DOCSLIB.ORG

A Professional Storyteller “Bends Back” to Look Forward

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Professional Storyteller “Bends Back” to Look Forward An Autoethnography: Using Stories and Drama to Improve My Teaching: A Professional Storyteller “Bends Back” to Look Forward Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Kevin D. Cordi, B.S., M.A., Education The Ohio State University 2009 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Brian Edmiston, Co-Advisor Dr. Amy Shuman, Co-Advisor Dr. Patricia Enciso Copyright by Kevin D. Cordi 2009 Abstract Employing autoethnography as methodology, this study details the promise and problems from my fourteen years as a classroom teacher and nine years as a storytelling teacher at the secondary level. It juxtaposes these experiences using the storytelling and storymaking processes found in process drama and dramatic inquiry. With dramatic inquiry, it examines how story is used to sustain the inquiry of students as they engage in the fictional world not as passive listeners, but as active agents or co-constructors of drama worlds (O’Neill, 1995). This is a critical study of how my identity as a professional storyteller and storytelling teacher has changed as a result of studying and teaching using pedagogies known as process drama (Heathcote, 1984; O’Neill, 1982) and dramatic inquiry (Edmiston, 2009). These methods of teaching employ improvisation and teacher-in-role (Heathcote, 1984) to co-construct and imagine in a drama world (O’Neill, 1995). As a storyteller, I have viewed storytelling within a limited “organized storytelling” (Stone, 1999) context with fixed rules and set descriptions of the essential story elements including tale, teller, and audience (listener). This study challenges these traditional assumptions of how story has been used in storytelling introducing other contexts, namely dramatic contexts, for classroom learning. It also questions how and why organized storytelling privileges the ii told story when story is used for classroom learning and explores how storymaking can be included in performed stories. It shows through autoethnography and thick description my transition from storytelling teacher to one who purposefully incorporates more---namely storymaking in my classes, process drama and dramatic inquiry. In addition to performance storytelling, this work values storymaking (King, 1993) and a different form of performance (Peterson & Langellier, 2004) found in “everyday narratives.” Applying these everyday narratives to classroom contexts when students are using process drama or dramatic inquiry, the teacher narratives are changed. This study examines how teachers can use the five dimensions of narrative as outlined by (Ochs & Capps, 2001) to improve their instruction. It details how improvisation (Heathcote, 1984) and facilitation by the teacher (and students) can expand the learning that comes from using narratives. Most of all, this work uses writing and telling stories to improve my teaching practice. Honest and situational examples in the form of scenarios and narratives highlight and emphasize my teaching. It is about the personal change in my teaching; it is about how I am identified and how I identify myself when using stories. iii Dedication To my loving wife, Barbara iv Acknowledgements I am indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Lyle G. Cordi who taught me my first stories and teach me everyday the value of living life well. Dr. Brian Edmiston who not only expertly shared with me the wonder and educational value of process drama, but has changed my teaching and how I respond to my students. Dr. Amy Shuman whose continual sage advice has helped me further acknowledge the relationship storytelling has for the academy and beyond. Dr. Patricia Enciso for showing me the value of socio-cultural learning and reflection. I value these people not only for lending an ear and eye to my research, but in shaping me as a teacher. I value their wisdom and friendship. Elizabeth Gibson who edited my work, our continual friendship is a document that will last. Michael Smorowski who is always there to help in a pinch and reminds me of the value of friends. Mr. and Mrs. H. Glenn and Jean Allen whose continual support is long lasting and appreciated. And last but not least, my students, my fellow storytellers, and my teaching colleagues, who have helped me have subjects worthy of reflection. Because of you, the stories continue to be told. v Vita Kevin D. Cordi 643 Nashoba Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43223 Home (614) 272-6153 Mobile: (559) 213-0161 e-mail: [email protected] www.kevincordi.com 1990 ……………….. Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education, College of Education, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. 1993 ……………….. Summer Program for Master’s of Arts in Storytelling, College of Education, Department of Curriculum Instruction, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee. 1995 …………………. Master of Arts, College of Education, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio. 1998 …………………. Post Graduate Certificate of Education, School of Education, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England. 1999…………………. Summer Scholarship Study, School of Communication, Department of Theatre, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. 2004 to 2008 ……….. Graduate Teaching Associate, College of Education and Human Ecology, School of Teaching and Learning, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 2008 to 2009……….. Lecturer, College of Education and Human Ecology, School of Teaching and Learning, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 2008 to 2009……….. Academic Storyteller in Residence, The Multicultural Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. vi Publications Books Cordi, K. & Sima, J. (2003). Raising Voices: creating youth storytelling groups and troupes. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. Chapters in Edited Books Cordi, K. (2009). The Jealous bones of Aaron Kelly: Using ghost stories for middle readers. In Scary Story Reader for Middle School . Little Rock, Arkansas: August House Publishers. Cordi, K. (2008). It takes two to tango: ensemble storytelling. In Wright, H. & Wright, J., Team Up! tell in tandem. Yellow Springs, Ohio: Presto & Us. Cordi, K. (2008). Teaching from inquiry. In content area reading, writing, and storytelling. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited. Cordi, K. (2007). Lost in translation. In Margaret Read Macdonald, Tell the world: Storytelling across language barriers. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, pp. 84-87. Cordi, K. (2006). American choices: American voices: telling the story. In Sherry Norfolk., Jane Stenson, & Diane Williams, The storytelling classroom: application across the curriculum,. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, pp. 171-175. Cordi, K. (2003). Listening: the other half of storytelling. In Allison Cox, The Healing heart project,. Ontario, Canada: New Society Publishers. Cordi, K. (2001). Tales from the couch. In Larry & Deborah Coleman, Pot likker: stories for teachers and learners., Johnson City, Tennessee, Pilgrim Press, pp. 72- 79. Cordi, K. (2000). Anansi and his tiny waist: story and teaching tips. In Jeanne Donato and Susan Brand, Storytelling in emergent literacy: fostering multiple intelligences. New York, New York, Delmar Thomson Learning, pp. 78-81. Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Cordi, K. (in process). How do classroom teachers and storytellers use children’s literature and oral stories to address issues of social justice? Storytelling, self, and society. Cordi, K. (2006). Grandparents living theater, Storytelling Magazine, 24 (2). vii Cordi, K. (2002). The country hears young voice, Storytelling Magazine, 14, 42-44. Cordi, K. (2000). Youth are sharing their stories, Tale Trader, 18, 9. Cordi, K. (1998). Storytelling: the next generation, The Voice: National Writing Project, 3(2) 7-10. Cordi, K., Bordlee, I., & Mitchell, D. (1997). Teaching ideas: assessing out loud, English Journal, 86 (1) 154-157. Cordi, K. (1997). Storytelling in the schools, Storytelling Magazine, (4) 15-17. Cordi, K. (1997). Voices of Illusion, Works in Progress, (3) 10-11. Cordi, K. (1997). Voices of Illusion: Kevin Cordi, Teenage Storytelling Troupes, Laughmakers, 15 (3). Cordi, K. (1994). Telling stories in high school, Storytelling World, 14 (2) 36-38. Editor Reviewed Journal Articles Cordi, K. (2007). The Story Box project, Ohio Medium Spectrum, Ohio Educational Library Media Association. 1-4. Cordi, K. (2006). Using writers of the future, Galaxy Press. 1-4. Media Cordi K. (2008). I-tales Videos for www.itales.com, 3 stories. Cordi, K. (2006). Keys to Imagination DVD, Story Watchers Club. Cordi, K. (2006). Christmas, DVD, Story Watchers Club. (Awarded The Film Advisory Board Award of Excellence, Parenting Media Award and positively reviewed by Book list “video pick” From School Library Journal) Cordi, K. (2006). Word Dancing and Other Tales of the Imagination CD. Cordi, K. (2005). Tapestry DVD tales for Small Ones Public TV. Completed and produced 11 CDs. Published with Voices Across America Storytelling project. Cordi, K. (2004). Peace Talk: The Other Side of the Story CD Cordi, K. (2003). Fantasy Alive CD Cordi, K. (2003). Wisdom Keepers CD viii Cordi, K. (2002). Community Campfire CD Cordi, K. (2001). Listen to the Animals CD (Storytelling World Award) Cordi, K. (2000). Kevin Cordi LIVE CD Cordi, K. (1999). Urban Legends CD Cordi, K. (1998). Tales to Tickle Your Funny Bone CD Cordi, K. (1994). Strength through story: Non-violent Means Told by Teens CD Fields of Study Major Field: Education ix Table of Contents Abstract..............................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Sounds of War and Peace: Soundscapes of European Cities in 1945
    10 This book vividly evokes for the reader the sound world of a number of Eu- Renata Tańczuk / Sławomir Wieczorek (eds.) ropean cities in the last year of the Second World War. It allows the reader to “hear” elements of the soundscapes of Amsterdam, Dortmund, Lwów/Lviv, Warsaw and Breslau/Wrocław that are bound up with the traumatising experi- ences of violence, threats and death. Exploiting to the full methodologies and research tools developed in the fields of sound and soundscape studies, the Sounds of War and Peace authors analyse their reflections on autobiographical texts and art. The studies demonstrate the role urban sounds played in the inhabitants’ forging a sense of 1945 Soundscapes of European Cities in 1945 identity as they adapted to new living conditions. The chapters also shed light on the ideological forces at work in the creation of urban sound space. Sounds of War and Peace. War Sounds of Soundscapes of European Cities in Volume 10 Eastern European Studies in Musicology Edited by Maciej Gołąb Renata Tańczuk is a professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Wrocław, Poland. Sławomir Wieczorek is a faculty member of the Institute of Musicology at the University of Wrocław, Poland. Renata Tańczuk / Sławomir Wieczorek (eds.) · Wieczorek / Sławomir Tańczuk Renata ISBN 978-3-631-75336-1 EESM 10_275336_Wieczorek_SG_A5HC globalL.indd 1 16.04.18 14:11 10 This book vividly evokes for the reader the sound world of a number of Eu- Renata Tańczuk / Sławomir Wieczorek (eds.) ropean cities in the last year of the Second World War. It allows the reader to “hear” elements of the soundscapes of Amsterdam, Dortmund, Lwów/Lviv, Warsaw and Breslau/Wrocław that are bound up with the traumatising experi- ences of violence, threats and death.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstract Why We Turn the Page: a Literary Theory Of
    ABSTRACT WHY WE TURN THE PAGE: A LITERARY THEORY OF DYNAMIC STRUCTURALISM Justin J. J. Ness, Ph.D. Department of English Northern Illinois University, 2019 David J. Gorman, Director This study claims that every narrative text intrinsically possesses a structure of fixed relationships among its interest components. The progress of literary structuralism gave more attention to the static nature of what a narrative is than it did to the dynamic nature of how it operates. This study seeks to build on the work of those few theorists who have addressed this general oversight and to contribute a more comprehensive framework through which literary critics may better chart the distinct tensions that a narrative text cultivates as it proactively produces interest to motivate a reader’s continued investment therein. This study asserts that the interest in narrative is premised on three affects— avidity, anxiety, and curiosity—and that tensions within the text are developed through five components of discourse: event, description, dialog, sequence, and presentation. NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY DEKALB, ILLINOIS MAY 2019 WHY WE TURN THE PAGE: A LITERARY THEORY OF DYNAMIC STRUCTURALISM BY JUSTIN J. J. NESS ©2019 Justin J. J. Ness A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Dissertation Director: David J. Gorman ACKNOWLEDGMENTS David Gorman, the director of my project, introduced me to literary structuralism six years ago and has ever since challenged me to ask the simple questions that most people take for granted, to “dare to be stupid.” This honesty about my own ignorance was—in one sense, perhaps the most important sense—the beginning of my life as a scholar.
    [Show full text]
  • 02955 the Aesthetics of Violence OA
    Political Violence and the Tellability of Tales Frode Helmich Pedersen It is a common perception that stories of sex and violence sell, and that it is therefore only to be expected that journalists and editors will, as a rule, favor stories about violence over narratives of a less dramatic kind. Not all stories of violence are equally publishable, however. Some stories of violence are intuitively understood to be “ft to print,” as the slogan goes, whereas others are, for a variety of reasons, deemed unsuitable for publication. How can we go about investigating this phenomenon? To what extent is it possible to ascertain the mechanisms that determine which stories of political violence are covered by Western news media and which are most likely ignored or suppressed? Two approaches to these questions come to mind. Te frst is the media critique put forward by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman in their 1988 book Manufacturing Consent, where the central thesis is that the news stories that make the headlines in the established US press are the ones that tend to serve the interests of US state and corporate power. Te second approach 83 the aesthetics of violence is Slavoj Žižek’s critical analysis of the phenomenon of violence in his book Violence. Six sideways refections (2009), where his distinction between “subjective” and “objective” violence is of particular relevance to the question outlined above. While both of these approaches (which are primarily con- cerned with questions of ideology) are useful tools in any analysis of how Western news media cover cases of violence, they lack a theoretical perspective of the story format, which is almost always the form in which an individual phenomenon of violence is repre- sented and circulated.
    [Show full text]
  • Greger-2 Korr
    The Book and Its Narratives 1 2 Örebro Studies in Literary History and Criticism 1 GREGER ANDERSSON The Book and Its Narratives: A Critical Examination of Some Synchronic Studies of the Book of Judges 3 © Greger Andersson, 2001 Titel: The Book and Its Narratives: A Critical Examination of Some Synchronic Studies of the Book of Judges Utgivare: Universitetsbiblioteket 2001 www.oru.se/ub/publikationer/index.html Skriftserieredaktör: Joanna Israelsson-Kempinska Redaktör: Heinz Merten Tryck: Parajett, Landskrona 04/2001 Tryck, omslag: Trio Tryck, Örebro 04/2001 issn 1650-5840 isbn 91-7668-276-5 4 Abstract 11 Preface 12 1. INTRODUCTION I. Introduction 13 A Search for a Meaningful and Interpretable Text 13 The Book of Judges as Literature 15 The Book and the Narratives 16 A Topic for a Literature Department 17 Method 18 Interpretation – A Difficult Concept 18 A Specific Language Game 19 Material 20 The Book of Judges and the Deuteronomistic History 21 The Book of Judges 22 Two Problems for the Common Reader and for the 24 Professional Interpreter of the Book Disposition 25 Chapters II–IV 25 Chapters V–VIII 26 II. THE STORY ABOUT EHUD – A SIMPLE NARRATIVE? II. The Story about Ehud – A Simple Narrative? 35 Some Comments on the Text 35 Chapter 3:12–17 35 Chapter 3:18–26 37 Chapter 3:27–30 39 A Simple Story 39 Fiction or History? 40 A “Narration-Narrative” 40 The Narrative and the Larger Text 42 Synchronic Scholars 43 The Narrative Displays a Theme in the Larger Text 43 The Narrative Is Transformed into an Episode 44 Within a Larger Narrative 5 Is Ehud an Antihero? 45 The Narrative Displays a Hermeneutic Discussion 46 How Should These Divergent Interpretations Be Explained? 46 The Interpretations of the Synchronists Cannot Be Synthesized 47 How Can These Interpretations Be Evaluated and Explained? 47 How Can the View That Ehud Is an Antihero Be Explained? 47 A Narrative Integrated into a Larger Text 48 III.
    [Show full text]
  • Unpacking the Narrative-Argumentative Conundrum: Story Credibility Revisited
    University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor OSSA Conference Archive OSSA 12: Evidence, Persuasion & Diversity Jun 4th, 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Unpacking the narrative-argumentative conundrum: story credibility revisited Jarmila Bubikova-Moan Kristiania University College Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ossaarchive Part of the Education Commons, and the Philosophy Commons Bubikova-Moan, Jarmila, "Unpacking the narrative-argumentative conundrum: story credibility revisited" (2020). OSSA Conference Archive. 5. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ossaarchive/OSSA12/Thursday/5 This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences and Conference Proceedings at Scholarship at UWindsor. It has been accepted for inclusion in OSSA Conference Archive by an authorized conference organizer of Scholarship at UWindsor. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Unpacking the Narrative-Argumentative Conundrum: Story Credibility Revisited JARMILA BUBIKOVA-MOAN School of Health Sciences Kristiania University College PO Box 1190 Sentrum N – 0107 Oslo Norway [email protected] Abstract: Building on a view of both narration and argumentation as dynamic concepts, the aim of this paper is to argue that story credibility remains a core issue in the debate on the argumentative quality of narratives, yet one that the dynamic perspective has not interrogated in sufficient detail. To illustrate, I will draw on empirical examples from research interviews with adult migrants to Norway on their learning and using Norwegian as a second language. Keywords: Context, discourse analysis, evidence, narrative argument, narrative positioning, story credibility, story plausibility 1. Introduction Since Kvernbekk’s (2003) “first stab” at unpacking the argumentative quality of narratives, there has been a remarkable upsurge of philosophical interest in the topic (Govier, 2013; Govier & Ayers, 2012; Kvernbekk & Bøe-Hansen, 2017; Olmos, 2013, 2014, 2017; Tindale, 2017).
    [Show full text]
  • Rok III 2011
    Rocznik Instytutu Polonistyki Stosowanej Wydziału Polonistyki UW Rok III 2011 Kultura popularna − części i całości Narracje w kulturze popularnej WARSZAWA 2011 Redaktor naczelny Józef Porayski-Pomsta Sekretarz redakcji Ewa Wolańska Komitet redakcyjny Stanisław Dubisz, Stanisław Gajda, Bogdan Owczarek, Józef Porayski-Pomsta (przewodniczący), Elżbieta Sękowska, Ewa Wolańska (sekretarz), Zofia Zaron, Halina Zgółkowa Redakcja tomu Bogdan Owczarek Joanna Frużyńska Współpraca Bartłomiej Fabiszewski Kamila Tuszyńska Recenzenci tomu Opracowanie redakcyjne streszczeń w języku angielskim Danuta Przepiórkowska Korekta Urszula Krzysiak Katarzyna Sałkiewicz Adres redakcji Instytut Polonistyki Stosowanej Wydział Polonistyki Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28 00-927 Warszawa e-mail: [email protected] Copyright by Instytut Polonistyki Stosowanej Wydział Polonistyki UW Warszawa 2011 ISSN 2080-5853 Wydanie publikacji sfinansowane przez Wydział Polonistyki UW ze środków na badania naukowe Projekt okładki Dariusz Górski Skład i łamanie Małgorzata Kula Druk i oprawa Zakład Graficzny Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, zam. 1319/2011 SPIS TREŚCI BOGDAN OWCZAREK: Wstęp .................................................................................... 7 STRATEGIE NARRACJI BOGDAN OWCZAREK: Narracyjność literatury popularnej ...................................... 11 JAKUB Z. LICHAŃSKI: Literatura popularna i sztuka opowiadania: glosy .............. 20 ADAM MAZURKIEWICZ: Teksty kultury cyberpunkowej w systemie rozrywkowym 30 LIDIA GĄSOWSKA:
    [Show full text]
  • Narrative Structure and Characters in the Nanzi Stories of Curacao: a Discourse Analysis
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 2000 Narrative Structure and Characters in the Nanzi Stories of Curacao: a Discourse Analysis. Joke Maaten Mondada Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Mondada, Joke Maaten, "Narrative Structure and Characters in the Nanzi Stories of Curacao: a Discourse Analysis." (2000). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 7214. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/7214 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
    [Show full text]
  • Personal Narratives and Public Trauma in Post-Katrina New Orleans
    “They probably got us all on the news”: Personal Narratives and Public Trauma in Post-Katrina New Orleans DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Katherine Greene Parker Horigan Graduate Program in English The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Professor Amy Shuman, Advisor Professor Ray Cashman Professor Wendy Hesford Professor Maurice Stevens Copyright by Katherine Greene Parker Horigan 2013 Abstract Although stories and images of suffering during Hurricane Katrina saturated public discourse in 2005, the fundamental failures of communication that characterize this catastrophe remain undertheorized—especially the ease with which some stories have been accepted and others ignored. My dissertation brings together representations of the storm’s darkest moments, narrated by eyewitnesses, then shared in a broad spectrum of genres and rhetorical situations. Examining contexts of production, circulation, and reception, I demonstrate that the ways in which survivors’ personal stories are shared with larger audiences can either confirm or confound stereotypical representations of the narrators’ communities, with material consequences for their immediate aid and ongoing recovery. The approaches that drive my analysis include ethnography of communication and narrative performance, critical discourse analysis, rhetorical analysis of life writing, critical race theory, and critical theories of trauma. This project examines Katrina in a new light, focusing on the representational tactics of survivors and the processes by which their narratives are recognized or rejected. Beyond that, this study contributes to current theoretical understandings about how different communicative contexts and rhetorical situations shape the knowledge that is created about trauma and recovery.
    [Show full text]
  • FINAL Dissertation
    From Private to Public: Narrative Design in Composition Pedagogy Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Kathryn Bridget Comer, MA Graduate Program in English The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Evonne Kay Halasek, Advisor James Phelan Cynthia L. Selfe Copyright by Kathryn Bridget Comer 2011 ABSTRACT “From Private to Public: Narrative Rhetoric in Composition Pedagogy” argues for a rhetorical revision of narrative in composition studies. Informed by the interdisciplinary narrative turn, this project aims to move past counterproductive debates surrounding ‘personal’ writing in order to attend to the rhetorical nature and uses of narrative. To this end, I draw upon a year’s worth of classroom-based qualitative research at The Ohio State University in which students analyzed and composed autobiographical texts in multiple genres and modes. Based on this research, I suggest that narrative rhetoric offers an ethical, dialogic orientation toward communication with significant benefits for composition pedagogy and promise for public use. The introductory chapter establishes the exigency offered by the narrative turn and suggests that composition studies has an opportunity to redress a neglect of production in these conversations. I then briefly rehearse the history of personal writing in composition studies, wherein scholars and teachers have debated the merits of narrative in terms of student-centered pedagogies, academic discourse, and critical consciousness. Without diminishing the value of these conversations, I suggest that they have resulted in a terministic screen that emphasizes psychological and personal concerns to the relative neglect of the ii rhetorical uses of autobiographical composition.
    [Show full text]
  • Narration for Information, Illustration, and Evocation a PLAN B
    Narration for Information, Illustration, and Evocation A PLAN B PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Jonathan Richard Gill IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE May 2010 Accepted as a Plan B project: Project Supervisor Date 1 Narration for Information, Illustration, and Evocation Linguistic analysis of oral narrative has consisted of the analysis of its features (Labov, 1972; Polanyi, 1985), devices (Szatrowski, in press), and functions (Takahashi, in press). Pedagogical theory has attempted to harness narrative as a purposeful tool in the classroom (Daniel, 2007; Ganske, 2007). This paper combines these practices, by analyzing narrative inside and outside the classroom. By analyzing two narratives from a university research presentation, and four narratives from casual conversation between peers, I outline three basic purposes for narrative: Information (transfer of facts), Illustration (providing evidence), and Evocation (causing or calling upon a shared emotion). This range of purposes, evidenced by the narratives’ common features, is found in both casual conversation and research presentation discourses. Although these contexts reflect separate genres of discourse (Swales, 1990; 2004), my findings suggest that narrative serves a common purpose inside and outside the classroom. 2 Introduction 1 “Good stories are ones that have some meaning for their audience” (Hatch, 1992, p. 166). Therefore, I find the purpose behind a narrative to be quite important. This paper outlines three purposes for narratives: Information (transfer of facts), Illustration (providing evidence), and Evocation (causing or calling upon a shared emotion). By comparing and contrasting two narratives from formal classroom presentations and four narratives from less formal face-to-face conversations, I give criteria for examining the purposes of a narrative.
    [Show full text]
  • Literary Facebook Narratology: Experientiality, Simultaneity, Tellability1
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Trepo - Institutional Repository of Tampere University post-print version of an article published in Partial Answers 17:1, pp. 159–182 https://doi.org/10.1353/pan.2019.0009 Literary Facebook Narratology: Experientiality, Simultaneity, Tellability1 Maria Mäkelä Tampere University nothing else but what happens to me, such as speaking (Beckett, The Unnamable, 360) In the contemporary field of narrative theory, which combines literary and social- science approaches, the socio-cultural aspects of social-media storytelling have been widely discussed. However, the literary potential of social-media storytelling has gone almost unnoticed. We need research on the literary craft in social media and on its interpretation, as platforms such as Facebook or Twitter are gradually transforming our understanding of what is meant by narrative and what narrative is considered compelling (Georgakopoulou 2013: 220-21 and 2017: 36-38). From the perspective of literary narratology, the two-way traffic between conventions of literary fiction and conventions of social-media storytelling should be of key interest, but little research exists on the topic thus far. Narratologists have, for example, considered the insertion of web-based material within novels (e.g. Hallett 2014) and the borrowing of literary techniques and attempts at literary creativity in Twitterfiction (Thomas 2013 and 2016). Yet more traditionally “narratological” text-oriented questions such as the parallels between simultaneous narration in the novel and on-line social media experientiality, have received scant attention. Transmedial narratology is more interested in how storyworld franchises travel 1 This article was written during a research period in my postdoctoral project “Voice as Experience: Life-Storying in Contemporary Media” (2014–2018, no.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on Narrative, Cognition, and Cultural Evolution
    542 Marina Grishakova, Siim Sorokin Sign Systems Studies 44(4), 2016, 542–561 Notes on narrative, cognition, and cultural evolution Marina Grishakova, Siim Sorokin Institute of Cultural Research and Arts University of Tartu Estonia e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Abstract. Drawing on non-Darwinian cultural-evolutionary approaches, the paper develops a broad, non-representational perspective on narrative, necessary to account for the narrative “ubiquity” hypothesis. It considers narrativity as a feature of intelligent behaviour and as a formative principle of symbolic representation (“narrative proclivity”). Th e narrative representation retains a relationship with the “primary” pre-symbolic narrativity of the basic orientational-interpretive (semiotic) behaviour aff ected by perceptually salient objects and “fi ts” in natural environments. Th e paper distinguishes between implicit narrativity (as the basic form of perceptual-cognitive mapping) of intelligent behaviour or non-narrative media, and the “narrative” as a symbolic representation. Human perceptual-attentional routines are enhanced by symbolic representations: due to its attention-monitoring and information-gathering function, narrative serves as a cognitive-exploratory tool facilitating cultural dynamics. Th e rise of new media and mass communication on the Web has thrown the ability of narrative to shape the public sphere through the ongoing process of negotiated sense- making and interpretation in a particularly sharp relief. Keywords: narrative; cognition;
    [Show full text]