Week 7 Story: Anansi the Trickster
Anansi and the Tiger
Tiger had the most beautiful coat in the forest. This made Anansi very jealous. Anansi decided to devise a plan to ruin Tiger's fur. Anansi said to Tiger, "Come here and take a bath, Tiger". Tiger jumped in the bath, but when he came out he was all black. Anansi laughed and said, "That bath was a pool of tar". Tiger was outraged. He tried to wipe off the tar in a pool of water. He was not able to take it completely off so he remained orange with black stripes. Tigers are orange with black stripes to this day.
Anansi and the Moth
Moth was the most cunning creature in the forest. This made Anansi very jealous. Anansi decided to devise a plan to make Moth look stupid. Anansi said to Moth, "Come here and look at this light. This light holds secrets that not even you can discover". Moth flew over to the light. He found himself not being able to look away until he uncovered the secrets. Anansi gathered the other animals in the forest and told them how stupid Moth was acting. They all laughed at Moth and called him stupid. Moths, to this day, still act stupid around light.
Anansi and the Dog
Dog was the most popular creature in the forest. Everyone loved Dog's playful personality. This made Anansi jealous. Anansi devised a plan to make Dog look crazy. Anansi said to Dog, "There is something on your tail". Dog tried to grab his tail, but Dog was not able to catch it. Dog kept running in circles to grab his tail. Anansi called over the other animals of the forest and told them to look at how crazy Dog was acting. They were all frightened by Dog's behavior and ran away. To this day, Dogs still try to grab their tails.
Author's Note:
I wrote these three 100 word stories based off of the 100 words stories from "The Tales of Anansi". All these stories are about Anansi, a spider, and how he tricks other animals (sometimes he's successful and sometimes he's not). I noticed that there were several stories that explained why animals look the way they look or act the way they act. For example, there was a story about why spiders weave webs. I wanted to take inspiration from that and write my own stories about why Tigers have black stripes, why moths are attracted to light, and why dogs chase their tails.
I wanted to also make the writing style similar to how they were told in "The Tales of Anansi". No names are ever given to the animals except for the spider, Anansi.
Bibliography:
"Tiny Tales of Anansi" by Laura Gibbs (weblink)
Hi Helen,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading through this story and thought what you did was really cool. I loved reading through your versions of why animals were attracted to their own individual things. I thought it was a really good idea. It was also really well written and I was able to read along easily. I look forward to reading more of your work this semester.
Hi Helen,
ReplyDeleteI love these microfictions! I think they all go well together by hearing how Anansi tricked three different animals, thus making them what they are today. Your tiger story was very fun. It also made me begin to think about what tigers would look like if they didn't have black stripes, and it kinda freaked me out because I've never thought of a tiger looking like that! I found the dog story hilarious. My dogs do the same thing when they chase their own tails and they always look silly. Good job!
Hi Helen!
ReplyDeleteI love writing microfictions too! I love how you chose to do three this week and all of them being different animals! Your tiger story was my favorite because it was so fun! I thought it was clever to make the tiger bathe and reverse his stripes! I think it could be great if you added a photo of what that would look like! I also loved your dog story! Of course the dog was the most popular animal in the forest! It was hilarious how the dog couldn't stop chasing his tail! Sounds like a normal dog to me! Overall, great job!