Story Telling in Roadville
Topics for women's and men's stories are gender-based.
A good story must include direct quotations and be factual, detailed, and free of any exaggeration.
A true story is didactic: it has a "lesson with a meaning for the life of all" (p. 155), which usually derives from a rigid Christian norm from the Bible.
Stories help establish "group membership and behavioral norms" (p. 184).
Always tell the truth: emphasis on conformity to "expected" norms and doing "the right thing"
Parents read stories to preschool children; emphasis on recitation and memorization"
Fictive stories...are not accepted as stories, but as lies, without a piece of truth" (p. 158)
Story Telling in Trackton
"A good story is "junk, which "includes exaggeration and creatively fictionalized details surrounding the real event and the outcome may not even resemble what indeed happened" (p. 166).
"Stories often do not have a point; they may go on as long as the audience enjoys the story teller's entertainment" (p. 186).
Adults do not read to young children. Stories help build "individual strengths and powers" (p. 184)
Story tellers use "gestures, dialogue, sound effects, and emotional evaluations" (p. 172).
Questions for Discussion
1) How much of Heath's recount of the literacy practices of Roadville and Trackton residents is representative of your perception, or observation, of the literacy practices of ethnically and linguistically diverse students in your teaching environment today?
2) In what ways might differences in the literacy practices between the two communities lead to problems in a classroom setting?
3) What can schools and educators do to negotiate or resolve such conflicts?
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