After reading several chapters of The Truth About Stories and exploring the resources in our unit as well as on the Community Book website, write a 4 to 5 page essay that responds to one of the prompts below. Your analysis must be thesis-driven and tackle deep concepts concerning the work. What are the theme/s you identify and what is Kings work trying to say about the world in which he/we are situated?
1. So here are our choices: a world in which creation is a solitary, individual act or a world in which creation is a shared activity; a world that begins in harmony and slides toward chaos or a world that begins in chaos and moves toward harmony; a world marked by competition or a world determined by co-operation (King 24).
Thomas King, in the first chapter of The Truth about Stories, makes a comparison of the creation story of Christianity (the book of Genesis) to a native creation myth. Reflect on the above quote and the content of Kings first chapter and discuss creation as either a collaborative or individual act. In addition to the two creation accounts that King discusses, research and include one other creation narrative from another culture.
2. The truth about stories is that thats all we are (King 2).
Analyze the way King sketches or identifies characters, how situations are shaped, and how time and place are communicated in his narratives. Also consider how his tone, word choice and language work in the stories to create meaning. What does Kings stories tell us about identity, culture, history, and the social world?
3, Explore one of the themes you encountered while going through the novel and resources. You may explore how King develops the topics of generational trauma, lost language/identity, lifestyle issues such as increased rates of suicide and alcoholism among Native Americans, assimilation vs annihilation to express some truth about these topics. Use the resources in our unit to help support your analysis of your selected theme.
In this essay, include a well-placed image or audio/video link in your essay and the use of at least 4 sources; the image would count as source #5. Follow the MLA format for documenting sources and setting up your essay.
