Essay for Week 12: Robin Hood

Often times, I find myself getting bored with some of the stories I have to read, especially the lengthy ones. I am to blame for most my boredom, because I usually wait to the last minute to read the stories and I’m tired and grumpy. The unit of Robin Hood seemed even more troublesome as I began it, since the stories were written as ballads. Poetry and song-type literature can become very dull when simply read in your head. They require tune and rhythm to be fully enjoyed, otherwise they are dry and lifeless.

One thing that I really enjoyed when I read the Robin Hood unit in the Un-textbook was the video added to the ballad of Robin Hood and Little John. This was a particularly long ballad, but, instead of reading the ballad, the unit provided the option of listening to a man sing it accompanied by his acoustic guitar. This helped the story flow much more smoothly and held my interest much longer. I ended up retelling this story in my Storytelling blog post. Not only did the song help me enjoy this particular ballad, but others as well. I then had a tune in my head to which I could read the other ballads, which helped keep me moving along and stay interested in the story.

Bottom line, I think this was a great tool to add to the Robin Hood unit. I know that there are also some units that provide audio recording so that one can listen to the story instead of reading it. This can be especially useful for someone who is tired from a long day and does not want to read several stories. Instead, they can relax and listen and think about what they find interesting in the story. This helps motivate creativity when it is their turn to write the story.

Robin Hood and Little John by L. Rhead

Storytelling for Week 12: Little John

Little John

Author’s Note: This week’s storytelling assignment is based on the ballad of Little John from the Robin Hood unit. I decided to take this same story and place it into another setting. I’ve been watching a lot of The Walking Dead recently, so I thought it would be fun to set Robin Hood and his merry men (referred to as weary men in my story) in a zombie apocalypse (zombies are called Hungerers in my story). This is a different type of story than what I usually write, but I thought it would be fun try it out. Enjoy.      

Robin Hood and his weary men had been traveling for nearly two weeks without a decent meal to fill their bellies. When they reached the edge of a forest, Robin Hood instructed his weary men to rest while he entered the forest to hunt for food. The weary men protested and warned Robin that the forest could be overrun by Hungerers and would be too dangerous to travel through alone. Robin Hood quickly assured his men that would not be alone, for he would have his trusted bow and quiver at his side. He also added that if he were to find himself in a spot of trouble from which he could not escape, he would blow on his horn; at the sound of his horn, his weary men would run to rescue Robin Hood.



The weary men were still unconvinced, yet they could not stop Robin from entering the forest. Robin Hood entered the forest alone to hunt, but the game was sparse. He had managed to catch a few squirrels before he reached a brook in the middle of the forest. Not too far was a narrow bridge, where Robin Hood spotted a stranger fending off several Hungerers. Thrice Robin saw a Hungerer nearly bite the stranger, but the stranger was a large man and a savage fighter with his staff. Robin Hood ran to the bridge and nocked an arrow and drew his bow, but before he released the arrow, he heard the stranger call out to him.

“Oh, come on! Don’t spoil the fun with your bow and arrows! Pick up that pole over there and let’s see how you fair against me in fighting these monsters!”

Robin Hood spotted the old street sign that the stranger was referring to. He set his bow down and picked up the sign and began to bash it against the heads of the Hungerers. Robin and the stranger were fighting hard, yet more and more Hungerers were coming to the bridge. Soon, Robin Hood found himself overwhelmed by a crowd of Hungerers and was forced off of the bridge and into the brook. He then reached for his horn and gave it a hard blow, for he knew that they would not last long like this.

The noise attracted a several Hungerers to him, but the stranger jumped down from the bridge and helped fight them off. Robin Hood and the stranger then fought back to back while the weary men ran towards them. When the weary men reached their leader, they let loose several arrows that each met their target and the battle was finally over.

As the fighting stopped, the stranger thanked Robin Hood and his weary men for their support. He introduced himself as Little John. Robin Hood applauded Little John’s capability against the Hungerers and asked if he would like to join him and his weary men. Little John agreed and traveled onward with Robin Hood and his weary men.



Robin Hood and Little John by L. Rhead



Bibliography

"Robin Hood and Little John" from

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child (1882-1898).

Reading Diary Week 12: Robin Hood

From Robin Hood Unit in the Un-textbook

Progress to Nottingham: What we learned about Robin Hood is that he does not like to be insulted, he is really good with a bow, and he knows it. Don't mess with Robin Hood
Little John: This one was very long, but the video of the song was great! I liked how they started as enemies, but then gained each other's respect. I think I will rewrite this story.
The Shepherd: Wow. What a great pride story. Robin and Little John definitely underestimated their foe. This would be a great story for my Storybook