AFRICAN STORYTELLING - Character Traits to Use When Writing Your Fables

What is a character trait?
Character traits are all the aspects of a person’s behavior and attitudes that make up that person’s personality. Everyone has character traits, both good and bad. Even characters in books have character traits. Character traits are often shown with descriptive adjectives, like patient, unfaithful, or jealous. 1

AFRICAN STORYTELLING- Create Your Own Fable

WRITE YOUR OWN FABLE

If you understand the beginning well, the end will not trouble you.

-Ashanti Proverb

Do you know what a proverb is? 

A proverb is a phrase or saying that highlights a basic truth or way of life.  Proverbs can inform people how they should live their lives and the types of choices they should make.  Sometimes, to make the life lesson easier to learn, people write stories known as fables to make the proverb easier for listeners to accept. Fables are folktales with a moral attached to them.  It is sometimes easier for some people to learn a lesson if they do not know they are learning it. 

The most popular fables are those of Aesop. Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE.1 Click here to read some of Aesop's fables so that you can better understand what fables look like. 

After reading a few of Aesop's fables and getting an idea of what fables look like, take a look at the list of African proverbs below. Using one of the African proverbs and the list of story characteristics below that, each one of you will write a fable that you will share with the class when we return from the break.

AFRICAN PROVERBS

Ashanti of Ghana

One falsehood spoils a thousand truths..
Ashanti of Ghana

The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of its people.
Ashanti of Ghana

There is no medicine to cure hatred.
Ashanti of Ghana

Two men in a burning house must not stop to argue.
Ashanti of Ghana

He who is guilty is the one that has much to say.
Bahumaba

Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.
Buganda

Water always finds a way out.
Cameroon

Do not step on the dog's tail, and he will not bite you.
Congo

Love is like a baby: it needs to be treated tenderly.
Congo

The friends of our friends are our friends.
Congo

No matter how long the night, the day is sure to come.
Congo

To love someone who does not love you, is like shaking a tree to make the dew drops fall.
Cote D'Ivorie

When your neighbour is wrong you point a finger, but when you are wrong you hide.
Ethiopia

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.
Ethiopia

He who learns, teaches.

Ethiopia

Woman without man is like a field without seed.
Ethiopia

Unless you call out, who will open the door?
Ethiopia

The fool speaks, the wise man listens.
Ethiopia

A cat may go to a monastery, but she still remains a cat.
Ethiopia

The fool is thirsty in the midst of water.
Gola

One camel does not make fun of the other camel's hump.
Guinea

A good deed is something one returns.
Guinea

Knowledge is like a garden: if it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.
Nigeria

If you have one finger pointing at somebody, you have three pointing towards yourself.
Nigeria

You don't need pain killers for another man's headache.
Senegal

Equality is not easy, but superiority is painful.
Serere

It is better to be loved than feared.
Sierra Leone

Do not tell the man who is carrying you that he stinks.
Somali

The most dangerous thing a man needs is woman.
Sudan

The wind does not break a tree that bend

STORY CHARACTERISTICS

Introduce Character(s)

• Girl
• Boy
• Man
• Woman
• Animal
• Idea
• Machine
• Thing
• Plant

Environment

• Farm
• Village
• City
• Otherworld
• Mountains
• Forest
• Arctic
• Jungle
• Ocean
• Desert

Time

• Ancient Times
• Modern/Present Times
• Future

Problem

• Caught Stealing
• Told a Lie
• Saw or heard something they shouldn’t/a secret
• Lost something
• Been captured
• Under a spelll or curse
• Goes to forbidden place
• Has an enemy
• Is undervalued
• Is unrecognized
• Causes jealousy/envy
• Forgets something
• Broke something
• Does not like something
• Needs something
• Needs to escape or hide
• Needs to rescue someone/something
• Needs to prove their courage/worth

Inner Traits That Cause Original Trouble

• Is greedy
•  Dangerously curious
• Doesn’t follow advice
• Is lazy
• Is cowardly
• Is pessimistic
• Is blindly in love
• Is enraged and seeks revenge
• Is clumsy
• Is untrained
• Lacks confidence
• Is foolish
• Is mean

Inner Traits that Aid Solution

• Is brave
• Is resourceful
• Is imaginative
• Is kind
• Is generous
• Is clever
• Is loyal
• Is strong
• Is optimistic

Solution to Problem

• Has helper
• Is magical
• Is non-magical
• Is rescued
• Is transformed
• Discovers skill
• Finds magic
• Helps self
• Exercises cleverness
• Uses inner traits
• Journey is undertaken to obtain a solution

Conclusion

• Returns to original setting
• Becomes new in some way
• Is rewarded somehow
• Is wiser
• Is transformed into something else
• Comes with a gift or treasure

• Lives well
• Passes luck or reward onto others
• Has a positive impact on the world
• Offers wisdom to other

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1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop%27s_Fables