Assignment 1:5 | The Witches’ Conference, Re-told
Spoken:
****************************************************************************************************
Written:
I have a great story to tell you. It begins, as you might expect, like this:
Once upon a time…
…In a land far away, there lived a group of people who knew nothing of evil. Every night, this community would gather around the fire and listen to the Storyteller. Some nights the Storyteller told new stories; other nights the stories were familiar. But the best stories were told when the Storyteller would answer a question. For if anyone in the community had a question they couldn’t answer, they would bring it to the Storyteller and a new story would be told in response.
One night the youngest Farmer asked the Storyteller: “Storyteller, I am afraid of the winter. What must I do?” So the Storyteller told of the Ants and the Grasshopper, and the Farmer knew that in order to survive the coming months they would need to work hard to bring in the harvest.
The next night the youngest Carpenter asked the Storyteller: “Storyteller, I am afraid I will never finish this project. What must I do?” So the Storyteller told of the Crow and the Pitcher, and the Carpenter knew that by continuing to work slowly and steadily, bit by bit, the job would eventually be done.
Then one night the youngest of all asked the Storyteller: “Storyteller, what is it that you are afraid of?”
The Storyteller did not want to answer, but all the members of the community implored them, and the Storyteller couldn’t bear to let them down. So the Storyteller told a story of fear, and slaughter, and disease and blood and murder. And the community recoiled and begged the Storyteller to take back the horrible story, for now they too were afraid. But the Storyteller could not, for once a story is told, it cannot be untold. So you have to be careful with the stories you tell. And you have to watch out for the stories that you are told (King, ch. 1).
****************************************************************************************************
Reflection:
Our assignment for this week was to take the story told by Leslie Silko in her book Ceremonies (quoted in Thomas King’s The Truth About Stories) about how evil came into the world and change it in any way we wished – so long as the ending remained the same.
First, a few notes on my re-telling of the story. When considering the idea of a story telling how evil came into the world, I thought immediately of a sense of innocence, of childhood, that would likely reign in a world free of evil. This put me in mind of children’s stories, which influenced how I structured my version of the story: I wrote as if I were telling a story to a child, and included younger characters. I also included references to stories that I heard frequently as a child: Aesop’s fables.
I chose to use Aesop’s fables as I knew that my family would be familiar with them and understand the references I was making. For anyone reading the above version, I took advantage of the power of hypertext to include links to the fables I referenced in the written version of the story above! If I were telling this story verbally to an audience who may not understand these vague references, I might word things differently; I would hope that, should anyone else tell this story, they would be able to substitute stories that have similar morals that their intended audience would understand.
In fact, including Aesop’s fables as a method of relating this story to others I knew my family would be familiar with made me consider the ways in which stories rely on other stories. When I chat with my brother, our conversations are filled with references to stories we both love; quotes from Corner Gas, references to fantasy and sci-fi novels, or reminders of obscure family anecdotes. While this is delightful for us, it does have the effect of alienating anyone else listening to our conversations; my boyfriend was quite lost when he first met my brother and heard us talking together! The same principle applies to stories: if a story references another, or uses a metaphor regarded as so common in a society it does not need explanation, the reader may feel alienated or lost. This in turn reminded me of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode from Season 5 entitled “Darmok”. In this episode, Captain Picard must learn to communicate with a species that speaks entirely in metaphor: quite the challenge when you don’t know the history behind the metaphor!
So, what did telling this re-imagined story teach me about storytelling? Most of all, it reminded me of the differences between oral, written, and hybrid communication. When I initially wrote my version of this story, I wrote it down. But when I started to read it aloud, I realized my speech patterns were slightly different than my written “voice” – not horrendously, but enough that I made quite a few small edits! Once I had a speech-friendly version, my acting training kicked in and I started to memorize my “lines” with pre-determined emphasis and flow. For the most part, this dictated how I “performed” the story when telling it to friends and family; very little changed in terms of what I said or how I said it from one telling to another. Despite that, there was a noticeable shift in energy, for lack of a better word, when I told the story to different people. In other words, the identity of the listener affected me as the storyteller in some intangible way. And now I am telling the story in a hybrid form; with both written text and a recording. How will this version be interpreted? I won’t know until I post!
I had great fun with this assignment! I am so looking forward to reading everyone’s version of the story, and sincerely hope you all enjoyed this one!
****************************************************************************************************
Works Cited
“Aesop.” American Literature, https://americanliterature.com/author/aesop. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
COLORED PENCIL magazine. “February CPM Art Challenge Photo ‘Storytime’ #1502.” Flickr, 19 Jan 2015. https://www.flickr.com/photos/61446950@N06/16348326236. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
“Darmok (episode).” Fandom: Memory Alpha, https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Darmok_(episode). Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
janwillemsen. “aesops fables Milo winter 1919 ill the ants and the grasshopper.” Flickr, 18 Feb. 2014, https://www.flickr.com/photos/8725928@N02/12624447193. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
janwillemsen. “aesops fables Milo winter 1919 ill schutblad a.” Flickr, 18 Feb. 2014, https://www.flickr.com/photos/8725928@N02/12624157583. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Peterbough: Anansi Press. 2003. Kindle Ed.
“The Ant and the Grasshopper – An Aesop’s Fable.” Tales with Morals, 2018, http://www.taleswithmorals.com/aesop-fable-the-ant-and-the-grasshopper.htm. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
“The Crow and the Pitcher – An Aesop’s Fable.” Tales with Morals, 2018, http://www.taleswithmorals.com/aesop-fable-the-crow-and-the-pitcher.htm. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.
Hello Magdalena!
Thank you for sharing not only the spoken version of your story but also the transcript. I am particularly interested in how you used Aesop’s fables as you knew your family would understand it. It is also interesting how you mentioned your relationship with your brother and how your partner was often lost while listening to you two converse. The same thing happens with myself and my sister. When around my friends they are often lost, confused and think that we are talking absolute nonsense, but to us, everything is crystal clear.
I also found it interesting how you remembered your story as if it were lines of a play. But even with your memorization, the energy of how you told your story changed depending on the individual person. I too also found myself shifting to fit my listener’s needs and expectations. I wonder why that is, that as storytellers we find the need to fit this mould.
This also makes me realized how storytelling affects history just by who the storyteller shares the story with, but who the listeners share that story with.
Hello! Thanks, Lenaya – I’m glad you enjoyed it!
It seems like most of us noticed a change in our storytelling depending on who our listeners were – my guess might be that this is related to the sense of community that is engendered when we share experiences. Each listener is able to bring their own interpretation and ideals into the experience of telling the story, which then influences the storyteller. And then as the story is told from one person to another, it continues to evolve, which has that profound effect on history you mentioned! 🙂
Hi Magdalena, I really enjoyed both your written and recorded story! I really appreciated that you included a recording; I think this really gets to the heart of the assignment.
I had a similar experience as you in the realization that my written style is quite different from my spoken one; when I was reading aloud I realized that some of the words I had chosen were awkward to say. I also agree with you about the idea of the audience affecting your telling of the story. I think that is a really unique aspect of oral storytelling that is easy to dismiss as irrelevant until you actually experience how powerful and almost involuntary it is (at least, that’s what I experienced).
I was interested, as well, in your use of references to Aesop’s fables, which you chose because you knew that they would relate to your family. You also speak of having practically your own language with your brother, that comes from having such a closely shared life experience and mutual interests. I thought this was wonderful, and that it really reflects what story-telling can ultimately do. It can give us ways to share our lives and thoughts with other people, building close relationships and communities centred around story. It reminds me of the way that cultural groups are brought together by their mythologies; it seems we feel connected to these in a way that those outside of our group cannot understand. Stories build on one another, and we can weave them together to make something new.
Finally, I just wanted to comment on your acting background. I have next to zero experience with public speaking and acting, so when I went to share this story I essentially just tried to remember it to the best of my ability. I am really interested to hear more about your perspective on this assignment as someone with acting training; did you feel more in your element when you were speaking the story? Were there any specific acting techniques you used? I’m super curious!
Thanks Victoria!
Haha – I’m glad to hear I wasn’t the only one to require a re-write due to initial vocabulary choices! 🙂 And I think you put it so beautifully by saying that “cultural groups are brought together by their mythologies”; the intricate tapestry that we weave with our stories can bring us closer together even as it builds a barrier. But if we can understand the stories of other cultures, and start weaving together a larger, more inclusive tapestry, perhaps we can use stories to help us move past our differences.
I did feel quite comfortable speaking my story, in no small part due to acting training! When I’m working on a role, I’ll frequently break apart the dialogue to try and find the motives behind each phrase, etc., and while I didn’t delve into the character aspect as much for this story, as I was telling it as a removed narrator as opposed to a character, the background training was definitely a great help! Personally I find the most helpful thing to do is to put yourself in the shoes of the listener and try to see what you would take from the story if you heard it phrased in different ways. 🙂
Your (awesome) work is an interesting study in multimodality in storytelling and communication. There’s your voice, brought to us through the screen – a displacement in itself of audience and speaker, complicating orality and digital literacy. Then we have the written version, so different from the spoken – in terms of the emotion presented, the dialogue (or lack thereof, perhaps?) between addresser and addressee. But you also add hyperlinks – a fascinating edition that adds an entirely new level of storytelling – hypertext, as fellow student Victoria put it in her 1:3 blog, “is moving the entirety of the written world towards a potential singularity” (Ranea 2021), and your story, in its complete, online blog-post medium through the addition of links to online editions of those fables, demonstrates this modern need for digital literacy in storytelling as the web grows evermore interconnected as a single digital sphere of communication. Are those links “part” of your story? To what extent are you connecting multiple levels of digitality through these stories-within-story? You also add images – another visual/digital component. You’re hybridizing orality and literacy, but also adding to the mix something I would perhaps call “digitality,” and through this breaking down the traditional boundaries between the spoken and written word.
Your story is an interesting example of adaptation and recontextualization. Instead of strictly adapting a previously-existing story, you use the Fables to make a point about storytelling familiarity and the power of certain stories to provide unique morals and truths. You “adapt” Aesop insofar as you employ his fame as a conveyer of specific morals to form your own story *about* storytelling. I loved it!
At the end of his introduction for “The Truth About Stories” Thomas King tells us that Charm’s story is ours, that we should “do with it what [we] will” (29). Aesop wrote his fables millennia ago, and since then they’ve been told and retold, altered for new cultures and new languages and new audiences, shifted even in what morals they ultimately convey to the reader. So whose stories are Aesop’s?
Haha – thanks Leo! I had great fun combining different elements and mediums of storytelling, and I love your description of it as “digitality.” I think this power of evolving platforms will become more and more important as we move forward. 🙂
Your question about the ownership of Aesop’s stories is very apt; in fact, when I was searching for online versions to link to I found several versions of the fables that were different from the ones I know, some with entirely different morals! And then there’s the ambiguity surrounding Aesop himself – was he a slave? An alias? Did he even write the fables? But despite all these changes, the stories continue – and perhaps that’s part of their power. 🙂
Hi Magdalena~
I really liked your retelling of the Witches’ Conference. The inclusion of Aesop’s Fables, bringing a sense of familiarity to a new story, I thought was a brilliant idea. I was struck by your comment of how we share stories with those we are closest too that can alienate others. I have a very similar relationship with my brother, and I can remember many occasions when he and I have been talking in front of our parents and they become confused and ask questions to our references. I feel, therefore, that it is not just about the addition of one who has no experience (as my family is very close) but also perhaps a difference even in generation that can cause a bit of a disconnect. I wonder if you talked to your brother in front of your parents if they too would be lost and a bit confused at the references you might use.
Thanks Cayla! And you have a very good point about the differences in generation causing a disconnect as well – my parents and grandparents definitely need to ask for clarification at times! But often once we explain they then join in the next time – perhaps this can be seen as a way in which including others in the storytelling can create connections! 🙂