Brainstorming Storybook Topics

1. 

Rakshasas: The first topic that really interested me, even before I browsed the topics for this project, was the rakshasas and asuras. I found them to be fascinating characters and they seem to be integral to the stories of The Ramayana. I'm particularly interested in their relationship with Ravana and it seems like that might make a good topic for my project.

Research: So far, I have read several stories from The Ramayana which feature rakshasas and Ravana. They seem to be what we call 'demons' and are ugly creatures who wish to harm others. In this article from Wikipedia on rakshasas it says that rakshasas were born from the breath of Brahma and as soon as they were created, they began to eat him. Vishnu came to Brahma's aid and banished them to earth. They have an interesting origin story as well, so they would be a good topic for my storybook.

2.

Karma: This topic really stood out to me when browsing the list of topics  because it fit well with an idea I had for a storybook format. The format I had in mind relied heavily on cause and effect and so when I read over the topic list and saw karma, I knew I had to make this one of my options. It's such an interesting topic that really would allow me to stretch it in multiple different ways, so I think this would be a great topic for my project!

Research: Karma is not really a new subject for me. It's kind of a popular and well-known concept, but after reading a few different articles, I did learn some new stuff about it. For instance, after reading this article from Wikipedia I learned that, not only is karma linked to consequences in this life, it also deals with rebirth. I found this to be a very interesting concept that could help in my storybook project. I also always considered karma a future event, but never took into consideration that past actions played a part in present consequences. I knew they did, I just never linked that concept to karma.

3.

Surya: This topic actually came from one of the random pictures found on the topic list. Surya is god of the sun and his image really caught my attention. I thought of some of the other myths I've read on the sun and gods of the sun from other cultures and they have always fascinated me, so I thought he might be an interesting topic for my project.

Image of Surya found on Wikipedia

Research: From the research I found in this article on Wikipedia, it seems like Surya is not a major character in The Ramayana, so if I wanted to do my project on Surya, I would have to do some extra outside research to expand upon this character. I also found his chariot pulled by seven horses interesting.

4.

Love Stories: Finally, I chose this topic because I've already worked with one of these stories and I had a lot of fun writing from this topic. I think this would make for an interesting and diverse project because it would allow the incorporation of multiple sets of characters with different topics and settings. It would also allow for a lot of drama, which would be fun to write.

Research: After reading the article for this topic from the class website, I started thinking about all of the betrayal and jealousy that would be possible in these stories. I already read some of the betrayals from The Ramayana, such as when Kaikeyi forced her husband to exile Rama, and they make for fascinating stories. There also seem to be a lot of other love stories from which to draw information for my project.