Reading Diary Week 6, continued: West African Folktales

I am continuing to read the West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair. 

The first story of the reading that I enjoyed is How the Tortoise Got It's Shell. I thought this story was interesting because it tells the story of a tortoise before it had a shell, which I thought was an interesting aspect of West African culture. I have mentioned this in my reading diaries before, but I really enjoy stories that give insight as to how different cultures explain the natural occurrences around us. This story is a prime example of that. While I was reading it, I was wondering what the tortoise's thought process was while he was stuck outside the gate. Why didn't he try another way to get inside? A storytelling idea would be to write this from the tortoise's perspective and add in his inner dialogue.

The Tortoise

The Hunter and the Tortoise was a story that really brought things full circle. From the beginning, the tune of the tortoise was that man forces himself on things rather than the other way around. This prophecy came true in that the man tried to force the tortoise to sing and she refused. Had he just let it be, he could have enjoyed the music. I wold like to use this method in my storytelling of a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

I have noticed that a lot of the stories in this storybook come full circle. Just as in The Hunter and the Tortoise, The Ungrateful Man also experienced what he deserved after he was killed as a traitor. Since this is included in so many of their tales, I have to wonder if honesty and loyalty are of high value in their culture. Also, many of the stories include they influence of animals. Was it believed that animals and humans used to be able to communicate in ancient times? I wonder only because this is included in so many different tales from different cultures. Or is it just a convenient method of storytelling?

An idea for story telling from this unit would be to replace some of the animal characters with humans and vice versa. Would humans be personified differently than the animals would?

I also loved the story Why Tigers Never Attack Unless Provoked. I thought it was so cool that the man and the tiger were such good friends. I would like to use this in my storytelling to bring two characters together. They had such a connection that the man was actually very upset at the thought of the tiger dying and watched over his cub. This kind of emotional appeal is something I would definitely like to include in my stories as well since it does a great job of grabbing the audience's attention and keeping them engaged. 

The Tiger