Tony Brian English Tips

  Trickster Narratives. This is a story in which a character plays uses his wit or tricks to fool or cheat other characters. The character who tricks the others is called a trickster. It is normally a small animal or a weaker animal that is despised by others but is very intelligent. Animals such as hare,spider and foxes are depicted as tricksters in many stories The character that is tricked is called a dupe. They are normally big or powerful but depicted as gullible .They include animals such as lions,elephants,crocodiles and hyenas. The Crow and the Fox is an example of a trickster narrative. Features of Trickster Narratives 1.      The trickster uses wits or trickery to cheat the others 2.      The dupe is always gullible as he readily does what they are told to do 3.      They communicate issues of betrayal and deception 4.      The underlying message is that intelligence is better th...

Performance of Oral Narratives   Performance means delivering or acting out a piece of art like an oral narrative. It is said that without performance, oral literature is dead. Performance therefore breathes life into oral literature. Due to their oral nature, oral narratives can be made interesting by performing it to an audience.   Performance here involves the use of the voice, body language and other items like props and costumes to pass a given message. Task 1 Dramatize your favourite narrative to your classmates. Let your classmates note down how you use your voice and body language.   Preparation for An Oral Narrative Performance To have a successful performance of an oral narrative, then a narrator has to prepare. It is said that success comes when preparation meets an opportunity. The following are ways in which oral artists can prepare to perform a narrative: 1.      Rehearse the narrative so as to improve your mastery of the co...

  Aspects of Style in Oral Narratives. Being a genre of oral literature, oral narratives depend on language   for performance and delivery.   This language used in narratives is always unique so as to sustain the audience’s attention to get the main idea in the story. To achieve this, narrators use aspects of styles. Aspects of style refer to the unique use of language to achieve a particular purpose. The following are some common aspects of styles in narratives. 1.      Dialogue This is a conversation between two characters presented in quotations. The direct speech makes most stories sound natural and real as they develop plot and the main idea in a story. Example “Hey there hare,” the Hyena cheerfully said. “What is it?” Hare angrily responded. Task Identify dialogue in this passage.   2.      Direct speech This is a speech by a character addressed to another in quotations but the other charcter does ...

  Characters in Oral Narratives Characters are the people, animals or objects that make the events in the story happen. Our focus story has two main characters: the crow and the fox. Characters can be classified in the following ways: Main characters and minor characters Main character is the character that the conflict of the story is centred around. He or she contributes to the conflict in the story. In short , the story revolves around them and what they do or say. The main characters in our focus story are the fox and the crow. Minor characters are the characters that add little or no contribution to the conflict in the story. There are there to support the main characters in the story. Protagonists and antagonists Protagonist is the main character in the story that faces a problem. He or she is always the audience favourite as they sympathize with him or her. They are naturally good based on their actions as they mean no evil to anyone. The crow is a good example...