Storybook Topic Styles: Canterbury Tales

Topic: As discussed in my previous Storybook brainstorming assignment, I think it would be cool to do my project over The Canterbury Tales. I would like to feature all of the seven stories of the pilgrims in my project. I would also like all of their voices to be heard. I think the only difficulties of this project will be really getting into the mindset of all of the pilgrims. I will have to really get into character to tell each of their stories well!

Bibliography: Canterbury Tales,  from The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappan (1908).


Possible Styles:


Animals/Humans as Storytellers: After browsing through the Canterbury Tales on the UnTextbook, I found that the pilgrims are both animals and humans. My original style idea that I talked about last week was telling this story like a CSI episode. As I also talked about last week, my idea with the Canterbury tales was basing it off of a CSI episode because the agents are trying to figure out who committed the crime (based on who tells the least convincing story). With having the animals and humans as storytellers, I imagine mainly focusing on the pilgrims telling their stories and the agents just being there to interrogate them. I think this is the style that I would like to go with, but I am open to other ideas if you think something would fit better!

CSI agents as Storytellers: This storytelling idea would basically be the same idea as the one I mentioned previously but just flipped. I would focus on the CSI agents part in the story and not focus as much on the pilgrims telling the story. I would still have the pilgrims tell their stories, but would focus more on the agents' thoughts as they were telling their stories (example: "Agent Benson glanced at the friar as he rambled on. She could see that he refused to make eye contact with her or any of the other agents. 'He must be lying,' she thought.")  

Campfire style: I imagine this style to go more along the lines of all of the pilgrims gathering around one night on their boat overseas and telling their stories. I imagine some of their stories being told better than others and other of the pilgrims having more people listen in on their stories. I think this would also be a cool idea, because I imagine pilgrims telling stories to pass the time on their voyage to America.

Contest style: With using this style, I imagine there being a storytelling contest in town a couple months after the pilgrims arrived in America. I imagine a crowd gathering and whichever pilgrim tells the best story gets a cash prize! I think this would be a fun style to use for my project because the pilgrims know they are up against each other.

(CSI New York Poster source: Flickr)

Week 3 Storytelling: The Man Who Won the $1.5 Billion Dollar Jackpot

On the day of the drawing of the $1.5 billion dollar jackpot, Alex walked into the local gas station outside of his neighborhood.

"Here goes," he thought.

He walked to the back of the convenience store and began scribbling his numbers down on a piece of paper. He joined the twenty other people in line to reach the counter. 

"LOTTERY TICKETS! EVERYONE STAND IN THIS LINE IF YOU HAVE LOTTERY TICKETS!," the clerk yelled. 

Everyone who was standing in line shuffled to the right. Alex bumped into people in the process.

"Sorry," he mumbled. 

After he got his ticket, Alex started up his car and began making his way back home. He began to think of all the things he would do if he won the $1.5 billion dollar jackpot. Alex was a poor college student and could think of plenty of ways he could spend the plentiful jackpot. He realized his chances were slim on winning the money, but he knew that he had a small possibility. 

"Paying off all my loans would be nice...a new car too, maybe a nicer home for my family...," he thought. 

After coming home, Alex sat down on the couch to watch the news. He knew that every news channel in Tucson would be announcing the winning numbers.

And here it was, 10 p.m. Alex frantically flipped over to Channel 5 News. 

"And here are the numbers everyone has been waiting for," the female news anchor said. 

"8, 12, 22, 36, 44, 19." 

Alex glanced at his lottery ticket and then back at the screen again. He did a double take. Those were his numbers.

Was he going to tell his parents? They weren't home. He had to tell his parents. They were his parents.

Alex's heartbeat sped up. What was he going to do?

He immediately took off in his car and headed to the Arizona state capital. He didn't need to tell his parents. He could tell them later. 

Shoot, Alex had so much money that he didn't need to ever return to college...or that's at least what he thought. 

After claiming his jackpot prize, he immediately blew the money on a mansion in Florida, on a brand new Audi, and invited the coolest people in Miami over for parties every night at his new pad. He was like the Jay Gatsby of Miami. Everyone loved him.

Even after blowing his money on his expensive new taste, Alex was sure that he would still have enough money leftover. Or so he thought.

One brisk morning after a night of partying, Alex walked into the kitchen of his new bachelor pad. 

Various rooms of the mansion were filthy. They were trashed with bottle of alcohol, glasses, and trash.

Alex's butler approached him.

"Sir, the electricity and water bills." He gave Alex two envelopes.  

Alex tore open the white envelope and began glancing at the sheets of paper.

$15,000. 

"Sir, I'm afraid you don't have enough money in your bank account to cover this," the butler said. 

"What do you mean I don't have enough money to cover this?! I always have enough money," Alex yelled.

"Sir, I am sorry but I'm afraid you don't."

"What are they going to do? Kick me out of my own house?,"  Alex yelled.

"Suit yourself," his butler said as he left the house. 

The butler never returned. 

Alex did end up getting kicked out of his house and was forced to beg for money on the streets of Miami for the rest of his life. His parents didn't want anything to do with him because he foolishly spent all of his money and didn't share any of his fortune with them. He spent his winnings on himself first and others second.  And because of his poor life choices, Alex ended up dying a very poor man.

(Avarice (2012), by Jesus Solana Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Author's Note:  I based my story off of the Aesop fable, The Goose With the Golden Eggs. In the original fable a man's goose keeps laying golden eggs, and one day he decides to kill the goose and slice it open but doesn't find anything inside. I thought it would be fun to put a twist on the original fable by relating it to this year's world record-breaking jackpot. Most jackpot winners usually blow through their money very quickly and end up broke. I thought my story was very similar to the original fable but set in modern times. 

Week 3 Reading Diary B: Aesop (Jacobs)

The Crow and The Pitcher: I liked this one because the crow used his brain to get the water in the pitcher. I liked that he didn't give up and decided to keep on trying until he was able to reach it. I picture the crow getting the water and then not giving up on other things in his life.

The Fisherman and The Fish: I liked this one because the fisherman knew that he wasn't going to catch anything better in the brook that day. Maybe he was frustrated because he's had prior experience where he's been unsuccessful? That would be a cool back story to do as my Storytelling post.

The Man and the Wooden God: I really liked this post because it relates to modern times. People idolize celebrities and money. We say that certain celebrities are our idols, but is it really good to worship someone who has as many faults as you do? This would be a great Storytelling post. It would be great to start the story off with someone who worships a celebrity but then gets frustrated when this celebrity goes down the wrong path.

 The Man and His Mother: I feel like I was really able to connect with this story because I have heard of modern crime stories where the person who committed the crime blamed his parents for how he was raised and for his wrongdoings. In a way I think that is the wrong way to look at things because you are the only one who is in charge of your well being. On the other hand, your parents raise you to be the person you are supposed to be.

The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar: I really liked this story because I was able to connect with the old woman. Fresh cookies coming out of the oven reminds me of my childhood. I always remember the smell of the cookies in the kitchen while they were baking. I remember I was always happy when cookies were being made. I remember how warm and freshly baked cookies always tastes.

The Goose With the Golden Eggs:  I really liked this fable because it was a fable I knew from my childhood. I think this would be a good Storytelling post because you could relate it to someone winning the $1 billion lottery and becoming overly greedy, and then spent so much of their money all at once that they lost it very quickly and ended up broke and on the streets.

(The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs, illustrations by Walter Crane)

Week 3 Reading Diary A: Aesop (Jacobs)

The Lion and The Statue: I really liked this story because I truly believe each story is different depending on who is telling the story! That is why this class is so interesting-- we each have a unique way of telling stories. I could picture a snooty lion telling the man that the statue would have looked differently had a lion made the statue.

The Lion in Love: I could easily picture a lion doing whatever he could do for the person he loved and just getting his heart crushed anyway. It is so sad to picture that because we can all relate to heartbreak at one time or another in our lives. Going through a heartbreak is one of the worst feelings in the world, but it makes us grow as a person. I could see myself easily choosing this story to write about for my Storytelling post. I could picture having the lion grieve over the loss of his love but eventually moving on and loving someone else.

The Fox and the Stork: I could easily picture a fox and a stork having dinner and not wanting to accommodate to each other's needs. I could see the stork being bitter for not accommodating to her and getting him back when he came over for dinner. What goes around comes around. Karma always serves justice to the people who deserve it.

The Fox and The Lion: What I got from this story is that if you ignore someone and then all of a sudden you are friendly with them, that won't be received very well. I could picture the fox ignoring the lion for several days and then approaching the lion. I could also picture the lion trying to be friendly and talk to him but also trying to give him the same treatment he was dealt.

The Wolf and the Kid: I could picture a child on top of a house trying to scare the wolf away, and the wolf telling him that it is easy to be brave from a distance. It really is easy to be someone you are not from far away. Usually only the people who become close to you know who you really are. I could picture myself using this story to write my Storytelling post. I could picture the child being frightened and running back into his house to get his parents' help.

The Dog and the Shadow: I could easily picture a dog wanting food and trying to snatch its reflection's but loosing his food anyway. I could see myself using this for my Storytelling post as well. I could go on with the story and say that the dog tried and tried to find his food in the puddle but was unsuccessful in doing so. I could also picture the dog trying to find another source of food.

Mice in Council: I could also easily picture myself using this fable for my Storytelling post. I could picture a bunch of mice living in a house and saying mean things about the cat who also lived there. I could picture the cat being oblivious to what the mice were saying. I could picture them laughing at the cat and this continue to be an ongoing thing.

The Horse and the Ass: I could picture a donkey saying how nice it is to be an animal that is seen as one that is so majestic. I could also see the donkey the next day looking at the dead horse and saying it is better to be someone who is not sought after. I thought that was a very mean thing to say. I guess the donkey wasn't really the horse's friend after all.

The Hart and the Hunter: This fable was very sad for me to read. I could picture the deer getting his antlers caught and all of a sudden hating them even though he had just admired them a minute previous to the tragedy. I could picture the hunter approaching the deer and the deer realizing that his life was coming to an end.

The Hare and the Tortoise: This fable was my favorite to read out of all of the fables I've read tonight. This fable was one that I remembered from my childhood. I think I would like to use this one for my Storytelling post but put a different spin on it. Maybe the tortoise sees the hare get injured but continues the race anyways? Maybe tell it from a TV show point of view? I guess we will have to see. Slow and steady wins the race!

(The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs, illustrations by Walter Crane)