Page 68 - Think 3. Teacher's Book B3+

Unit 5
Storytelling Culture
Warmer
To revise types of story, give
students two minutes to think of as
many different story genres as they
can. After two minutes, play a game
of ‘vocab tennis’, with each group
taking it in turns to say one genre
until one team runs out of ideas.
14
Storytelling in the Caribbean
1 Before students read the article,
get them to cover it and just look
at the pictures and answer the
questions. Write their ideas on
the board. When they read to
check, set a three-minute timer
to encourage them to skim the
article quickly and not to focus on
every word.
2 5.05 Tell students not to worry
about difficult vocabulary at this
stage as this will come up later.
Paul Keens-Douglas is a famous
storyteller in the West Indies. Tanti
Merle is a character who appears in
many of his stories.
3 Check/clarify: ancestors, to
perfect, material, originating.
Encourage students to think
about the correct answer to the
false statements.
1 F 2 F 3 T 4 T 5 F
4 Encourage students to express
themselves in English and to use
any vocabulary they have learned
from the article. At the end of the
exercise, listen to some of the
students’ ideas and encourage
open class discussion.
Culture note
The Caribbean Islands is a
massive archipelago of more than
700 islands located in the Caribbean
Sea. Primarily located between
North America and South America,
the Caribbean stretches across
2,745,387 square kilometres. The
main languages are Spanish, French,
English, Dutch and Haitian Creole.
T54 Storytelling | Unit 5
Storytelling in the Caribbean
14
1 Look at the photos and answer the questions.
1 What can you see in the photos?
2 What do you think the person is doing?
3 Would you like to visit this place? Why or
why not?
2 5.05 Read and listen to the article. Find out
who Paul Keens-Douglas and Tanti Merle are.
Storytelling in the
Caribbean be told. One common feature though is the performance
tradition known as ‘crick crack’. Although this may
differ a little in each country, the basic idea is that the
audience participates in the storytelling. For example,
Storytelling plays a big part in the childhood of most people in St Lucia, where stories are usually told in French, the
growing up on the Caribbean Islands. It is a tradition that storyteller (known as the ‘conteur’) announces that he or
she wants to tell a story by shouting out ‘Crick!’ and the
was brought over from Africa by their ancestors many years audience show they want to listen by responding ‘Crack!’
ago and is a way of keeping their shared culture alive. The
stories are a way of remembering the past and making sure Throughout the performance, the storyteller continues
to involve the audience by inviting them to answer
it’s not forgotten in the future. questions and riddles and to make comments. In this
And despite the modern distractions of television and video
games, many Caribbean families still gather on the steps way, the storyteller and the audience become an almost
equally important part of the whole experience.
outside their homes, with the full moon in the sky and the But as well as the many traditional tales and myths
wind blowing gently through the palm trees, to hear stories
that they have already heard many times before. there are to be told, storytellers also create their own
The storyteller has an important position in Caribbean characters, and the most successful of these have
society. But it is not an art that is learned quickly. Good become part of cultural life. One of the most famous
storytellers in the West Indies is Paul Keens-Douglas, who
storytellers take years to perfect their performances. First,
they must collect a catalogue of good stories, which are was born in Trinidad but grew up in Grenada. Probably
often short and simple and should work well for people of his most popular character, Tanti Merle, is known
throughout the region and appears in many of his
all ages. They must then practise these on family members
to test out their material before moving on to larger crowds stories. Tanti Merle is a woman who is not afraid to say
in local community centres. From there they may choose to what she thinks and Keens-Douglas uses her as
a lovable comic figure to make
become travelling storytellers and move from town to town
looking for new audiences to share their tales with. And the comments on everyday life in
very best storytellers make it onto the international stage the Caribbean.
and travel the world. More recently many storytellers have
started using film to reach even more people.
With many Caribbean islands and people originating from
many African countries, there are lots of types of stories to
3 Read the article again. Mark the sentences T (true) or F (false). 4 SPEAKING
SPEAKING Work in pairs. Discuss these
1 Children in the Caribbean don’t use modern technology. questions.
2 Storytellers have to learn long detailed stories. 1 How does the Caribbean storytelling tradition
compare with storytelling in your country?
3 Audiences play an important part in the storytelling. 2 What stories are there about places near
4 You should shout ‘crack’ if you want to hear a story. where you live?
5 Storytellers only tell traditional stories.
54
Social Responsibilities
Understanding and describing own and others’ cultures
Makes informed comparisons between their own society and other societies.