of your stories as ingredients to some of the recipes that Bhima once cooked at the court of Virata. It would blend the stories and cooking together, and this would be a fun, yet unique element to your storybook.
Hey Maya! I really liked the intro to your story. I thought setting it up as a bedtime story was an excellent way to be able to not only tell the story from a first-person but you can also add commentary and observations through the story with this strategy. The only critiques I would have is I think you should do a little more background or introductions into who your characters are. I don't know if other people are having this issue, but there are so many characters in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata that I can't remember who all of them are offhand. For the positives, I absolutely loved that you did research and included, and actually created in real life, actual meals from the epic. That was very interesting, and I definitely want to try that recipe in the author's note. One thing I especially liked about your writing was the subtle hints to Bhima's background, like the exile and how they had run out of spices and stuff while exiled.
ReplyDeleteHi Maya!
ReplyDeleteI think that your creativity is fantastic. I love that you were able to tell the story from one of the character perspective. You took the role of one of the Pandavas an make such an amazing plot out of it. I must say that I love cooking and the instruction that you included in the story is an impressive and very creative technique, because you were able to allow your knowledge of cooking to lead the story. Your portfolio it's great as well. I saw that on the taskbar it stills show "story 1", I think that you can rename that to your story name and that can tight up your story pretty well.
I wonder what kind of food that you can cook. Maybe you can try and find something about the type of food that was relevant to the time of the story and share it in your portfolio. I think that would make your story even better. Delicious food and picture. I am looking forward to reading more of your story. Great job.
Hi Maya! I love your storybook idea! As a hobbyist chef myself, I’m excited to see what other antics Bhima gets up to in the kitchen. I love how he talks about food. It’s so amusing and sweet to see a big, tough warrior get worked up about ingredients and delicious meals. Not to be nit-picky, but I caught a little typo in the second paragraph of your intro. It’s says “It was good to have then all together,” and that should probably be “them.” No worries, I do stuff like that all the time.
ReplyDeleteYour first story is really detailed and made me hungry! I wonder if Bhima is as good of a chef as he thinks—is he going to get into any trouble or conflict during his stay at Virata’s court? If you’re going to be cooking recipes along with Bhima, I’d love to see pictures of your meals! You could either put them in your author’s notes, or you could put links to posts at your blog where you talk about how the cooking went. No matter what, I hope you have a good time, and I can’t wait to read more of your storybook.
Hi Maya! I love this storybook idea! I am so excited to see what you cook with each story you add. I really like the images you've chosen in your storybook so far. I would also love it if you shared pictures of what you end up cooking with each story. That's totally not necessary for you to tell your story but it would be such a fun addition!
ReplyDeleteYour intro is excellent and really sets up your storybook for a fun kind of 1001 Nights vibe. I love that you introduce us to Bhima as a chef through his tales to his children. Also, the image on this page is so fun! Just for me personally, I'd love a link either at the bottom of the page or embedded in the text that goes to more info on Bhima. But that's just a personal thing for loving all the info and research pages. I can't wait to see what other stories you write and recipes you find.
Hi again!
DeleteI came back to see what new stories (and recipes!) you've added. I love that you went from a story with a meal/savory dish to this story with a sweet! I also really love your note that the particular sweet you picked has a folklore tie in already.
I appreciate in your author's notes that you are giving us so many details on your laddu. It is great seeing that you've made it and what substitutions that you've already tried. As a gluten free baker knowing about successful substitutions makes trying a recipe that much easier.
Hello Maya!
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have come across your story book and after reading the introduction I was very intrigued and excited to see what you will write about next. One thing that I am very excited about is the food talk. Cooking and eating are my two most favorite hobbies behind sleeping.I guess I must have missed it when reading the Mahabharata but I was unaware that Bhima was a chef! I am very excited to learn more about this side of Bhima and to overall get to know his character better!
When reading the introduction post there was one thing that really stuck out to me that I enjoyed and that is your writing style and how you incorporated in the different feelings and personalities of the characters, like Bhima's sons. This really gave me a better visualization of who they are!
I look forward to reading more!
Hi Maya.
ReplyDeleteI was initially drawn to your storybook simply by the title and I didn't know how much it really had to do with cooking or the exact premise, but I was excited to see what it was all about. Once getting to your website I loved the layout. It was very easy to navigate and it was very unique and you selected a great cover picture. As for your introduction I loved how the premise of it was a bedtime story and it was Bhima talking to his children. One suggestion that I have is to just double check on spelling. I personally love using grammarly. It is an easy and free extension to add to your browser and it automatically checks for spelling and grammar errors! Overall I think that you are on a great path though and I can't wait to be on the lookout for what more you have in store! Great job!
Hi Maya,
ReplyDeleteI love how you formatted your storybook. The picture on the first page is really intriguing and I love that you included the description before we start to read these stories. I was so interested as to what "In Bhima's Kitchen" meant, but as I see now it is such a cool idea! I think your voice in the stories is super well planned, your ability to draw the reader in with the storytelling from the character's perspective makes it feel like you are telling it right to us rather than the audience reading a story if that makes sense. If you do end up actually cooking the meals you write about, please put the pictures in the storybook! I would love to see what it ends up looking like. I would suggest, if you cannot find a recipe make your own? If the only ingredients given were pork, put it in a rice dish and title it something along the lines of the story? Very cool idea to essentially make your own story based cook book!
Hi Maya,
ReplyDeleteI really love the whole culinary theme of your storybook! Although I ended up doing a portfolio instead, when I was thinking of doing a storybook I wanted mine to be a cookbook with different recipes kind of like yours! I think it makes it so much more fun that you are including your own cooking attempts of these dishes. You really seem to be having fun with this! This is one of my favorite themes so far and I think you have done a really good job of making these stories interactive and intriguing to the reader.
Hi Maya!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun concept! I remembered being really intrigued when I learned Bhima was disguised as a cook because I thought it fit his character really well, but we only ever focused on the oldest brother when they were in disguise, so I was disappointed that we did not learn more about Bhima and the others. And I like that you are weaving recipes into your stories. They fit in seamlessly. I will say that I would love to read more about Bhima's adventures in Virata than about the dishes. Your second story in particular does not go into much detail about the fight Bhima had despite that being a central part of the story. You even mentioned in your author's note that laddu gives him strength, so I would have loved to see what resulted during the fight because of that. I think there's a happy medium between food and plot that you have almost reached in your stories. But, I think your storybook is so creative and well-executed. I really enjoyed it!
Hello Maya! I just got finished reading "Laddu" from your project website. Before I began I went and read your author's note as well as your sources to get an idea of what creative details you added/changed. Then I read yours and I must say that this is such a fun and creative way to tell a story! Fantastic job! It is such a creative idea to intertwine recipes into the story. As someone who gets great satisfaction from cooking I can certainly appreciate that! Can't wait to read more of your stories through these last handful of weeks of this semester. I would also like to say that the layout and design of your website is very visually appealing and easy to navigate. I'm sorry that I can't provide you with any constructive criticism haha. You did better than I would have so I have nothing for you!
ReplyDeleteHi Maya! I love your theme of your storybook of food! I love trying to understand other cultures and one of the best ways is through their food. I like how you include all of the bases of the foods as well as events that make the stories flow and more interesting to follow. The descriptions of what foods are used and go together are very good and I have to say I got a touch hungry. The stories flow together very well after reading one right after the other. I like how you included to images of the characters which gave a better depth into the setting as well as images of the food. I think that pulled me more into the story and curious about the food and follow up on it. Th descriptions in the notes were also very helpful and got me very excited about it. Good job!
ReplyDeleteHi Maya! Your storybook is really interesting! I like how you use the theme of food. This is super creative and unique! You website was easy to navigate and is organized well. I like how the stories flow. I think it's great how you added Bhima's culinary adventures to his other adventures. This made your project fun to read! I really enjoyed looking over your project! It was so fun and very creative! I really enjoyed your intro. That was a perfect way to lead into the stories.
ReplyDeleteHello Maya, I am back again after reading your two stories. Just like your introduction, you have done such a fantastic job! I truly believe that food can tell a story--such as all the stories my grandparents share with me when we cook together--and I love that you have incorporated this storytelling aspect of food into your project. You were so descriptive in Bhima’s introductions of pistaudana and laddu that it felt like I was right there in the kitchen while Bhima was cooking. In addition to the story itself, I really appreciated the interjections by Bhima’s boys, and how we got to see his reactions to and inner thoughts about his children. The recipe tips in the author’s notes read like a congenial chat between friends, and it makes me want to try my hand at these dishes too! I cannot wait to see how you finish this story, I bet it will be amazing!
ReplyDeleteHi Maya, I enjoyed reading your storybook introduction, and found it to be so creative that you focused your storybook around Bhima’s cooking! Such a lighthearted and creative idea! First off, I loved the title you gave to your first story, “Beautillion”. I looked further at your author note’s saw that you added why you picked the title – and I found that amazing how you related it to “court and society”. I loved your second story, “Laddu”! As you said it was a sweet that gave Bhima energy, and to make a story around that was very thoughtful! I liked how you added the ingredients that are included in the laddu, and how they make the sweet itself! It sounds delicious and amazing – I’ve personally had it, and my mouth is watering looking at the description and the pictures! Overall, I enjoyed your storybook and look forward to reading more! Well done job!
ReplyDeleteHi Maya.
ReplyDeleteI was initially drawn to your storybook simply by the title and I didn't know how much it really had to do with cooking or the exact premise, but I was excited to see what it was all about. Once getting to your website I loved the layout. This is what brought me back and I am excited to see what new things you have come up with. It was very easy to navigate and it was very unique and you selected a great cover picture One suggestion that I have is to just double-check on spelling. I personally love using Grammarly. It is an easy and free extension to add to your browser and it automatically checks for spelling and grammar errors! I think you did a great job fixing those small errors and it instantly made your stories flow better. You have done a great job and I am happy to have come back!
Hello Maya,
ReplyDeleteWow! The first thing I noticed was the aesthetic and colorful of your page. I loved the images you used and they really made me happy as well as stood out. The color contrasts really took my attention, kind of like abstract art. This is good because it means you were able to attract attention to your page and make the reader curious and excited to read your story .I think the author’s note you provided was really beneficial and explained/broke down your storyline well. Bhima was a big part of some of my recent reading and it was interesting to read about his cooking! I would focus on tenses and verbs for example, I noticed you switch up what tense you are speaking in, but I think besides these minor mistakes you did a really good job!
Hey Maya! I LOVE the aesthetic of your comment wall here. The image is so vibrant and pretty! I also really like the idea of your project, titling it "In Bhima's Kitchen." i think it is really cool that you focused on a part of the story where Bhima worked as a chef.
ReplyDeleteYour introduction story is super cute, I enjoyed reading it. I have no suggestions or criticisms for it. Your first story was well done. i enjoyed how many images you included throughout the story. It added an extra fun level to the story as I read through it.
The way you have it set up kind of reminds me of the NBC show Hannibal. Each episode is (for the most part) named after a different fancy dish. I think the overall theme and image you had in mind for this story book is being executed very well. This is such an enjoyable project to read through.
I wish you the best of luck in the remaining weeks of the semester!