Oral
Traditions
Presenting
a Family Story or Tradition
Your task is to make an audio
or video recording of a family member or neighbor
telling an interesting family
story, family tradition, or tradition, perhaps from his or her native
country. The story's purpose is to either teach,
entertain, or present feelings about an event that is important to the
family. This is the type of oral tradition told around the
Thanksgiving Dinner table that everyone in the family remembers, and
either laughs or weeps about. Remember, these
are
stories that are told as an oral tradition, much as immigrant
families pass down stories without writing them down.
You will present the
recording
to a group in the class, or to the whole class.
Some
examples are:
- How grandmother's family celebrated
the new year when she lived in China.
- How Uncle Tony met his bride.
- How our family name originated and what it
means.
- An adventure your mother or I had when we
were little was...
Steps:
- Make a list of family members or neighbors you might
record.
- Choose a person who is a good storyteller.
- Contact the person, explain the nature of your
assignment, ask the person to participate, and arrange a time for the
recording. Remember, this is not an interview.
- Locate a tape recorder or video camera and prepare it
for the recording. Check the battery, obtain a blank tape,
etc.
- Before conducting the recording, informally record a
conversation and then play it back to check the sound and/or video
quality. Adjust the sound level and position if necessary,
make sure that you have sufficient light, etc.
- Before you begin to record, remind the storyteller of
the assignment's purpose - to give an account of a family
tradition.
- Be sure to ask the person to use colorful and
descriptive language with plenty of adjectives and adverbs.
- At the beginning of the recording, state your name and
introduce the storyteller.
- Then ask the storyteller to tell his or her story.
- Before you leave the session, play the tape back to
check the sound and/or video quality. If the quality is
poor, or if the storyteller made mistakes, re-record the story.
- Bring the tape, and playback device, if necessary, to
the next class and present it to your classmates.
Scoring
Criteria:
- Due on (approximately January 5th)
- The presenter introduced herself or himself, and the
storyteller.
- The sound quality was acceptable.
- The storyteller told a family story, tradition, or
tradition from his or her native country, or the town of Dorset.
- The story recording was presented to the class or a
small group.
Sample
Chase's
grandfather talks about growing up in NewYork. 1.78MB
http://www.dorsetschool.org