LESSON 5: ORAL TRADITIONS AND LITERATURE OF THE SEA
 
Target Ages: Can be made applicable for students of any age.
   
Purpose: The purpose of the lesson is twofold; first it shall inform the students what it meant to be an 18th or 19th century sailor and what conditions these men encountered, secondly it will include the story telling traditions that have spanned the history of sailing. From the first oral traditions, through the journals and writings of seamen, and onto the literature, which other more notable authors have written on the sea and its subjects.
   
Length: 20 - 30 minutes
   
Objectives: Students will gain an understanding of what life was like for sea going men as well as the stories they told. The literature of the sea aspect will inform them of the different literature that has been written about the sailing and the sea, and what each author is addressing or presenting in the writing.
   
Key Points: · Because of a large illiterate crew of sailors, the oral stories would be used for both entertainment and teaching.
· The meanings and origins of superstitions and mythic characters in oral traditions.
· Presenting man's fascination and fear of the sea through the centuries.
· The differences and similarities amongst authors of various mediums that have written of the sea.

Student Participation
High School:
Students can be asked to read out loud the various writings. Further, if the writing has multiple voices in it a group of students can be asked to present or read those roles.

Fifth Grade and Above:
Props or pictures, which pertain to events and characters in the literature, can be used. The use of the Sloop Providence should not be under valued here as many of the stories and writings will highlight on features of the boat and similarities and differences can be highlighted.
 
Materials Needed
Salted Meat, hard tack, barrel, bowls, hat, other 18th-century items.
Diagrams: inside of a hold, figureheads, sleeping arrangements, etc.
 
Station logistics and safety
· Collection of Sea Literature
· Compilation of Seamen's oral traditions
· Various props that the facilitator or educator finds pertinent to the discussion.
 
Starting Point

· Reference to various authors that have written about the sea may generate student involvement (i.e. Melville's time as a seaman and the effect that had on his writing of Moby Dick).

Questions:
o How can information be passed to a large number of people when no one is able to read?
o What could be done for entertainment on a boat in the middle of the ocean?
o Where did such sea superstitions come from and how did they become common knowledge? (i.e. Davey Jones, Whistling, etc)
o What is the purpose of writing down stories? Is there any difference between that purpose and the purpose of literature? Should literature instruct, entertain, or both?
o Why have hundreds of other authors taken to writing down these stories and making books and novels of them?

Present the idea that the oral traditions and written stories that deal with the sea are attempts to explain the mysterious. It is the unknown which draws us. Stories of men going to sea are comparable to stories of men going to space, prior to that the West, and even prior to that the New World. The characters can be made comparable to such historical figures as Ponce de Leon, Davey Crocket, and Neil Armstrong.

Note the use of historical figures in the oral traditions of seamen. Whether the story is true or myth, many times the characters are real, i.e. Black Beard (compare to Billy the Kid).
 
Procedures

1.) Questions in regards to the 18th century oral stories and myths that would be known and told by sailors. (See above questions)
2.) More concrete discussion on the medium, scope, and topic of the story that will be read. Is it a poem, oral story, written literature, myth, non-fiction, or fiction, and does it deal with pirates, war, the sea, mermaids, superstitions, etc.
3.) If role-playing or student reading is to be done, than assign roles and begin reading.
4.) Interactive reading of the text. Highlight the similarities between the story and life on or aspects of the Sloop Providence.
5.) Analysis and Discussion. What was the purpose of the story? If more than one work was read than what similarities and differences are there amongst the two?
 
Findings, Observations and Discussion
What was the purpose of the story? Does it have a purpose? If more than one work was read than what similarities and differences are there amongst the two? Highlight the connections between sea shanties and poetry. If the work was fiction, tie into a historic account of events.
 
Real-World Applications

Writing as a profession. Many of the sailors that kept the journals, or told the stories were the same age as the students being taught today. Every profession needs writers who can get the ideas, and needs of the profession down on paper or on the Internet.

With multitudes of Internet companies, and businesses selling and advertising on the Internet there is a larger need than ever for competent writers. Also, there is a real-world application to the students' future studies. Many successful writers have taken the sea as their subject, i.e. Herman Melville, Ernest Hemingway, Benjamin Franklin, Jack London, Homer, and William Shakespeare.

 
Links to State Framework

Ties with State requirements in English

The Rhode Island English Language Arts Framework publication: "Literacy for All Students" addresses the need for understanding enduring themes in a wide variety of writing. (Standard Seven; Enduring Themes). As a Rhode Island warship reproduction, the PROVIDENCE can spark the interests of local students when we present texts which demonstrate an understanding of the commonality with the past and explore universal issues. We will emphasize oral literature, song, ballad, chantey, with emphasis on the art of the spoken word.
 
Vocabulary
TBD