RES 5535: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (summer 2010)

In reading this article about the Lost Boys of the Sudan, I can’t wrap my mind around their plight and tragedies. To say they lost everything is not an exaggeration. They lost their home, their families, their culture----they lost their world. However, the one thing they didn’t lose was their will to carry on.
They traveled on foot through their war ravaged country to have to endure Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. Here they survived living as refugees. After a decade, some were resettled in the United States. Even though this would seem the path to a chance at a different life, these boys were leaving what was left of their identity and culture. They came to a strange and very different life. Their challenges were not over, just changing.
Now they were safe, but faced the new, overwhelming task of trying to integrate with American culture while keeping their traditions alive. One way they attempted to do this was by “transforming” their custom of oral storytelling. In the past, these stories were told to “teach beliefs, history, traditions, values and beliefs.” They were stories passed on orally by members within their community. In their new home, The Lost Boys kept the practice of story-telling alive, but changed it in several important ways. The stories obviously were now told and shared with people outside of their community. Having learned to read and write, these stories could be written down as well as told. They used these stories to tell others about their experiences and to “call others to act” to help their country. Through these stories, these young men were able to share their experiences and grow in their literacy and communication skills which helped empower them and connect with their new world. It is said best in the words of one of the lost boys (from a video on YouTube entitled “Jonglei Cultural Center 0006):

JongleiCultureCenter — April 03, 2009 — So much has happened to us in the South Sudan and particularly those of us called the "Lost Boys," that in order to for us to preserve our identity we must build communal experiences through storytelling, the education of the community and the visual expression of our past. This provides communal and morale support through sharing experiences of refugee life, maintaining open lines of communication, and no less important, facilitating of the resettlement of communities of Lost Boys. These ongoing connections are at the heart of what art means to the refugees of the South Sudan.

This is a powerful example of how literacy and the motivation and need to learn literacy can be a tool for positive change.

Susan Hines

After spending a couple days reading through Perry’s article about the use of storytelling to write, I came to the conclusion that storytelling may be a better way to express ones feelings then through writing. I believe this to be true because when you are listening to someone tell a story you get a feeling of being there, true you can get lost in the pages of a book, but when you sit back and watch the emotions, tone and actions of the person telling the story there is a better connection between what is being told and what the listener is taking from the story. Growing up a lot of people learn so much about their families and their lives through the stories they listen to from members of their families. These stories are not written down on the pages of a book, instead they are passed along orally, just like the people of Sudan do. Growing up in a modern world, many things that we read about the older days is boring and we as readers do not get a true feel or understanding of what was really happening during that time, because it is so different then how we live now. I can try to read about past events and if I don’t fall asleep while reading then when I get to the end I have no clue what I have read. This has been the case for me for a long time, but if I take the time to sit down with someone older and listen to their life stories I learn so much more. I get a better picture of what they are saying and trying to tell me. Not only am I learning, but I feel connected to the event because of the emotions the person is as they tell the story.
As I read this article, I starred the quote, “individuals are caught in the tensions between past histories that have settled in them and the present discourses and images that attract them or somehow impinge upon them.” I took from this quote that the stories we have been told help to shape us to who we become along with the life that is lived around us. Each generation parents pass on to their children parts of themselves and their lives, but at the same time the children are learning things through their own experience. Both the ideas that children are taught through their parents stories and through their daily encounters in life help to determine how children act and react to the life they live. Just like oral storytelling, children lose part of their parents as they grow and change.
Storytelling happens to change overtime too, and the only way to preserve these family stories is through writing them down, maybe not to read, but to give the storyteller a reminder of what the whole story is saying, not just what can be remembered.
One other quote that touched me while reading was, “the spoken rather than the written word is of central importance.” This quote made me automatically think about how generations before us spoke of how a hand shake was as good as a legal contract between people. Sometimes it is the trust that people need in others and in themselves to truly tell their life story; a story that can be written down, but doesn’t have the full effect until the writer is able to verbally express all the emotions of their story as they tell it to others.
Francis, Chol, and Ezra all took their life stories to “teach” their teachers who they are, where they come from, and their dreams. These three students used their voice and their life to write about who they are. Through their voice, I was able to feel how they felt growing up on the run and the trial and tribulations they went through. I could never imagine how a young child could live alone going from place to place seeing deaths, rapings, and many other things that no one person should never experience in their life. I wish that all students had a solid foundation, stable home, and love, and hopefully one day that will be true.
As a teacher sometimes we need to listen to our students through their stories and their pictures in order to understand fully about them and what they have inside themselves shaping their lives. Writing about life experiences is so much easier than on a topic someone gives you, so again the article goes back to the idea of giving students a choice in their learning and writing.

Meredith Bromley

This article was very interesting to me because I never thought of telling stories as a way of achieving literacy. I chose the title because everyone has a story to tell and everyone has told a story at least once in their lifetime, regardless of your skin color, race, gender, age, socioeconomic status, etc. However, as Perry mentioned, "what people do with languages and literacies is patterned by social relationships as well as by cultural values, beliefs, attitudes, and identities. The best quote from her article was this one: "Human beings narrate to remember, instill cultural knowledge, grapple with a problem, rethink the status quo, soothe, empathize, inspire, speculate, justify a position, dispute, tattle, evaluate one's and other's identities, shame, tease, laud, entertain, among other ends." I like this quote because it proves that all people have a purpose for telling a story, whether good or bad. A story told by a person tells a lot about that person. Where they came from and what they believe. A story told by someone is closely linked to a community's beliefs, values, and attitudes.

I never really thought about how much stories impact the world around us by changing and influencing the way people feel and think. Telling stories is different for different people. For example, in the Sudan cultural communities stories are told orally. Print literacy is not involved. However, stories still serve the same purpose because there is a beginning and end and there is always a point to a story. In other cultures print literacy is encouraged. People write stories in the form of novels, memoirs, and other written forms. I think that both types of literacy are important - both print and nonprint. As teachers our jobs is to make sure that students are exposed to both types. Students obviously need print literacy to help them become good readers and to learn about the world around them by just having to depend on someone to tell you these things. If you cannot read then you are limited to what you can learn. If you can read then there is nothing stopping you from learning. You can learn about anything you want to. Nonprint literacy teaches students how to speak orally in front of people. You deal with people in everyday life and in order to be successful you must know how to talk to people.

I like to refer to nonprint literacy as "street smarts". In my seventh grade resource class this year I taught a student who could not read. He had been passed from grade to grade never learning to be literate. When he got to my class, I was bothered by this because I could not imagine what it would be like to grow up not being able to read. The crazy thing about this student was that he definitely had "street smarts". This kid was one of the smartest students I had ever taught because he knew a little bit about everything just by listening to people talk and tell stories. The student did not have good attendance at all and actually transfered out of my class before the end of the year. He moved to a different school district. But the point I am trying to make is that this student of mine would not be able to fill out a job application because he could not read, but the sad part is that he was so smart and knew a little bit about everything and all of that would be of no use if he could not ever read.

It is important to be literate with both print and nonprint materials. Everyone can tell stories and I think that as teachers it is our job to encourage to students to write those stories down on paper and to teach them how to read other people's stories. You can always tell when children have been read to or have heard stories because at a young age they will start telling stories or writing stories with a "remix" of stories they have heard. Most of them are very popular like Goldilocks and the Three Bears or the Three Little Pigs, etc.

When I first started reading this article by K. Perry I was worried that I was reading the wrong thing because the language was crazy and something I had never seen before. However, when I starting reading about the "Lost Boys" from Sudan I realized that storytelling is important in every culture. People relate to one another through storytelling. I think that is what we need to get at as teachers. The kids should be able to relate to what they are learning. I think that students would be more eager to learn to read and engage themselves in text if we provide them a variety of opportunities to do so!

Katy Dellinger

The Lost Boys lost everything and were transported to another country. All they had left of their cultures was their stories. Storytelling was a very important part of their lives. Their culture was rich in oral storytelling. That was how traditions were passed from generation to generation. The elders told the stories to the younger generations and the oral traditions lived on from generation to generation. The Lost Boys used storytelling in the United States to make their voices known. They used their storytelling to make sense of the world around them. As they settled in the United States they expanded their storytelling beyond their culture to tell their story of the oppression in their country. They used their storytelling to educate the world about the reality of the situations in Sudan. They learned how to put their oral stories into words on paper writing editorials, autobiographies, and narratives. The boys learned how to put their stories on paper and use literacy in real world situations. Through their stories both oral and written their voices were heard around the world.
The Lost Boys were also able to compare and contrast the cultures in Sudan and the United States in storytelling. In Sudan storytelling, dancing, singing and poetry were important parts of the culture. The families expressed themselves through these things in their culture. In the United States they learned how to put their oral traditions down on paper to educate outside their culture. Their stories were once only shared within their culture, but after their experiences they learned how to share their stories to educate the world. The Lost Boys wanted their stories told so that others could understand what life was like in the country. If they had chosen not to tell their story then their way of life in Sudan would have been lost and untold. We would not have an insight into what happened in the country if they had chosen to be silent. If they had chosen to be silent then their stories would not have been passed down within their group or in the world.
I spoke of oral traditions with my grandmother in my introduction of myself. She is a great storyteller and she has passed down the true stories of the great flood in the Mortimer area of the mountains, stories about her childhood, and fictional stories that were told to her by her mother and grandmother. She has shared her stories with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Her children passed the same stories down to their children, but no one can tell the stories like her. She experienced many of the stories first hand. She is 95 years old and she still remembers many of the stories and is eager to tell them to anyone who stops by. She had never written her stories down so we have preserved her stories by writing them down as she tells them and making CD’s of her telling the stories. We had to preserve that important part of our family’s history.
I tend to believe that oral storytelling is a dying art. Our generation does not place as much emphasis on oral storytelling. Instead, more of an emphasis is placed on written language.

Michelle Moffitt

I felt very sad for the “Lost Boys,” they lost everything. Their villages were destroyed, their families were killed or made to be slaves. They had to hide so they would not be forced to fight. I can’t even imagine having to go through all of that and still being able to make a life for oneself. Once they made it to America all they had left of their culture was their stories.
I like the point the article made that literacy is related to culture. “What people do with languages and literacies is patterned by social relationships as well as by cultural values, beliefs, attitudes, and identities.” For the lost boys a central part of their literacy was story telling. This is the way the information about their lives before they came to America was staying alive through them telling their stories. The stories help them see where they fit into the world and how their lives are making an impact on the stories they will continue to tell.
The literacy of the “Lost Boys” was more verbal than written. Do we give our students enough time to express themselves verbally?? So many students can tell you a great story but when it comes to putting in on paper there is a breakdown between what is in their head and what they put on paper. In the Somalia and Sudan culture storytelling, reciting poems singing songs are important ways of teaching and learning. Research done with Hawaiian children found that incorporating these kinds of activities improved the children’s literacy development. In kindergarden we do these kinds of activities but it seems the older the children get less of these kinds of activities to participate in. I think that students need a mix of both verbal and written literacy activities.
Story telling is a very old custom that is evident in many cultures, races and ethnicities. This is a custom that is important to pass on from generation to generation. As teachers we need to encourage story telling but also help children with putting those stories into writing.
I enjoyed getting to know the “Lost Boys” and hear their stories. I found that this article was good to read after reading the Henry article. Students must have a voice and be willing to use it so that they can become story tellers.
Ashley Caldwell

This article tells of three young men, from the Sudan, who lost their parents due to a civil war. Storytelling was important when these young men lived in the Sudan. The older generations would pass down traditional stories to the young people about their culture. When these boys became orphaned, they eventually moved to the United States where traditional storytelling (as their elders had told them) didn’t seem to fit in. These young men realized that in order to keep their culture alive, they had to tell stories about the Sudan. These young men realized their stories needed to be transformed from an oral to a written form.

This study shows how literacy changes with time. Stories about a culture used to be oral and in the mind. These boys realized they had to share their stories with the rest of the world through print so their culture would not be lost when they were no longer around. The stories the Lost Boys tell inform people about their culture and help educate the world about the struggles their people have faced.

As teachers, we need to give all our students time to write and talk about what is important to them. Teachers should allow students of the minority (and all students) the opportunity to talk and write about their culture, family, lives, and beliefs. We should help students realize that what they say is important and what they write can help educate others. Teachers should encourage students to write for a purpose by submitting their writings to school newspapers, local newspapers, magazines, etc. Students should not be forced to talk or write about their culture, but should be allowed to if they desire.

~Jamie Brackett

How many times did you hear Come and Sit on my lap I want to tell you a story growing up? I think that the art of story telling is so important to remember our history and Perry tells us that in her article. I can still remember the times when my grandma would tell me stories about how they escaped from Russia on the train during the wars and I was so intrigued. I could listen to those kinds of stories all the time.

That is the same for the Lost Boys. Growing up they learned about their history by story telling. They did not have the means to write down what they had so in order to remember it they would share with those younger of the same sex. Perry says, “I define storytelling as a sociocultural practice that may or may not involve print literacy in practices” that is exactly what the Sudanese did. When the Lost Boys came to the U.S. they were encouraged to write a paper about Sudan, Bok said, “It was my opportunity to educate the other students about a country they hadn’t heard of—even though it was the largest nation on the largest continent”. I think that this is so important because then they could be preserved for years to come once the Lost Boys have passed on. They could have chosen to forget their past and move on but they didn’t. They persevered and decided to take their story telling and put it onto paper. In the end Bok and Ezra’s stories were used to “attempt to pursued listeners/readers to act—either to modify the ineffective programs, or keep the Sudan off the U.N. Security Council”. If the Lost Boys had not been encouraged to write what they had this may never have happened.

I think that it is important for us as teachers to give our students the opportunity to think about and write about their memories. I try to give my students opportunities to write about what is important to them. I the beginning of the year my students have opportunities to share about what is important to them and then as the year goes on and their writing improves they are given many opportunities to write about those memories. These memories are so important to have because you never know when years down the road, just like the Lost Boys, they can use this memory to help change what happened in the past.

Natalie Enns

Though this article was on a very painful, horrible, topic, there was still some positive in it. I thought it was wonderful how these Sudanese orphans educated their new community of Michigan. Their Sudanese stories were retold to the community for many reasons and were told in many ways. Some of their older more traditional stories were retold to help them maintain their culture and identity. Because of their oral culture, most stories were passed down via storytelling. These special stories that make their culture what it is are important to these men. They continue to pass them down and to retell them to anyone who will listen. They are a type of comfort because they are usually taught to them by a relative or someone close. These stories also remind them of who they are and where they came from. The community these boys moved to in Michigan was eager to hear stories from their culture, because it taught them a lot about the Sudanese way of life. On the other hand the Lost Boys of the Sudan used stories to educate the world about what is going on in the Sudan and to empower refugees and others to act against this horrible event. This version of storytelling was used for political purposes. Sharing their stories was very empowering to Chol, Ezra, and Francis. It was also a therapeutic way for them to deal with their trauma. These boys used their voice in a positive yet educational manner. They were very assertive in informing the world about what was going in Africa.

I thought the use of storytelling to teach literacy was interesting. I started to think about what other cultures this could work in. I started to brainstorm cultures that may lack in literacy skills such as reading and writing, but are advanced in oral story telling. I thought about some rural Appalachian cultures. I wondered if some of them may benefit from this same method of using storytelling to teach literacy. It was amazing how the Lost Boys of Sudan transformed their traditional practice of storytelling.

How often do we as teachers incorporate storytelling in our classrooms? The article stated that “Human beings narrate to remember, instill culture, knowledge, grapple with a problem, rethink the status quo, soothe, emphasize, inspire, speculate, justify a position dispute, tattle, evaluate one’s and other’s identities, shame, tease, laud, entertain…” With all this that storytelling encompasses, why wouldn’t teachers use it more in the classroom? Authentic literacy could be used to help students develop their own voice, empower refugees, and help refugees deal with the traumatic events they have been through.

The use of storytelling actually helped with the writing process as seen evident in Chol. Writing has a language like storytelling. The better you get with one the better you can get with the other.

I was impressed at how these Lost Boys of the Sudan came from a lifestyle where they were not expected to do much reading and writing and acted the way they did in the U.S. They came to the U.S. and were so determined to improve their lives by getting an education. They enrolled in community colleges and schools while working part time. The article said that they viewed education and literacy as keys for improving their own personal lives and the collective future of the Sudan. I couldn’t believe that after all they had been through, especially on their pilgrimage that they would be so determined about their future and education. They just didn’t give up. They are strong in mind and will!

These boys knew that being literate mean access to power. They described English as a language of empowerment for their community. Although they still felt the need to become literate in their own local languages in order to preserve their cultures and communities. It was interesting that they spoke many languages but were literate in English.

A lot of the data for this study emerged form interviews. I assumed this was because the Lost Boys of the Sudan were storytellers by heart.

Maria Blevins

What a wonderful story of strength and courage about the Lost Boys of the Sudan! I think sometimes we dismiss storytelling as a lesser form of literacy than reading and writing, but this article proves to us just how important it is. Without storytelling, where would the Lost Boys be?
These boys are fortunate to be sandwiched in-between traditional and transformed storytelling. They are fortunate because they have learned about their past through traditional storytelling and are educating others about their journeys through transformed storytelling. They use both forms of storytelling to sort out who they are, where they’ve been, and where they are going. Storytelling for these boys is a form of therapy. It allows them to express their feelings and educate others about the strife in their native country. While telling their stories they are educating others, learning English and how the language works mechanically. Although they believed English was a language of empowerment, they still needed to know their own languages in order to preserve their histories.
When I ask my students to write memoirs, they inevitably say they do not know what to write or how to write it. I tell them to write what they would say. It is a struggle for many to get the thought from their head to come out the end of the pencil, but isn’t writing merely talking through a pencil? I think if we focused more on their content and less on the mechanics during the initial writing process our students would stop saying they don’t know what to write. We need to teach our students how to tell a story first and then clean up the mechanics of it. I don’t know about you, but when I read something my comments are on the content, not the grammar. I say "What a great story!" When I help my students with their writing, I help them with content – making sure it flows in order, details are provided, and explanations are given. I want my students to be storytellers first and writers second.
And aren’t we storytellers everyday in the classroom? We use stories to enhance our lessons. We tell stories about our families, previous students, and local cultures. One story alive and well in my school is the fact it is haunted. The kids love hearing the ghost stories of our own school and the Indian ghosts haunting it. The Lost Boys article teaches us how powerful and educational storytelling can be and that we should not dismiss it as a lesser form of literacy.
Jennifer wagoner

To Tell Your Story

As I read this article I could not help but imagine how hard it must have been for them strive to become more than that which they have came from. I could only hope to have students with such a desire to overcome any obstacles in the way of their education. We as a society have not had to face such hardships and that is one of the reasons many take education forgranted.
Seeing how Chol, Ezra, and Francis have taken their oral storytelling and used it as a basis for learning to write and become literate in order to reach many goals including, preserving their personal histories and cultural traditions, sharing their stories and the histories of their cultures with others not from their background, and finally to become the people they are today, was so inspiring. Although they were exposed to storytelling when they were with their families as part of everyday life as a way to preserve and pass down family history, traditions and cultural practices, to keep this after facing the horrific trials of walking 1,000 miles to find a safe place, always in danger of death, was amazing.
The art of storytelling in their traditional way for a specific audience and purpose has been transformed into a new form of storytelling, through sharing their stories for an audience different from themselves, with a purpose of informing others of the tragic lives of Southern Sudanese and to call people into action on behalf of their people. Having the courage and endurance to do so much for their people, having overcome their circumstances, getting educated and reaching their personal goals they are an example to behold.
On page 349 I think the thing Ezra is saying about tolerance and understanding should be embraced by all:

There is not any culture in the world that is superior to any other culture, so it is very important for each group of people to keep their culture but then learn not only to be self-centered in their culture, but also learn other cultures and learn to appreciate other cultures and learn to interact and intermingle with other cultures.

This spoke volumes to me and as a teacher I know I need to educated myself about the different cultures of my students and know how to interact with their families to best meet the needs of each of them.
This article also reminds me that storytelling is a very powerful form of literacy, one that must not be overlooked as we teach our students to express themselves through varies forms of literacy.

Tracy Icenhour

As I read this research I began to realize how much I have missed out on storytelling. I know when I talk to friends and/or family I can retell an event, but I don't know that it would necessarily fit in the genre of storytelling. I don't know that my students even know how to really "tell" a story. They can retell the events, but not necessarily in story-like fashion. The sad thing is that I wouldn't even know where to begin. I don't consider myself a great writer which is definitely related to telling a story, so I'm not sure I would be a great model for storytelling.
I do think it is true that you might see more storytelling in an environment that isn't as fast paced as ours in America. One of the boys pointed out that now that he is in America he doesn't tell stories as often because there is work to do. I think this is sad. Just think of the family time and closeness you could get by setting up a storytelling enviornment at home or even in your classroom. I wonder though . . . what would I tell a story about. If you take into consideration the traumatic life these boys lived through, I could definitely see that they would have a story to tell. I don't want to take away from the great life that I have lived, but I can't see that it would make for great storytelling.
I find it fascinating that these boys know they need a great education to be successful in America. One of the boys even made the connection to earlier education being one of the reasons he was able to finish college on time whereas other students that started when he did are still being remediated. I also found it interesting how the purpose of storytelling changed as these boys came to America. Before the stories were told to keep their culture going throught the younger generations, but as these boys came to America they told their stories in hopes of a change. Because these boys were already so familiar with stories through storytelling, they were easily motivated to work with stories in print.
I wonder . . . is storytelling easier for those who have been through more hardships? Would we find storytelling in most cultures that have suffered extreme hardships? They seem to have such a story to tell. These celebrities that live such a lavish life and live through so many experiences seem to have quite the story to tell. My grandparents who have lived through so many of life's experiences definitely have stories to tell. So, will this storytelling just come easier to me as I have more stories to pass down and live through more of life's experiences?
Angie Sigmon

I found several interesting points in this article. Darfur has been close to my heart for a long time. It is heart-wrenching to think that these things go on everyday while I am eating at McDonalds! Oh well, no soapboxes today.
The first thing I noticed was that the boys transformed their traditional storytelling into something new and relevant for their new surroundings and situation. They have a uniquely important job: writing their stories down to allow others (who can't get to "hear" them) to know their plight and the plight of Sudan. Even in the camp, some of the children's works were published to generate international interest for Sudan. How powerful is literacy, written or oral!
Second, I found it interesting that they believed education and literacy would improve their lives and their country's. How many American children seem to care about the free education they have access to?!
Third, I loved the description of why we tell stories. To paraphrase, we tell stories to remember, instill culture, soothe, empathize, inspire, speculate, dispute, tattle, evaluate, shame, tease, entertain, and so on. I loved this! It was like a teacher poster you would see hanging on a classroom wall. I also underlined "Storytelling is a powerful form of sensemaking." Children learn so much from adults and each other through the stories they hear and tell. They learn to navigate the world. They learn tolerance and prejudice, right and wrong.
Fourth, I found it interesting that research about story telling and literacy learning has mainly been conducted on young children (preK-2). In first grade, we do lots of story telling with puppets, author's chair, reader's chair, readers' theater, share time, etc. Every morning, we start with journaling. When the students come in and try to tell me what they did the night before, I say, "tell me in your journal, tell me with your pencil." I try to encourage them to talk with their pencil. I give them lots of opportunities to talk to me throughout the rest of the day.
I think there can be a direct link between storytelling and writing and reading. Teachers can find creative ways to link the two if they only look. As listed above, there are some for young children that can be adapted for older children.
Christy Findley

As I read I found that I couldn't even imagine how difficult their lives must have been as children who had been orphaned and were struggling just to survive. For them to have the strength and courage to travel through the desert for hundreds of miles, some even 1,000 miles, is amazing. I also found their stories to be inspirational. They not only struggled early on, but they used that struggle to push themselves to acheive all that they wanted to in life. They didn't just "sit around" waiting for something great to happen or pity themselves like people often do. They worked hard and earned their degrees and are spreading their stories for the others who were left behind. I want to learn more about their stories and their lives. I plan on reading at least one of the texts mentioned towards the end of the article.

For Ezra, Chol, & Francis, they are continuing the tradition of storytelling that their ancestors have carried on for generations, just in a different way. They have written their stories down so that hopefully they'll never be forgotten. Now they have the opportunity to spread their message to the world, hopefully causing others to take notice and set the wheels of change in motion. Just as I didn't know anything about this, I am sure many others didn't know as well.

As teachers, it's vital to our students' education that we allow them to share stories about their lives outside of school and their families' cultures and traditions in order to see the child for who they really are and get the "big picture." It will allow us to reach them and engage their interests. Having students journal and then allowing them to share with their peers allows them to do this. Also, setting aside time for them to share verbally with their peers is equally important, especially to those students who aren't very comfortable when they write.

We should also provide opportunites for our students to experience hearing storytellers by having members of the community and even parents come to school and share their stories. We have had career day, meterologists, and authors come and share, so why not a storyteller or someone with firsthand experience to share their life experiences with children?

Reshawna Greene

When I was in college in 1989, my brother, sisters, and I decided to have a family portrait made for our parents for Christmas. I did not have a car at the time so my brother-in-law said he would pick me up from my dorm. In my dorm, there was a paging system that was used by the front desk attendant to inform people when they had a visitor. Unfortunately, the intercom in my room was broken, so the person at the front desk would have to do an “all-call” throughout the dorm whenever I had a visitor. My brother-in-law, quite the jokester, decided to have a little fun with this situation and he had the attendant call for “Bug” Rice. (My nickname among family and people I grew up with has always been “Bug.” It’s a long story involving a creative uncle!) When I heard that announced over the paging system throughout the dorm, I could not believe what I was hearing! I was furious that he would actually do that. It embarrassed the heck out of me, just like he knew it would. From that time forward, whenever we would get together for any type of family gathering, I could always count on him bringing up that story, much to my chagrin. Sadly, he passed away in 2007, but the story, over the years, became such a part of the family lore that it is still mentioned every once in a while by one of his daughters. Whenever I hear it now, I have to chuckle and it brings back memories of a time that used to be.

When I read the article by Perry, I thought of the story mentioned above. Perry mentions how Francis, one of the “Lost Boys,” told her that “traditional storytelling often happened in the evenings in Africa, when groups of Sudanese gathered together to share stories” (p. 334). While the story mentioned above was usually told around the table after a Sunday lunch, not in the evenings, the premise is the same. Familial stories are told that provide a connection or bond among those who hear and tell the stories. I am wondering, however, if storytelling as a means of imparting cultural and historical information (p. 335) is a dying art. When I think of storytelling in the context of families today here in America, I think more along the lines of parents sharing stories with kids from books, not instilling within their children some type of all-important knowledge that I envision happening from the Sudanese storytelling.

On page 340, Perry writes that the “audiences for storytelling in the Sudan and Kakuma primarily consisted of people who shared a common frame of reference with the storyteller.” Upon reading this, the first thought that jumped into my mind was the black feminist theories mentioned in the previous post concerning Henry and Staples. I did not have the same frame of reference and, therefore, not as much meaning was imparted as if I had been familiar with these theories.

In the interview with Ezra, Perry states that Ezra says it is “important to you as a male to learn from male older people, and then also the same thing was true for the girls” (p. 340). This gave me the impression that the storytelling that occurred was strictly segregated by gender. Did the girls ever talk to the elder males and hear their stories or did the boys ever hear stories from the elder females? While I realize Sudanese culture is different from American culture, it would seem to me that one’s storytelling history would be so much richer if stories were heard from both sides. I know that I cherish the stories I have from both my mother and father and I would consider it to be a loss to only have one or the other.

A very powerful point made by Perry on page 344 was her assertion that the “Lost Boys” began to transform the purpose of their storytelling from an act of preservation to one of advocacy for change. Until approximately five years ago, I would never have really thought about the power behind that statement. Around that time, I began to share my story with others about the struggles I had growing up and coming to terms with the fact that I was gay. Whereas I was once afraid for others to know who I was, I became increasingly adamant that what I had experienced was not going to happen to others. I spoke at a few different community functions, at a Teaching Fellows workshop, and in front of a gathering at a PFLAG (Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) convention. I began to see the power of using my story to impact the lives of others and inspire within them a desire for action, much like the “Lost Boys” wanted to use their stories to help others see the need for change in their home country. In fact, I am almost certain that storytelling has played a similar role throughout history. Through the power of the spoken word, others have been inspired to act, whether it was women’s suffrage, the emancipation of slaves, or any other historical event which marked a period of social change. As written by Phahhotep in his Maxims of Ptahhotep, “Be a craftsman in speech that thou mayest be strong, for the strength of one is the tongue, and speech is mightier than all fighting.”

Clyde Rice

I was so impressed with the story shared in the article. I was amazed that these three young men shared their stories about the tragedies they had endured. Not only did they share of their past experiences, but they also used story telling as a means to expose American citizens to the events occurring in the Dinkan region. These young men saw as boys the worst life has (murder and war) but yet were able to escape. Then they saw the importance of education as a way overcome their experiences and make themselves better. I thought about how there are many children in my class who whine and complain if they get a vanilla cupcake instead of chocolate for someone’s birthday party at school. These “Lost Boys” have not forgotten who they are or put their culture aside to adapt a new one in which they now live. They were able to appreciate their new home’s language and cultural norms while still holding onto their original values from their African tribes. I was very much impressed with Ezra’s interview in which he stated “ I think there is NOT ANY culture in the world that is superior to any other culture, so it is VERY IMPORTANT for each group of people to KEEP their CULTURE but then LEARN not only to be self-centered in their culture, but also LEARN other cultures and learn to appreciate OTHER CULTURES and LEARN to interact and intermingle with other cultures.” I wish that more people could view the world in this way. When traveling to big cities like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, I do see more of a melting pot. The feelings I get in these cities is one of acceptance and cultural appreciation. Here, in rural land, I do not get the same feelings of openness and acceptance. I want to raise a child that appreciates all people and their cultures. I have spent time abroad, which I think opened my eyes to life outside small town America. My parents and grandparents think that such travel is frivolous and unimportant. I don’t know how to get them to accept other people and cultures.

Another thing that moved me when reading the article was the fact that Francis stated that most of the storytelling was done in the evenings. I wander in today’s society how many families even talk in the evenings now. It seems we are all so busy and television is such a vital role in American family life that there is little time for talking, let alone sharing stories and that is sad. As I read about storytelling in this article I remembered going to my great grandmother’s as a child. She lived in the country and there was no television or air conditioning at her house. We used to sit out on the porch and talk. Older family members would share stories, both fictional and recounts of the past, to us “youngens”. I miss that. My husband and I say that in four years when he is out of the military we are going to live for one summer without the phone, television, and the internet. I am not sure that we can but it is a desire of mine. In all of the articles that we have read family life is the key for most societies. I am not sure I would say that for ours. In America it seems that we work long hours and run from one thing to the other. There are some days I go with only seeing my five year old for fifteen minutes as I get him ready for preschool. I think that storytelling should be an important part of American life, as it was to these guys. Children should know of things from the past, folktales that make them giggle, or just fictional ones to entertain them. Hopefully our children will remember stories that we tell and feel that it is important to pass that on to their children.

Amy Reep

PS I do not think that technology is bad, so please don’t blast me for that.

Lost but not forgotten…,
What a dramatic contrast in cultures! Their culture was based on small communities and oral language. They learned life lessons and history by listening to their elders. Even the will of an old man was shared orally on his death bed. The war and refugee camps have prompted dramatic changes and these boys had to rethink parts of their culture. With so many changes Chol, Ezra, Francis and others like them are left to “retell, rewrite and recreate” a new culture. They have amazing strength and are speaking out to tell the story of war. Many like them have been left without families, communities and elders. It is interesting to see that they are adapting to a whole new world and are moving forward with changes that will sustain what parts of their culture they have left. They are working for change and hope to be able to build a new culture based on the needed changes.
Our culture has gone through some of these changes as well. We were once a nation of story tellers until the invention of the printing press. Then our focus changed from oral language to written language. We have gone through other dramatic changes that include radio, TV, movies, the NET and now UTube. We are a culture that relies heavily on visual cues and I propose that we make a change and redefine writing for our students. Not everyone wants to “tell or share” their story. Why do we think that it would be so much fun to write about our feelings? When we try to teach our student’s to put their voice into their writing, the only way we know that they have mastered this is because we know their voice! When we listen to a story we take away part of the story teller when we leave. Reading is different in that we don’t know the author “voice”. We must rely on our own interpretation and understanding of the written language. The lost boys are brave to share, but let’s face it many who have experienced tragedy do not want to relive it by writing about it! I am evolving as a writer and as a teacher. Story telling and writing have a place in our class culture right along with reading, movies and the internet. We must teach our students that there are many ways to learn and many ways to express what has been learned. Story telling is the oldest and its classic values cannot be denied.
Elizabeth Achor

I think that Perry summarized best the interaction between literacy and culture and the reason why what we are discussing is crucial to student learning. Perry says “…what people do with language and literacies is patterned by social relationships as well as by cultural values, beliefs, attitudes, and identities. Language and literacy practices, including storytelling, therefore are infused with purpose and meaning for individual actors and communities. Literacy practices are shaped by and respond to political, historical, social and cultural forces and as a result, they are dynamic and malleable.”

One of the things Perry stated that connects to this idea is that, “the study’s participants ascribed great importance to literacy, in part because they believed education and literacy were the keys to improving both their own personal lives and the collective future of the Sudan.” The value these students placed on education influenced their motivation, how they saw learning tasks, and their goals for the future. Ezra put this in his own words when he said, “I would do anything I could to become one day a professional…” He saw what literacy would do for the future of his country and how it would allow his culture to be preserved for future generations.
I think we as teachers are fighting against a culture that no longer values education. In my school attendance is always a problem. I had two students last year with 70 plus tardies and more than twenty absences each. When I ask why my students missed school, they often shrug or say they missed the buss. Having visited several third world countries I cannot help but juxtapose this attitude against families who scrimp and save to buy uniforms and books. Families I know have sacrificed meals to pay tuition. In Belize the kids stand on the street and beg for money to buy their books and uniforms. In contrast, we send busses to pick students up, feed them two meals a day and offer access to educational materials to take home for free and they still don’t bother to show up. One of my parents set up and missed seven conferences this year (and yes her son had missed almost thirty days of school and was failing). There are always excuses, but it really comes down to how important the parent believes school to be. Education isn’t worth much to a lot of people in our country, despite the studies that cite the benefits to the individual and to the community. Bok, for example, was able to use his education to help educate others about his nation’s plight. His education benefited not only himself, but also his future of his people. If you start in first grade missing twenty days of school (a month of school), don’t do your homework or makeup work, and put little effort forth in class since what you are doing is not valued or praised, by the time you get to high school it is too late to catch up. These students have neither the study skills nor the discipline to be successful in a challenging academic environment, so they drop out and become society’s burden. When Perry says, “context plays an important role in shaping these practices.” she is speaking of storytelling, but I think this quote applies to literacy in general. The context, environment, values, perspective, and culture of a child, will determine how they view learning, their willingness to participate, and ultimately their willingness to persevere in their education.
-Rebecca Ashby

Once Lost---Now Found

Before I read this research, I had heard of the Lost Boys of Sudan but I did not know their story. It was so powerful, coming from the horrible loss they experienced to the successful young men they are today, full of ambition and promise. These boys lost everything in the civil war, including the right to learn about who they are and where they came from in the way it had always been passed down, through storytelling. I cannot imagine what it must have felt like to realize that they would never have the opportunity to learn about their culture from the elders, from listening to their stories of the past and in so doing preserving their future.

It was fascinating to me to learn how and why these boys came to be writers beginning with the lessons they were exposed to in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. I had not really thought of all the reasons we tell or write stories, “ Human beings narrate to remember, instill cultural knowledge, grapple with a problem, rethink the status quo, soothe, empathize, inspire, speculate, justify a position, dispute, tattle, evaluate one’s and other’s identities, shame, tease, laud, entertain, among other ends.” The Lost boys wrote for many of these reasons, the main ones being to keep their culture alive for themselves and others and to educate the rest of the world to what was going on in Sudan as far as human rights was concerned.

Storytelling had been so important to the Dinkas because there were few who went to school to learn to write so all knowledge had to be passed down through oral storytelling. These boys learned that literacy was a way to preserve the way of life they had to leave behind. Storytelling in the form of plays, narratives, etc. enabled the world to experience or to at least be aware of the culture and problems of Sudan. Transformed storytelling came about because of the different needs of the boys in sharing information. Where as before it had been to mainly pass on history or to share personal experiences, now it was a means to educate and inform to a much wider audience.

Because of this study I realize the importance of having our students write with a purpose. So many times we put a prompt in front of them with little meaning to them and expect a great piece of writing. My daughter just finished writing a letter to our senators about a concern she has for the conditions in farm factories. She has never loved writing herself but when she wrote these letters she did it with such purpose and passion because she actually had something to say, something she felt strongly about. I have learned a lot from this and will take it to the classroom!

Linda Bohland

As I finished reading this paper, my mind reflected back onto my own childhood experiences of storytelling. I can remember crawling up on my grandpa’s lap and listening to a story that always had a moral to it. My dad told me a make-believe story every night before I went to bed. I cherished these times as a child and value them even more as an adult. I not only had the opportunity to learn about literacy and enjoy stories, but I had the chance to share special time with my family. Traditional storytelling was a major part of the “Lost Boys” lives. I think Perry summed up the importance of traditional storytelling in the following statement (pg 340): …”families are about storytelling, and that stories are a badge of family membership, and that becoming part of the family involves learning the family’s stories.” This statement really made me realize how much value the “Lost Boys” and their families placed on storytelling. It was their connection to their past and their means of learning about their future.

Throughout the reading of this text, one question kept coming to my mind: Why is storytelling a “lost art” in today’s schools and communities? I am not really sure of all the reasons but I did come up with a few.
1.Technology: We live in such a technology driven world that people do not take the time or do not think they have the time to listen to a story. We want everything instantly and storytelling takes time and interest.
2.Not knowledgeable about cultures: We do not have knowledge of the cultures that represent our schools and communities. We also probably need to take time to discover more about our own culture (family heritage).
3.Teachers do most of the talking: This may not be the case in every classroom, but I am sure many teachers could agree to this. We need to give the students time to talk and open up.
4.Viewing/valuing storytelling as a form of literacy: I think many people view storytelling as something young children do, but it is important for all ages of children and even adults.
5.Unsure of how to teach students how to take their verbal stories and convert them into written stories: I personally struggle with teaching students how to write. I need to develop better skills on helping students write their own stories.

**The reasons I mentioned above may not apply to you or your school, but they apply to me and I feel like many teachers can agree to at least one of these reasons. Please let me know if you can think of anymore.

After I thought of the reasons why storytelling is not an active part in schools and communities, I began to think of ways that I could help my school and community incorporate more storytelling. Here are a few of my ideas. Again, please suggest any other ideas.

1.Hosting a community culture/storytelling night: Each culture would have someone tell a story and have a booth set up that show some of their customs.
2.Tell a story every day in the classroom: Have the students take turns verbally telling stories. The stories can be from a variety of genres.
3.Give students time to talk: This one sounds easy but is hard because as teachers we like to talk; instead, we need to facilitate out student’s learning.
4.Set up a cultural blog or story telling blog: Students could share culture events or even post up stories to share with their classmates.
5.Make a memory book: Have students reflect weekly on the most exciting or sad thing that happened. At the end of the year allow the students to share their memory books with their parents or classmates.

We all have a story to tell no matter our age, race, or gender. It’s time that we start listening and learning from those stories.

Emily Rhoney

Perseverance can be defined as persisting or remaining constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement. Perseverance is one of my favorite words in the dictionary and a theme that I strive to instill in my students. Perry’s research told the story of perseverance of “Lost Boys” who made a difficult journey on foot across Africa, and eventually settled in America. The article tells the story of the perseverance of Chol, Francis, and Ezra as they faced obstacles to adapt in a new culture, while holding on to their own cultural traditions and the role that literature (storytelling) played in their lives.
“Human beings narrate to remember, instill cultural knowledge, grapple with a problem, rethink the status quo, soothe, empathize, inspire, speculate, justify a position, dispute, tattle, evaluate one’s and others’ identities, shame, tease, laud, entertain, among other ends” (Perry, pg. 321). I believe this quote sums up the purpose of storytelling, which helped the boys persevere in times of change and in part reflects the goals of the boys as they shared their stories in America. Perry shares of Chol sharing his story of identity and receiving empathy from the audience, speaking that he was “lonely without my parents”. Ezra’s goal in sharing his story was to instill cultural knowledge about the refugees to others as he wrote for a newspaper. I concluded that the opportunity to share their stories helped the boys cope and further preserver as they adapted to a new life. It was a way to change, as they transformed storytelling, but also a way to remember who they “were” and traditional storytelling.
One can only imagine the stories that these refugees are able to tell? One can only imagine the stories are students are able to tell? Do our students tell stories as a way of coping with obstacles? It is vital that we allow students to talk to us. I have often had students come in with a frown on their face, and a look of desire to share what happened at home, or on the bus. When we are teaching a lesson, how many times do we say, “Please do not raise your hand, unless you have a question about the directions?”. We try to avoid numerous hands raised that are anxious to tell stories related to the lesson taught. I admit that I am guilty of avoiding students who are dying to share their stories aloud (typically there is always one student who will talk forever). However, we love to tell our own stories, to encourage students to think about the lesson. The stresses of time and fulfilling teaching standards (including state tests) during the day prevent us from taking quality time to allow students to “talk” and share their stories. Sharing and teaching lessons is a major part of the school day for teachers, but what if we also allotted time to listen? How would this change the classroom environment? As teachers, we want our students to listen to what we have to say, so shouldn’t we listen to what our students have to say? In a previous graduate class, the professor stressed the importance of the connection between talking and writing. For many students, when assessing their writing abilities, it is important to first listen to the child tell the story that they are planning to write. This allows the teacher to discover if the child has “book language”. This year I learned that one of my students’s reading abilities encompassed her ability to tell a story but struggled with the mechanics of writing, therefore I would often use dictations when having her write a story. I also observed a major difference in my students’ writing when I would ask them to “tell” their story to a partner before they began writing their story.
After reading the article, I have found a new appreciation for storytelling and plan to implement it in the classroom. A common theme throughout the articles read in this course is the importance of taking time to truly know your students, discovering their culture, and allowing them to have a voice in the classroom through reading, writing, and sharing their stories. As teachers, we hope to preserver throughout the school year to adapt to the changes in education, and making our students and their stories our first priority.

Katie Johnson

As I was reading this article I found my self astonished at not only the experiences of these “young men” but also at the critically important role that literacy played and is still playing in their lives. I have heard of the civil wars in Africa and often felt a sense of pain for the people who are enduring extreme hardships because of ethnicity and religion. This year I was able to visit an exhibit at the Hickory Science and Arts Center about refugees. There I was able to see first hand the conditions of these refugee camps, the types of shelters they had to live in, what their schools looked like, and the other daily hardships that they faced. After the exhibit I felt that I had a much better understanding of what a refugee camp was and what it meant to be a refugee. I also thought that I had a good concept of oral story telling and the importance of it in the African culture. My mother was a middle school English and Social Studies teacher who taught about Africa and Asia. I remember her telling me about their story telling and seeing her make these elaborate art projects that illustrated the importance of oral story telling in the African culture.
It was not until I read this article though that I made any connection between oral story telling, literacy, and refugees. I think that I made the connection in three different ways. One being the importance of oral story telling, the second being how important it was to be able to read while in the refugee camp, and third how being literate has allowed these “lost boys” to tell their story and possibly change the future.
While I was reading the article I was astounded to think about these “young boys and children” being put into a position of being the carriers of their tribes history. When Ezra said on page 334 (Perry), “In the Dinka that is very important, because remember we-up to today, until maybe the 1900’s there were no people in the Dinkaland who go to school, because school at the time was not there.” He then said, (p. 334 Perry) “To keep the history of the community and the culture and the customs, you pass them from one generation to another through storytelling.” I began to think about how my family has always told stories and I can remember my grandparents telling me stories about my great or great-great grandparents, but I can’t imagine being put into a position of having to tell my “tribes” entire history to generations to come, because I am one of the few remaining members. What a huge responsibility that is for these children.
I also had never made the connection between literacy and how crucial they were to the refugee camps. When Chol was discussing going to the board in the literacy camp to see if there were any letters or messages from friends or family I began to realize how important that was to those refugees. I also began to wonder what it was like for people there who might have been illiterate and how difficult it must have been to have to rely completely on someone else for any contact with the outside world.
The other connection I made was how important literacy is to these young men because through literacy, whether it be public speaking, story telling, or written expression, they have the ability to tell their stories of unspeakable injustice and to allow people to see the oppression through their eyes. These boys truly have the ability to influence law makers, government officials, and other powerful individuals and groups simply by telling their story. I can’t imagine how empowering it would feel to know that because I was literate I could some day possibly change the world. I don’t know if these boys realize it yet, but I think they are very well on their way.
Katie Templeton

What happened to the age old art of storytelling?
Elders have traditionally relished the task of storytelling. This was the primary way for life lessons to be taught and history to be recorded before stories could be transcribed into a written language. As a result of the invention of the printing press, literacy became more important in society and storytelling began to wane. Today, with the explosion of technology, communication has become even less personal with email, texting, and such. So much is transferred through electronic mediums instead of coming from the voice of a loving family member. Storytelling has become a lost art.

Does storytelling still have a place in the classroom?
When completing the 8th grade writing portfolio, my students have to write a memoir as one of their required writing pieces. Getting started always seems to be the toughest part. Because many "Elders" do not tell family stories any longer, my students never seem to know how to begin their story. I have tried a number of strategies, but the one I find most successful is before they ever know they will have to write, they illustrate a childhood memory. Once they have the memory drawn as a picture, I have them partner up and tell one another the stories. At this point they are ready to write and feel confident that they can retell the story in writing. Once they have an adequate rough draft, we edit, revise and publish the finished writing pieces and attach the illustration. Storytelling, literacy and writing are all tied together.

As an educator I tell stories everyday to introduce literature, writing concepts or character education. I find that my students are always engaged during that phase of the lesson. I am not sure why. Perhaps it is an opportunity to see me as a “real” person instead of just the teacher. Maybe it’s the connection they make or background knowledge they build that helps with the topic. Whatever the cause, storytelling is an essential and engaging part of teaching.

The boys in the article, Chol, Ezra, and Francis adapted their skills as oral storytellers to facilitate learning to read and write. The profound importance here is the preservation of their personal stories and traditions. Now, many of these families are broken and destroyed by years of violence. While everything else is gone, the memories cannot be taken from them. Healing will come to these boys through storytelling and by sharing with others the suffering they endured. By telling their stories the world is learning about the past, present and future of the Lost Boys.
Karen Chester

Many thoughts crossed my mind as I read this article; first and upmost my sorrow for the young men who had to flee their country because of civil war. As I continued to read I quickly began to discover these men who fled their country at such a young age knew more about their community and heritage than I do.
I grew up in North Carolina with my parents and two brothers. We normally set together every night at dinner. What we didn’t do was tell stories. Well maybe we told stories about our day, but we didn’t discuss the past. My mom and dad never really spoke of their childhood. Snapshots occasionally at Christmas time when my mom would see a Christmas ornament that had been on her tree as a child. They never really went into great detail though about our heritage. Daily life was the culprit. My parents worked full time jobs, and were busy raising three children. We also had a TV in the house, which I remember watching at night. To my disappointment there wasn’t time for stories.
My husband however said he remembered visiting his grandfather and listening to his grandfather tell stories. His grandfather grew up on a farm and told stories about traveling by house and buggy. He told how he walked to a one room school and worked the farm (without a tractor). His grandfather also went into great detail about his ancestors. My husband was very fortunate he experienced storytelling first hand.
Ezra, Chol, and Francis spoke of how stories were told by the elders in their community. They went on to say there was time for storytelling because “In Africa, there’s not a lot of work, so people gather together to tell stories.” The elders told the stories orally, and the stories were not put in writing. Francis described how family and community members often gathered in the evenings to hear stories. The community elders told the stories to the young people of the community. This type of storytelling is referred to as traditional storytelling.
Ezra, Chol, and Francis were part of a group referred to as the “Lost Boys.” They fled their native home in opens of surviving. They knew that if they stayed in Sudan they would be forced to fight. These young men walked for thousands of miles and ended up in a refugee camp in Kenya and eventually moved to homes in America. Even though they distanced themselves physically from Sudan they did not want to forget their home. More importantly they wanted others to understand what was going on in their homeland. In addition they wanted future generations to know the culture and heritage of Sudan. Ezra, Chol, and Francis began using transformed storytelling. This type of storytelling is told to the outside world to educate others about your community. They begin to tell and write about their experiences in Sudan to inform others of their experiences, and to call on others to help the people of Sudan.
I think Ezra summed up this article best when he said, “The new generation will not know anything about the old generation, so this group will be a different group.” With the loss of storytelling cultures will be lost. I know our society as a whole must continue to grow, but this article made me realize how important it is to know where you come from. Pam Aubuchon

LOL, ROFL, BRB, TTYL, TTFN, CYL8R…These are all quick text acronyms that are used fairly often in today’s technology driven world. Everywhere you go, you see people listening to their Ipod’s, cruising through Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. There’s texting, Skyping, talking on a cell phone. When was the last time you have sat down with a “real” person and had a “real” conversation?

I am one of these “techies”. I find myself putting technology above and beyond many things in my life quite often. I have to prioritize what needs to be done so I can “reward” myself with a new Itunes download or a check on Facebook. As I read through “From Storytelling to Writing” by Kristen H. Perry, I realized that Americans as a whole, are in this technology craze day in and day out. As I thought about Ezra, Francis and Chol, I realized that I needed to slow down and take more time with my grandparents. In my life, this generation of family members is the ones who still tell stories in an oral way. I tend to share stories on my Newsfeed via Facebook. As I have become older, I realized how important it is to sit down on a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon to visit with my (remaining) grandparents. I learn about how life was for them in the “olden” days. We share experiences through oral stories. Just like the Lost Boys, I see how sharing stories verbally preserves my family’s traditions and ideas.

I find it interesting to observe my students with this idea of technology over personability. I imagine 13-15 of my students already have cell phones, Facebook pages and Myspace pages. These students have never functioned without the use of technology. Have these students ever really sat down with a family member and shared any personal experiences? Do they know where they are truly from? I carry this idea with me as I look at our generation today and can’t help but think, “When or where will be the end of storytelling orally?”

I know now that this is where the teacher in me will set in. In our ELA curriculum in 5th grade students are to learn about Folktales and Tall Tales. I know that I can pass this practice of oral storytelling along through the reading of these genres of text. Students can create their own tales, based on family values, culture and ideas. Through the use of great text and a little practice, I believe that the art of storytelling can be preserved, it is just going to take a lot more than it used to!

Renee Hennings June 17 2010

From reading this article, my eyes were opened to what is going on in Sudan. I found it very interesting from Ezra’s transcript how he said it’s, “very important for each group of people to keep their culture…learn other cultures…appreciate other cultures and learn to interact and intermingle with other cultures.” I think this can be transferred to my classroom. Since I teach second grade, it would be best to introduce different cultures from picture books. I found a book called Brothers of Hope: The Lost Boys of Sudan. This book would help my students relate to what they went through. I think one important thing Ezra is trying to say is we need to learn to get along. We can’t have tunnel vision and think my way is the only way to live. One way we can learn to get along, is by introducing other cultures to our classroom and welcome and learn about cultures that are already inside our classroom. If students can make a connection with a culture, then they will be more apt to have compassion and understanding.

The Lost Boys were able to transform their storytelling to help educate and persuade people for their cause. They realized the importance of being literate. I think when you are faced with extreme circumstances, you tend to do things that you would not have thought you would ever do. You also appreciate things more. For example this past school year I read Listen to the Wind, which is the children’s picture book version of Three Cups of Tea. When I read the part of how the children in the village of Korpe located in Pakistan didn’t have a school and the students only saw their teacher three times a week, my students thought it was the greatest thing. I had some trouble getting them to see the importance of school. So, I think you act differently when you face obstacles. As we continued the story, they thought it was great that Dr. Greg Mortenson helped them to build a school. They had a little more understanding when they saw the photos at the end of the book. I found a blog about how a fourth grade teachers, helped integrate this story with all subjects and tried to make it real for the students. Here is a link to the blog about integrating the book Listen to the Wind.

In the second grade curriculum, we teach citizenship. I have always taught it only dealing with our classroom, school and in our community. I hadn’t thought about teaching global citizenship. This book is great for global citizenship also. I found Big Universe website that offers other books that would be great to introduce other cultures to my students. There is a big world out there that needs to be explored. After reading this article, I realize I will be learning along with my students. I think this is one thing that has changed in education. I do not remember learning about other cultures. We are such a global economy now, that when something happens on the other side of the world it affects us here.

In the Somali culture, “spoken rather than written is important.” If you think about it spoken is important here in the U.S. We watch a lot of TV and movies. We judge a candidate, by how eloquently they speak. Whether we realize it or not spoken language is a big part of our culture. The only difference is ours is usually written down and then memorized.

Trish Edwards

Everyone has the innate ability to be a “storyteller”. To the people of Sudan, storytelling has a great importance in their culture; an importance that we, as Americans, don’t quite hold as high. However, I do remember listening to stories my mom shared about her childhood, knowing certain songs, and listening to Bible stories. This is something that could be related to these Sudanese Refugees – “These types of stories included traditional stories and histories in the community, literature stories in school, and religious stories in church”.

As these students were studied, discussion took place over the importance of learning English. English was thought to be a language of power. Most of the refugees felt that having this understanding was important, but not to lose their own cultural identities. I think this is extremely important! If I were to move to another country, whether it is forced or on my own accord, I feel that it would be important to learn how to communicate with the people in the country where I have moved. Being able to communicate and maintaining cultural identity is definitely something that a person could achieve. Ezra shared, “the importance of maintaining cultural identity, but of understanding other groups’ cultural identities”. Not everyone will celebrate the same holidays; eat the same foods, etc. It is our job to try to understand these differences, and to respect them.

Francis says, “People TELL a lot of stories, / but here, now, / we don’t LEARN.” I thought this was a really interesting statement when I read it and even more so when I read Perry’s interpretation. “Learn” does take a whole new meaning. I don’t feel that Francis is actually referring to “learning”, but as to learning how to tell stories or learning from stories. People in America tell stories more just to share than to actually “learn” from. It is through listening and telling stories that we are able to relate to the world around us. I may never travel to Sudan, but through the eyes of these refugees, I am able to have a better understanding of the journey they have been on to get to the United States.

I love how each participant used storytelling in their own unique way, whether it was to share their story or to influence people in power. This is where the shift in storytelling takes on a new purpose. . Writing can be therapeutic. I had never considered myself a writer; until I had to complete a Multi-Genre project in Graduate School. In March of 2009, my house was broken into. I was able to talk about this event in my life, but never got to feel the relief of this until my Multi-Genre project. I was able to write poetry, journal entries, and even a letter to express my feelings about this tragedy. Even though the tragedies that I and the refugees have experienced are totally different, through writing a new outlook can occur as it is shared.

We have to encourage our students to write about what they know about…themselves. Whether students fictionalize themselves, or write true autobiographical information they can be successful story tellers. Purcell-Gates is quoted in the article as saying, “Authentic literacy instruction involves providing opportunities for students to write for real audiences and real purposes, beyond learning to read and write or earn a grade.” The teacher should serve as the guide in this process, but the student should be the true artist of the story.

Angela Steele

“From Storytelling to Writing” is an excellent example of how oral traditions transform to meet the needs of an evolving society. It is easy to relate to this research as the tradition of Sudanese storytelling is quite similar to the Southern oral traditions.
According to Ochs and Capps, the most important function of storytelling is “to construct their identities and to relate to and navigate the world”. This is exactly what the Sudanese boys have done with their stories. The research subjects all discussed the need of keeping their Sudanese history alive for future generations. This is one primary function of traditional storytelling (Perry, 340). The young men knew that with the demise of the majority of their elders, they were the last hope for passing on the stories of their families and their people. According to Perry, even as the Lost Boys expanded their audience, they still continued to engage in the practice of oral storytelling.
One key feature of the research was the idea of transformed storytelling. Perry defines transformed storytelling as, “involved participants telling stories whose purpose, audience, and medium differ in important ways from those of traditional storytelling then they have encountered or enacted before.” (338) As the need for the Lost Boys to relay their experiences to others outside of their community, they also began to realize their was a need to communicate in various ways. When the boys came to America they were asked to share their experiences and stories with the community. Obviously, this would need to be done in English and not their native language. The boys also needed to consider their audience and the purpose of their story. In my opinion, this was the beginning of the switch between traditional storytelling and transformed storytelling.
The refugees could no longer rely on their previous oral tradition to express themselves.
The refugees found many opportunities to share with a wide range of audiences their stories and experiences. As I stated at the beginning, this seems to be the natural and logical evolution of storytelling.
I think we can look at the aspect of storytelling in the Lost Boys’ situation and compare it to our own storytelling experiences. The South is rich in oral traditions. The stories that were orally passed down for generations were eventually turned written down and are now shared in classrooms throughout the country. Bluegrass music is a great e
example of another way our forefathers shared stories. In Southern families, stories about our ancestors are shared by grandparents, remembered by grandchildren, and passed along. We, too, value the idea of stories and see the purpose they have in our lives. I enjoy sharing the personal stories with my classroom that my grandmother told me about growing up during the Great Depression. I also tell them about my great grandfather, who died during the Spanish Flu epidemic, and what life was like during this little discussed time in American history. I think personal stories add relevance to topics we teach. I encourage my students to share their personal experiences and history whenever possible. I do agree with Perry when he warns that sharing our stories is a personal choice and not appropriate for everyone. I think this connects to the ideas of personal voice. When students find their voice and feel comfortable, they may be more willing to participate.
One difference that I noted between the Sudanese refugees and the other minority groups we have read about is the eagerness for the Sudanese immigrants to assimilate into our way of life. The research subjects were eager to learn English and pursue a higher education. The young men understood the need to write down their history in order to pass it along. They also new the value their experiences had to the rest of the world and that the only way to continue sharing these stories with the global community was through the written language and the use both English and their native tongue.
They seemed to be willing to switch registers (as discussed in the previous research) in order to be successful in their adopted country.

Sally Elliott

What a fascinating study. This has been one of my favorite articles to read. I did not have a lot of background knowledge of the Lost Boys. We do have some in High Point. but it is not a huge number. My husband is a police officer and he has had contact with a few. So, I found Perry's description and background information extremely helpful. As I was reading, it made me think of being in elementary school. Every once in a while, storytellers would come to our school and we would gather in the gym and sit on the floor to be entertained. I loved it. Do schools not do that anymore? An why in the world don't they?

Once again, I found found myself feeling like I have short changed my students. They need to experience the power of story telling. And they need to experience it as the listeners and the tellers.

I was so proud of the young men in the study, and I don't even know them. I could tell by their comments they placed a tremendous amount of value on education. I was impressed by their ability to take their storytelling to the Transformed level. What a powerful tool when you use your voice to open people's eyes to the world beyond the one they live in. Converting their stories to print also allow them to reach a greater audience. After I read the article, I did some research on my own and found multiple articles, appearances and interviews in my own area. How eye opening!

One thing I read really sticks out in my mind. One of the Lost Boys explained that story telling was such a big part of their culture because they gathered together and had more story opportunities. That made me realize that just because our culture does things a certain way, we are not necessarily doing things the best way. We need to gather more. I can remember being a young girl at family gatherings. When the adults used to sit around after meals and just talk. They would reminisce, speculate, tease and pay their respects. To me, they were handing down culture which will always be a part of me. Again, I say storytelling- what a powerful tool.
Carol Sherrill

The only encounter I have had with storytellers was an older couple who came once a year to an elementary school I taught at. To be honest, they scared me to death! They were older, dressed very eclectic, and looked like people who should be in a copy of Alice in Wonderland. I would just look at them year after year and wonder where on earth they were the other 364 days of the year. I NEVER say the out at the post office. Regardless of their unusually look, they told the most fascinating stories. The entire gym of 400 students sat in amazement as they would dramatically tell the tale. Their talent amazed me, and left me wondering how did they ever learn such a craft?
In the article, Perry introduced an entire new perspective on storytelling. The scope of storytelling for me was simply, tell a story you have read or heard. Looking deeper, Perry broadened that scope to include …”imparting culture from one generation to the next generation…” Community elders were using storytelling to pass community history and traditions on to the younger generation. In this light, storytelling is no longer just for entertainment, but it now serves as a form of education. As teachers we ask our students what they believe the author’s purpose is for a particular piece of writing. It can be to inform, entertain, or persuade. Storytelling can be seen in that same way as well. Stories can be told for entertainment, or to inform. Literacy doesn’t have to be in print. Oral literacy (storytelling) has a place in schools and has an impact on a child’s overall literacy development. Many students coming to school today lack an amount of “book language.” This can be from lack of reading at home, exposure to materials, and verbal interactions with others. The rich language that storytelling encompasses could close gaps in children’s book language. Today’s society has limited the amount of face to face oral interactions. With the increase in technology, communication has morphed into quick factual statements that don’t encourage strong word choice or lead to higher order thinking.

The Sudanese noted this was the only form of communication they had. Once they became refugees they had to adapt their communication to include letter writing. I wonder how some of those first letters looked? While the mechanical part of the writing was difficult, I am sure the voice and content of the letter was amazing. We know a student’s oral abilities are stronger than their written abilities, however I am sure the vocabulary and language patterns they were exposed to, formed a strong foundation for them moving forward with print. For their culture as well, they viewed storytelling as a form of education. This shows how serious they viewed language and how necessary it was to existence in their society. If we had such a focus in our society with language, imagine how different early elementary would be for students.
Equating stories as a badge of family membership is powerful as well. I don’t believe such membership exists for Americans. We have many unwritten rule about behavior in society. We have family traditions, but nothing or maybe very little that is written down or passed down orally. The value of language has not been paired with family traditions and society rules. In that aspect, I believe we are very robotic and “cold.” Our sense of community could be deepened through the use of storytelling.
Changing the perspective of storytelling from entertainment to education was an eye opening moment for me. When Bok pointed out his view that “It was my opportunity to educate the other students about a country they hadn’t even heard of….”, the power of language was revealed. Language was not being used for conversation, but was leaving a lasting impression on someone and was changing their thinking and knowledge forever. Language can do that and it is our job to foster such opportunities in our classroom.

Michael Lemke

I found this article to be an interesting read. I have always been fascinated with storytellers and how they are able to get listeners to see a story with their mind's eye. I think that there is a lot to be learned from cultures, like the Sudanese, where this kind of oral storytelling is important.

In my family there are several people who like to tell stories; my father is one of these. He has told me many stories of his childhood, some about his grandparents which I was never able to meet. Listening to these stories of the past have helped me to gain a sense of who my great-grandparents were, what they were like, and how they helped to form who my father is, and in a sense who I am as well.

I lost my grandmother nearly 12 years ago when I was barely an adult. She was always a very important person to me and I remember that when she was dying, I would sit with her in her living room, and ask her questions about her past. I was trying to learn more about her past and who she was; trying to remember these things about her because I knew my time with her would be short. She told me stories about her parents that I had never heard, and about faraway places that she had lived. I wish that I had started doing this with her sooner and had had more time to learn these things from her. I find myself telling my daughter about her now, trying to connect these two important people in my life who were never able to meet.

I think that written stories are important and can never be replaced. But the richness and depth of stories passed down orally and what they represent is priceless. I think that we should place more importance on this as a culture. It can tell us about who we are, where we have been, and where we are going.
-Elizabeth Norwood

I was absolutely amazed by the research discussed in this article. First, I had no idea that there were more than 17,000 Sudan refugees living in the US in 2003. I was blown away that I had not heard more about their asylum in our country and that at that point our society, myself included, knew much more about celebrities and their person lives than the heart-wrenching stories of these young boys. Once I was able to recover from my astonishment, I truly enjoyed the article’s research on storytelling as part of the Sudanese culture, and how these refugees were able to transform that part of their culture and assimilate it into their new lives.

I was struck by the fact that, even these refugees saw literacy as a symbol of power, and the effort they put into their education here and in schools at refugee camps they had lived in. There are many aspects of literacy, and I think storytelling is a part of literacy that is often overlooked. It was, and is, so ingrained in the Sudanese culture that I don’t know they could be separated. One of the refugees interviewed stated that even though they told stories here, they didn’t learn. I think by this Ezra meant that they were losing their culture, their history, and their identity. Because of this lack of learning and storytelling, they had to adapt their traditions to their new surroundings. They did this through transforming their storytelling. It was now done for new purposes and more written than oral.

Ezra’s comments express to us that literacy may be part of the solution to the saving the culture of the people of Sudan. He acknowledges that if the history and the stories were written down, the stories (history, culture, knowledge) would survive even if younger generations were cut off from their elders. This also demonstrates a shift, or transformation in thinking as well.

I couldn’t help but think about the Sudanese people sitting around a fire at night exchanging stories. This got me thinking about storytelling as part of our culture. I was reminded of all the nights when I was young that my daddy spent at the little country store down the road, exchanging stories with neighbors over a Pepsi. I also thought about the Sunday afternoons at my grandparents’ house when we sat around and just talked. Actually the grown-ups talked and the kids listened. How similar this seems to the storytelling of the elders in the villages of Sudan. Like the refugees, this custom and part of my culture has been transformed, though not as drastically I suppose.

I think this research makes a good point that applies to all students, not just refugees. That point is that educators need to give their students authentic opportunities to share their stories. Everyone has a story that tells who they are and where they come from. They all need the opportunity to share that in a meaningful way, such as for real audiences and purposes.

Marcia Smith

The first thing that came to mind when I began reading this article was the movie, The Lost Boys. I remember the characters in the movie being teens that had left home to become one of the missing, the lost. The Sudanese teens that this article refers too are similar. They have lost everything. Their family was taken from them in war, they were forced to decide to lose their homes or become a slave/soldier, they even lost their land. The only thing these boys could bring with them and keep from their culture seems to be storytelling.

In the article, the boys discuss how oral language was more important to their culture because written language didn't fit into their tribal culture. When they traveled to the refugee camp, the written language taught was what was used in the country they were located.

I think that storytelling is more appreciated in other countries. Many countries have tribes or different languages spoken. When traveling from one area to the next, written language could change dramatically, so storytelling is a way to still communicate.

Storytelling is also a way for people to share their history. Due to oral language being more popular than written language, the way history was shared was through storytelling. Even in America, people still sit around camp fires or in living areas with family and friends sharing events and memories. Recently I watched a documentary on people from the Western North Carolina (mountain people as they were called). Many of these people spoke of the importance of storytelling in their community. This was how they shared their lives because many of them still were unable to write. You would think that these people would be similar to us (they live in the US where life is modern) but they are actually years behind what is typically found where we live. Their language is still behind what we consider normal, speaking as my great grandmother used to speak.

I think that storytelling is important in any culture. Now, we share stories and history through books. We have written language that allows us to pass down history and memories that are important to us. We still share stories orally with family and friends. Other countries share stories orally because that is a part of their culture that is valued.

I think that teachers can use the art of storytelling to connect a classroom of students. Kids come from different cultures and are mixed together every year in a class. It would be great to have a day at different times during the year where each child was allowed to share in storytelling. The teacher could explain what storytelling was and give the students an example and then allow the students to share (even extending the activity into a writing lesson). I think this is definately a type of literacy that we do not want to get lost in the hustle and bustle of todays fast paced life!

As I was reading this, I was recalling times in my life when I as a child would tell stories. I think since there were four of us, very close in age, we all played together. I can remember times when we would have imaginary enemies that we'd be shooting to save our fort, and times where we set up traps to catch the imaginary intruders. That to me is storytelling, because I can tell you exactly what we were doing and who we were pretending to be. In this article these refugees didn't have such great stories to tell. What an incredible and heart breaking life these men have gone through. I had no idea the kinds of things they went through just to get away from being killed, made to fight, made to work while their families and villages were destroyed, and who knows what else.
When I traveled to China, it was interesting to me to see how hard the Chinese work, how much they study to learn English, and how much dedication there is to becoming so modern and like the "westerners." Their culture is very important to them, and like the Sudanese, they also viewed their culture as sacred and important, but also put a huge emphasis on learning English. Unlike and like so many other cultures and countries, there isn't a lot of work, so in this case these Sudanese told stories. I thought it was neat to see how well these men remembered their past through the stories that were told to them as children. These stories are what helped them develop their literacy skills and what impacted their education once in the U.S. I also never thought of telling stories from the Bible to be storytelling, because I always associated storytelling with fictional stories, especially Disney stories(movies). I learned many Bible stories growing up, but never classified it as storytelling. Another way I never viewed storytelling was in a biographical way. The stories of someone's life is storytelling, and I guess I never made the connection.
But then I think about my experiences, and I feel like since my family does not live here, I tell my friends here and even my family at home many things that have happened in my life. I am used to living apart from my family. So catching up on the phone with a few stories of the past week or two with events that happened I guess is storytelling in a way. I thought it was neat to see how each man has developed into a better reader and writer through their past that included many stories. Their minds are never blank, for they have much to reflect upon and write about. These experiences have allowed them to even come up with hypothetical situations, like Francis has. Overall, I was amazed at the life changing experiences these men have gone through, and yet how grounded they are with life today. They have such a strong desire to share their culture, and I give them so much credit for their efforts to impact our society and their own by the use of literacy by being showing this in speeches and in their written stories. I don't allow my students to tell stories enough!

Abby Boughton

Reading Perry's research opened my eyes. Although I had to stop several times in order for the words to digest, I was able to understand what Perry was getting across. I felt and still do feel great sympathy for these people. In an Anthropology class I remembered reading some stuff about this group of people but honestly couldn't remember much other than suffering due the Civil War. In wanting to see what people have done in trying to help I looked for videos on youtube and found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn8ewJt0-js&feature=related. In this video President Obama, Actor George Clooney, "Lost Boys" survivors, and many others who have gathered to fight against and bring attention to the Sudan genocide.

The reason for choosing my title, "Can you show me the way?" is because every direction they turned lead them into harms way. Luckily, they made it to the refugee camps where they were safe among many others who had fled for the same reasons.

"...the Lost Boys have been separated from their families and communities, displaced from their original cultural context, and exposed to new cultures, communities, and practices (pg. 342)." First, I could not even imagine being separated from my family, yet alone see them die, and then continually flee for my own safety. Second, then be taken out of my "comfort zone" (my community) and then be placed in a new one that does not even share or value the needs of my culture. It was great that when the Lost Boys came to the U.S. that people in the communities would help them. For example the Lutheran Church that was mentioned. But not even they could fully prepare the Sudan people for what road lied ahead. Due to this the refugees themselves had no other option but to TRANSFORM.

Before, traditional storytelling involved the elders orally telling a story, whereas now transformed storytelling is written and told orally. The audiences and purpose for storytelling have changed drastically. Before it was to teach/pass on history, traditions, values, and beliefs among the community. Those that listened were members of the same ethnic/linguistic community. Now the story that is told is to inform others about the experiences this group of people faces and to call others to act out! Therefore, the audiences has now become the world; many ethnic/linguistic communities. "Transformed storytelling appeared to be a product of the refugees' experiences--of being orphaned, of journeying to and living in refugee camps, of coming to America, and of attending schools in both Kenya and the United States (page 338)."

Although it is sad that their traditional storytelling has had to change, I am glad that I am able to read of the many different stories they have told throughout generations. I think it is more vital than ever to document these stories considering families and communities are being torn apart.

The way stories have been told for generations seems to be coming to an end for the Sudan people, especially if they have no way to write it down. It is sad that much of it has come to an end because that's how others in that culture/community was educated. I know as a young adult all I have are those stories that are told through my family. When my grandpa is a telling a story I am still that little girl sitting on his knee dying to hear what he is getting ready to tell. Usually, my grandpa has some really funny stories, especially if starts sharing about his "moon shinning" days.

I am so blessed and thankful for the family that I have, but hurt for the Sundanese people.

Candace

This article shows the true spirit and determination of the Sudanese refugees! The "Lost Boys" showed a tremendous amount of courage and intelligence. These boys have been through a struggle in their life. They seemed to be lost not in their mind but in their country. It is sad that a country would not care about their youth and future!
I was impressed with Perry research and the connections that he made with the “Lost Boys". Perry took the time to listen and therefore helped the refugees of Sudan find themselves in America. The Sudan boys were able to take their storytelling a form of oral literacy and transform it to something important for their culture and future in America.
The boys talked fondly in the article about storytelling in their culture. It was their way to past down family history and the culture of their people. Capps and Ochs (2001) stated that story telling facilitates the philosophy of life and blueprint for living." Storytelling reflects culture and shapes identity. The Sudanese people learned of identity and family from their elders and storytelling. This is not unlike many of the practices in the United States. As a child I can remember family members telling stories of when they were a child. My grandmother would often reflect on growing up on a farm and what her schooling was like. She would relate her personal experiences to us and compare then and now. That is also what the Sudanese people did with oral story telling.
When the Lost boys arrived in the United States they wanted to continue storytelling. The traditional storytelling had to transform due to the fact that elders were not able to take on the role. The Lost Boys took on the role of story telling. I believe their role of story telling was more valuable than previous traditions. The Lost Boys were taking their experiences and transforming story telling to facilitate change. They told stories to inform others about their circumstances and their experiences. The Lost Boys also facilitated change in the form of story telling. Traditionally storytelling was oral. Now the Sudanese Refugees were communicating stories through written language. Literacy meant power for the Lost Boys and it also faciliated change for them in a new society that they were learning to assimilate into.
I think that the "Lost Boys" should great strength they were able to take their experiences and share through storytelling to facilitate change. They were also able to keep their strong sense of culture and identity.
I believe that we should do more storytelling in the classroom. It can be a very powerful tool to allow students to share experiences and transform those experiences into written stories that can be published. Everyone has a story, as educators we should use storytelling to promote literacy development.
Angie Somers

I have noticed as my teaching career has progressed that the skill of storytelling is one that more and more students struggle with. Storytelling is happening significantly less often than in earlier times. For the Sudanese boys in the article, storytelling was central to their culture and that was something they could bring along with them after leaving their native country. It was their form of expression and of honor towards those that they loved or lost.

As I read this article I was struggling with how the act of storytelling related within my own classroom. Through the study performed with the Sudanese boys, their storytelling was used as their outlet in this strange new world. It was something familiar, comfortable, and could never be taken away from them. My students don’t come in and tell stories their older friends and family members have shared with them. In kindergarten and first grade my students are beginning readers and writers with little literacy knowledge when they come to me. After I thought more about the literacy instruction for my students I came to the realization that storytelling is a major component of literacy learning for these young students. These students are not like the older ones who can pick up a pencil and begin writing a story. When they are learning how to construct a story one thing they do is draw a picture to represent their story. Sometimes the picture is used heavily in the telling of the story or may not be referenced at all. Then they use that representation in their storytelling for the particular piece they are "writing." After they have completed the drawing they are able to dictate or “tell the story” to me and I can transcribe their story as a model for them.

Sharing stories are key to literacy learning. Each year my elementary school has a Young Author’s Day where the students were to write their own story which we then helped them publish into a hardback book. Part of this process was to have each child orally tell a story that we tape recorded to transcribe. Later the older students were able to write the story using their recording while I was able to type those stories that belonged to my more novice writers that they could use as a model. After weeks of preparation, on this day the students were able to share. And each child had their own, personalized, unique story that they cold tell to the world. As a culmination to our Young Author’s Day celebration, author Donna Washington came to visit our school. When the children got to visit with her, they saw first hand how one’s culture can shine as she gathered the children together during her storytelling.

Extremely basic though it seems, this article focused on the importance of including the stories our students want to tell in school. In my classroom, storytelling is a stepping stone to my students’ journey towards literacy that must be included.

Nikki Leggins

“My story of how you’re not going to believe me when I tell you this…” By William Byland

I remember the first time someone asked me what was “wrong” with my grandpa, who was at the time only 58, with a half head full of blackened and ever thinning hair. My grandpa had just stopped in the middle of the place where he had worked for twenty-five years, a Ford paint shop that wore age much like he did, haggard and full of hard lines that spoke of years of working with harsh chemicals, all in the name of shinny new “fixed” used cars. He had been spouting a thundering story full of tears and his own inner demons as he faced a machine that scared him beyond his control, an old Windows 97 computer, “The mark of the beast will come from these things...” and he said something about devils and hellfire and how is fathers before him fought for independence and a flag that he can’t even fly in his yard anymore. His boss, the foreman, looked me in the eye, with the question that he really wanted to ask me, even though I was only 11, hiding behind the proper question of the word “wrong” when all he wanted to ask was if the man I called Pa was crazy. Sadly yes, yes he was. He was a crazy storyteller. In my family, we are all story tellers, when we don’t take our meds and even more so, setting beside the nightlights of our darkened conversation rooms (living rooms).

I didn’t even watch TV at night until I was 18 years old because it was a long held tradition in my very very old family (The Byland’s go back to the time of Kings and Queens; we even have a historical attraction, Byland Abby, in England that our family still owns) to tell stories to one another prior to bed. So when I noted that we were studying research that supports that storytelling is literacy, I was again captivated immediately.

“Human beings narrate to remember,” no truer line has been uttered. Faulkner did it to provide the world with a sight of his frazzled mind, and I do it every night to try to be like him. We lie, as all great people have before us, but a true storyteller also communicates the truth of his or her generation so that our children’s children will know what our lives were like and so that they can learn from our oil spills, broken levies, and botched wars, not that they will or that we have, but at least we can say we tried. To me, literacy is reading and writing, and if you have ever told a great story, you are doing just that, writing the truths of your mind’s eye with words while someone else reads your words with their ever growing ears.

I know too much about Sudan.

Francis Bok, author of the begging quote of this article and of one of the best books I have ever read, Escape from Slavery, came to our school to give a speech about being a refuge and more over, about what it means to have unique knowledge in a world full of people who never even bother to watch the news, and when they do, they say that’s sad and continue eating their dinner plates full of food that many would give up his or her life just to taste. His telling of his escape from slavery left everyone in the audience, all teenagers mind you, speechless. He talked of the killings, the brutal rapes, and the torture of his people in front of his eyes, all in the name of racism and bigotry. But what I remember best was his ability to tell a story. The man was more impressive than even his book, which will become a work of literature in my opinion, could ever do. I could actually feel the words “Kaffir” and “Nigger” pounding into my chest like a shot form an anti-riot gun. If that is not literacy then I have no idea what literacy is.

Also, I have a very good friend who lives and works with the refuges in Darfur right now. He digs wells and sees the greatest human travesties that have befallen this great world in a very long time. It is interesting to hear his stories, through his broken, all too manly yet tear soaked voice over a SAT phone once a month, about women who are too afraid to go out into the fields in order to save their own lives because the Janjaweed will rape them as they tear their limbs off one at a time, and how their children’s fathers had their scalps removed to become ornaments on an ever growing necklace for some faceless solider of hate. My friend is an English teacher by profession, a hero by circumstance, and one of the best story tellers I have ever met. His stories are all more powerful because in the great literate tradition, his stories represent the truth of a heritage, that like it or not, our generation will inherit, along with the name of “Useless Bystanders”.

He also talks of their social literacy’s as he sees them tell the great stories of their peoples around camp fires and in dilapidated tents. He told me that their stories are like interesting history books that record time from the beginning of their race until the current, full of life and energy that we cannot force out of our American textbooks and into the minds of our own children. It is interesting to me that when a kid cannot sit still to read a book, we label him ADD, but are we really just saying that he prefers the long and time tested history of storytelling instead?

It is obvious, or at least I hope so, that I think that storytelling is not just literacy, but it is the heart of what makes us writers, readers, and even human. We spend far too much time labeling our children with special letters, so many in fact, we have to print books so that people can figure out that SS, RA, ADD means separate setting, read aloud, and attention disorder. We should spend more time figuring out why they are the way they are. I have BAD ADD, but really, I just have issues setting still because I am so use to people talking to me or telling me a great story. Also, we try to label children when there is something wrong with them, but in reality, it often steams from the fact that we are doing a crappy job understanding what they need. For example, I have many Black American students and Hispanic students, and they are all labeled ADD. How ridiculous is that? Why not just say, ADD, instead of ethnically different from the norm of what education was built for? Perhaps we can add new letters, ADD, ED. And that is the problem, wither we want to admit it or not, education was built for rich white kids, and I get so very angry every time I hear someone say, “I wish we could teach like we use to in the olden days when education meant something,” yeah, it meant something all right, racially isolated education, keeping the dominant on top and the “anything else” category making burgers at McDonalds. More to the point of this article, we try to teach children through literature and stories that are focused on the individual, when many students, from other countries like Sudan or even Mexico, simply do not understand this egocentric mentality, especially American Literature, where the focus is on one guy on a horse instead of an entire village. These students come from a place where the individual is important, but the group is more important. You will rarely see a child from Mexico complain because his mother works too much because in his mind, he has an entire group of women and men that serve as his parental unit. (Given, that is not always true of American born Mexicans, but I am referring to immigrants).

Also, we block access to literature to students because the stories are written and not told. It is for this reason that it is important that we accept storytelling as a form of literacy and that we being to look at our evaluation standards, and develop them to include those that come from backgrounds that support this type of literacy: Native Americans, Black Americans, African Immigrants, Hispanic Immigrants….and even little Red Neck boys from the South, with grandfathers that tell the stories of their families and religious beliefs, even when it makes them look nuts in front of a foreman, in a garage, built for fixing used and dent cars. WE need this, America needs this, and I needed this.

William Byland

This research took me back to elementary school. I remember we had a local librarian that came around and they always introduced her as a storyteller. As I thought about those experiences in my life I began to think of the difference between that type of storytelling and the one addressed in Perry’s research. The woman who came to my school told folk tales or just stories from books in an animated, over exaggerated way. So basically she was telling a story while acting it out, where as the “Lost Boys” needed these storytellers to keep them informed of their heritage. It was a way for them to learn about where they came from and keep these traditions going. I am thankful for those fun and entertaining experiences in elementary school because I remember it made me love reading and writing even more. However, I would love to have a history of storytellers that helped me to see where certain traditions came from or why it is important to do things a certain way. These boys already had a rich literacy history before ever arriving in America.

It is remarkable the obstacles these boys overcame and to come to a new country and still flourish speaks volumes. I remember watching a news special on some of these young men once. How can we get our students to see that they can accomplish these goals as well? Many of our students are so eager to give up or quit. I only teach 2nd graders, but they are still subject to this defeatist attitude. How can I share this type of story to show them that yes, you may not be reading well, but these young boys continued to learn while running for their lives. It is such a powerful example for students all over the world. I hope these young men never stop telling their stories.

Odessa Scales

There were so many things running through my mind as I was reading this article. First of all, I thought about how sad the "Lost Boys" stories were. I cannot imagine having to go through all they have gone through...with no family- being displaced from your homeland, being sent to a new land, having to learn a new culture, language, etc.! I think this is incredibly heartbreaking! I had never heard about these "boys," and so I found this article very interesting. I also think it's sad they had to adapt to a new way of life including a new way of storytelling. While I was reading about their "old ways" of storytelling, I had a picture in my mind of a family, after dinner, sitting around a fire, telling/listening to stories about when the parents/grandparents were young. I think it would be hard to go from this type of storytelling to the type of storytelling that the researcher described in the article that these refugees have had to transform to- speeches of refugees' ways of life, articles of a refugee's trek to a new land, etc. I'm glad that they are still able to incorporate storytelling into their lives even if it's completely different than the way they told stories in Sudan.
I also thought about my oldest daughter as I was reading this article. Each night, and a lot of times during the day, she is constantly wanting me to "tell her stories" about when I was growing up. She has heard these same stories hundreds of times, and yet, she still wants to hear them. I've often asked her why she wants to hear the same stories over and over. Her reply to me is that she wants to know what I did growing up and she wants to remember. After reading this story, it makes me WANT to continue telling her these stories.
This story also reminded me of my sweet grandmother. She passed away 10 years ago, but her stories live on. I had to write a paper in college and I chose to write it about her. In preparation of the paper, I had to interview her and it had to be tape-recorded. During this interview I learned so many things about my grandmother...what it was like growing up in the mountains, what it was like to have 9 children, how divorce affected people in the mid 1900s, etc. I still have that tape, and still listen to "her story."
After thinking about my grandmother's tape, I think how sad it is that these "Lost Boys" don't have tapes to remind them of their ancestors stories, nor do they have family members to discuss these stories with. They've had to rely only on their memories and then change their oral stories to print stories. Marsha Warren

My family gathered together a few weekends ago to celebrate after a tough year. We told many stories and I am sure many tall tales. My mother and uncles told stories from their childhood. We heard these stories many, many times, but we continued to laugh. The stories connected us to relatives no longer here. It gave a sense of who we are. Also, we acknowledged how far we have come. The younger children in my family listened and laughed at the stories. The stories taught them about great grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins they will never met. According to Salman Rushdie becoming a member of a family requires learning the family’s stories. When I first read Rushdie’s beliefs, I did not agree with him. As I remembered my family’s cookout, the familiar stories gave us a common denominator.

The young men of the Sudan seem caught between two worlds. The world they live in and world they left behind. They want to use what they have gained from their new world to solve the problems of the world they left behind. I admire their understanding of the importance of education. They had an amazing sense of perseverance. They found urgency in preserving the stories and language of their culture. Yet, they know they must tell another story in different media in order to find help for their birth country.

The men continue to talk to each other and form bonds. They have created a community out of a cultural need. Yet, they admit it is not the same because they are not being taught by the elders nor do they have elders to teach them. After all is said and done, all cultures must tell their story to the younger members in order to continue the culture. I believe it something the American culture is losing because of all of the technologies that keep us busy and engrossed.

Zandra Hunt

I have spent several days with this text and started my reflection three times. This article gave so many paths that could be explored. I could have discussed the differences between transformed storytelling to traditional storytelling, or how literacy moves from an oral tradition in a close knit community to a written literacy so that all who read may know a story of survival.

Frances, Chol, and Ezra all pointed out that there was a distinct difference between story telling here in the United States and Africa. They pointed out several times throughout the text that the stories were told in a small group in the evenings. What they described was a very intimate affair. The story seems to draw the people together and unite them. They are suspended in another time whether it be a story about their past or a story of things that are to come.
There was a respect given for the leaders who brought the knowledge of the past to the fire just as there was respect for the young people in the audience that brought the hopes for the future.

So why does storytelling matter in a society that is driven by the written word? In a place where data is retrieved in seconds using the internet and digital books have replaced paper?

I think we still have that strong desire to sit around an evening fire and reflect on our past and our future. We are doing it right now as we blog and read each other’s thoughts. As we search through each post looking for someone who views things the way we do. When a personal story is shared we want to respond and support each other with a response.
I cannot deny that blogging may not give us the same warm and fuzzy feeling you might get listening to a voice in the night. Yet it is still intimate because we are sharing our innermost thoughts with another human being who is there to listen.

Candy Mooney

In this article, we are introduced to three Sudanese boys and how storytelling influenced their lives. I was very intrigued by the look at the differences in the cultures.

For me, reading about how these boys were affected by the stroytelling culture in their own communities was interesting. As an American, I have seen storytelling as important to families and individuals. I have never thought about how storytelling might have influenced a child's literacy experiences.

Storytelling for these boys was second nature. It was in them. They wanted to sit around with each other and tell stories about their experiences. These stories were a way to connect to the people that they respected. It was how they made sense of life and what they knew or were being taught.

This reminds me to some degree of what happens with little kids. It is not uncommon in my house to have a two-year-old or maybe even a seven-yr-old walk up to you and start into a story about something that happened at school or mamaw's (even if you were there). Telling the story is how they process things. I am amazed (just like with this article) how some things come out. The same experiences becomes a different story depending on the needs and processing of that child. I have been blessed enough of the years to hear many of these stories. They give children the connection to the world around them. Two-year-olds (for the most part) can't pick up a pencil and write what she wants to say, so instead they weave this elaborate retelling of what has happened. Sometimes this is true. Sometimes it is obviously invented. It is amazing how these little invented stories mimick the stories that the girls have heard of the years. They even throw in the "once upon a time." This is their connection to the world in which they live.

I am amazed by how this works for the Lost Boys as well. They use these stories as a way to connect to their people/ancestors and to the history that lies within them. In American culture I think that this is a literacy that is slowly slipping away. I have had the opportunity to hear members of a local, "mountan" storytelling family--The Hicks family. Ray Hicks is well-known in these parts for the stories that he tells (He passed away a few years ago). His family has a rich heritage of storytelling (as have many families in generations before). I listened to his stories that dayand was immediately taken back to my grandmother who did the same in her own way when we were little. This type of storytelling has changed though. We have morphed into a written/digital society where these aspects have overtaken the oral tradition. I wonder how our literacies will continue to change as we move even farther away from the stories at grandma's feet. Just as the experiences of the Lost Boys was different than those of their ancestors, ours have been. Those of our children will be as well in ways that maybe we can't even imagine yet.

Christy Laws

I enjoyed reading this study. Not only was Perry thorough in her research (interviews, observations, time tutoring, etc.), but also her style of writing was clear and well organized by topic.

As I was reading, I was reminded of a book I read recently called The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. What I found fascinating were the similarities and differences between that text and the information in this study. In the book, Hmong refugees, like the African refugees, relocated to the US after violence and persecution. The Hmong valued storytelling just as the African refugees. Differently, these Hmong refugees did not place much value on US education whereas the African refugees embraced US education. Thinking about these two groups of refugees made me consider my students. None are refugees, but many are in the same position as the refugees in that they have relocated from different countries, places that value things-like storytelling-that are not necessarily valued in the US classroom. Even though the curriculum is set and time is tight, should I somehow make time for storytelling and other literacies that so valuable to my students?

Another item of interest to me that Perry made in her study was that ‘oral storytelling relates to print literacy development.’ I believe this to be true. In my classroom this year, the majority of students were ELL’s. Writing was so difficult. In order to help the students with their writing (narrative), the ESL teachers and I had the students tell their stories verbally to one another. Once the students were able to say their stories first, they were able to write most of it down. I thought talking-before-writing was a good practice in teaching writing, but now, after reading this study, I feel confidant and encouraged that it is.

Laura Corbello

While reading this artice, I found it truly amazing that there are cultures that do not have a means for writing down the history of their lives and people. I guess I never really thought about cultures that do not have a written language.
My next thought was how story telling changes from person to person. When I was in elementary school, we used to play a game called "Tell Me Again". The way the game was played was quite simple. All students and the teacher sit in a circle on the floor. One person whispers a simple story into the ear of the person next to them. And the story is passed on through whisper one to another, until it reaches the place it began. Then it is told out loud and you compare how it changed as it went. Most of the time, the story was quite different in the end.
As a student, I thought this game was fun. As a teacher, I find it intriguing. If a story or a history is not written down, how can the listener know the true validity of what they are hearing? Does the story not get changed and altered over time and over retelling? I would think so.
Don't get me wrong...I love to hear a good story. And nothing makes it better that to know that it is a story so wonderful that it was worth remembering so that the teler did not even have to write it down. But from a another point, I have to wonder about the validity.
I have a friend who is a "Storyteller". He travels to schools and different areas to tell stories. He is amazing. He makes you feel like you are in the story with him, that you lived it...even when it is a tale of long ago. I admire him for his talent. So does his daughter, who is now following in his footsteps.

Sarah Hutson

The story of the Lost Boys is amazing. I first stumbled across their story when looking for materials to teach about Sudan and the conflict to my 7th grade social studies class in my local library. There is a beautiful picture book called Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan by Mary Williams and illustrated by Gregory Christie. It was an honor recipient of the Corretta Scott King Illustrator Award. It was amazed because I never heard of this before. I was shocked at the amazing journey these boys took together as a family clinging to one another as a means of survival. The older boys taking care of the young and providing comfort, it is beautiful. I had never really thought about what happened to the girls and why there were only “Lost Boys” until I was discussing the article with a friend. She asked what happen to the girls. How horrific the War in Darfur is for the young people? There, in Darfur, the Janjaweed and the government want the native African tribes to neglect their stories and their histories to be Muslim. There the government wants supreme authority without question. I can’t imagine living in a place where the government is trying to destroy your people and erase your culture from the map. These boys should tremendous courage and strength and as Perry found they are eager to preserve their stories. The oral tradition is already an art that seems a bit lost and removed from the high tech world we live in. It is true as Chol says to Perry when asked about storytelling happening here “it’s common, but we don’t-people go to work… In Africa, there’s not a lot of work, but people gather to tell stories.” The sense of communities found in these boys’ native tribes as well in the Kakuma Refuge Camp promoted storytelling and communication as an art to teach, to share, and to explain the world around them. Religion also was the based upon storytelling. It doesn’t surprise me that these boys felt it particularly important to try to preserve storytelling here, too. For them it is an important part of literacy learning. I think for some students, especially those from low socio-economic backgrounds, there stories are a vital piece of who they are and how they understand literacy. Instead of rushing them through, it would be beneficial to provide an outlet for that oral communication that is becoming more and more a lost art in our world. I know that at one point during a particular emotional conversation with my boyfriend I had to result to texting him to get him to respond to me. Sad, yes, but definitely true. We, as teachers, have to work to maintain storytelling as a viable means of communicating ideas in our classrooms. This is challenging, but one important lesson learned from this case study. I enjoyed the distinction that Perry made in her analysis of traditional storytelling verses transformed storytelling. It has changed, but in our students stories we can find invaluable comments about life and take a deeper look in how they understand the world around them. We often take for granted stories that students connect with as they read text, but storytelling is a purposeful way to interact with a text. It may not just be important for refugees, but also as a way to give our students a voice.

Amy Hardister