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Reading Notes: Brer Rabbit Part A

This week I chose to read the Brer Rabbit tales from African-American folklore. My favorite ride at Disney World is Splash Mountain, which encompasses various characters and plots from this story throughout the ride. This was ultimately the reason for me picking to read these tales this week, and I was nonetheless very pleased with how these stories brought me back to stories my uncle would tell me about Brer Rabbit, the Disney version obviously that was easier to understand.

The writing style of these stories was almost really hard to read because of the grammar and spelling. I think it would have been easier to interpret and analyze if there had been a translation presented instead of this format. I think the back and forth banter between the fox and the rabbit makes for a great source of entertainment, and even a possible story inspiration for this week. I liked how each time they go back and forth always trying to get back at each other. I also liked the addition of other animals to this patch of the woods.

These stories ultimately point out the culture of the African-Americans at the time; they used what was around them to tell stories, such as all the animals, and their grammar was reflected in this written down version of their oral storytelling.

The character of the Brer Rabbit is a representation of how this smaller animal is constantly outsmarting the bigger animals. Especially in the tale of the tar-baby, the rabbit tricks the fox into throwing him into his own home. He is portrayed as a trickster and this makes for an interesting plot line. It also seems like this could be an origin for stories today such as Tom and Jerry, or the coyote and the roadrunner.

Bibliography: African-America Folklore, Brer Rabbit, Joel Chandler Harris


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