TheBanyanTree: rowing

[Peter Macinnis]

On 11/09/2012 05:15, Teague, Julie Anna wrote:
> contrast that with another quote from 'The Open Boat, a story based on
> crane's true life adventure of surviving a ship wreck in a small dingy
> out on the ocean, rowing to save their lives for days on end

One should recall that just after his praise of messing about in boats, 
the Water Rat suffered a disaster, albeit one not quite in the same 
range as Crane's.

I suppose that's one of the keys to good story-yelling: choosing an 
element and cleaning it up, polishing it, trimming it.  But now I need 
to stop, because today, I am talking to several hundred children about 
why history should be about stories, using the tale of Samuel Burt, who 
asked to be hanged, rather than be transported to Australia.

Beats the hell out of what I did at their age, which was to memorise 
lists of rivers crossed and stuff like that.  Imagine Crane's tale, 
reduced to lists of wave types.  It's hiSTORY, people!

peter

-- 
Peter Macinnis, word herder & science gossip,
William McGonagall Fellow in scansion adjustment, University
of Anson Bay, anapest exterminator, MCSE in iambic mechanics,
http://oldblockwriter.blogspot.com/