Brainstorming Storytelling Styles

Topic:

My topic will be about karma and how it comes into different aspects of Indian folklore. My goal is to find four different stories from Indian folklore in which people are punished or rewarded by karma for acts that they have committed in the past. I would like to possibly include two stories of positive karma, and two about bad karma.

I know of two incidents in Narayana’s The Ramayana in which karma was clear, and Laura gave me a link to look at another source of karma in Buck’s version of The Ramayana. I have two cases of bad karma, and one of good karma so I would just need to find one more positive case of karma. I am having trouble finding one more case of positive karma, but I know that I have plenty of time to find it.

The three cases of karma that I want to include are about Rama’s mistreatment of Kooni when he was little, and how it lead to him being exiled by the wished of the same woman which is found in Narayan’s Ramayana. From the same version, I want to include the positive karma of Vibishana sparing Hanuman’s life when he seeks out Ravana, and how Hanuman returns the favor when Vibishana seeks asylum with Rama. The third story I can think of would be the link Laura gave me to Buck’s Ramayana which explains an act that Vishnu committed in a war, which led to Rama losing Sita in that life.

Bibliography:

Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.

Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic.

Possible Styles:

Stories for Children

I think it would be fun to write about the stories through the voice of a mother. Since karma is about being punished or rewarded for deeds you have done, then a mother who is trying to get her unruly kids to behave could tell the stories in my Storybook. She could tell the stories as warnings to them, or tell them because she wants to make sure they make the correct decision for a deed they must do. This would possibly be done through a third-person limited narrative.

A Play

If I could get creative enough, I could tell the four stories separately through a script of a play. I have been in quite a few plays, so I know how play scripts work pretty well. It would probably be done mostly through monologues or asides in which characters wonder about their deeds and then discover why incidents have happened in the way that they have for them. Or, I could have a narrator in the script to make the story third person omniscient.

Campfire Stories

When groups of people get together at night and sit around, all different kinds of stories are told. I could have the characters from the epics sit around and talk about their experiences with karma with each story from a different character. This may require me to have four different stories of karma from four different people—I could of course make Vishnu and Rama two different people. I could use it to prove that not all karma is bad, or use it to prove to persuade another character that karma is real. This could be done through a third person omniscient or limited style.

Game Show Narration

You know how in game shows like Wipeout, or shows like Ridiculousness you have someone narrating the story as it is happening and giving commentary throughout it? I could tell the different stories as separate events and throughout it have the announcers commenting about what their mistakes were and making jokes. It would include humor and would explain just why karma rewarded or punished them openly.

Image Information: Classic Campfire; Web Source Wikimedia Commons