The Man Named Stan
There once was a man named Stan. He use to live in a van
until, one day he heard of this incredible challenge. The challenge was issued
by King Charles of England. The challenge was to all the men of England to win
the honor to marry the king’s daughter, Princess Liz, and inherit the throne
from King Charles. This was a very interesting proposition to the people
because inheriting the throne meant that their families would become the heirs
to the throne and be forever wealthy. The king issued this challenge because he
was getting old and never was able to have a son that could inherit the throne.
This contest would be judged by the king to find who he thought the most suitable
bachelor was for his daughter. In order to decide this the king arranged for
many contests to take place. The contests were fencing, archery, pop culture,
history, and a political debate. The message of this contest spread throughout
the land and stirred up curiosity and ill fated hope in many men. Stan was one
of the men that heard of this and he believed that he could win. The next day
Stan packed up his van and drove to the palace. Once he got to the palace Stan
somehow passed the preliminary checks and was told that he was one of the one
hundred men who would get the honor of competing to marry Princess Liz. When
Stan got the news he was elated. When the day for the first contest, fencing,
came Stan blew everyone away and was placed first out of the remaining men
after the king sent 20 prospects home. The second contest was archery which
Stan excelled at. Stan won this contest and 30 more men were sent home because
they could not even string their bows. The third day was the history test. This
test was especially hard because knowing history is pretty important for the
job of a king. Due to the fact that it was so hard only ten men passed and of
course Stan was the highest scorer. The fourth day was a game show style test
of the men’s knowledge of pop culture because everyone wants a leader that
understands his people. This stage of the contest left only three men for the final
stage, the political debate. King Charles decided to have his parliament attend
this portion of the challenge to help him decide which bachelor would be the
best king. The three contestants came onto the stage in their sharpest suits
and were prosed hot button questions from King Charles. Each contestant was
asked the same group of questions and after the question period the contestants
debate their political ideas. At the end of this debate King Charles called a
meeting with parliament and asked them who they thought would be the best heir
to his throne. The winner of this vote and the king’s favorite man was Stan.
Stan won the honor of marrying Princess Liz and together they lived happily
ever after.
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| Rama and Lakshamana |
Bibliography: King Janaka by Donald A. Mackenzie URL: http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/pde-ramayana-janaka-and-sita.html
After those first three lines, I was really hoping the whole story would be full of rhymes! That's all right, though; I often find that playing with sound and language can help me get started on a piece. I like the topic you chose: "Rama Wins Sita." There seems to be a long history of hosting games for a princesses's hand, even across cultures and different myth traditions. (I think Penelope, Odysseus's wife in The Odyssey, sets up a similar challenge for her own hand in marriage!) So this kind of story feels particularly suited to jumping over to different periods--in your case, the days of King Charles. That's where the story gets a little tricky for me, though. It's hard to tell if parts of it are based off the real King Charles (and if so, which one? Probably not the one that got beheaded!), and even then it tips into the present at times, with things like pop culture quizzes and political debates, and of course Stan's van. The setting is a little slippery and hard to pin down, which can make the story as a whole tricky to get into! Picking any one setting and sticking with it all the way through might go a long way.
ReplyDeleteThis story really intrigued me because sometimes I go by Stan.. kind of funny if you think about it! That and I also have a van! Man those are some crazy coincidences in just the first line of your story! Your story was very original and enjoyable to read! And of course I love that your man Stan got the girl at the end of the story! This also gets me wondering how Stan was able to become so good at all the challenges that the King set out for him, and why some of the challenges were talked about and some weren't? I think talking about a few more of the challenges would have really added to the overall story. What if Stan would have had an enemy trying to win over Liz named Dan and he lived in a Sedan. That would have been a great twist to add to the story in my opinion! Overall I loved your variation of this story!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this story! I always love the stories with the man ending up in the end with the woman he wanted..makes the story more enjoyable to read. One of the questions that came into my head was how Stan was so good at every individual talent. I would have liked to have known some of the background on this Stan guy because he seemed like a stud. Also, I think giving more detail about each of the challenges in the story would have added another aspect to the story, but I still definitely enjoyed reading the story. I particularly like reading about conflict or rivalries in stories between men going for women, so have a rival to try to win over Liz would have been another interesting twist you could've added. Overall, I really enjoyed reading your story about Stan and how he dominated all of the challenges!
ReplyDeleteI really liked this story! It was an interesting twist in the original story of how rama and sita came to be together. The fact that there was more than one challenge to do was also great since this would eliminate people instead of having the problem of multiple people winning the challenge. I think though that instead of adding more detail about the challenges would have also been a good aspect to add.
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