Week 7 Storytelling: The Cat's Reflection

One fine summer day, a mischievous tomcat was strolling along a country lane. He had been enjoying his day off from antagonizing the mice in the barn where he lived and had decided to go for a walk in the fresh air.

As it was midday, all of the local animals were out running errands and enjoying the weather, the first uncharacteristically mild day of the season. As the tomcat walked by, he greeted each of them enthusiastically. He was an indoor, nocturnal cat, and it had been a while since he had experienced this flurry of activity during the day, and he had missed all of the hustle and bustle of his friends and neighbors.

After a while, he had walked the length of the road, but because it was such a nice day, he decided to continue exploring. He had never gone this far away from his barn before. Stepping off of the road and onto a patchy, grassy area, he felt the exhilaration of the unknown. As the cat realized his freedom, he pranced through the tall weeds, going in any direction his paws would take him. His senses were overtaken by the experience: he could see every fine detail on each blade of the tall grass, and he could smell the fresh scent of the warm summer air.

After a while of frolicking through the field, the cat saw an opening in some reeds up ahead. As he approached it, he heard a soothing noise unlike anything he had ever heard before. He walked up to the clearing and saw a small stream of rushing water. As he had never seen such a thing before, he was perplexed. However, he was determined to make the most of his day off. He said to himself, "I've come this far already. I might as well check this out."

He walked up to the stream and looked down. There, staring back at him, was a friendly face--that of another cat. Excitedly, he introduced himself. He was startled when the cat mimicked his words exactly, but brushed it off. "What a beautiful day, huh?" he continued joyfully.

The cat in the water continued to copy him. Now becoming confused, he asked, "How did you know what I was going to say?" Still the other cat mocked him, this time with a puzzled look on his face. The tomcat realized that this mysterious cat was even mimicking his facial expressions. "Stop taunting me!" he said, now annoyed at the other cat's rudeness. But it would not stop, instead continuing to annoy the poor cat. At this point, the anger on the water-feline's face was enough to be alarming to the tomcat. Now both frustrated and scared, he reached out his paw and tried to attack the other cat, and was startled when it mirrored his actions. Frightened and disturbed, he jumped up so as not to be attacked himself. This sudden movement caused him to slip off of the bank and plunge headfirst into the water. Too late did the cat realize that he was merely talking to his reflection in the clear water, and he bemoaned his ignorance and impatience.

The cat at the riverbank. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

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Author's note: This is a loose retelling of the story of The Wonderful Tar-Baby from the Brer Rabbit unit. In the original, Brer Rabbit comes across a doll made of sticky tar, placed by one of his trickster friends, Brer Fox, as a form of revenge. As Mr. Rabbit tries to talk to the doll, it obviously doesn't respond, and he gets easily frustrated at the being. He begins to violently beat the doll, but only manages to get stuck in it.

In my story, I maintained a similar theme but changed the characters and removed the trickster: here, the only antagonist is the cat's own thoughts. In this case, instead of not responding whatsoever, the cat's reflection does a similarly impolite thing in mimicking the cat, which the cat interprets as mocking.  The ultimate moral is the same as that of the original story, though: be patient and understand the entirety of the situation before acting rashly. The last line is intended to show the cat's regret, but that he has learned his lesson. The reader can only hope that he can survive in order to apply what he has learned in the future (I will try to incorporate a scene in which the cat is rescued so as not to make the ending so morbid).

Bibliography:
"The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story"
Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings
Joel Chandler Harris, 1881.

Week 7 Essay: Didactic Dialect

This week, I read about the adventures of Brer Rabbit. From the description in the Un-Textbook, I knew that the story maintained the original dialect, but I did not fully understand what that meant until I actually began reading. I was certainly in for a challenging surprise as I delved into the content.

The interesting thing is to understand where the dialect comes from. This story was in the African folktales section of the Un-Textbook, but these were adapted by a journalist from Atlanta, Georgia. It was fascinating to read the eye dialect that represented a Deep Southern accent--certainly, the unique spelling of some words was hard to comprehend at first, but as I began to read aloud, it made the assignment much less difficult (especially useful because I could then actually understand the plots and morals being taught by the stories).

It is intriguing to me how much a single language can differ, even within a country. I have always wondered about the nuances of accents--why is it that certain regions in, say, the United States have different ways of saying particular words as compared to other areas of the country? Where did the Southern drawl come from, and why is it so different from the Midwestern form of speech? It would be enlightening to trace the history of immigrants who settled in the distinct areas of the country and investigate their native tongues to compare them with how they would interpret and learn to vocalize sounds in English.

Although the language might be confusing, Brer Rabbit's experiences are 

meant to teach readers morals. Source: Wren's Nest. 

Week 7 Reading Diary: Brer Rabbit

This week, I read the Brer Rabbit unit from the African folklore section in the Un-Textbook.

The description of the unit in the Un-Textbook said the stories are "told in dialect." I did not understand what this meant until I actually started reading. It was certainly a very unique way to write out a story (although it makes sense that it is transcribed just like it would be told; oral communication was the most prevalent method of storytelling in that setting). It took me a little while to get used to the style, but I found that if I read out loud, it helped me to comprehend the reading a little better.

My favorite story in this unit was the Wonderful Tar Baby. In this, Brer Rabbit encounters a doll made of tar, constructed by Brer Fox as a trick. When Brer Rabbit attempts to make conversation with the figure, it doesn't respond. Brer Rabbit gets frustrated, thinking it rude, and tries to beat the tar baby but gets stuck. The ending is somewhat ambiguous as the reader doesn't know if Brer Rabbit ever gets out of his trap ("Some say Judge B'ar come 'long en loosed 'im—some say he didn't.").

In How Mr. Rabbit was too Sharp for Mr. Fox, Brer Rabbit gets back at Brer Fox for the tar baby trick. Here, the reader truly sees Mr. Rabbit's cunning. Whereas in previous stories, he didn't seem too bright (after all, he did try to beat an inanimate object), he now proves his wits by acting humble when Brer Fox reveals his trick, asking him not to throw him into the brier patch. In reality, this is where rabbits thrive (he was born and bred in a brier-patch), and Mr. Fox takes the bait. Once Mr. Rabbit is in the field, he easily disentangles himself and runs free.

It is interesting to me that pride is a common theme in this story. A character--usually Brer Fox or Brer Rabbit--gets prideful, becomes the butt of a joke played by another character, and meets embarrassment and humility, but only for a short time until the next trick. This is prevalent in stories like Old Mr. Rabbit, He's a Good Fisherman and Mr. Rabbit Meets His Match. This goes with one of my favorite quotes, "Modesty and unselfishness--these are traits which men praise--and pass by." Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Fox could certainly use some lessons in modesty.