Another round of notes! I want to focus on strong/beautiful sentences again this week, my favorite type of story notes.
I enjoyed the story "The Seven Ravens." One sentence that stood out to me in that text was in the middle of the tale. After the man wishes that his sons would turn into Ravens, they do: "He had hardly spoken these words when he heard a whirring sound above his head and, looking up, he saw seven coal-black ravens flying up and away." This sentence conveys a tone of immediacy ("hardly spoken") and uses powerful descriptive language ("whirring sound" and "seven coal-black ravens"). Coming at a moment of intense rising action, this sentence launches the story into the conflict. In the context of this great tale, it certainly worked well.
This unit also had a fantastic version of the famous Little Red Riding Hood story, called here "Little Red Cap." After the wolf has devoured the grandmother, Red finally arrives at the house. The author writes that "She walked into the parlor, and everything looked so strange that she thought, 'Oh, my God, why am I so afraid? I usually like it at grandmother's.'" The sense she has is such a great twist that often gets left out. She already can somehow tell by the environment that something is off, and this strangeness scares her. This sentence not only conveys her emotion, but sets up the next scene where Red encounters the Wolf disguised as her grandmother. Familiar stories can often become less exciting because we know what to expect. However, with vivid language and new ways of framing it, new parts of stories can stand out to us.
I enjoyed these European fairy tales/folk tales! I hope to incorporate some of this style of writing into my own folktales, especially creating powerful sentences to be placed at intense plot moments.
Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf from "The Traditional Faëry Tales of Little Red Riding Hood,
Beauty and the Beast, & Jack and the Beanstalk, 1845" Source: Wikimedia
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