The book of Ether provides an
important example of the high memory tax that would be required to
extemporaneously create the dictated text, even from a previously written
outline. The first chapter of that book presents a genealogy list of at least
thirty generations (1:6-32) that is recreated in reverse order as the story of
the Jaredites unfolds. However, the recreation is not a simple reversed list.
The names and ordering of the genealogy are integrated into the relevant of
those individuals (see Table 5). For an even greater level of complexity, the
genealogy has two men named Com who had different parents and sons and who are
listed generations apart, and yet the text is able to keep the two men with the
same name in their correct reversed order in the narrative of Jaredite history.
The commonality of names did not create any issues in remembering how the two
fit into the larger genealogical pattern.
The challenge of keeping all this information
in memory is compounded by the fact that the men listed in the genealogy are
not always protagonists in the narrative. Often, persons outside of that genealogy
are the driving characters. Thus, even as a mnemonic list, this list cannot be
the basis for the prolonged narrative. The memory tax to keep this list of
thirty individuals in their correct relation while telling stories that often
feature often named characters creates a sufficient strain that would likely
require consulting a written original. (Brant A. Gardner, Engraven Upon
Plates, Printed Upon Paper: Textual and Narrative Structures of the Book of
Mormon [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2023], 72, 74)
Table
5 from ibid., 73
|
Genealogy as It Appears in Ether 1:6-32 |
Later Appearance in Ether |
|
He that wrote this record was Ether. |
11:23: Ether |
|
and he was a descendant of Coriantor. |
11:18: Coriantor |
|
Coriantor was the son of Moron. |
11;14: Moron |
|
And Moron was the son of Ethem. |
11:11 Ethem |
|
And Ethem was the son of Ahah. |
11:10 Ahah |
|
And Ahah was the son of Seth |
11:9 Seth |
|
And Seth was the son of Shiblon. |
11:4; Shiblom |
|
And Shiblon was the son of Com. |
11:31: Com |
|
And Com was the son of Coriantum. |
11:31: Coriantum |
|
And Coriantum was the son of Amnigaddah. |
10:31: Amigaddah |
|
And Amnigaddah was the son of Aaron. |
10:31: Aaron |
|
And Aaron was a descendent of Heth. |
11:31: Heth |
|
who was the son of Hearthom. |
10:29: Hearthom |
|
And Hearthom was the son of Lib. |
11:18: Lib |
|
And Lib was the son of Kish. |
11:17: Kish |
|
And Kish was the son of Corom. |
10:16: Corom |
|
And Corom was the son of Levi. |
10:14: Levi |
|
And Levi was the son of Kim. |
10:13: Kim |
|
And Kim was the son of Morianton |
10:9: Morianton |
|
And Morianton was a descendant of Riplakish. |
10:4: Riplakish |
|
And Riplakish was the son of Shez. |
10:1: Shez |
|
And Shez was the son of Heth. |
9:25: Heth |
|
And Heth was the son of Com. |
9:25: Com |
|
And Com was the son of Coriantum. |
9:21: Coriantum |
|
And Coriantum was the son of Emer. |
9:14: Emer |
|
And Emer was the son of Omer. |
8:1: Omer |
|
And Omer was the son of Shule. |
7:7: Shule |
|
And Shule was the son of Kib. |
7:3: Kib |
|
And Kib was the son of Orihah, |
6:27: Orihah |
|
who was the son of Jared; |
1:33: Jared |
