Edel Wignell - Notes For Teachers

Australian Writer, Compiler and Journalist

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

Edel on the floor with children at Balmain Public School
Click photo for larger view.

The following notes include suggestions for teachers who are introducing some of Edel Wignell's titles to students. Some publishers' websites are also included here.

NEW! How do you find a title for a collection of stories? Many people made suggestions when Edel was compiling Tying the Knot: Folk Tales of Love and Marriage from Around the World (for ages 10-16). Her article, 'Unlonely: Tying the Knot', includes suggested titles by both children and adults - those by children being the most amusing. It concludes with a sample of activities from the Teacher Resource Book (Phoenix Education). You can read the article here.
NEW! Read an article, 'Writing Nonsense Verse', first published in Writer's Forum (USA), then extended and published in Practically Primary Magazine (Australia) and Junior Education (UK).
Read some fascinating information on the oral tradition and the coincidence of stories here
Edel has ten commissioned titles in the 'Chatterbox' Series (2003-05, Pearson Education Australia)
Read notes on Edel's junior historical novel, The Long, Sticky Walk
Read the inspiration for writing The Long Sticky Walk
Tricking the Tiger: Plays based on Asian Folk Tales
Tricking the Tiger: Teacher Resource Book
Edel's chapter book, Ghost Dog, inspires most responses from children. In reply to their comments, she wrote an article, 'With Reluctant Readers, Try Horror'
Read an interview with Edel, published in the Fellowship of Australian Writers journal in 2004.

THE ORAL TRADITION AND THE COINCIDENCE OF STORIES

Edel at Balmain Public School for the release of 'The Ghostly Jigsaw'.

The oral tradition
The oral tradition consists of stories handed down for centuries by word-of-mouth within families and by storytellers in communities. It comprises myths, legends, epics, ballads, songs, folk tales and folklore.

Folk tales emerged from the lives and experiences of ordinary folk many centuries ago. Some of our superstitions, sayings, customs and beliefs came directly from them, for much of the oral tradition was not written down until recent times.

Coincidence of stories
One of the pleasures of folk tale study is the discovery of different versions of a story. The most notable example is 'Cinderella' which has more than 345 variants worldwide, including Chinese and Vietnamese.

The speedy passing of time is a common theme. In an English folk tale, a hero is absent for 200 years. A gipsy story from Romania describes an adventurer's return after a million years! In the Japanese 'Urashima Taro and the World Beneath the Sea', the hero is amazed to discover that his blissful three years beneath the sea were, in fact, three hundred years.

Over the centuries, similar stories have appeared in the cultures of people so geographically distant that it was not possible for storytellers to have spread them afar – especially as travel was difficult. This is called polygenesis: 'multiple and independent invention in different places through coincidence of thought'.

World Tales: the extraordinary coincidence of stories told in all times, in all places, collected by Idries Shah (1979, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York) includes 65 tales, beautifully illustrated, each with an introduction outlining variations of the tale in different times and cultures.

UNLONELY! TYING THE KNOT
Edel Wignell ©

Edel Wignell (reteller), Tying the Knot: Folk Tales of Love and Marriage from Around the World - a collection of 12 entertaining tales for Years 6-9, 1 921085 21; also Tying the Knot: Teacher Resource Book, 1 921085 22 3 (2006, Phoenix Education. www.phoenixeduc.com.)

Stories embody the inherited wisdom – social, personal and moral – of the people whose world we see through the filter of folklore, Roger D. Abrahams (African Folk Tales, 1983)

In 2005, my proposal for Tying the Knot, a collection of folk tales of love and marriage was accepted by Phoenix Education. At publishing time, there was some discussion about the title. I had chosen three: Getting Hitched, Tying the Knot and For Better or Worse with the sub-title, Folk Tales of Love and Marriage from Around the World.

Thirty titles were suggested. From older people, Rings on their Fingers, Sharing Life, Ring those Bells..., while young people liked Hooking Up, Grope and Elope, Getting the Hots... and a Year 4 boy, the delightful Unlonely! Phoenix and I agreed that Tying the Knot is the best title and, as young people are not likely to be familiar with it, I have included an explanation in the Teacher Resource Book, beginning with a symbol that they know.

Symbols of Love and Marriage
Rings, an outward sign of fidelity and trust, are found widely in folklore and fiction, for they are symbols of everlasting love. The ring, being circular - having no ends - signifies the fact that mutual love will flow from one to the other - continually and forever. It is usually made of precious metal and the vows are made at some kind of ceremony – religious or secular.

However, not everyone can afford to exchange rings, so, in the past, many brides and grooms knotted their clothes or linked hands. At an ancient marriage ceremony, the bride stood close to the altar with the lace of a shoe untied. During the ceremony, the groom tied the lace, indicating that the marriage was knotted forever.

In pagan times, a marriage was called a 'binding'. The hands of the bride and groom were bound firmly together with rope or cloth, the ties being knotted at the beginning of the ceremony. At the end, the ties were cut with a ceremonial knife, and the bride and groom were then free to enter the world as a couple.

There are many other explanations for the saying. In Thailand, a bride and a groom may be linked by a sacred thread. In Sikh weddings the bride and groom wear silk scarves, and the bride's father knots them during a Sikh ceremony. Chinese Buddhists honour the deity Yue Laou by uniting couples with a silken cord, their unity then being recognized as unbreakable. During Hindu ceremonies, garments are tied together as the couple walks around a holy fire. In Western ceremonies, usually the only symbolic tying that can be seen is in the ribbons of a bridal bouquet.

Are folk tales 'old hat'?
I think that young people today don't read folk tales. Could they find them entertaining? Could they learn anything useful from them? After all, they evolved centuries ago when life was totally different. Surely they're 'old hat' now!

In the 1970s, feminists and some literary critics rejected the idea that fairy tales are universal stories of the human psyche. Jack Zipes, editor of The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales (2000) said,
...critics maintain that the 'eternal truths' in tales of the Western tradition are the story of women's subjugation and disenfranchisement under patriarchy.
Many people said that folk tales have restrictive social and cultural effects, conditioning girls to believe that passivity and physical beauty will be rewarded in marriage, wealth and status. Accordingly, feminists compiled fairy tale collections of active heroines and re-wrote some tales as 'alternative' stories with reversed plot lines and/or rearranged motifs.

The oral tradition
More recently, critics and historians have suggested that social changes can be better understood and discussed in the light of folklore as well as of history. The oral tradition is a splendid resource in understanding the way that attitudes and behaviours have been affirmed over the centuries. Many of the stereotypes that have been challenged in recent times had origins in such traditions.

While history states the facts in regard to gender equity and discrimination, folk tales demonstrate by means of lively representations of situations and relationships. As well, they give insights into prevailing attitudes and why it is difficult for reformers to initiate change.

Multicultural relevance
In the last twenty years, Australian society has become increasingly multi-cultural. Numbers of people have arrived from countries where patriarchal traditions are entrenched, so folk tales have greater relevance now. Folk tales are excellent starting points for discussion and understanding – as the Teacher Resource Book shows. Religious traditions have influenced folk tales, so links have been provided to appropriate resources on religion as well as on literature.

Samples from Tying the Knot: Teacher Resource Book

1. 'The Maiden Wiser than the Tsar
In a Serbian tale, 'The Maiden Wiser than the Tsar', a young woman, on her marriage to the Tsar, requests that the Tsar write and sign a contract for her future security. She has the foresight to secure her future in the event that the marriage fails.

Making such a contract was, no doubt, unusual hundreds of years ago, as it is today. Many people enter marriage believing that they are 'marrying for life': they will be together 'until death us do part'. To write a contract relating to future difficulties is anathema, for it contradicts hopes and faith in the enduring nature of marriage.

Increasingly in the last twenty years, couples have been negotiating a contract stating that, if the marriage fails, they will share property and agree to certain conditions in relation to their future children. Full of goodwill, they hope to avoid the acrimonious arguments and protracted legal proceedings that often arise, years later, at the time of separation and divorce.

What do you think? Is it wise for newly-weds to make a contract in regard to a possible future separation? Obtain copies of wedding vows from religious and civil celebrants so that you will have a clearer understanding of what is involved in making marriage vows.

2. The Stubborn Wife
When people lived all their lives in villages, on farms and in other small communities, and never travelled far, they expected to court and marry within their own community. Many young peoples' lives were programmed by parents who promised them in marriage at an early age - a tradition maintained in some cultures today.

The stubborn wife and the henpecked husband are stereotyped figures found in many societies and are, therefore, an ideal subject for humour, both oral and written. A Finnish folk tale, 'The Stubborn Wife', well illustrates the saying: In marriage two people become one, but soon they have to decide, which one? (Source unknown)

What is true love? Some people say that wanting to please a partner is evidence of it. But what happens when one partner has a dominant personality: must win, must always have the last word? Consider relationships that you know. Where does the power lie? Who makes the decisions? How are disagreements negotiated? Do any couples achieve equality?

3. How to Share Five Cakes
The argumentative couple is one of the comic stereotypes of marriage, often used by playwrights, and by comedians as part of an entertainment routine. In 'How to Share Five Cakes', a folk tale from Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka), neither partner will give in and a dire situation develops.

How prevalent is the 'never-give-in' attitude in partnerships and marriage? What happens in most relationships? Who gives in? Do couples take turns to give in, or does one partner always win? Many examples will come to mind, both humorous and tragic, in all kinds of relationships: siblings, friends sharing a flat, partners, married couples – from real life and from books and television.

Folk tales of love and marriage from around the world mirror life in former times. Better than a history lesson, more telling that an exposition of feminist theory, folk tales explain life and relationships as they were and, in many places, still are.

WRITING NONSENSE VERSE
Edel Wignell ©

First published in Writer's Forum (USA), then extended and published in Practically Primary Magazine (Australia) and Junior Education (UK).

Nonsense verse is fun. Children enjoy listening to it and reading it. Because it flows easily, and looks as though it has been dashed off in a spare moment, some children think it is easy to write. But, to be effective, nonsense verse must be carefully planned, for it needs a logical basis. Here are some ways of approaching it.

Invented words
Many writers of nonsense verse have contributed to the English language by their inventive use of language. One of these was the English writer, A. A. Milne, who created many funny words, such as a 'woffelly' nose for a mouse. The placement of new words with correct and appropriate ones, gives them logical authority. For example, in 'Furry Bear', the animal wouldn't care if the weather 'froze or snew', and he wouldn't mind if it 'snowed or friz'.

Invented words with internal rhymes, such as Milne's 'sneezles and freezles' and 'foxes who didn't wear soxes', appeal to all ages. Many young children freely make up their own rhyming words and chants, so they appreciate such nonsense. My 'Ruth's Tooth' is for five-and-six-year-olds experiencing the loss of their teeth.

RUTH'S TOOTH
Edel Wignell ©

First published in Puffinalia Magazine.

There was a young lassie called Ruth,
Who wriggled a little looth tooth;
She hitched and she twitched
Like a goblin bewitched,
Till that tooth came looth from her mooth.

Double meanings
The madness of sayings, clichés and metaphors in the English language can inspire verse. We say 'it's raining cats and dogs', 'don't touch that cake - I've got my eye on it!, 'I'm paying through the nose,' 'eat your heart out', 'I've got a frog in my throat'...

On author visits to schools I ask children to tell sayings that are common in their families. I now have a list of fifty that they have contributed. They respond with gusto to questions, such as 'What if it really did rain cats and dogs - here in the school playground?' 'What if you really did get a frog in your throat?', and enjoy working out literal presentations in stories, verse and cartoons.

In Australia, fish fingers are finger-shaped pieces of mashed fish - a deep-fried, frozen fast food. One day a friend and her little daughter who had been spring-cleaning, found a stray fish finger in the bottom of their freezer, and brought it to me as a writing inspiration gift. This resulted in the poem below.

FISH FINGERS
Edel Wignell ©

First published in Sue Machin (comp.), Stay Loose, Mother Goose (Omnibus).

A fish has fins,
As everyone knows,
And gills as well,
Instead of a nose.

Eyes and mouth,
Tail and scales,
And, because it gets itchy,
Fingers with nails

To give a scratch
Under the chin,
Between the eyes,
Behind the fin.

A few years ago I realised that body words could evoke amusing images, so I wrote a series called 'Body Bits': verses of various lengths about Ear Wigs, Head Lock, Leg Irons, Hair Raising, Knee Caps, Arm Chair, Knuckle Duster and Foot Lights. Feel free to use these titles with children - there is no copyright on ideas, just on expression. Everyone will have a different image.

Homonyms
Confusion can arise from words which sound the same but are spelt differently: raised, razed; meat, meet; cents, sense, scents... These can be explained or illustrated in either an absurd or a straightforward way in two or four-lined verses. For example:

My horse has caught a cold -
Impossible to cheer-up;
He's sneezing, wheezing, coughing...
I'll dose him with cough-stirrup!

Place Names
An atlas is an excellent resource for the creation of nonsense verse, especially limericks. Every country has its strange placenames which make you laugh. Here are some of the splendid ones found in Australia: Woolloomooloo, Uputipotpon, Murwillumbah, Murrumbidgee. Smiggin Holes is the name of a ski resort in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales. As a silly name, it needed a silly verse.

First published in Orbit: School Magazine.

At Smiggin Holes, at Smiggin Holes,
The miners dig for telegraph poles;
Soon the place will be like a sieve,
Nowhere for the people to live.

Some place names provide opportunities for internal rhyming madness. Toggannoggera was a gift, offering words rhyming with ogg. (In pronouncing Toggannoggera, emphasise the ogg both times.) Children love to chant this in chorus, after a few practices.

First published in Countdown Magazine.

On my way to Toggannoggera
My horse began to joggannoggera,
Then to canter,
Next to gallop,
Landed in a boggannoggera.

On my way to Toggannoggera
I came down with a woggannoggera,
Felt so sick,
Thought I would die,
Lay beside a loggannoggera.

On my way to Toggannoggera
I got lost in a foggannoggera,
Wandered around
Alone and lost,
Found at last by a doggannoggera.

On my way to Toggannoggera
My car coughed up a coggannoggera,
Snorted and chugged,
Hiccoughed and croaked,
Sounded like a froggannoggera.

Absurd characters and situations
Many nursery rhymes and narrative poems include absurd characters and situations. Short ones, such as 'Hey, diddle, diddle', 'Sing a Song of Sixpence', 'Hickory dickory, dock!', 'Peter Peter Pumpkin-eater', and long ones, such as 'Old Mother Hubbard', provide a pattern for new nonsense verse.

Most of the basic nursery rhyme collections contain a similar selection, so it is worthwhile reading from a comprehensive collection to find something new, strange and different to spark the imagination. The following is one of my favourites:

Higglety, pigglety, pop!
The dog has eaten the mop;
The pig's in a hurry,
The cat's in a flurry,
Higglety, pigglety, pop!

This verse is included in The Mother Goose Treasury, a collection of 408 rhymes (Puffin Books). Many of the 897 illustrations in colour by Raymond Briggs give the rhymes a zany, nonsensical twist. 'Higglety Pigglety Pop' shows a stretch-dog - mop head at the front, and handle end at the tail.

Jokes
Jokes provide starting points for many humorous verses. 'Hungry Ghosts' was inspired by a joke in the Question/Answer form that children often tell:

Question: What do ghosts eat?

Commended, Centoria Poetry Competition, 2000, and Commended, Fantasia Literary Competition, 2001.

What do hungry ghosts eat
For breakfast every day?
'Nervous oats and scary rice,
And dreaded wheat,' they say.

What do hungry ghosts eat
For dinner every night?
'Haunted snags and spectral spuds,
And ghoulash - always right.'

What do hungry ghosts eat
For snack bits in-between?
'Eerie eggs and airy sims,
And spooketti - slimy green.'

Regularly read nonsense
Many poetry collections have a nonsense section which includes long, narrative poems, such as, Edward Lear's 'The Owl and the Pussy Cat', Lewis Carroll's 'You are old, Father William', Rachel Field's 'The Duel', T. S. Eliot's 'The Rum Tum Tugger', Laura E. Richards' 'Tirra Lirra', A. A. Milne's 'The Four Friends', Hilaire Belloc's 'The Lion and the Tiger', Shelley Silverstein's 'Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout' and Ogden Nash's, 'The Tale of Custard the Dragon'.

Don't forget the collections of Australia's well-known writers of nonsense verse - Michael Dugan, Doug McLeod and Max Fatchen.

Reading by a teacher or a parent provides a reminder of logical ways to approach nonsense verse; listening may tickle the imaginations of today's children and stimulate their writing.