Character Analysis in Indonesian Folktales

Lower Secondary English Unit

Students read an Indonesian folktale and rewrite it in the first person from one character's perspective, eg the crocodile's version of events in 'Sang Kancil and the King of Crocodiles'.

Indonesian Folktales
Character Visualisation
Personalising the Character
Relationships between Characters
Crafty Kancil Adventures

Teaching and Learning Activities

Indonesian Folktales

Indonesian folktales fall into three categories:

• Aesop's Fables type stories with an obvious moral and using animals to represent character traits, eg the kancil (pronounced kun-chill) stories
• Creative explanations for the existence of natural features in the environment, eg the 'Malin Kundang' (pronounced mah-leen koon-dung) story which tells of the existence of a rock resembling a kneeling man on the shore in Padang, Sumatra
• Stories that have a formulaic fairytale pattern, eg 'Keong Mas' (pronounced kay-ong mahs), the Golden Snail.

Example of these stories can be found on the following sites:

• Mouse Deer and Otter's Child
  http://www.st.rim.or.jp/%7Ecycle/MYdeerE.HTML
  A story of the Aesop's fable variety involving the mouse deer, Kancil.
• Folktales from Indonesia: Talaga Warna<
  http://www.geocities.com/kesumawijaya/westjava.html
  An explanation for the formation of a beautiful lake in West Java.
• The Adventures of Mouse Deer
  http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/R01.html
  A collection of three stories about Kancil, the mouse deer.
• The Golden Snail
  http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/6666/golden.html
  A retelling of the 'Keong Mas' story from Jakarta.
• The Legend of Bandung Bondowoso
  http://www.bsu.edu/classes/magrath/bandung/bandbond.html
  The story of Bandung Bondowoso.

Note: In some cases the translation of stories is in non-standard English. However, the storylines are still accessible.

You are encouraged to use any or all of the above stories as the focus of the following activities.

Character Visualisation

Select a story to read or share with the class. Read the story out loud or cut the story into segments. Distribute the segments to groups who then retell their segment to the rest of the class so that the whole story is told.

Most of the stories found on the websites are concise synopses of much longer versions. Character development is minimal, making visualisation of characters difficult for students. In small groups or as a class, have students answer questions about the characters, as in the following example for the princess from 'Talaga Warna' (pronounced ter-LAH-ga wah-nah):

Students then draw and describe the personality of a character, and share their impressions.

Personalising the Character

Students form small groups and brainstorm key words about a character, creating a concept map. An example follows for Prince Bandung Bondowoso (pronounced bahn-doong bond-o-wo-so):

Using their group concept map, each student rewrites the story from their character's point of view. For example:

They recite and act out their account according to the personality of their character, ie through body language, tone of voice, non-verbal language etc.

Relationships between Characters

Students identify the main characters in the story and place these in the centre of a large piece of paper. Secondary characters are placed around the edges. Students link the characters by focusing on their personality traits and their changing relationships with each other, as in the following concept map for the characters of 'Keong Mas':

Students assume the identity of a character. They take turns to role-play their character in a new scenario. The rest of the class try to guess the character's identity.

Crafty Kancil Adventures

Students read two tales about the clever little mouse deer, Kancil, then list his characteristics on a class chart. They make a similar list for the other animals in the stories.

Discuss the character traits of other animals who might appear against Kancil in a tale, eg a stubborn and dim-witted ox, an outsmarted fox, a powerless lion. Students decide whether these animals display different character traits in an Indonesian context compared with stories such as Aesop's Fables. (Remember that Kancil always outsmarts his rivals no matter what their strength, size or reputation!)

Students use the Folktale Relationships Activity Sheet to create their own story about Kancil and his exploits with other animals. This can be presented as a play, storybook or cartoon.

For further ideas and Kancil story masks, refer to Indonesia Kaleidoscope, published by Curriculum Corporation, Carlton, Vic, 1999.

Resources

• Folktale Relationships (pdf, 53kb)