Week 4 Story Planning: The Legendary Rama

This week I decided to try taking one week to actually plan a story instead of writing one immediately. I want to focus on some key events like Rama’s Exile, the Golden Deer Scene, the Death of Ravana, and Rama’s Coronation. I’m going to refer PDE Ramayana for story details and Monro’s “Rama and Sita” for stylistic points and further details. Anyway, here’s the plan:

• Storytelling like a classic fairytale (with old fashion English)
• Third-person perspective of an unknown Ayodhya citizen
• Retelling of the legend of Rama
• Audience could be children?
• The speaker could be identified as Rama’s descendent at the end of the story.
• One of his sons maybe?

The story could start off like the basic “Once upon a time” fairytale introduction, and should end with “And they all lived happily ever after.” I want to end the storytelling with the coronation instead of the whole Rama/Sita drama because that is my least favorite part of the whole story. Everything should be exaggerated to promote a heroic tone like how a son would tell a story of his beloved role-model father. After Rama’s story is told, the children (if it’s going to be children as the audience) should question how the speaker knows the story or asks if the story’s real. Then, my story can end with the speaker revealing himself as his son or however the relation will be.

Alternate Ending: On Rama’s Wikipedia page, I found a section for “Rama Worship.” Another possibility for the speaker could be a Rama’s descendent wayy down the line, reveal his/her relation to Rama, and he/she could do the whole “And that’s why we have the (fill in the blank) festival!”

•     Rama Navami – Rama’s day and time of birth
•     Vijayadashmi – Rama’s victory over Ravana and rakshasas
•     Diwali – Rama’s return to Ayodhya

Father Telling Story to Son

Bibliography:

1. Monro's "Rama and Sita"
2. PDE Ramayana
3. Wikipedia (Rama)