Module 2.

1
-First Video
- talking about modern Native Americans utilizing oral traditions such as Simon Ortiz, Paula
Gunn AllenLinks to an external site., and Joy Harjo.
-not just speaking, it can also be dance and songs, its more about content being a part of it than
it is about being “oral”
-homer was an oral poet, this is to discredit the bias about oral tradition being backwards or
stupid
-Second Video
- Cherokee story teller Sequoia Guess
-discusses how some “experts” were lied to or told fibs because the NA’s wanted to see him
write so they didn't actually tell him real oral traditions
-Actual NAs can see that as they know the real traditions
-discusses story of a wolf that has shoes but the shoes are actually traps
-some stories can be almost lost if they are not written down, thus story tellers are necessito as
they keep stories that some people may not hear for decades and would otherwise be lost
-oral story telling is more than just words or the story itself, for example doing different voice or
altering or modernizing a story for its audience

Module 2.2
-First Video
-Orature vs Literature, meaning oral and written stories, they are very different from each other.
-Mutability for orature means the stories can be adapted to the audience, time, or the teller
-This change is normal and expected
-In literature mutability is discouraged and seen negatively, written stories are static
-Structure for orature has stories that follow a web like structure that follows connections
whether they are central to it or not
-for literature stories are linear and tangents are avoided.
-Mode for orature means it can be music, dance, art, performance etc, also it can be
collaborative and communal
For literature stories are very individual and are heard through our own internal voice
-Second video, Rabbit Story
-before starting they discuss how the scene is set and how that changes based on the
audience, such as what language the animals speak.
-we see the storyteller change is voice for comedic effect
-mentions that grandma told used the skunk part of the story to mention they should leave them
alone too
-meaning of story was about being nice to each other so the god will come back and give
wishes once again.
-Third Video The Rainbow Bridge
-story about Santa cruz island but teller mentions the original name
-goddess threw seeds out and humans grew from these and he husband the milkyway but also
called a sea serpent gave humans fire
-humans were loud and annoying, sent them on a rainbow bridge but they got dizzy and fell off
and became dolphins

Module 2.4 assignment

My life has always revolved around stories, though I don't believe it was until the last few years
that I finally came to this realization. My father is a loud man, he is boisterous and full of life and
oftentimes draws a crowd in just about any social situation. I’d like to think I've inherited at least
a small amount of this charismatic nature from my father and I think I see it sometimes in my
proclivity to tell stories. It all started when I was younger and I would parrot my dad’s stories to
my friends at school for laughs or remarks of astonishment, then over time I honed my craft and
began tailoring my own stories to sound like my father’s.

One of my favorite stories my father ever told was a farcical one about his time as a truck
driving hauling gasoline. The story starts out normal enough about him delivering gas to a gas
station and seeing a man smoking a cigarette while pumping gas at the same station. This story
begins very seriously and eventually gets to a point where the man, due to his own ignorance,
ends up with one arm engulfed in flames until a nearby policeman comes and shoots him. This
part of the story always elicits many shocked and incredulous reactions, that is until you say that
when asked why he did what he did the policeman responds, “He was brandishing a firearm.”
which generally led to lots of groans or eye rolls and some laughter mixed in as well. I consider
myself to be a funny person, humor plays a huge role in my life and I think my funny nature has
done well to earn me most of my close friends over my life. If it hadn’t been for my father’s loud
and boisterous nature that I did my best to learn from, I honestly think I would be a very different
person.