Story #6 – Women’s Memoirs, StoryMap: The Neverending Writing PromptTM – Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler
I’ve become fascinated with storytelling, and as I think about it, I believe it’s an art form I come to naturally. Although cave art is at least 60,000 years old (the oldest evidence being some ochre paint found in a rock shelter in northern Australia), it’s the oral tradition that’s usually considered our earliest form of storytelling.
I’ve been telling stories almost since I could talk. I used to sit in the backseat of my parent’s car and entertain myself by telling stories.
Sometimes I drove my mother to the point of distraction with my incessant talking. Finally, she’d say…“Kendra, stop talking for 10 minutes.”
Rather than immediately obey, I’d have to ask, “Why?”
“Just because.” She always stopped short of adding, “…because I said so.” I think she used to say something like, “I just need you to be quiet for a little while.”
I’d usually shrug my shoulders and go off in search of someone else to talk with…someone else to wear out with my stories and questions.
So this morning I started thinking about the history of storytelling, and decided to make a list of examples. Here’s what I came up with. If any of you think of something I missed, please add it in the comments.
- Aesop’s Fables—While the true origin of these ancient Greek tales (c. 300 BCE) is in question, tradition attributes them to a slave storyteller named Aesop. Like “The Tortoise and the Hare,” most are animal stories with a strong moral message. [click to continue…]
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