Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana, Part A

       

Image information: Gold carving depiction of Ayodhya, Image credit: Wikipedia

          In the story “King Dasharatha” written by Donald A. Mackenzie, the author did an outstanding job in illustrating the setting of the story, the capital of Koshala, Ayodhya. He also explains that Koshala as well as Mithila were the two mighty kingdoms of the sun-bright Hindustan. Describing the palace gardens and lakes, the author used details like “numerous birds and flowers,” “shady groves of fruit trees,” and “bee-loved lotuses” to illustrate the well-decorated palace of Ayodhya. He also used descriptive words such as “coy” and “eager” to describe the maidens and their lovers. I thought that the author did a great job at paying attention to the details of the setting. However, a few other details that I would add from my own imagination would be the various colors of the birds and flowers.

         In my other favorite story, “Sita,” written by Gould, the author was also able to create a descriptive setting , similar to the first story. For example, he describes the peacocks seen by Rama and his brother Lakshmana as they roved through the garden to spreading their glorious tails. He also used a simile to compare the lake in the garden to a looking-glass. I thought that this scene in the story was well-written and had a lot of details. I really liked how the author used a smilie to describe the lake. Reading the story, I was able to imagine how the lake must’ve glistened.
Another thing about the story that I noticed was how the author wrote it chronologically. Using words such as “then,” “at that instant,” and “presently,” the author was able to organize the events that occurred in the story. This is a type of style that I would like to follow. I think that it is extremely important to consider the order of the story to allow the readers to stay focused and not be thrown off by overlapping different events.