Question 1:  “…So, why does King create dichotomies for us to examine these two creation stories? Why does he emphasize the believability of one story over the other — as he says, he purposefully tells us the “Genesis” story with an authoritative voice, and “The Earth Diver” story with a storyteller’s voice. Why does King give us this analysis that depends on pairing up oppositions into a tidy row of dichotomies? What is he trying to show us?” (Paterson, “Lesson 2:2”)

Our world is built through categorization and scholars suggest that it is human nature to rely on binary categories to understand the world. For example, some binary categories may include life: death, safe: dangerous, and much more found here. And just like narratives, there are good ones and bad ones told. King discusses two creation stories: “Genesis” and “The Earth Diver” to show how each story delivers to people differently and one’s experience or knowledge of the narrative may vary. There are multiple ways in presenting a story and absorbing it. The way people in-take the narrative can different from person to person and this is why King is trying to highlight through these creation stories that people depend on oppositions to understand a narrative.

Another great example is the ‘turtle and earth story’ . This is an illustration of how in one way it can be told. However, King’s text explores the various ways in approaching to narratives such as these ones. In one way, the style of how the story is written can affect the individual and another can be the  how the writer focuses on certain aspects such as characters. Therefore, there are endless ways creating a narrative but sometimes by having oppositions can help one’s understanding of the narrative and may also reveal differences and similarities.

 

Work Cited

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/wordlist/opposites.shtml

King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2003. Print.

www.youtube.com (Earth on Turtle’s Back)