1. An Introduction to Oral Storytelling The Odyssey Unit

2. Discuss HW: 1. Based on your HW, what makes a person a good storyteller? 2. Volunteers Share Out:  What makes these stories interesting?  What determines whether you will pass on a story or not?

3. Background: EPIC POETRY has its roots in oral, not literate, tradition. ◦ These stories were originally passed on by BARDS, or professional poets who made their living by singing folk tales and epic poems to audiences. ◦ While the details often shifted from one telling to the next, the most important elements of the story always remained the same.

4. Our Focus: With your table group, create working definitions of: ◦ “oral tradition” ◦ “literate tradition” What are some of the problems related to using oral rather than written communication? Imagine memorizing your entire SSR book. Without having the book to look back at, could you tell the story the same way every time? With so much information and detail to remember, how was it possible for bards to memorize thousands of verses of poetry?!

5. Pass It On: As a group, choose a fairy tale, fable, or other story that you all know. charactersobjects actions Then, work together to identify the most important characters, objects, and actions in the story. Cinder ella Glass Slipper Fairy Godmo ther Wicked Stepmo ther Prince Pumpki n Coach Change at 12 Losing glass slipper Foot fits in Slipper Ugly Stepsist ers Why did most or all of your group identify the SAME elements of the story?

6. Commonalities: Share lists out to class ◦ What similarities do you notice? Why do you think there are similarities? What do these elements REPRESENT? ◦ Work with group to identify what each element in your story SYMBOLIZES

7. Pulling it Together: Epic Poems are longer than fairy tales, though. Bards used tricks to help remember and keep the story consistent: ◦ Mnemonic Devices ◦ Predictable Story Cycle ◦ Breaking it into Pieces

8. Finally, Often, traveling bards localized (personalized) elements of the stories they told as they traveled from one city or town to the next.