Storytelling Resources

As you go on from here, stay in touch with the world of storytelling!
Here are some links to help:

National Storytelling Network

National Storytelling Festival

Storyteller-In-Residence series in Jonesborough, TN

Locally, watch for regular storytelling performances at Pack Place this summer, starting June 19.

Final Classes

Hello All - our last 2 classes are coming up:
Tuesday, May 4 & Tuesday, May 11

For these classes, you will be required to tell a story and to write an observation of one of your class mates. Here is how it will work:

Tuesday, May 4 - come prepared to tell your fairy tale and your personal story. We will map out everyone's stories and select an order of stories for telling during the first few minutes of class. You will then be assigned your place in the program as well as the person that you will be observing. We will then present our stories. You must write up your observation and have it to me by the last class, Tuesday May 11.

Last class, Tuesday, May 11:
come prepared to tell your story-of-choice. Again, we will determine the telling order at the top of class and then begin the performance. I expect that your final story will be selected based on your special area of interest as we have discussed in class.

*Note: you are welcome to invite friends to either of these last 2 classes.
**Class will be held in Sycamore 108 as usual.

See you soon!

David

Many thanks

Hi all,

David has kindly sent me an invitation to join your blog. I look forward to following the class and contributing in some way if possible.

As I returned to Nashville from an amazing week in Asheville, it occurred to me that not only is Asheville an incredibly beautiful place, but all the people I met there were so open and accepting. My reflection brought me back to your warm reception, attentiveness and amazingly thoughtful responses to my show last Tuesday evening. Thank you so much for that. Your feedback is so important as I work to make the show relevant and valuable to my future audiences.

From your comments, I will work to make a better transition between my own photography story and Julia Margaret Cameron's and re-evaluate the inclusion of technical detail. I will consider revealing additional back story in order to make the purpose of the show more clear. Further character development and finding ways to shorten the length will also be addressed. As I work through the show, your additional comments will be applied to the refinement.

You are certainly fortunate to be studying with such accomplished people as David and Gwenda. If I lived in Asheville I'd be in your class as well! Though most of you are probably not studying to be professional storytellers, the principles will help you tell your own story - as you choose to 'focus your lens' or 'develop' your life!

Thanks again,

Valerie Menard

Extras

Here are some images and links related to a few of the items on our mid-term.
Throughout history storytellers have attempted to use visual images to illustrate their stories.

Bankelsanger literally means "bench singer." These German storytellers would use a small bench as a stage from which to direct listeners to their story boards.

Similarly the art of Kamishibai in Japan is based on telling stories to images.

Kamishibai in Japan, 1959
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MahEbmc4CE


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUAJIlJ4DOw




The modern use of storyboards in film-making is a direct descendant of these traditions. Storyboarding was first used as a cost effective way to pre-edit animated films by Walt Disney.

Tuesday, April 13

Welcome back from Spring Break! Now we will begin the telling of personal stories. To inspire us we will have a guest storyteller, Valerie Menard, sharing a new program of stories she is currently developing. Be sure to attend class and listen up!

March 16

Happy St. Patricks Day. here is a link to Eddie Lenihan, Irish Seanachie

As we approach working on personal stories, check out these popular personal story venues:

Story Corps
The Moth
2nd Story
This American Life

Tuesday, March 9

Mara, Diana, Gwen, and Chris were present. There may have been confusion because of the "Friday on Tuesday" schedule but we did indeed hold class.

Here is a mid-term quiz for all of you:

DRAMA 126, Basic Storytelling • Instructor: Novak

Name:__________________________________________Date:

You can submit this in class, 3/16, or via email to: novateller@aol.com

I.In her introduction, Sawyer quotes The Crock of Gold: “...what the heart knows today the head will understand tomorrow.”
What does this mean to you?



How does the storyteller involve “the heart” of the listener?



II.Define the following terms:

Scald
Ollamh
Bard
Pinkerdd
Mabinog

III.Define these additional terms, not found in Sawyer:

Aoidos
Bankelsanger
Kamishibai

IV.Re: Origins of storytelling, we discussed the Seneca story of Grandfather Stone.

How might we “get stories from stones” or other aspects of the natural world?




Give an example of a pattern from the natural world that matches a familiar story.




V.After our hula lesson we discussed qualities from hula that we might invoke in telling stories.

What are some of these qualities and how can we use them in our storytelling?

Fables

For next week - you will be given a quiz on the first 127 pages of Ruth Sawyer "The Way of the Storyteller." Be ready!

Tonight we began a few notes related to the reading assignment comparing the 3 stories:

Eros & Psyche
Beauty & The Beast
East of the Sun and West of the Moon

I presented the ideas of "spelling" and "combinatorics." When we spell a word (example "art" "rat" "tar") we work with a limited set of letters to create a limitless set of ideas. The 3 words referenced above are created from the same 3 letters arranged into different combinations. The art of spelling is the art of making the right combination of elements to create the "spell." In this sense, spelling is a magical act. The right combination yields the right spell. In the same way that different words are spelled with the same letters, different stories can be "spelled" with the same motifs.

We then discussed the 4 fables:
The Tortoise & Hare
The Goose With Golden Eggs
The Fox & Grapes
The Man, Boy & Donkey

We did an exercise with Tim and Ali looking out the door and telling us what they saw in the hallway. the hallway was always the same, but the tellings were very different. The way the storyteller "sees" the stories results in different tellings.

Concepts from Kieran Egan ("Teaching As Storytelling")
Binary Organization: setting up opposites in the creation of the story: slow v. fast, old v. young, proud v. humble, etc.

Affective Hook: involve the emotions and feelings in order to involve the mind: create a feeling for the the pride of the Hare or the greed of the farmer, the thirst of the fox, etc.. (We had a strong example in discussing the free pancakes at IHOP as a motivation for the man with the golden eggs!)

We played the game of "What is it?" with a marking pen.

Discussion: Syntax of Surprise = Huh? Ah!

Hula Night

Last Tuesday we had class in Holly Library with Julie Alstchul, Hula Instructor.

We learned some of the basic steps and a portion of the hula dance that tells the creation story. We noticed how many of the gestures were similar to American Sign Language ("tree" for example) and otherwise were easy to understand: "earth" "fire" "stars" etc.

Some general qualities to look for as we invoke "the spirit of hula" in our storytelling:

Let the body have a voice.
Involve the entire body in the gesture, head-to-toe.
Use rhythm and continuity.
Be "rooted" to the earth.

For next week:

Read and learn the 4 fables in Coles:
The Hare & The Tortoise pg 177
The Fox & The Grapes pg 178
The Goose With The Godlen Eggs pg 178
The Man, The Boy and The Donkey pg 179

Day 4

Next week class will be conducted by guest storyteller/instructor, Gwenda LedBetter. In 1961 Gwenda LedBetter began work as a professional storyteller in Asheville, North Carolina. She worked as storyteller-in-residence for the public library and on local television as 'the story lady.' She has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival many times. In 2007, she was awarded the Circle of Excellence from the National Storytelling Network.

For class with Gwenda, please read the following stories from Joanna Cole, Best-Loved Folktales of the World:

Beauty and the Beast, page 8

Eros and Psyche, page 180

East of the Sun and West of the Moon, page 287

Class Notes for Tuesday, Feb. 2 "Ground Hog Day"
In class last night, we learned some basic string figures. The story of Cat's Cradles which goes along with the string game plus a couple of string "catches."

We also listened to most (not all) of the storytelling recording "Groundhogology" by Doug Elliot. For more on Doug, go to his website: www.dougelliott.com. To find a recording of Groundhogology and other recordings and books by Doug go to: http://www.dougelliott.com/products.html

As we go on into fairy tales, consider the following:

1. Pattern recognition. We use stories to think with and to create understanding by recognizing relationships among the stories we know and the experiences we face. The more stories you know, the more patterns in stories you will begin to recognize.

2. Patterns from the environment. In our consideration of the origins of narrative and the influences on our earliest ancestors, we discussed the notion that the contact with, experience of, and attention to the natural surroundings greatly influenced narrative thinking. In the processes of the environment we find the basic shapes of stories: caterpillar metamorphosis, seasonal cycles, and so on.

3. Patterns from the self. As we explore fairy tales, takes this consideration of the patterns in nature and extend it to include the patterns within - patterns from your own outer and inner life.

4. Spelling. Magic requires spelling. To release a "spell" you must put the right elements into the right relationship. This is what we do with letters. An example from class was to rearrange the 3 letters, T, R, A. From them we get: "Tar" "Rat" "Art" three radically different ideas ("spells") are created by the arrangement of the same elements. Storytelling requires an ability to "spell" with the patterns (motifs, tropes) that make up our stories.

String Figures

Here are some links for tonight's class:

International String Figure Association

Some Youtube clips:
Navajo String Figures:


String Figure Story:


String Figure Jack:

Day 3

We began with a "storytellers' fire." This is an activity I often use as a way to create a mood and mentality for listening to stories. Here it is on bliptv:

I told the story of Raven Brings Light. You can find another version of the story in Coles, "The Raven Brings Light", page 719. Adding to the metaphor of Sky Woman's Basket, we now have the image of Raven's boxes containing light. Combining them as a metaphor for the storyteller, we have the challenge of seeing into the mysterious "basket" of the story and releasing whatever "light" we find there.

I made a connection between the Tlingit region of Raven and the Hawaiian region of Maui by noting that I learned in Hawaii that ocean canoes were made from trees that washed ashore from the NW coast of N. America. Tim asked if that was true, so I checked a map of Pacific Ocean currents. As you can see below, the currents move clockwise from north to south. Hawaii is north of the equatorial current and in a good position to get flotsam from British Columbia!

(As a side note: in recent years the idea that North America was first inhabited by nomadic hunter-gatherers crossing a land bridge across the Bering Straits has been hotly debated. If Polynesians could have made there way to Hawaii from Asia, why couldn't they have gone all the way to North, Central, or South America? Dates for the earliest human presence in South America keep getting pushed back making it harder to conceive of land migration from Alaska. See "Red Earth, White Lies" by Vine Deloria, Jr. for an interesting arguement against the land bridge theory.)

We discussed the story of "How Maui Fished Up The Great Island" (Coles, pg. 599) and found many interesting symbolic possibilities. Here are a few:
* The ancestress half-living and half-dead suggests a relationship with the past
* That he fashions a hook from the jaw-bone of his ancestress suggests the power of the past combined with the power of speech. Note that he chants as he fishes in order to bring up land.
* The paradox of being treated as "lazy" and "shiftless" yet at the same time being inventive suggests that creative personality type: does not fit convention, generates new possibilities, yet may have a day-dreaming style.

There was much more. Please add in your thoughts with comments. Here is a link to more variations of The Legends of Maui.

Some principles we noted:
*To understand a story, we compare it with other stories we already know. Example: Diana discussed the way that Maui and his brothers compare with Mary and Martha from the bible.
* The principle of silence: what is already understood, goes without saying. Hence we will find that stories leave out details that the original listeners may have supplied. Thus, Maui's journey to his ancestress seems very expedient. Yet the journey may have involved much more in the way of ritual and custom that is not reported because it "goes without saying" for members of the original culture.

We watched the youtube performance of a hula chant depicting Maui's Creation. On February 16 we will be joined by a hula instructor and get a first hand experience of this traditional form.
We discussed the use of "containers" for narrative such as highly codified dance forms in Hawaiian hula or totem carvings in the Pacific Northwest.

We watched most of the movie "Remembering The End of The World" depicting the efforts of astronomer, David Talbott, to find a coherent pattern in world mythology and determine what celestial events they may depict. Talbott was inspired by the work of Immanuel Velikovsky and determined that "Velikovsky's key" was pattern recognition. Such pattern recognition is useful for our work in storytelling. Talbott concludes from his research that the ancient astronomers observed a radical realignment of the solar system. For more on his theories go to www.kronia.com.

oral tradition & science

As with the Klamath Legend of the creation of Crater Lake, geologists are finding agreement between oral histories and geologic events. This brief from Bruce Masse shows that oral tradition kept alive historical record for 1500 years!

Reconstructing the eruptive history of Kilauea volcano from myths of the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele

Reading Assignments

For Class #4 (next week) please read:

Ruth Sawyer, The Way of the Storyteller, to page 122.

This includes: "Pattern for the Past" "Experience" and "The Building of Background"

For Class # 5 please read the following stories from

Joanna Cole, Best-Loved Folktales of the World:

Beauty and the Beast, page 8

Eros and Psyche, page 180

East of the Sun and West of the Moon, page 287

Maui Hula

Re: Gender Roles in Storytelling

We talked briefly about ways men and women differ in social storytelling. Here is an interesting observation from an article on "Rank & Relationship in the Evolution of Spoken Language" by linguist, John L. Locke:

"Across diverse cultures, verbal performances have a male bias, just as aggression displays do. But there are other registers of speech, and these are associated with a different sex bias. Among females, power resides less in public demonstrations of verbal finesse than in the ability to carry off private applications of speech in personally oriented talk (Aries & Johnson 1983; Bischoping 1993; Haas 1979; Johnson & Aries 1983; Levin & Arluke 1985). Intimate talking, a category that includes gossip and self-disclosure, tends to foster relationships. Investigators typically find that females are more inclined to speak intimately than males when interacting with a same-sex conversational partner of their own choosing, and in this context they also tend to be more talkative (Dabbs & Ruback 1984; Ickes & Barnes 1977), even as juveniles (Jormakka 1976; Larson, Richards, Moneta, Holmbeck & Duckett 1996; Raffaelli & Duckett 1989; Smith & Connolly 1972). "

why stories anyway?

As part of my spiritual musings, I have come to suspect the "stories" we tell ourselves about ourselves often can and do, create a very real barrier between (us), our true self and the "peace that transcends all understanding." We tell ourselves we are strong/ weak, a victim of this or that and we have/lack this or that and we need/desire this or that ....and we suffer. Maybe we suffer because we solidify our stories so much that we become entumbed (sp.?) in our limited block of reality.

Day 1

It was a pleasure to meet you all tonight.

Present were: Emily, Johnathan, Chris, Jena, Ali, Diana, Gwen, Tess, Tim, Laura, and Shaun

For next week: Read Ruth Sawyer to page 56.
Also, note as many instances of social storytelling as you can find. Look for storytelling everywhere in daily life.

Here is what we did tonight:

We reviewed the syllabus. Please note my best email address: novateller@aol.com. Also, to learn more about me you can go to my website: www.novateller.com

After going over the syllabus, I asked you all to stand and move to the center seats. You did so without hesitation. I discussed the way in which the spoken word (combined with the implied threat of the the teacher) brought you into motion. I then shared some information about my time in San Diego. I described the Turkish Taffy effect of the landscape and the West and East sides of Balboa Park. I described the RC Airplane bluffs, the off-leash park, and the playground noting the similarities. We discussed the way that spoken language is a kind of remote control software that operates on a basis of understanding and agreement between speaker and listener.

I offered that the physical ability to speak seems to have appeared abut 100,000 years ago.
We discussed the question of whether people began speaking as soon as they had the ability. Gwen suggested that perhaps we grunted for an extended period of time.
Laura offered an example of the concept of the colors blue and green in Japanese as an example of language affecting thought.
Diana countered that she remembered understanding others long before she herself chose to speak.
I presented the concept of Recapitulation Theory as a way of considering the development of human language.
We then considered the number of stories that had been employed in the conversation.
Story can be thought of as a kind of storage (though the word "story" and "store" are not related, etymologically) containing ideas and experiences.
Tell is derived from Tally, meaning to make an accounting. Hence an Automatic teller Machine counts out your money.
Some of the first writing appears to have been tallies of stores.
Tell also has another connotation: to discern.
So to tell a story is to recount events and to discern their meaning or use.

After a break I shared a story about watching a lizard in my backyard. We reflected on the experience of the story and found that various experiences and memories were brought to mind.
I shared the thinking from Roger Schank that intelligent behavior means having stories to tell and knowing how to use them to relate to new experiences. We create understand by matching the stories we know with the new experiences we encounter. The more stories we know, the broader our capability for understanding.

We did a conversational story game in which we created constellations of stories using post-it notes. In 15 minutes we gathered 32 stories.
Discussion of the transfer of experience via story. the storyteller uses "involvement strategies" to create a virtual experience for the listener. Storytelling is the original virtual reality.

Syllabus D-126 Spring 2010

Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
DRA 126 – Storytelling

Tuesdays 6:00-8:50 p.m.
Spring 2010
3 contact hours, 3 credit hours -- no pre-requisites, no co-requisites

Instructor: David Novak Department: Humanities and Fine Arts
Classroom: Fernihurst Annex A (The Coach House) 111
Office Hours: n/a
Phone: 280-2718
Email: novateller@aol.com
Class Blog: http://basicstorytelling.blogspot.com/
Required Texts:
Best-Loved Folktales by Joanna Cole
The Way of the Storyteller by Ruth Sawyer

Course Description:
This course introduces the art of storytelling and the oral traditions of folk literature. Topics include the history of storytelling, its value and purpose, techniques of the storyteller, and methods of collecting verbal art. Upon completion, students should be able to present and discuss critically stories from the world's repertory of traditional lore. This course has been approved to satisfy the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement general education core requirement in humanities/fine arts.

Course Goal General Understanding and Performance of Storytelling in Oral Traditions and Modern Practice.
Course-Specific Competences (Intended Outcomes)
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
identify a variety of story types from diverse cultures and periods;
discuss and tell those stories in formal and informal settings.

General Education Reinforcing Experiences:
Communicate effectively in speaking, writing, reading, and listening, via participation in class discussions and performances of text, and in online forums.
Locate, evaluate, and use information to analyze problems and make logical decisions, via research activities related to story assignments
Demonstrate basic competency in computer technology, via participation in online class log.
Demonstrate an appreciation of the various manifestations of cultural diversity, via selection and interpretation of multiple cultural texts.
Develop the ability to succeed as a self-directed learner, via independent research and solo performance projects.
Apply critical thinking skills to analyze the factors that influence personal development,via studying cultural texts, exercising personal aesthetic judgment, developing effective public speaking skills.

Attendance. Please understand that you will need to devote a generous amount of time away from the classroom reading and preparing. Students are expected to attend class, and I do take roll. I need students to be in the classroom to practice and discuss storytelling, and that can’t happen if you’re not here, so if you don’t attend, your participation grade will be negatively affected. This stuff has a way of catching up with students and damaging an otherwise productive semester, so be careful with absences. If you or your child is ill, bring a doctor’s excuse to ensure that you will receive an excused absence. If you are absent on a day a test is assigned, you will not be able to make up the test without a doctor’s excuse. The college states that three tardies (being late, leaving early, etc.) constitute one absence. If you are late, catch me at the break or at the end of class to make sure I counted you present.
Also, please note A-B Tech’s Course Drop/Withdrawal Policy. Drop/Adds must happen before the 10% point of the term. Withdrawal happens after 10% but before 75% of the term is complete. If you don’t attend class and don’t submit the appropriate withdrawal forms on time, you will get a “U” which is processed as an “F” and will affect the quality point ratio. Check into the policy for more specifics.

Participation. Storytelling class is participatory and your willful presence is always needed. You’ll participate in a variety of exercises, games and improvisations. Your willingness to explore, play and have fun is essential. Please feel comfortable to talk to me about special needs.

Dress. Dress comfortably with sensible shoes and be prepared to move. Water bottles are encouraged.

Inclement Weather Policy. Closings will be announced via television or radio by 6:30 a.m. See student handbook/calendar, page 30 for specifics. The college requires that we make up any lost class time, so that may consist of rescheduling, outside assignments or activities.

Breaks. We’ll have a short break halfway through each class. A-B Tech doesn’t allow you to eat in class, so plan accordingly. Please turn off all cell phones and pagers while you’re in class.

Assessment and Evaluation:

Students will be graded according to participation in class, completion of class assignments, and quality of work submitted.

Grading Policy:

Participation = 30% (in class and online)
Assignments = 30%
Final Performance = 20%
Final Evaluations = 20%

Numeric Grading Scale
A-100-90 B-89-80 C-79-70 D-69-60 F-0-60

Drama 126 Initial Schedule, Spring 2010:

Week 1
Introduction to course and performance rubric
Concept: The role of Narrative in Everyday Life.
Exploration: Dynamics of Conversation
Oral Practice: Personal Narrative

Week 2
Concept: History of Storytelling
Oral Practice: Discussion
Reading: Sawyer: pgs 1 - 56

Week 3
Concept: History of Storytelling - Myth
Oral Practice: Discussion
Reading: Coles Story #148: “How Ma-ui Fished Up The Great Island”