In his article, “Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial,” King discusses Robinson’s collection of stories. King explains that while the stories are written in English, “the patterns, metaphors, structures as well as the themes and characters come primarily from oral literature.” More than this, Robinson, he says “develops what we might want to call an oral syntax that defeats reader’s efforts to read the stories silently to themselves, a syntax that encourages readers to read aloud” and in so doing, “recreating at once the storyteller and the performance” (186). Read “Coyote Makes a Deal with King of England”, in Living by Stories. Read it silently, read it out loud, read it to a friend, and have a friend read it to you. See if you can discover how this oral syntax works to shape meaning for the story by shaping your reading and listening of the story. Write a blog about this reading/listening experience that provides references to the story.

On my first reading of Robinson’s “Coyote Makes a Deal with the King of England”, I found it difficult to follow and a bit choppy. The fragmented sentences made it hard to get into a rhythm while reading the story. The structure of the story with its short sentences appeared like poetry to me so I found myself reading it aloud even before looking at this blog question. Confirming what King mentions in his article, “Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial”, about how Robinson’s creates a “syntax that encourages readers to read aloud” (186). Once I began reading aloud the story began to take shape in more ways than one.

First, the story began to flow because it took on the shape of someone reciting it like a poem. Although it did not rhyme the short lines make the reader slow down and speak in a deliberate tone. Each word and each line has meaning and could not be glanced over.

Second, the natural pauses within some of the lines cause the reader to stop and breath allowing the story to become more of a conversation or a storytelling. What once seemed confusing or inconsistent started to make sense when you imagine someone telling the story.

Third, the pauses and changing of subjects is more natural when a person is speaking. It is as if we are getting a glimpse at their inner thoughts as they jump from one idea to the next.

“His name was TOH-mah.

That’s all the name I know.

I don’t know his second name.

Or, his first name,

Maybe his first name, maybe TOH-mah,

   maybe that was his second name.

Or maybe that was his first name, I don’t know.

Only name I know, that was TOH-mah” (Robinson, 80).

In the example above the storyteller is questioning his own facts in a way and comes to terms with not knowing for sure but making it clear that it is irrelevant to the story as a whole.

Finally, Robinson interacts with the reader (or listener) by making them a participant rather than an observer. This is seen in the use of “you know” in sentences such as the one below.

“But the Indians, they call him, TOH-mat, but they don’t say it right,

you know “ (Robinson, 80).

In all, I enjoyed the story most when it was read to me. I found myself more attentive to the details and engaged in the story. I see this in my children as they would rather I make up a story to tell them than read one from a book. I believe this is due to the interaction that takes place. They can, in a sense, help guide the story by asking questions and giving input making it an interactive experience.

Works Cited

King, Thomas. “Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial.” Unhomely States: Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Mississauga, ON: Broadview, 2004. 183- 190.

Robinson, Harry. “Coyote Makes a Deal with the King Of England.” Living by Stories: a Journey of Landscape and Memory. Ed. Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2005. 64-85.

“Storytelling.” TED. TED conferences, LLC. Web. 2 March 2016.

“The Structure of Poetry.” The Latino Author, 2016. Web. 2 March 2016.