reflection on the ramayana

• to exclude The Other, treating those who are different with criticism, ostracism, control, or even extermination;
• or on the other hand, to include The Other, treating those who are different with compliments, cooperation, respect, and kinship–in essence, the attitude which, in Hebraic Christianity, became the Golden Rule: treat others as you yourself wish to be treated..

Focus on the relations among the two chief characters, which are Rama and his wife Sita, especially after her abduction by the demon Ravana. Please give attention, in particular, to the ending of the work, when after having battled valiantly to save his wife Sita from Ravana, Rama appears poised to reject her, because he now distrusts her faithfulness. Discuss how this rejection and then his change of heart connect to the course motif. As one part of your discussion, please touch on how this scene can be interpreted as Sita’s test of Rama–not just as a test of Sita’s faithful heart. Also note how this scene, and Sita’s response, also touches on another important concept: Which is more important, outward appearance or inward substance? This concept ties in with the motif of the course, though in a subtle way. You may discuss this aspect if you choose to, but it is not mandatory.As before, the best of the submissions of this assignment will not be writings which greatly exceed my requested length. On the contrary, the highest grades will be earned by submissions which begin with a thesis statement (a concise one or two sentences summing up your opinion on this matter); and then which mention specific moments in the story as detailed support, to illustrate a logical argument to support and explain the thesis statement. Sentence-level proofing effectiveness will also be considered in grading. Note: This is not a full-length, formal essay. It is considerably shorter than that, but I do not want unproofed, disorganized rambling.Submission instructions:

1. Please single-space. Also, type your name in the upper left corner of your file, as a heading; it is also good to title your reflection. Center your title.
2. Save your document as either MS Word or as Rich Text. Please save your document using the filename Reflection 2 plus your initials.
3. Then, in this very window, attach your file: Browse your computer to where you have saved the file,
4. click to highlight and select it,
5. then click on Open to attach it. You will see the attached file here below; if you do not, you have done something wrong.

Please do not submit in any other way; I will reject such attempts.