Long, long ago a terrible tragedy came upon the earth as we know it today. This tragedy, so great, proves inescapable from any man, woman, child, mutant, animal, or even the seemingly harmless baby. What is this you ask? Well my friends, this epic tragedy is … EVIL.

Let’s begin at, well, the beginning. Indeed a great place to start. In a cafe not far from where you are sitting right at this very minute, two harrowingly hideous witches met to discuss, no, rather dispute, who could create the absolutely scariest thing ever. Not just the scariest thing they had seen, but legitimately the scariest thing in the WHOLE world.  (Samantha, do not take the witch description personally, it is of course simply a creative element to the story).

These witches, so scary that they were, grumbled and garbled over who was scarier while sipping their $5 non-fat triple foam extra hot lattes. Gillian, being naturally too competitive, decided she simply had to win. She absolutely had to create the scariest, most horrifying thing ever known to mankind. Gillian allowed Samantha to brew and boil her “scary” mixes of witchcraft while she sat back and watched the spectacle unfold before her.

Just you wait, Gillian thought. I’ve got this. “Listen and learn Madame Samantha. I have something so terrifyingly traitorous that you will never be able to forget it. EVER.” Gillian went on to tell Samantha a story. Oh wow, you say, a story. So not scary. Your average story may not be so scary, but this story is different. This is a story of horrendous measures. This story is of insane credit card dept due to over spending at the most fabulous clothing stores in the world, of the pressures of having to always have the latest iPhone, of having to get spray tans in the midst of the cold winter months, despite having no money in one’s bank account.

To those who are reading this and quite likely rolling your eyes, or staring at the screen with utter confusion, I urge you to read on.

The moment this story of treachery crossed Gillian’s lips, Samantha gasped in desperation for the story to stop. She did not want to hear anymore! Enough is enough she cried!

Gillian slammed down her empty non-recyclable coffee cup and jumped up from the table, cackling an evil witch cackle as she ran out of the cafe. Little did Samantha know, as soon as the story of evil was expelled from Gillian’s mind it could NEVER be taken back. Ever. This tale of evil would forever roam to the very edges of the world, grasping the innocent minds of everyone it crossed.

The end. (The witches lived no so happily ever after, constantly in shopping debt).

I would assume that most of you are again staring at your computer screen shaking your head at the fact that I made the story of evil entering the world about shopping and expensive lattes. For me, these are my evils as I have a credit card bill that never seems to get any smaller. In fact, it is growing at an impressively fast rate. I may not have mastered the art of storytelling, but I do not see that as a negative point. It was both humorous and eye opening to exchange stories with the wonderful Samantha Ellis and personalize them with our own points and ideas. We may not have succeeded in producing the scariest witches ever, but I must say that our cartoon animations are pretty darn good.

Thank you for reading!

Gillian

In a simple non-academic online dictionary search of  the word “words” (see what I did there?), words are defined as “a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning” (dictionary.com). The definition continues to break down the idea of words into units and phonological distinguishing features . Sounds pretty good, yes. In fact, that sounds seemingly straightforward. There is it then – the “world of words” that Chamberlain enters into in “If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories”, is summed up in one sentence. Well, not quite. This is a label, yes, and does very little to achieve something of a definition remotely close to Chamberlain’s explorations. How can you quantify something as tangible yet intangible as words themselves.

Words can kill – in the heart breaking examples of bullying. Words can change someone’s life forever in one simple sentence: “Will you marry me”, or “it’s a boy”. Words can and do provide the platform to navigate through life, to communicate, express, inform, exchange knowledge, bicker, fight, or hurt. We are surrounded by literary stimulation, whether on roadside signs, ingredient labels on food, song lyrics, or an actual book – words are often the only thing getting us from point A to point B, and onwards.

My grade 12 English class was assigned the task of walking from our high school to the elementary school next door and aiding a group of grade 4 students to write a story. Any story. No guidelines, no limits. I was in charge of two boys and within seconds of asking what we wanted our story to be about, a hand shot up in the air and yelled something along the lines of “a gloobery globbery green monster who eats people!”. Superb. Over the course of five weekly visits to the class, including negotiations and numerous edits, I am proud to say that we did manage to craft an illustrated and bound first edition of “The Super Six and the Grey Blob”. A small excerpt:

“Inside the castle, Incognito unlocked the door and freed Awesomess. They ran downstairs and joined the battle. Thinking of where Fire Boy could be located, Phyneaus then noticed that he was trapped in a crystal tomb. He further used his psychic powers to widen the inside of the tomb, allowing Fire Boy to use a burst of fire to break out. In doing so, Fire Boy used too much power and he was drained of any power for 15 minutes. After this time passed and Fire Boy had regained his power, all the members ganged up on the Grey Blob and were about to use their Super Six Mega Blow when suddenly the Grey Blob disappeared into thin air!!! They looked around for where he could have gone, but all they heard was his voice yell, “I’ll get you next time Super Six!” United at last, the Super Six returned home, for now….” Our illustrations looked a little something like this:

Words provide an endless path into both the imaginary and the real. To the boys with whom I wrote this story, this was their perfect imaginary world, and words allowed them to craft it into something tangible, readable, and let them share their world with fellow students, teachers, and family. The power of that! Chamberlain frames the world of words in his childhood memories of learning to read and write, of grasping the concept that we learn the “word’s the thing and that it is not the thing” (132). With this power, words do make us feel closer to the world we live in. “Stories give meaning and value to the places we call home; how they bring us close to the world we live in by taking us into a world of words; how they hold us together and at the same time keep us apart” (1). Words allow thorough expression of world we live in. To say a flower is beautiful gives that flower meaning. To say a flower is a flower gives it meaning. We develop comfort in the steadfastness of words, that they will always be here to give meaning to our life, to the world, and all that is around us.

Chamberlain comments on the feeling that we live in the stories and songs of popular culture, in “the secular and sacred myths that shape everything from our racial and national identities to our moral and spiritual responsibilities” (122). As the rampant growth of importance placed on social media presence and personalities continues to grow, as a culture we do appear to be caught in the need to showcase our life through tweets and Facebook status’ (some people more than others, of course). I have caught myself on multiple occasions in the middle of an adventure or task, and literally thinking “I cannot wait to Instagram this and send it to Twitter and Facebook”, a caption to go along with the picture carefully thought out well in advance. Weird? Yes. But perhaps not a negative thing. Social media allows us to share our words, for both the good and bad. Our words become accessible through a generic Google search, and within seconds can provide a peek into the life of an underpaid Chinese factory worker while sitting in the comfort of our home. As stated on most student blogs for this course, sharing our words in the realm of cyber space allows for the exchange of knowledge and thoughts from Whitehorse to Toronto.

If this post does nothing else, it at least adds a reinforcing meaning of further confusion and truth to Chamberlain’s idea that words are “Confusing . . . and clear as a bell” (119).

Works Cited:

Dictionary.com. “Words”. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/words?s=t>. 2014.

Faure, Gaelle. “The Barbie blues: Workers describe ‘awful’ conditions at Mattel suppliers”. The Observers. <http://observers.france24.com/content/20131025-worker-conditions-mattel-suppliers-china>. 2013.

Grau, Deborah & Rybak, Judy. “Bullying: Words Can Kill”. CBS News. <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bullying-words-can-kill/>. 2013.