Advanced Storytelling
A journal and discussion of the coursework for Advanced Storytelling, READ 5230, at ETSU Spring 2006.Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Day 9
Scary Stories.
Present: All
We began with a brief warm-up of breath, voice, and speech.
Tenika told her Whirlwind Story:
She began with a compelling reflection of the devastation in New Orleans. She then told a first-person story about a tornado and a miraculous survival. The use of specific images was especially effective: "'I love you' hearts in the mud" "a teddy bear in the bushes" "a house on a car, a car on a street without signs".
Such images can more effectively convey a sense of disaster and upset than general words such as "mess" "ruins" "destruction".
There was some confusion about the switch from personal observations to a first person narrative from a text. I became confused as to who was speaking and where we were. We began with a hurricane and went to a tornado. Some simple orientation is all that was needed: "when I saw the situation in New Orleans I was reminded of another storm and the story of (woman's name). She said: "I..."
Again we can see that the real effect of the "scary" story is not so much fear as awe. We are left with a sense of the overwhelming powers around us and the mysteries among us. To finish the story, we discuss Tenika's options. She can offer us questions, or considerations, or return to her opening observations of New Orleans.
For example, she could ask: do we know where the emergency exits are?
She could invite us to consider: we walk through the world with the illusion of control, yet all the while are in the hands of something greater. She could return to New Orleans: when I left that place I felt less a sense of what was lost and more a sense of the miracle of survival...
Safia followed with her story about the mysterious rocking chair. The story, we discovered, has the structure of a "jump" tale. [A jump tail sets up the listener for a startling surprise, a jump. Suggest you look at Mark Twain's 'How to tell a story' (http://www.boondocksnet.com/twaintexts/how_story.html) in his concluding story of The Golden Arm, Twain refers to the "jump" as a "snapper."]
In the story of the rocking chair we have a series of little chapters built around each incidence: the lone rocker in the empty, new home, the first observation of the rocking, the rocking chair and the roll-away basketball, the final approach and question of the rocker. Each chapter can be used to develop the tension and rhythm of the telling to lay the foundation for the jump. After the final jump the story will need to be held longer by the teller. In the jump tale, the dynamics of soft vs. loud, slow vs. fast, and steady vs. sudden can manipulate the listeners' experience.
Leah told the gory mystery of the kitchen scene. She effectively built the troublesome scene in small and specific images: the drop of blood at the door, the dead fish on the floor, the pools of blood, the footprints, and finally: the bloody handprint by the phone. Truly disturbing. There was some confusion as to which girls she was speaking of. We discovered that this was a personal story. The ending left us with a sense of horror and tragedy because it remained unfinished. Here is an example of how, the less we know, the more we fear the worst! We discussed the questions surrounding the girl's actions, or lack of actions, as they entered the bloody scene and were reluctant to go or to call for help. Perhaps telling some of the inner lives of the girls would help us understand their emotional logic. At the same time, such a change in the narrative would offer a break from the gory scene.
Nomusa finished with the tale of the girl who marries the Chief of the Dead. Here again we found the unwrapping of the baby's blankets provided for a build of tension and suspense. To the extent that the unwrapping is drawn out, with the mother bathing some distance away and the grandmother deliberating about her curiosity, our nerves can get a workout. There are opportunities to look for early elements in the story that help to emphasize the strangeness of the story: the girl refusing suitors, the groom arriving at night, and his haste in departing. All these take place before we are certain that the supernatural has entered the tale.
Present: All
We began with a brief warm-up of breath, voice, and speech.
Tenika told her Whirlwind Story:
She began with a compelling reflection of the devastation in New Orleans. She then told a first-person story about a tornado and a miraculous survival. The use of specific images was especially effective: "'I love you' hearts in the mud" "a teddy bear in the bushes" "a house on a car, a car on a street without signs".
Such images can more effectively convey a sense of disaster and upset than general words such as "mess" "ruins" "destruction".
There was some confusion about the switch from personal observations to a first person narrative from a text. I became confused as to who was speaking and where we were. We began with a hurricane and went to a tornado. Some simple orientation is all that was needed: "when I saw the situation in New Orleans I was reminded of another storm and the story of (woman's name). She said: "I..."
Again we can see that the real effect of the "scary" story is not so much fear as awe. We are left with a sense of the overwhelming powers around us and the mysteries among us. To finish the story, we discuss Tenika's options. She can offer us questions, or considerations, or return to her opening observations of New Orleans.
For example, she could ask: do we know where the emergency exits are?
She could invite us to consider: we walk through the world with the illusion of control, yet all the while are in the hands of something greater. She could return to New Orleans: when I left that place I felt less a sense of what was lost and more a sense of the miracle of survival...
Safia followed with her story about the mysterious rocking chair. The story, we discovered, has the structure of a "jump" tale. [A jump tail sets up the listener for a startling surprise, a jump. Suggest you look at Mark Twain's 'How to tell a story' (http://www.boondocksnet.com/twaintexts/how_story.html) in his concluding story of The Golden Arm, Twain refers to the "jump" as a "snapper."]
In the story of the rocking chair we have a series of little chapters built around each incidence: the lone rocker in the empty, new home, the first observation of the rocking, the rocking chair and the roll-away basketball, the final approach and question of the rocker. Each chapter can be used to develop the tension and rhythm of the telling to lay the foundation for the jump. After the final jump the story will need to be held longer by the teller. In the jump tale, the dynamics of soft vs. loud, slow vs. fast, and steady vs. sudden can manipulate the listeners' experience.
Leah told the gory mystery of the kitchen scene. She effectively built the troublesome scene in small and specific images: the drop of blood at the door, the dead fish on the floor, the pools of blood, the footprints, and finally: the bloody handprint by the phone. Truly disturbing. There was some confusion as to which girls she was speaking of. We discovered that this was a personal story. The ending left us with a sense of horror and tragedy because it remained unfinished. Here is an example of how, the less we know, the more we fear the worst! We discussed the questions surrounding the girl's actions, or lack of actions, as they entered the bloody scene and were reluctant to go or to call for help. Perhaps telling some of the inner lives of the girls would help us understand their emotional logic. At the same time, such a change in the narrative would offer a break from the gory scene.
Nomusa finished with the tale of the girl who marries the Chief of the Dead. Here again we found the unwrapping of the baby's blankets provided for a build of tension and suspense. To the extent that the unwrapping is drawn out, with the mother bathing some distance away and the grandmother deliberating about her curiosity, our nerves can get a workout. There are opportunities to look for early elements in the story that help to emphasize the strangeness of the story: the girl refusing suitors, the groom arriving at night, and his haste in departing. All these take place before we are certain that the supernatural has entered the tale.
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