Please respond to one or more of the following prompts in 2-3 paragraphs.
- What are the elements of good storytelling, according to this chapter?
- Why does King tell readers about his mother and father?
- What are some important differences between the biblical story of creation and Native stories of creation?
- King makes a sometimes pointed critique of the biblical creation story and the values it represents to him: how is he able to make these critical comments while still keeping readers interested?
Afterwards, please comment on two of your peers' responses.
I'm responding to the third question.Some key differences between the two creation stories were in the way they were told and presented, and in the plots.
ReplyDeleteTo starts off, the two kinds of stories are told in very different ways. The way Native stories are told is in an exuberant way that was meant to be presented orally. Christian stories of creation on the other hand, use formal recitation to create a sense of accuracy and adherence to the truth. Christian stories strive to maintain a suitability of behavior or conduct.
The second difference between the two styles of creation stories is different themes in the plots. In native creation stories power is distributed evenly and everyone's equal. The gods have the same amount of power and the main concern is just keeping things balanced. The world is seen very differently in Christian creation stories. The main goal in these stories is to create a universe ruled by different hierarchies. All creative power is in the hands of a deity who's omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. The world in a Christian creation story is competitive after the downfall of man and there's the constant battle of God vs. the Devil, humans vs. the elements, and humans vs.humans.
I agree with you Emily, as I read I also saw those distinct differences as well. He does a really good job explaining the differences of the two stories in great detail and you did a great job bringing them to light.
Deletethis is almost exactly what i said. a few things i didnt have though, and you made it sound sooooo much better then i did.
DeleteI didn't write to that response but i completely agree with what you are saying Emily.
DeleteAs I read all these replies most of them are agreements. Blah I hate agreeing. Allow me to retort. For your second difference I disagree that all the power is distributed evenly, because the twins still are the creators of easy opposites. Furthermore they don't give away there powers, so all the power stays with them. I didn't read the twins giving any creation powers to any penguins. Even more so the book says "Nice-looking babies, said cormorants." -pg. 18 Thomas King. If there were balance, one baby be the cutest ever and the other be the ugliest. For the bible part, very good insight and well worded. <3
DeleteI agree with your response, but I feel that there is another side as well. Perhaps it's just me, but I feel it revolves more heavily around the dichotomies involved. You touch on Good vs. Evil, Human vs. Human, and a Single Being vs. Shared Responsibility. The latter is very strong and used throughout the entire chapter. However, the nature element is also, at least, semi-prominent. The world "begins in harmony and slides toward chaos or a world that begins in chaos and moves toward harmony". This is a crucial thought when comparing the innocence and peace of the world prior to being inhabited by humans (Genesis) and the chaos and complexity of the world in the same situation (Native Stories). Once nature is disturbed, however, humans either ruin the peace (Genesis) or create it (Native Stories).
DeleteI feel like I would understand the biblical version and actually want to hear about it if it was told to me in stories like the Native stories.
Delete#3)
ReplyDeleteSome important differences about biblical story of creation and native stories of creation is the way you tell those two stories. The way that King tells readers about the Native stories, is "he tries recreating an oral storytelling voice in terms of a performance for a general audience." The way he tells the Biblical stories is "he tries maintaining a sense of rhetorical distance and decorum while organizing the story for a knowledgeable gathering." Other than that there isn't really a difference between the two. King says that "in the Native story, the conversational voice tends to highlight the exuberance of the story but diminishes it's authority, while the sober voice in the Biblical story makes for a formal recitation but creates a sense of veracity." I completely agree with King, when he tells the story about "Charm" It's more exciting to read because of the way he is saying the story making you wonder what is going to happen next. In the Biblical story when he talks about Adam and Eve its tasteless and boring because almost everyone knows about that story, and there is really no way to make it exciting.
i agree those are big differences in the story
DeleteI completely agree. It really is the way you tell the story, it is also who you are telling the story to. Some have very different opinions than others do.
DeleteI agree Paige, I responded in a different view, but the way you put it is very agreeable as well.
DeleteI completely agree with you
Deletei agree with u
Delete#2)
ReplyDeleteKing tells readers about his mother and father because he wants people to know about him and his life, how he grew up, and what his parents were like. King tells about how his mother had to raise him and his brother all by herself "in an era when women were not welcome in the workforce." She never gave up on her kids and always tried striving for more. King's dad left when he was three or four, and he never met his father. King tells you about how he grew up and about his mother and father because he wants you to know, he is no different than anyone else in the world, and that he had a tough life just like many other people do also.
I completely agree with you Paige. He didn't want people to feel bad for him, he just wanted to state how his life was, growing up in that time period with a brother and mom. He isn't anymore different than anyone else in the world. He had tough experiences in his life just like anyone else.
DeleteThis isn't what I wrote, but now that I've read what others have said, it gives me even more perspective. I agree with you too, Paige.
DeleteI definitely agree too, Paige. At first as I read through I thought King was trying to get some sympathy, but later in the passage he makes it clear he was just trying to explain his life a little.
Deletespot on, i agree 100%
Deleteyour truly spot on with showing his mom is tough and never gives up
DeleteI also agree with all of the details you put in here. Ecspecially about how hard working his mother is.
Deletei had alot of the same idaes
Deletei agree with how people told stories
DeleteI am responding to the first question; What are the elements of good story telling, according to this chapter?
ReplyDeleteThe first element that I found in this chapter for good story telling is the tone and voice of how he/she tells the story and how it draws in the audience. The second element I read in this chapter is the change in details; the differences in how one person person tells it and how another one tells it. Another element in how good story telling happens is the order of events; how it happens and what order it falls in. The last element that leads to good story telling is dialogue or how the audience responds. King explains all of these details in this chapter for good story telling and how they all connect together to lead up to a great story.
i agree with your response to this question, i also feel that these elements are essential in a story for it to be goo/ adequate.
DeleteI agree. I like how you put in the order of events is a good element. It definatly helps clear up the story.
DeleteThe tone of voice is very important. Why would Mr. King set up with his tone first? Why not imagery to capture the spirit of the native story first? How did you want to respond when Mr. King broke from the story as if you were having a conversation with you? Personally I really don't like how he stops at an ideal to tell a personal story. Even though his points are very well written. Easy to understand the tie in point with his life. Well done shelly. One last thing is that any great story has a penguin.
Delete(#2) Thomas King tells about his mother and father in the first chapter of this book for many reasons I believe. His mom wasn't like other moms or women during the time since she worked in the aerospace industry. She was an engineer and paid as a filing clerk. For over thirty years, his mom managed to stay in the dark from others' views on women of the time. Her workers thought of her as one of the guys, but King knew she wasn't and said she knew better too. In 1963, she was promised equal status and fully-fledged and salaried engineer. His mother was a strong women. Because, when she went to Seattle, Washington, they told her that she was going to be an hourly employee and have the same status as the other two women in the department, who were production assistants. So, after selling everything to move, she was in a job where she made less than the other members of the team since they were men. Where she had to punch a time clock and she wasn't eligible for benefits or a pension. Furthermore, she couldn't get a promotion to be set as an equal. She was also very smart, she knew the nature of the world which she lived, so she let people treat like that. She understood that the world was a good place where good deeds should get good rewards. When she was 81 years old, she still believed that that world was possible, although she didn't find it.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, he didn't know his dad well enough to say very much. His dad left him when he was three or four years old. His dad called him when he was maybe nine years old and said he was going to come home and start over, but that was the last time they ever heard from him again. So, King's mom thought something had happened to him, therefore they waited for him to return. His dad had two sisters, and one of them noticed that something maybe happened to him, so she hired a detective. However, when the detective found his dad, his dad slipped in a river, hit his head on a rock, and died in the hospital.
King tells the stories not to play on people's sympathies but to suggest how stories can control our lives. There is a part of him that never has been able to move past the stories, a part of him that will be chained to these stories as long as he lives. I believe these are the reasons he writes about his mother and father in this chapter, and reasons on why he portrays them in his writing.
I totally agree with you Sasha. His mother was always under the radar and worked in the aerospace industry. His dad left early on and when he finally found him, he was dead.
Delete#2 -
ReplyDeleteThroughout the first chapter, King tells us about his father and mother. His mother always remained under the radar. King explains that he watched his mother start with a garage salon sale and working up to the aerospace industry. His mother always stayed by his side, but she says it's not because she loved him.
King's father is a different story. He left when King was 3 or 4 years old. Although, he called King's mother when he was about 9. King's father wanted a fresh start, and his mother agreed to have him back. Unfortunately, he never showed. King's mother was sure something happened to him, but decided to continue waiting. Years went by, and King connected with his fathers' two sisters. One of them suspected something happened to King's father, so she hired a detective. The detective tracked down his father, but he was too late. King's father had fell into a river, smashed his head off a rock, and died in the hospital.
I agree Collin. He had a rough life, but same as anybody. He wanted to prove he was like anyone else, and not drastically different from others. He told stories about his mother and father, not for sympathy but to say he had a messed up childhood, but alot of people do too.
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DeleteThomas king explains the life stories of his mother and father. His mother was single because his father left when thomas was 3-4 years old. She was neglected by the community because women were not equally respected like men. though she was promised equal status in 1963(as an engineer for aerospace) she was still not quite equal. she was getting paid considerably less than the other workers because the other workers were all men. Though she was treated very poorly, she never let it get to her. she had an optimistic attitude towards life.
ReplyDeleteKings father was absent for a large part of his life. when thomas was just 9 his father phoned home asking to come home and start over. he never actually did come home, king and his mother suspected that something had happened to him. At 56 years of age Thomas's brother called from California asking to sit down and discuss something with him. Thomas was informed that they had found his father but he had died.
On page 9 Thomas explains that he didn't tell the story to interest the reader or to make us feel sympathetic for him. He is telling the story because it is easy for him to tell. It helps him overcome anger that he may have twards his father. This is a series of events that will affect thomas forever. Everyone has a story that they has affected them in one way or another, what's your story?
I decided to respond to the third question, what are the important differences between the biblical creation story versus the native creation story?
ReplyDeleteOne of the first differences mentioned by the author is that while the Christian creation story has the earth created by God, the one deity with limitless power, Native creation stories typically have the power of creation shared among different characters. In this way, Native creation stories like to try and have power balanced among characters.
The other difference the author mentioned between Christian and Native creation stories is how each world starts and the result of the inhabitants. For instance in the Christian creation story the world starts of as peaceful in the beginning days of creation. Then as time went on humans broke the only rule and the world slid into "chaos" as the author put it. Now when we look at the Native creation story, the world started with instances of turmoil and then became peaceful once everything was said and done.
I completely agree with you. Well said.
Deletei agree with u
DeleteIn ther native story of creation Charm falls through the world of her Earth and on to a water world Earth. On the water world the animals can talk there and help Charm out with her problems of surviving by putting her on a turtle, but when she has babies she needs more room to grow. So then the babies create land with mud into mountains, rivers, forest, and plants.
ReplyDeleteIn the biblical creation story is the story of Adam and Eve. How God created evrything first and then humans in his image. Adam ad Eve had everything food, no hunger , and no death or diseases. They had only one rule dont eat off the forbidden tree. Eve decides to do it and gets adam to do it and after that God pretty much kicks them out of the garden of eden and into the world with hunger and diseases.
There are differences in the stories how in the native story they rely on the balance of the lives of animals, plants, and humans. In the biblical story you have competition when they leave the garden for survival. In the biblical story the world we inheerit is decidedly martial nature. while in the native story we start with mud and water through the services of the twins we now have blance in our world and diversity
I agree matt
Delete#1
ReplyDeleteAccording to this chapter, some good elements to storytelling are to be suspenseful, to use lots of detail. Also use a lot of imagery and be creative, use your imagination.
On Page 7, lines 27-29, "One of the tricks to storytelling is, never tell everything at once, to make your audience wait, to keep everyone in suspense. I agree with this completely, there is no way you can tell a good story without suspense. I personally like a lot of suspense in my stories. I love to be kept waiting.
On Page 9, this entire page is full of imagery. This is definitely one of the major elements of storytelling. I am sure everyone likes to be able to imagine what they are being told. I sure do. I love to be able to paint a fine picture in my head.
On page 12, there is a very good use of imagination, Charm wants to eat, but she does not want to eat the fish or the rabbit. So she says she is hungry. Then the rabbit and the fish start to talk to her. That is a very good use of imagination. I have a very wide range of imagination as well.
I am Answering the prompt, "what are the elements of a good storytelling?" According to chapter one the elements of a good storytelling is the voice of the speaker, the way the speaker generates pictures in the audiance's head, the dialogue the storteller uses to bring the charecters to life, and sometimes it is not even the storyteller who makes the story remberable it could be the audiance with a question that changes your opinion of the story and opens up new ideas.
ReplyDeleteKing makes it clear in each chapter his ideas of a good storytelling but he uses a passive agressive way of writing, he states what he wants you to know for instance on page five his brother calls him and says"you'll never belive what happend..." and King says That's alaways a good way to start a story." King also undirectly says connecting ones problem with another's is a good storytelling tool. For instace he talks about his parents and most people do have family problems so he uses this connection to get us as the audiaces attention.
I really like the part in your response about how different ideas from the audience can change the response. I love that people can interpret things totally differently than one another.
DeleteI totally agree with your response
DeletePassive aggressive people always write good stories.
DeleteThere are many differences between the biblical story of creation and the Native American stories of creation. For example, one is more violent than the other. In the biblical story it starts out as only 2 humans (Adam and eve). Well actually, there was a woman before eve but we don’t need to go there. So 2 humans, in this garden of “paradise” where they could do anything they want EXECPT eat an apple off a tree. And of course eve breaks this rule and gets kicked out and has a horrible life after words. Not so “paradise” anymore is it? Whereas the Natives creation stories are more peaceful and there’s no “good and evil”, there’s only man, and nature and we are living as one. As King put it “but give this a thought. What if the creation story in Genesis had featured a flawed deity who was understanding and sympathetic rather than autocratic and rigid?” Thomas king 27. Here he is basically saying that if god was a little less rough around the edges and stop correcting everything the way he wanted it to be and let it become whatever it would naturally form then that would be a better story than say “here’s this and here’s that. I’m the good guy and the devil is the bad guy. Go start wars in my name to defeat him.”
ReplyDeleteAnother big difference between biblical stories of creation and native versions is that they are told a different way. In biblical stories they tell the story in 2nd person whereas the natives tell it in 3rd and 2nd person which makes it a little more interesting. For example, Charm’s story of how she created the world gives the reader a just of what she is feeling inside at the time. Like when they oater took such a long time to come back up to the surface you could tell that everyone was worried that he wouldn’t ever come back up but eventually he did. And he luckily saved the day with the mud he had gathered. The natives stories are much more peaceful than the biblical stories.
I agree with you Alex, I noticed that the native stories are more peaceful then the biblical stories. They have less violence then the biblical and explains more in detail to keep you involved in the story.
DeleteI am responding to the third prompt “What are some important differences between the biblical story of creation and Native stories of creation?. There are a lot of differences between the two stories. There is a difference between how they are told, the meanings, effects on today’s society, the ending and how they get there. I think a big part of the stories are how they are told, the author brings it up in the chapter also. He tells the native creation story as an exciting adventure while he tells the story from the bible as a clearly defined fact. The author doesn’t go use an exciting story to explain what he is trying to explain he uses a serious tone to get his point across. How does that change the stories though? He creates a world with talking animals and a woman falling from the sky and ending up on a turtles back and she and her magical set of twins she birthed on the back of a turtle and create the world out of a clump of dirt. You need to explain it a story or else you just sound kind of crazy, it is meant to be told in a certain tone with a certain pace. While the biblical story can be told in a serious tone because it is meant to be believed. I’m not saying the other one isn’t meant to be believed either, but I imagine that many people haven’t heard of the story and it isn’t as widely believed in. I think that the main difference is how it Is told, because they both do end in almost the same thing. They have a world full of trees, rivers, mountains and humans its just the way it got there is different.
ReplyDeleteThere is also the effects on society, as I said earlier the biblical stories is believed in widely, people lead there entire life’s believing in it and it can completely change their views on the world and create bias. While the native creation story doesn’t point out one grand ruler that everyone should follow. It creates equality between the animals and they build one beautiful world out of almost nothing. The biblical story starts he other way though. Adam and eve are given everything, they live in a perfect society but are given one rule, not to eat from a magical apple tree. Eve decides to eat from it anyway with no objections from Adam and they are thrown out into a world of evil, filled with hatred, hunger, death and disease. They both achieve the same thing but one starts from nothing and is headed towards everything, while the other starts with everything and is headed towards nothing.
I never really thought about the two stories in terms of the effects that they have on society, I like your way of looking at it.
DeleteI agree with Emily,I never really looked at it that way. Now that you've mentioned it, it really makes sense.
DeleteBrodie Jackson
ReplyDeleteChapter 1
#2
The element of storytelling is use lots of detail and imagery. You have to uses the resources while storytelling to let the readers understand it and imagine what is happening. You also have to leave suspense to the audience and not tell them everything thing at once.
On page 7" My brother took a long time in telling this story, drawing out the detail , repeating the good parts , making me wait." i agree with this because you want to capture the reader's attention. make play out longer then telling them right off.
On page 6 king's brother calls King and tells him that he found his father. king thinks about a bar sitting next to his father. King says"i'd sit next to him and strike up a conversation." he goes through the details of meeting his dad without him recognizing him.
Even though I did not include these reasons in my response I completely agree with you Brodie. Imagery and detail are also good elements of storytelling. And I also agree that you should keep the audience in suspense because it will keep them interested in the story and not make them bored.
DeleteMy response to chapter one is using prompts 1 and 2:
ReplyDeleteAccording to the first chapter of The Truth About Stories good elements of storytelling are voice and craft. The voice of the story includes the voice of the person who tells it and the way they portray the story, the tone of it. The craft of the story is the little changes the storyteller makes to make it their own. If the storyteller doesn't change the little things then it might not keep the attention of the audience. If the story doesn't have the voice then the audience might not know what the storyteller is trying to make the story mean to them. If a story doesn't have these two key pieces then the audience might not be entertained by or enjoy the story. Voice and craft turn a story from a dull experience to a great one.
King tells us about his mother and father so we know about his life and what some of his stories came from. First about the stories, from his life experiences it could help us understand where his craft comes from. It can also help us understand the voice he uses to make the story really pop. Now onto his life. His mother started as a hairdresser in a garage to becoming an aerospace engineer. She worked hard to keep her family in good living. While King's father left when he was only 3 or 4 years old. He told us about them to really tell us about his story and how it could affect his own storytelling.
I agree with you about his reasoning on telling us about his family. I definatly think it helped us understand his story telling tackticks.
Delete#1
ReplyDeleteSome elements that make a good story telling is their introduction and approach. Thomas King gives a little background infomation before jumping right into the story. As he goes along he also explains parts to allow you to follow the sotry more clearly. By doing this he gives the listener an easier time.
Another element is their voice. Although Thomas King isnt actualy speaking in this book, the way he phrases things lets you hear him. He words things strongly to get his point across and open up to the reader. I believe that all the elements he says a good story teller has, he himself carries too.
I like how you worded that when he phrases things the way he does, he lets his readers know what he thinks, and that the elements of a good story teller has, he himself has. I agree.
DeleteI like how you said this. This doesn't go with the question you answered, but I think his own introduction and approach does allow you to follow it more clearly and lets you trust what he was saying. Like in the end he said he could have made it all up.
Delete#3)
ReplyDeleteSome of the important differences between the biblical creation story, and the native stories, are that the biblical ones work in a positive to negative, and the native works from negative to positive.
King tells us the long Native story about Charm and her life of crafting the earth with her twin children. It starts with the negative of Charm falling and having nowhere to be but the back of a turtle. But with the little mud the otter brings, Charm, with the help of her twins, is able to build a beautiful world full of adversity.
In the biblical creation story, King does not take much time to tell this story. He keeps it short and to the point,little dialogue and little detail. Its told how Adam and Eve live in this perfect garden,but with the tiniest mistake, they are thrown out into a cruel world full of awful things.
King points out that even with the same topic of creation, the biblical and native versions are such opposites. "But I'm not happy with your behavior. Let's talk this over. Try to do better next time.What kind of world might we have created with that kind of story?" King even relates it to real world today. The lack of forgiveness the biblical version put out, and how things today could have been different if put in a positive view, instead of negatives.
You seem like you really understood the difference between Native and Biblical stories. I like how you put that Native are put into a more positive perspective than biblical. Good quoting.
DeleteI agree with you completely.
Why did King tell readers about his mother and father?
ReplyDeleteWell, when I first began reading, he appeared to be giving a further understanding of his life. Probably for our benefit, maybe even a little bit for his. I'm sure upon beginning his task of telling us about his life, and his family that he learned quite a bit about himself too. Things work funny that way.
But, as I began reading on, and he was explaining how his mother was not treated as equally as men and never really knew who she was, because she never really had the authority around that she thought she needed to guide her, between being 'invisible and a woman'. With not given the same pay, and promised things that never came, but still kept a positive outlook on the world was quite interesting to me. She had every reason not to keep expecting, or trusting that things were going to turn out good for her but she did it anyway. As I read even further, King started talking about stories and how they could effect whether or not your outlook on life was positive or negative. Maybe she was just told the right stories? Even though she never quite got the happy life or happy ending that she so much hoped for, she still had trust, she never lost it. Whether that's a good thing or not, that's up to the eyes of the beholder.
I think that King wanted to connect these stories to his life somehow. Saying that maybe they could change your life, or that if you hadn't been told them, that your life could be somehow altered as said in the end, "But don't say in the years to come that you would have lived your life differently if only you had heard this story." He seemed to feel very strongly about this statement and that's why I think he told the story about his parents.
Good points, I agree that its helpful to know some of Kings background when we further read on.
Delete(#1) Well they way you tell the story is a big element of the story itself. You have to have the more fluent way of telling the story or it could come across as crap or really boring. You can create a story from anything by starting small as like a walk in the park, to a zombie outbreak,but its how you build up to that point is what makes a good story. like before fluency you have to have emphasis on key points to really make them pop out to the reader by including something from everyday life. On top of that you have to have a good characterization, have the person relating to you or someone you know or how their attitude changes. like what King said about the turtle that holds up the world. When the girl asked “well what's under the turtle?”and the man smiled and said “Another turtle” and went back and forth to maked the girl laugh and gave her a joyful experience,but if the man were to have told the story in a monotone way and gave no enthusiasm to the story. then what's the point in telling it in the first place.
ReplyDeleteYour points are pretty sound. I probably would just fall asleep if somebody were telling me a story and never bothered to add any excitement.
DeleteKing makes a sometimes pointed critique of the biblical creation story and the values it represents to him: how is he able to make these critical comments while still keeping readers interested?
ReplyDeleteMr. King did a very crisp job at stating how the bible was set up. He expected most people to know that God was the creator of all. When Mr.King goes into the Genesis he pokes at the idea of individualism. Mainly because god had all the power. He can make critical comments because he is some what doing it to both stories. While suggesting that maybe the Christian way is not that so superior. While being unbiased which idea is better. He makes the reader choose what they want to truly believe in. If this makes any sense while being unbiased he is being biased to Native stories. He keeps people interested just by the tone of voice and how he words paragraphs. Mr. King doesn't lecture you about which is better he leaves that up to you.
great job
DeleteI think there are some big differences between the two stories. one in the biblical story God creates every thing and in the native story the animals creat the land for people when the girl falls to earth.
ReplyDeleteAnother big difference is that when God creates the earth it is not all water and all the animals are not water animals because he makes a variety of animals for both land and water. In the native story the animals all live in the water.
A final difference is that the animals can talk in the native story. Animals dont talk.
#2
ReplyDeleteKing tells readers about his mother and father because he wanted the reader to know how he grew up. He writes about the struggles his mother had to face raising kids on her own. He also showed how his mother was a fighter and never willing to give up. He talked about his dad and how he never really knew him and how it left an empty space in his life. When he found out his father was dead it closed the empty space in his life.
#3
ReplyDeleteThere are many differences between the biblical story of creation and native story of creation. The most important differences between the stories are the way they are told and the plot of the story. The native story is meant to be shared orally and they use more emphasis on the words spoken. The biblical story is more based on give the reader the feeling of facts. The plots between the stories are also very different. In the native story the nature was the enemy and people were treated equally. In the biblical story humans were the enemy and they were not treated equally.
I like where this is going, but do you think maybe more depth can be derived from what you have here? I'm not trying to sound negative or rude, but I think maybe if you analyzed these a little more, your opinions or the plot may change.
Delete#3
ReplyDeleteBiblical and Native creation stories vary in a few big ways. As other people have said, the tone used when King told the Biblical story was purely objective, while that used for the Native story was playful and invited the reader to feel what he was feeling. Tone is a crucial element throughout this book, but I feel the many dichotomies one faces while reading this chapter are what really make the difference Biblical and Native creation stories. Some such dichotomies are "a world in which creation is a solidarity, individual act of a world in which creation is a shared activity". Another is a world that "begins in harmony and slides toward chaos or a world that begins in chaos and moves toward harmony". A final important point is "a world marked by competition or a world determined by cooperation".
In Biblical creation, the universe begins with a single being's thoughts and his actions are responsible for creation. "God" starts us out with a perfect world, which is only ruined once the humans defy rules. They must learn through failure. The generations following, however, must make due with a broken world, full of war between the good and the bad, the humans and the elements, and the humans and law.
In Native stories, however, the acts of creation are shared between all involved, not a sole leader. Harmony is only lost once balance is displaced, which can be fixed and forgiven by humans. The world, made by all inhabitants, is diverse, complex, and complete. Balance in their special, highly valued land is more important than good versus evil.
I added the effects on society into my paragraphs but we have pretty much the same ideas
DeleteI am responding to the second question (why does King tell readers about his mother and father). I believe that king is doing this to show how women were treated back in the time he was growing up. This made him realize how strong his mother was and had to be to support him and his sibblings in such hard and unfair conditions that she worked in while having a husband running out on the family leaving her to do it alone.
ReplyDeleteI believe King told us about his father because he doesn’t have any respect for him because of what he did to King and his sibblings. His father left so much work for his mother to do when it was nearly impossible for a single mother to make reasonable wages when he could be making way more money doing the same exact job. I don’t believe he was looking for sympathy when he was telling us this story, especially after stating that it wasn’t his intentions but instead trying to state the facts of how life was when he was growing up.
Ben,
DeleteI really like how you pointed out the parts about King's mother and how women were treated. I wish I thought of that for my response.
King tells the reader about his parents because it lets the reader know about his life and what he went through growing up. I also believe that he shared this story because the rest of the book takes after what he first says about his parents and it all comes up again later in the book some how.
ReplyDeleteThe whole book is pretty much stories or explaining how certain people are not treated equally. His mother for example did all the same work as the men and worked just as hard but she was treated differently because she was a female and did not have the same rights as males. Throughout the book he is explaining how natives weren't treated equally.
There are a few places in the book talking about people not being there for others when they need it. This is where he told us about his father and how he grew up with out him. His mother needed help to support and raise a family but his father just walked out. This comes up again later in the book in the Afterwards when the Cardinal family needed sympathy and just someone else there to help. King himself ended up just leaving when they were in a time of need, because of Sam, just like his father left their own family.
I am responding to the fourth prompt. Not because I wish to do battle with my rival Sir Mike McPenguin Wilks. But because I believe that your education is important. For the ability of being a jerk without actually looking like a jerk is a very important and useful skill. A skill that Mr. King demonstrates well when he is pointing out his negative opinions surrounding the Bible and the social structure that it has created. He started off by luring us in. He would say positive things about the bible, like "You can't beat King James version of the Bible for the beauty of the language." Or "It's the story that captures the imagination." (21) You began to think that he was a fellow Catholic, so you started to approach him. And as you drew nearer to him he recited the story of Adam and Eve to you. He would talk about how mankind had broken the golden rule and inherited a world full of hardships. But then he changed direction. He started comparing and contrasting two different creation stories from two adverse cultures. And you realized that he wasn't a Catholic after all, but instead a humble story teller. You didn't care what he was though, you wanted to hear more about these stories. And he would take advantage of your curiosities as his chance to critique. But you couldn't move your eyes away from the page, for he had you under his spell. He would play around with your passion and logic as to take over your mind. He would say things like "Perhaps this is why we delight in telling stories about heroes battling the odds and the elements, rather than the magic of season... Why we tell our children that life is hard, when we could just as easily tell them that it is sweet." (26) And then he would follow up by bombarding your sense of ethical reasoning by saying "So am I such an ass to... suggest that the stories contained within the matrix of Christianity... are responsible for the social, political, and economical problems we face? Am I suggesting that the... hierarchical nature of western religion... has fostered... egotism and self interest? Am I suggesting that, if we hope to live in a truly civil society, we must first burn all the flags and kill all the gods, because in such a world we could no longer tolerate such weapons of mass destruction?" (26-27) Finally he brings our logic into the equation and forces us to think by hitting us upside the head with about 70 "what if" questions. "What if animals could choose their own names? What if Adam and Eve had simply been admonished for their foolishness? What kind of a world might we have created with that kind of story? What if there was an evil psychologist in Nebraska who was teaching lizards how to shoot and wield Assault Rifles and Atomic weapons? (27-28) I might have paraphrased one or two of his sentences. But I digress, for it is Thomas Kings ability to influence our passion and reasoning that keeps us interested in his works/complaints. This however is not a trait exclusive to Thomas King let me mind you. You have all appealed to peoples logic or emotions before, particularly when you write persuasive essays every other day in English class. You never tell the Governor of New York to enforce gun control because guns are bad, you tell him to enforce gun control because people are going to die! Thomas King is simply just using persuasive strategies such as pathos, ethos, and logos, as a way of keeping us interested in his story until the end. It was not until I had finished the chapter, set the book down, taken a nap, seen my children off to school, and sat down to drink tea with the Queen of England, did I finally realize that I had been murdered. For you see Thomas King is not a humble story teller, but instead an author assassin. Who wields the pen like a dagger and carves murder onto parchment. He lured us in and stabbed us to death. The worst part is he got away with it too. No kids in no van. Not even Scooby Doo tried to save us.
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ReplyDeleteKing told people about his mother and father because they were apart of his life everyone talks about there parents in life. Kings mother was the main person in his life i feel he looked up to her a lot his mother was a single mother that raised two kids by herself in a time where women really couldn't find jobs because at that time there job was to take care of the home. Trying to raise two kids in a time where you really couldn't work must have been really hard and stressful. I can imagine that king knew just how hard it was not only for his mother but for him. He was not only pointing out that people were not only against the Indians but the women too.
#2
ReplyDeleteKing tells the readers about his mother and father to give us some background information about himself. Mother and fathers have such an important roll in their children's lives. Kings mother had bigger roll than his father, who he never really knew. His mother raised him and his brother all by herself. So life must have been hard on him. Even harder seeing how he was an Indian and he was growing up in a racists time period.
Hannah,
DeleteI totally agree with you about parents being important parts of our lives and how hard it must have been for King growing up.
Why does King tell readers about his mother and father?
ReplyDeleteI think Thomas King told us about his parents for the reason he plainly states,"show how stories control our lives". However, there are other reasons why this story is significant. Also, I think this is also a tactic used by the author to make us interested.
The story about King's parents is an example of how stories can control our lives. King always thought about meeting his father in a bar most of his life not knowing who his father was. I believe this made King a stronger person and who he is today which is how it controled his life.
Other reasons this story is used is to kind of manipulate the reader. The story acts as a "hook" to make the reader want to read more. The story does this by possibly making connections with the reader and make the reader comfortable with the author by showing his life is'nt perfect either.
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ReplyDeleteChapter 1 Q3: Some important differences between the biblical and native stories are how people came to be on earth. Also how animals were already there and could talk compared to how God had created animals in between the six days he created the earth. In the native story a girl falls through a hole that she dug on a different planet and managed to fall on a small island in the water on earth. However in the biblical story God created man and woman with his hands. These are some differences between the native and biblical creation stories.
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