#Storytime - I Talk Like a River
Summary
TLDRThe script narrates a poignant tale of a young individual struggling with speech impediments, waking up each morning to a cacophony of words that they cannot articulate. The protagonist's silent suffering is palpable at school, where classmates perceive their silence as strange. A tender moment with the father at the river offers solace and a metaphor for their speech, likening it to the flowing water, both turbulent and serene. Emboldened by this, the protagonist finds the courage to share their favorite place, the river, with their class, symbolizing their journey towards self-expression and acceptance.
Takeaways
- 🌲 The protagonist wakes up each morning surrounded by the sounds of words, which they struggle to articulate.
- 🗣️ The speaker feels a physical impediment to speaking, with words like 'pea' and 'pine tree' causing them to stumble.
- 🌙 The imagery of the 'moon' and 'morning' is used metaphorically to describe the speaker's difficulty in expressing themselves.
- 😶 The protagonist is silent during breakfast and tries to avoid speaking at school, highlighting their fear and anxiety about communication.
- 🏫 At school, the protagonist hides in the back of the class, hoping to avoid being noticed or having to speak.
- 👀 The classmates' perception of the protagonist is one of strangeness and inability to understand their speech difficulties.
- 🗣️ The protagonist's mouth is described as 'full with words of the morning,' emphasizing their internal struggle with speech.
- 🌊 The father takes the protagonist to the river, using the flowing water as a metaphor for how they should speak.
- 💧 The protagonist is encouraged to think of their speech like a river, both turbulent and calm, to help them find their voice.
- 🌊 The river serves as the protagonist's favorite place in the world and a source of inspiration for overcoming their speech challenges.
- 📢 In the end, the protagonist finds the courage to speak in class about their favorite place, the river, and to 'talk like a river.'
Q & A
What does the narrator wake up to every morning?
-The narrator wakes up to the sounds of words all around them, with each sound representing different elements like the pine tree, crow, and the moon.
What metaphor does the narrator use to describe their struggle with speech?
-The narrator uses the metaphor of a pine tree growing roots inside their mouth and a crow stuck in their throat to describe their struggle with speech.
How do the narrator's classmates react when the narrator is unable to speak in class?
-The classmates turn and look, but they don't see the metaphorical pine tree or hear the crow call, they only notice the narrator's inability to speak like them and perceive it as strange.
What does the narrator's teacher ask the class to do, and how does it affect the narrator?
-The teacher asks the class to talk about their favorite place in the world. This task affects the narrator negatively because they are unable to speak due to their speech difficulties.
How does the narrator's father help them cope with their 'bad speech day'?
-The narrator's father takes them to the river for a quiet and comforting experience, using the river's movement as a metaphor to explain how the narrator should speak.
What does the father tell the narrator about speaking like a river?
-The father tells the narrator that they should speak like a river, with both the energy of the rapids and the calmness beyond them, to represent the stuttering and the smooth flow of speech.
What does the narrator associate with the calm river beyond the rapids?
-The narrator associates the calm river beyond the rapids with smooth and glistening water, symbolizing the desired smooth flow of their speech.
How does the narrator overcome their fear of speaking in front of the class?
-The narrator overcomes their fear by remembering the metaphor of speaking like a river, which gives them the courage to talk about their favorite place, the river, in front of the class.
What is the narrator's favorite place in the world, and why is it significant to them?
-The narrator's favorite place is the river because it serves as a metaphor for their speech, helping them to understand and express themselves better.
What emotions does the narrator experience throughout the script?
-The narrator experiences a range of emotions including fear, sadness, frustration, and eventually a sense of understanding and acceptance through the metaphor of the river.
How does the script use nature as a metaphor to convey the narrator's feelings and experiences?
-The script uses elements of nature like the pine tree, crow, moon, and river as metaphors to convey the narrator's struggle with speech and their emotional journey towards self-expression.
Outlines
🌊 Struggling with Speech
The speaker begins by describing their daily struggle with speech, waking up with an overwhelming array of words that they can't express. The imagery of nature, such as the pine tree, crow, and moon, is used to symbolize the words that tangle their tongue. The fear of speaking in school is palpable, as classmates perceive them as different due to their inability to articulate words like others. The speaker's mouth is described as being full of morning words, making them feel isolated and misunderstood.
🏫 School's Silent Challenge
The narrative continues with the speaker's experience at school, where they try to remain unnoticed and silent, especially when asked a question. The act of speaking becomes a source of anxiety, as classmates stare and judge. The speaker's father recognizes their distress and takes them to a quiet place, the river, to help them find solace. The river serves as a metaphor for the speaker's speech, with the turbulent waters reflecting their struggles and the calm waters beyond the rapids symbolizing the potential for smooth communication.
🗣️ Finding Voice by the River
The speaker's father uses the river as a teaching moment, suggesting that the speaker's speech should flow like the water. This moment of realization helps the speaker to cope with their fear of speaking and to embrace their unique way of expressing themselves. The speaker then shares their favorite place in the world, the river, with their class, using the metaphor of the river's movement to describe their speech. This story of overcoming personal challenges and finding one's voice is both inspiring and a testament to the power of nature as a source of strength and inspiration.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡River
💡Words
💡Speech
💡Stutter
💡Pine Tree
💡Crow
💡Moon
💡School
💡Favorite Place
💡Quiet
💡Dad
Highlights
The narrator wakes up each morning with the sounds of words around them but struggles to speak them.
The narrator's mouth feels full of words, like a pine tree growing roots and a crow stuck in their throat, making speech difficult.
The narrator feels self-conscious at school, as classmates don't understand their speech difficulties and find them strange.
The narrator's teacher asks them to talk about their favorite place, but they struggle to speak in front of the class.
The narrator's dad comforts them after a bad speech day, suggesting they go somewhere quiet.
The dad takes the narrator to the river, where they find solace in the quiet and the beauty of nature.
The narrator's dad helps them find a way to describe their speech by comparing it to the movement of the river.
The narrator learns to embrace their unique way of speaking, drawing strength from the image of the river.
The narrator realizes that even the river stutters at times, just like their own speech.
The narrator finds the courage to speak in class about their favorite place, the river, using the river as a metaphor for their speech.
The narrator's speech about the river is a powerful expression of their personal experience with speech difficulties.
The metaphor of the river serves as a therapeutic tool for the narrator to overcome their fear of speaking.
The narrator's dad's understanding and support play a crucial role in helping them navigate their speech challenges.
The story highlights the importance of finding personal metaphors and strategies to cope with difficulties.
The river serves as a symbol of both the struggle and beauty in the narrator's speech journey.
The calm river beyond the rapids represents the narrator's hope for smooth and clear speech.
The narrator's journey is a testament to resilience and the power of finding one's own voice, even in the face of challenges.
Transcripts
i talk
like a river
i wake up with the sounds of words each
morning
all around me
p for the pine tree outside my bedroom
window
c for the crow in its branches m for the
moon
fading in the morning sky i wake up each
morning with the sounds of words
all around me and i can't say them all
the pea and pine tree grows roots inside
my mouth and tangles my tongue
the sea is a crow that sticks in the
back of my throat
the m and moon dusts my lips like the
magic
that makes me only mumble
i wake up in the morning with these word
sounds stuck in my mouth
i say quiet as a stone
i eat my oatmeal without a peep i get
ready for the day without a word
at school i hide in the back of class i
hope i don't have to talk
when my teacher asks me a question all
of my classmates
turn and look
they don't see a pine tree sticking out
from my lips instead of a tongue
they don't hear a crow call call from
inside my throat
they don't hide their eyes from the
moonlight that shines from my open mouth
all they hear is how i don't talk like
them
all they see is how strange my face
looks
and that i can't hide how scared i am my
mouth isn't working
it's full with words of the morning
mornings are always hard but this one's
especially tough
i'm more stuck than ever my teacher says
we all have to talk about our favorite
place in the world
today is my turn but my mouth just isn't
working
and i want to go home my dad picks me up
from school
it's just a bad speech day he says let's
go somewhere quiet
my dad takes me to the river we walk
along the shore
looking for colorful rocks and water
bugs
it feels good to be quiet and alone with
my dad
but i can't stop thinking about my bad
speech day
all those eyes watching my lips twist
and twirl
all those mouths giggling and laughing
i feel a storm in my belly my eyes
fill with rain
my dad sees i am sad and pulls me close
he points to the river and says see how
that water moves
that's how you speak i look at the water
bubbling whirling churning
and crashing
my dad says i talk like a river
this is what i like to remember to help
stop myself from crying
i talk like a river or from not wanting
to speak at all
i talk like a river
when the words around me are hard to say
and i think of the proud river
bubbling churning whirling
and crashing
and i also think of the calm river
beyond the rapids where the water is
smooth and glistening
this is how my mouth moves this is how i
speak
even the ritter river stutters like i do
i wake up in the morning with the sounds
of words all
around me i go to school and i tell the
class about my favorite
place in the world i talk about the
river
and i talk like a river
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