Today I would go out to breakfast and start reading more for this class. At Main Street Overeasy I ordered Earl Grey tea w/ cream, chicken fried steak, eggs, hash browns, and and English muffin of course. I was well on my way when I started Sinbad and his seven tales this goodly Thursday. I was most impressed with the fourth, fifth, and seventh stories from his tellings. Although before I dive into my thoughts I must note that I was very interested with the storytelling structure. I'm not usually one to address structure (I think..), but this class has got me thinking [quite confusedly] about what is necessary in the structure of a romance and where it works. It's formulaic thinking, and it's fascinating. Each of the seven tales has a few things in common. Sinbad is the narrator [think of Frye, "de te fabula: the story is about you" (186)] who's telling the tale. Sinbad always starts off great, then Sinbad always is shipwrecked, then Sinbad finds a fruitful and providential island, then Sinbad finds his way off the island, and then finally he convinces his audience to come back the next night for his next, more exciting tale. Yes, these facts are very generic, apparent, repetitive, and they remind me of the oral tradition. That's why they're there. Although when it comes to his tales it seems that it's not a romance, if we may digress into the meat of matter in this class. Sinbad himself has [at least] a couple of romantic relationships in the story. He has two wives for sure; he's a widower until marrying the king's daughter in the end. And he's a man of God, luck, and providence.
Oh, I won't go on for much longer. Earlier today I thought that I'd center my thesis paper around Sinbad, but because of what I've read in his tales I think that there's not enough romance in his stuff. So...to the forty thieves...
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