Writing an African Fable

What ways are there to tell a story?

Most stories are told through a written discourse.

However, stories can also be told by word-of-mouth, or through the use of pictures.

Stories are told in different ways. These include novels, poems, songs, myths/legends and art.

All around the world, different cultures have many of their own stories to tell.

In Africa a popular storytelling tradition are fables.

Do you know what a fable is?

A fable is a short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral. The most famous group of fables were written by a man called Aesop, who lived in Ancient Greece.

What is a moral?

A moral is a lesson, concerned with the principles of right and wrong behaviour, that can be derived from a story or experience.

In Africa, fables were created by the many tribes found throughout the continent.

The stories weren’t written down, but passed on verbally from generation to generation.

African fables did not only hold morals, but were told to help educate, entertain, explain certain animal behaviour, or teach about tribal customs.

Features of a Fable

Fables are usually made up of the following characteristics:

• The stories are short.

• They are normally about animals, who have been given human-like qualities.

• It will hold some sort of message or lesson for the reader to take away from the story.

• They can be amusing.

Read “Why the Warthog is on His Knees”. It is an African fable originating from the Zulu people of South Africa.

Can you identify the features from the previous slide in this story?

What lesson do you think the fable is trying to convey?

Why the giraffe splays it’s legs to drink water

When a giraffe needs to have a drink of water, it has to awkwardly stretch it’s front legs or kneel to reach the ground. This is because it’s neck is too short.

Talk to the person next to you. Can you come up with a fable idea for this fact?

Writing your own fable

On the next slide, there are various pictures of African animals.

Choose two of them, and use your chosen animals to write your own fable.

Try and be creative in your pairings! There are a variety of possibilities!

Extra Activity

1. If you have finished writing your fable, and are happy with it, draw a picture that describes what it is about.

The image should try and show an important/key moment within your story, which helps to emphasise the message/lesson you are trying to convey.

2. Could you tell your story through drama?