Reading Notes: Tejas Legends, Part A

I'm really interested in emulating the children-oriented style of the Tejas stories. I tend towards writing longer stories and always try to use complex sentence structure and a rich vocabulary, so I think paring down and writing something more simplistic will be a really good challenge for me.

These stories are very plain-spoken, and it's an aesthetic I really enjoy. I especially want to work on cutting down my sentence length. These stories will often have several sentences with no added clauses in a row, and then one compound sentence or two every now and then. I also want to make sure I choose an explanatory legend. I haven't done any of those yet, but I keep seeing them from other people in the class and they seem like fun. I liked the story of the north and south wind, because it's really funny to think about two old dudes fighting like that, so that could be a fun one.

The story about the woodpeckers would also be a good possibility. It's told simply, but it's also very sad. However, I'd also want to change the ending, because while the sad ending is the one that warns about the dangers of drugs and is explanatory, I'd want to reunite the kids with their families. I don't want to compromise the explanation though. I could have it be a trick, and the kids just went to other tribes and the parents were punished by being told they were hidden in the trees.

I also just had another idea, which is to frame the story by writing from the perspective of an oral storyteller who is telling it around a fire. Then, when it comes time to add another story to my portfolio site, this one will be ready to go. It should add even more variety to my portfolio than the site already has.

Image: Woodpecker. Source.

Bibliography: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936).