Reading Notes: Arabian Nights, Unit A
This week I chose to read from the Arabian Nights unit and hear some of Scheherazade's stories. I loved all the clever story-within-a-stories in this unit (especially the fisherman's story as it plunges into three levels of storytelling)! Here were a few of my favorites:
Scheherazade
I actually really loved the first story in this unit. Scheherazade is a woman of courage, conviction, and level-headedness. I think telling the story from her perspective would make her bravery, but also her entire thought process, a lot clearer, and convey the weight of her situation. She could also convey the appearance of the palace and the nature of the sultan from her observations.
The Hind
While I really enjoyed this story, the story-within-a- story format makes it kind of a tricky candidate for retelling. The setting and characters work well because of the story's growing depth, but I might be able to work with the characters outside this story, and to tell it with interjections or thoughts from the sultan. But the story plays a lot to the cleverness of both Scheherazade and the old man, and I want to keep those characteristics intact.
The Two Black Dogs
Since all these stories return to the genie in the desert with the three men, telling the story as the genie could work very well. This would lend an opportunity to hear from an obviously grieving yet seemingly unduly outraged character and hear his true inner thoughts on the men's stories. This retelling would trace back to the old man's accidental killing of the genie's son, and end on the genie hearing this story.
Scheherazade
I actually really loved the first story in this unit. Scheherazade is a woman of courage, conviction, and level-headedness. I think telling the story from her perspective would make her bravery, but also her entire thought process, a lot clearer, and convey the weight of her situation. She could also convey the appearance of the palace and the nature of the sultan from her observations.
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| The old man and his son, the calf. Courtesy of Laura Gibbs. Source: Un-Textbook. |
While I really enjoyed this story, the story-within-a- story format makes it kind of a tricky candidate for retelling. The setting and characters work well because of the story's growing depth, but I might be able to work with the characters outside this story, and to tell it with interjections or thoughts from the sultan. But the story plays a lot to the cleverness of both Scheherazade and the old man, and I want to keep those characteristics intact.
The Two Black Dogs
Since all these stories return to the genie in the desert with the three men, telling the story as the genie could work very well. This would lend an opportunity to hear from an obviously grieving yet seemingly unduly outraged character and hear his true inner thoughts on the men's stories. This retelling would trace back to the old man's accidental killing of the genie's son, and end on the genie hearing this story.
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