Reading Notes: West African Folktales, Part B

Most of these stories include a theme which centers around a character in the story not listening to directions given by another character. These all end in "told you so" or "should have listened" moments. If I were to rewrite one of these stories, I would try to come up with a story that could incorporate that same theme. 

How the Tortoise Got Its Shell

• I thought this was an interesting story because once again, I LOVE origin stories! I didn't even know where this one was going until the end, but I loved it regardless. 
• If I were to rewrite this, I would either talk about another drug or just something else that people are greedy with. 

The Ungrateful Man 

• This story was weird just because I was thinking to myself: Would someone actually do that?? Get helped by a hunter and then turn around and become jealous?? Would someone would ever think of it or try it...? 
• Hopefully not, but that's a serious question because I feel like everybody could use a little more gratefulness in their lives. 

How Mushrooms First Grew

• This story was funny because it kept passing on the responsibility of paying debts to another person or group. I liked the idea of that because that kind of stuff will never happen nowadays. You can't just transfer your debt to someone, because they will most likely not take on that responsibility. 
• If I were to rewrite this, I would think of another thing that people don't like, and make that the thing that people pass on to one another. 
• I could make it in a school setting, and have someone fail a test, and then think of who they talked to last, and blamed them. That person failed the next test, and blamed it on someone else or a particular group. This would keep happening until they blamed NHS (National Honors Society), who decided to actually study instead of blaming someone else for their failed test.

Source: How Mushrooms First Grew.

Bibliography: West African Folktales, Part B.