Storytelling Week 7: Mythbusters: Brer Rabbit edition

Mythbusters: Brer Rabbit Edition

Jamie: I'm Jamie

Adam: And I'm Adam

Together: And we are the Mythbusters

Adam: You know, Jamie I was just reading through the Brer Rabbit stories the other day--

Jamie: Oh, those southern African-American stories?

Adam: Yeah, those. And I ran across something peculiar. 

Jamie: What's that?

Adam: Well, in one of the stories a turtle tells this bear that he is stronger than that big bear.

Jamie: Well that does sound dubious.

Adam: Yeah, but what caught my attention was the trick he played on the bear. They each took an end of the rope and the bear's goal was to pull in the turtle. But the turtle went into a patch of water and tied his end of the rope to a clay root. 

Jamie: Oh, so the bear couldn't move the root which makes it look like the turtle wins.

Adam: Yeah, but I was wondering if that would work.

Jamie: Well, we could test it. But, we probably shouldn't just attach a bear to a rope.

Adam: No, I think we need to build a pulling machine instead.

Commercial

Adam: So we're here at the shop, and Jamie and I are working on making a mechanical arm that will pull with the strength of a bear. 

Jamie: You see, we need to not only get the strength right, but also the angle and the swiftness of the pull.

Adam: In the myth, the bear both does a few quick, powerful pulls and tries to steadily pull while walking. We need to be able to replicate both.

Jamie: So what I am doing is calibrating the arm to do a powerful jerk type pull when I push this blue button and a less powerful but steadier pull when I push this yellow button. We will try both and see if either can get a clay root to budge.

Adam: So, Jamie, how do we know how strong a bear is?

Jamie: Well I called up an expert at the Sacramento zoo so that we can be as accurate as possible.

Adam: And you are using those estimates to calibrate your little buddy over there?

Jamie: That's right. And it is almost ready for testing.

Commercial

Adam: So we're here at a secret site that has a creek running through it and we've got our bear-o-matic. So what we're going to do, is we are going to tie this rope.....to this root down here......and to the bear-o-matic. 

Jamie: and from behind this blast shield I will first press the blue power button and then the yellow pull button just like the sequence in the story. 

Adam: Alright, here we go, Jamie hit it!

WOAH!!! THE ROPE BROKE

Jamie: Well I think we can say that with an average rope this myth is busted.

Adam: No doubt about that, the rope breaks before anything can move! But I want to do a real match up so lets use some steel cable next.

Steel Cable

Jamie: Sounds good.

Adam: Alright, so now we have attached the steel cable to the root and the bear and we are going to try this again. Jamie, 3....2.....1..... go!

Jamie: Well the sharp tugs didn't work, so lets try the steady pull.

3.....2.....1.... initiating

Adam: So basically, we are now just going to wait until something happens........

Commercial

Adam: Well it has been a full two minutes so we are going to end the test. Let's go look at the root and see how it is faring.

Jamie: Well it looks like the root did actually move a little bit.

Adam: Yeah, it's still in the ground, but it has definitely moved.

Jamie: So the myth is definitely busted, but with a steel cable it appears to be plausible.

Adam: I agree, completely plausible.

End Episode.

Author's Note: This week I read the Brer rabbit unit that comes from Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings. These are a collection of southern African-American stories mostly centered around Brer Rabbit and his friends. This episode of Mythbusters is based around the story Mr. Terrapin Shows His Strength. In this story, Mr. Terrapin brags that he is stronger than Mr. Bear and so they come up with a test to see who really was stronger. No one believed that a little turtle could beat a bear. The test was that each would take an end of the rope and Mr. Bear would see if he could pull Mr. Terrapin out of a small body of water. Mr. Terrapin was clever and tied the rope around a clay root in the water and Mr. Bear was not able to make it move. When the bear came closer to tell the turtle he won, Mr. Terrapin quickly untied the rope and held onto it. I chose this story for a Mythbusters episode because it made me wonder if a bear would actually lose to a clay root. I still do not know the answer, but it made for a fun story to write. 

Bibliography: Mr. Terrapin Shows his strength from Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris (1881)

Reading Diary Week 7, Continued: Brer Rabbit

I really enjoyed the first half of this unit so I hope that trend continues! Here are my thoughts on the second half of the Brer Rabbit readings from Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris (1881).

Mr. Fox and the Deceitful Frogs: This was a short story, but I really enjoyed all of the noises and frog speak. They were fun to listen to in the recording.

Old Mr. Rabbit, He's a Good Fisherman: I love how clever Mr. Rabbit is and how gullible the fox is. It is a little ridiculous at this point that the fox is still so easy to trick. It is especially interesting because foxes are usually shown to be so sly and clever but this one is rather dumb.

Mr. Rabbit Meets His Match Again: I'm a little bit glad that someone finally did a decent job of messing with Mr. Rabbit.

A Story About the Little Rabbits: Oh my goodness I loved this story. Good little rabbits listening to the birdie!

(By A.B. Frost)

Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear: Poor Mr. Bear! I felt so bad for him being the victim of Mr. Rabbit's trick! I'm not sure how the sapling was able to hold up a bear though. That must be one strong sapling!

Mr. Terrapin Shows His Strength: I like the turtle. He is a clever little fellow. Poor Mr. Bear just cannot catch a break though. Two stories in a row he gets out witted.

The Story of the Deluge: This may be the oddest flood story I have ever heard. I do like it though. It is very unique and creative.

Plantation Proverbs: I liked some of these but some of them confused me. I think my two favorites were "You k'n hide de fier, but w'at you gwine do wid de smoke?" and "Watch out w'en you'er gittin all you want. Fattenin' hogs ain't in luck." It might be fun to base a story off of one or two of these proverbs.

Reading Diary Week 7: Brer Rabbit

Here are my thoughts on the first half of the Brer Rabbit readings from Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris.

The Calamus Root: The dialect of the story took a bit to get used to, but once I warmed up to it I actually really enjoyed it. It makes it feel more like sitting and having someone tell you a story than a lot of the other units I have read in the past. The recorded reading is really helpful too.

The Wonderful Tar-baby Story: I like that we don't get to hear the end of the story. While it is frustrating to not know the end, it is also really fun to be in the same boat as the little boy who does not know either.

Mr. Rabbit and the Tar-Baby

By A. B. Frost

Why Mr. Possum Loves Peace: Oh my goodness, I love this explanation of why possums play dead. It is a really entertaining story that the possum comes up with to tell the raccoon. I love that he tries so hard to not look afraid in front of his friend.

How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp for Mr. Fox: While I love that the rabbit used reverse psychology on the fox, I do not understand how he got unstuck from he tar! Am I missing something?

Mr. Fox is Outdone by Mr. Buzzard: Mr. Fox just cannot catch a break. I like the buzzard's methods of fooling the fox. They are so simple and yet clever.

Mr. Wolf Makes a Failure: I love that the fox finally gets around to trying to fool the rabbit with the help of the wolf and it just does not work. If it weren't for the fact that he wants to eat the rabbit, I'd feel bad for him.

Mr. Fox Tackles Old Man Tarrypin: Everyone seems to be able to fool the fox in the same way! You'd think he had learned better by now.

The Awful Fate of Mr. Wolf: Oh no, Mr. Wolf died! I didn't know the rabbit could be quite that violent, and in front of his kids! But it did make an interesting end to this half of the reading.