Understanding variants
A variant is a story that changes as different storytellers tell it.
Questions you can ask about VARIANTS. (Provide explanations for your answer)
Simple questions you should ask about each story:
What information do you find in the patterned beginning?
Who are the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ characters in the story?
What is the problem or conflict in the story?
What is the cultural heritage of the story? How do you know this?
What motifs are used in the story?
Questions for comparing variants:
What are the stories’ countries of origin?
Did the storytellers use the same patterned beginning and ending?
Are the characters the same in both versions?
Is the setting the same?
What is the main character’s conflict in the two stories?
What is the initiating event-the event that starts the action of the main character-in these two tales?
Are the subsequent events the same in both details? If not how do they differ?
What is the resolution and the ending?
Did both storytellers use the same imagery and figurative language. Explain.
Did both storytellers use the same motifs? Explain.
Which version did you enjoy more, and why did you enjoy this story more than the other?