A2 RW Ch4 L2 · Descriptive Language & Cause–Effect

Where I grew up, there was a storyteller named Ammad. He was old and short. His long, white beard touched the floor when he sat. He looked almost 90 but moved like a young man. Ammad loved to tell stories and was famous around town. Every Friday night, he came to the local coffeehouse and entertained customers. It was a small room with eight round tables. Its red walls had turned brown with time, and thick curtains hung over the tall windows. It was noisy with talking and laughter, but became quiet when Ammad began his story.

Because shadow puppetry is popular in Turkey, I wanted to see a shadow play when I was there. Ipek, my Turkish friend, brought me to a small theater in an old part of the city. The theater was just one room—about 12 meters wide. Since there were no chairs, we all sat on reddish colored rugs on the wooden floor. The play was in Turkish. For this reason, Ipek explained what was happening. The two main characters were Karagöz and Hacivat: good friends who have very different personalities. The puppets were of these two men and were each about 30 centimeters tall. They were made from animal skin and decorated with the colors red, green, brown, and blue. I really enjoyed the experience because I learned about Turkish culture and spent time with my good friend.