Storytelling week 7: Eddie's first date

Eddie was a tremendous football player. He was well liked by all of his coaches at the university. He was the fastest running back that any of them had ever seen in their careers. Athletically he was at the top of the food chain, but with the ladies he was not as popular. He only knew how to play football. He hadn’t had a father figure to tell him how to treat a woman.

His teammates teased Eddie about his awkwardness around girls. Prom was coming up soon and Eddie figured he just wouldn’t go. He thought he would pick up an extra shift at the local 7/11 where he worked on the weekends. His teammates wanted to help Eddie get a date. They knew he wouldn’t do it on his own.

 They knew Eddie had his eye on Sabrina. She was captain of the cheerleading squad and the most popular girl in school. The boys knew exactly how they were going to get Eddie a date. He needed a new sense of fashion. Eddie looked like his mother still picked out his clothes because he wore clothes from the local thrift shop. 

The boys thought they could help Eddie if they created him a new image. So they took Eddie to the mall and bought him new jeans and a collared shirt. They also took him to get a haircut and got him some gel to put in his hair.

 The next day the boys encouraged Eddie to ask Sabrina to prom. Eddie was super nervous and did not even know how he would talk to such a pretty girl. Finally he found the courage and he walked up to her on his way to class.

 “Hey Sabrina! How’s it going?” Eddie said.

 Sabrina turned around shocked at Eddie’s appearance. “Um.. good.. Eddie?” she asked.

 Eddie knew by the look on her face she was shocked that he could clean up well. “Would you like to have dinner with me tonight, around 7?” Eddie asked. 

Sabrina still had an astonished look on her face but she managed to mumble a “sure.” 

That night Eddie and Sabrina went to the Dairy Queen for dinner.

 “Sabrina, there something I wanted to ask you…” She turned her head and looked at Eddie “ask away,” she replied. 

Eddie took a deep breath, “Would you go to prom with me?”

Sabrina looked at Eddie confused “is that why you went and bought new clothes?” 

Eddie looked at his plate, because he knew for sure her answer was no. 

Sabrina continued the conversation, “because you could have asked me with that dorky haircut and I would have said yes. Appearance isn’t everything Eddie.”

Author's Note: 

I wrote this story based on the idea of Anansi and Nothing. In the West African Tale, Anansi and nothing set out to find wives. Nothing was dressed in fancy clothes and Anansi was not because he was poor. Anansi convenience Nothing to switch him clothes, and of course Anansi received all the attention. Later when they brought their wives home the ones of Anansi soon realized they were fooled and had picked a poor husband. Nothing's wife tried to share the wealth with the others and Anansi got jealous and killed Nothing. I thought this story was a good representation that looks may make a person appealing, but they are simply not everything.  

Bibliography:

“Anansi and Nothing” by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair from West African Folktales (1917).

Anansi and Nothing


I thought this picture was important to remember because Anansi is supposed to resemble a spider in most West African Tales.
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Reading Diary B: West African Tales

West African Tales

Why the Moon and the Stars Receive Their Light from the Sun

Characters:

·         Anansi

·          Kweku Tsin

·         Dragon

·         Prisoners

·         Cock

Plot: Anansi and his son were looking for food. They had harvested a deer and Anansi left to find materials to carry it. Kweku Tsin was to stay with the deer but he became worried and started to call out for his father. His call brought the evil dragon to his location. He hid the first time but his father insisted on seeing the creature. The evil monster captured them and kept them in prison in his castle. Kweku Tsin made an escape plan that worked. The Gods were pleased and that is how he became the sun, his father the moon, and the prisoners the stars.

I liked this story. I thought it was suspenseful and enjoyed the ending about how he became the sun. My favorite character was Kweku Tsin because he never gave up and led the people to safety. He also put the safety of others first instead of himself.

How the Tortoise got its Shell

Characters:

·         Chief Mauri

·         Koklovi

·         Klo (turtle)

Plot: Chief Mauri wanted to send Klo to pick up some wine for his yam party. Klo picked up the wine but he had a few drinks, which slowed down his usually fast travel time. Once he got back to the castle they were having the party without him and it was raining. It rained for two months before anyone came out of the castle. When they finally did they found Klo dead underneath the weight of all that Mauri had asked Klo to bear. He had formed a shell from all of the earth and weight that had surrounded him. That is how he got his shell. He was later restored to life.

I enjoyed this story as well. I liked that the stories I read had meanings about life. This one stuck out to me because it could be related to a scenario in life so easily. This section might have been one of my favorites, which is why I chose two to really emphasize because it was hard to choose.  

I liked this picture of the tortoise. 

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Reading Diary A: West African Tales

How We Got the Name "Spider Tales"

Characters:

·         Nyankupon

·         Anansi

·         Tiger

·         Bees

·         Boa

Plot: To bring Nyankupon what he wanted to prove that the tales should be named after Anansi. The spider used his wit to capture everything Nyankupon wanted and sent it back to him. I thought the spider was very clever. I can think of someone people and children that are like the spider that are clever to get what they want. I was shocked at how the spider was able to convince the tiger to sew up his eyes. I was also surprised that the spider lived through those encounters.

How Wisdom Became the Property of the Human Race

Characters:

·         Father Anansi

·         Kweku Tsin

Plot: Father Anansi wanted to keep all of his knowledge from the country’s men because they usually came to him for guidance. He planned to hide his knowledge so he put all of it in a pot and set out to find the tallest tree so that no one could reach it. He was followed by his son who turned out to contain more knowledge than father Anansi.

I thought this story was extremely short, but it had a good moral.

Anansi and Nothing

Characters:

·         Anansi

·         Nothing

·         Nothing’s wife

Plot: Anansi and Nothing wanted to find a wife. Anansi did not have money like Nothing so he convinced Nothing to switch him clothes. All of the women were attracted to Anansi because they thought he had money.  They were tricked. Nothing was then killed by Anansi and his wife was so distraught that she fed all of the children yams so that they could cry with her.

This was my favorite tale I read because of the lesson at the end of the story. That the children were “crying for nothing.” 

West African Tales

A child crying for nothing.

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