1

Erta Ale Story Outline

Name of the Student

Institutional Affiliation

Course

Instructor

Date
 2

Erta Ale Story Outline

Part 1- the why

Why the story should be taught

 The story needs to be told for several reasons, and also it is significant to the living

remnants of the community. These reasons include; the story helps to understand that

people have different personalities regardless of how they are related. For instance,

the younger brother has a different personality from the older one. He is always happy

and not discriminative like the rest of the community members since he plans to sing

and dance with the other kids.

 Secondly, the story is important to the existing generation of that tribe as they can

understand their ancestor's way of life, including social norms and traditions they

followed. The story also helps the reader to understand the ironic phase of life. From

the story, the tribe is peaceful, and yet they carry around sharp weapons. They also do

not associate with others, and yet they trade with them. The story brings trade as an

economical way of life as the people from the Isas community are always ready to

trade anything for large slabs of salt and gold.

 The story explains the different social perspectives that people have. For instance, this

community does not intermarry or associate with other communities, even though

they trade together.

 The story enables the reader to understand the terrain of the land that these people

lived in and how to escape the challenges they face. The story also teaches that it is

important to respect other people's lives and understand them with their weaknesses.

For instance, water to the Isas tribe was an issue that caused them to run when the rain

began.
 3

 The story also explains mysteries' existence in life that if an individual does not

belong to a particular group, it is difficult for them to comprehend. For instance, at the

arrival of the two brothers at home, they find no one; they go into a large cottage

where after a while and the ground opens up, an oval-shaped ship appears and the two

board whereby they are taken to where other people were.

A personal connection to the story

 The short script which is bringing in this story is about the community of Awa in

Brazil. The community is among the indigenous communities that call themselves the

Forest Guardians. However, due to the government's increased pressure, the hunting

culture that sustains this group is vanishing. People from these groups sustain their

lives through a mix of farming, hunting, and fishing. Due to changes in the

environment, the group has adopted several survival strategies. A large percentage of

the group members are aware of the outside world as they have interacted with it.

 The group represents the remaining isolated tribes. Despite that some community

members have moved and settled in the outside world, the remaining members of this

group still practice the culture of hunting. The interaction with other people from the

outside world is minimal as they do not intermarry. Besides, the members of this

group are friendly. However, they are highly secretive. The other main challenge

which the group is facing is infiltrators among themselves. Some members within the

group provide intelligence information to the paymasters, thus exposing the entire

group.

 The story is constructed from an actual place in Brazil, an environment in South

America. I am a person who likes to read documentaries about indigenous

communities. From the knowledge I have gained, most of the Awa community

individuals have similar characteristics, which are portrayed by the Isis. For instance,
 4

people in the script are peaceful and do not interact with other members from the

outside world. Besides, individuals from this community are secretive.

Part 2- The what

Narrative description: story arc

 The story begins with a description of the Danakil "Erta Ale," which is the home

place of the Isas community. According to the author, Danakil is a lowland village

where the oldest human fossil, lucy, was discovered. The tribe's cottages are located

between the lava lake in the Erta Ale volcano crater and the hot, sulfuric, and colorful

Danakil terrain.

 The story explains the bravery of the Isas community's people since they are the only

people who enter the alien-like terrain filled with hydrothermal pools.

 The author goes ahead to describe the community and its way of life. They live an

isolated life and are very passionate about trading their goods for salt and gold slabs.

They are peaceful people that other people enjoy trading with. It is easy to distinguish

the people from the Isas community from the other people due to their body structure

and the women dressing code. They have a slim, tall build: a small head covered with

braided hair with an unusually long, thick neck, their hair is always decorated with

silver metal rings that are circular. Their women cover their bodies from head to toe

and do not move out of their village.

 The story also describes the social life of the Isas community. They are peaceful

although they carry around sharp weapons, they are fast runners, and they are not

supposed to cohabit with other communities or intermarry members. The story also

explains the people's reactions to forces of nature, for example, rain. They say that

water is an issue to them, so they are terrified whenever it rains. The story also
 5

discusses the community's belief in the ancestors. The ancestors gave them different

strategies to escape and overcome some challenges like that of rain.

What happens to who?

 When the two brothers arrived at their destination, an unsettling situation happens.

The entire sky looks dark differently from the other days; the sky looked danker than

the two brothers have ever seen. Suddenly, a thunderstorm echoes from the sky. Then

it starts to fall from the sky. This happens to the two brothers and their camels.

Where and why

 The thunderstorm and the rain happened when the two brothers had gone to trade with

other traders. When the rain started, the other merchants get out of their shops to

enjoy the moment. The two brothers are the only people not enjoying the moment.

The incident happens because water is an issue for the two brothers as they need heat

to survive but not water.