Garde 1 - Read-Aloud Supplemental Guide

174 Fables and Stories: Supplemental Guide 10A | All Stories Are Anansi’s

 Show image 10A-8: Anansi and the box of stories

Then Nyame called out, in a voice like thunder: “Listen to me! Anansi

has paid the price for the stories of the sky god, and I do hereby give

the stories to him. From this day forward, all of the stories belong to

Anansi. Whenever someone tells one of these stories, he or she must

acknowledge that it is Anansi’s tale. Everyone will know that these

stories belong to Anansi.”

Anansi took the box of stories back to Earth and shared them with

the people. They were grateful for the stories, and told them over and

over to their children, and to their children’s children, who told them to

their children, and so on. Even to this day, these stories are known as

“spider stories.”

At the end of many spider stories, the storyteller often says, “This is

my story which I have related, if it be sweet or if it be not sweet, take

(it) elsewhere and let it come back to me.”

[Tell students that now that they have heard this story, they can help to keep it

alive by telling it to someone else.]

Discussing the Read-Aloud 10 minutes

Comprehension Questions

If students have difficulty responding to questions, reread pertinent

lines of the story and/or refer to the images. Ask students to answer

in complete sentences by having them restate the question in their

responses. Model answers using complete sentences as necessary.

1. Literal What is the title of this folktale?
   
   
   • The title of this folktale is “All Stories Are Anansi’s.”
     [You may wish to remind students that this is an African folktale told by
     the Ashanti people of Ghana.]
   
   
   
   


2. Literal Who is the main character of this story? What animal is he?
   
   
   • The main character of this story is Anansi; he is a spider.
   
   
   
   


3. Literal Why does Anansi want the box of stories?
   
   
   • Anansi wants the box of stories to give to the people to make them
     happy and help them pass the time.