Africans brought in bondage
to the New World soon learned a harsh reality: there would be no justice
for them in the Colonies. They began to adapt the trickster folktales
they brought with them across the Middle Passage into tales of cunning,
humor, and imagination - important survival skills in a hostile environment.
African animals such as the spider and the hare reemerged in the Colonies
to once again walk, talk, and stand tall in a new land. Brer Rabbit,
for instance, became an African-American icon of freedom. Small, but
clever, Brer Rabbit could always devise a plan to outwit creatures
who were larger and more powerful.
Task
What types of daily challenges
did African slaves encounter in the Colonies? What advice would African
storytellers want to pass on the newly arrived slaves to help them
adapt to and survive a life of bondage in the New World?
Revisit the tales you
have read and discussed during this unit. Find an African tale that
you could adapt to colonial American life. As a team, brainstorm and
develop a plot and cast of characters that would inspire generations
of African-Americans born into bondage.
Use the following list
of questions to guide you in developing a storyline that illuminates
the historical time period:
- Setting - In which
colony and what year does your tale take place?
- Conflict - What would
be a typical problem experienced by slaves in colonial America?
- Protagonist - What
type of character or animal could best experience the hardships
of colonial slavery?
- Antagonist(s) - What
type of character(s) or animal(s) would benefit from the institution
of slavery?
- Solution - How would
your protagonist use cunning and humor to overcome his/her problems?
Evaluation
- Step One: Complete
a written script of your folktale.
- Step Two: Prepare for
your oral presentation. Your presentation will be evaluated with
the Storytelling Scoring Guide.
