Advanced Storytelling
A journal and discussion of the coursework for Advanced Storytelling, READ 5230, at ETSU Spring 2006.Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Day 11
April 18, 2006
All Present
We began with a brief warm-up then went into sharing the personal stories. Please excuse the titles I have assigned.
For our warm-up activity we made "clapping music" together and then created moments of silence. We looked at the uses of silence and stillness in our stories. We noticed the habit of rushing through key moments in our stories. Bear in mind: the listener is with you and willing to wait while a moment sinks in or a transition is made. Silence can be a time to listen to your listeners, to check in with the audience. It can also give the listener a chance to feel the story rather than think it. When listening to words, we are still in a mentally alert state of hearing and thinking about words. When all is quiet and still, we have a chance to feel beyond words.
Safia: Vengeance
A surprisingly unrepentant child gets payback for her Kwanzaa insult. This was funny and a good depiction of the fury of the younger child. We enjoyed the loving descriptions of "little girl" toys and the easy dismissal of same. Safia's strong voice and driving pace, kept the story lively. So much so, that she could have easily indulged in more slow, still moments. I still think there is more to include in terms of observations on the culture of materialism. The vengeful anger was fun. Was t satisfied? Did the slashed chair stand as a monument of triumph ever after or did it change to a figure of regret? Where is the child in the teller now?
Nomusa: Spending Money
The singing of the coins tell on Nomusa, the chanting of the neighbor saves her. A very sweetly told story of a child's appetite and impulsiveness and the moral dilemma of facing the father. We saw that some clarification of the system of banking at the post office and some expansion of the "praise poem" used in greeting could satisfy our cultural curiosity and allow us to remain oriented to the story. There was a wonderful contrast between the anticipation of father returning n his taxi and the anticipation of father responding to the empty money box.
Leah: Werewolves and Drunks
A smooth and humorous conversational opening lead us from Leah's favorite color to irrational fears to her father's fear of werewolves. Throughout the telling, Leah gave us a persona that is tricky and enjoys mischief. There was some confusion about the age of the younger brother which caused concern as he was being taken out to get drunk. The moral dilemma with Leah's promise to the mother was a good moment of drama and her solution to take the boy out of the house a humorous compromise. More could be made of the sighting of the werewolf, perhaps a reference back to the father reminding us that we are in a story in a story. Something more was desired at the ending to satisfy our need to know about the younger brother and tie up loose ends.
Tenika: East Meets West
Here again, a conflict with the father provides a dramatic core for the story. The conflict with Tenika's biological father is extended to include her spiritual father as she worries about enjoying herself too much while dong missionary work. The detailed descriptions of the elephant ride and the orangutan, the flowers in the fountains and the street scenes need to find their counterpart in description of the missionary group and work. Be careful about drifting into generalities and over-charged emotional language. Sometimes the teller's feeling the moment in the story can compete with the listener's ability to participate. Intention should be to give the listener the experience. We discovered that there is opportunity to better establish the expectations of missionary work during the report-out from Poland.
All Present
We began with a brief warm-up then went into sharing the personal stories. Please excuse the titles I have assigned.
For our warm-up activity we made "clapping music" together and then created moments of silence. We looked at the uses of silence and stillness in our stories. We noticed the habit of rushing through key moments in our stories. Bear in mind: the listener is with you and willing to wait while a moment sinks in or a transition is made. Silence can be a time to listen to your listeners, to check in with the audience. It can also give the listener a chance to feel the story rather than think it. When listening to words, we are still in a mentally alert state of hearing and thinking about words. When all is quiet and still, we have a chance to feel beyond words.
Safia: Vengeance
A surprisingly unrepentant child gets payback for her Kwanzaa insult. This was funny and a good depiction of the fury of the younger child. We enjoyed the loving descriptions of "little girl" toys and the easy dismissal of same. Safia's strong voice and driving pace, kept the story lively. So much so, that she could have easily indulged in more slow, still moments. I still think there is more to include in terms of observations on the culture of materialism. The vengeful anger was fun. Was t satisfied? Did the slashed chair stand as a monument of triumph ever after or did it change to a figure of regret? Where is the child in the teller now?
Nomusa: Spending Money
The singing of the coins tell on Nomusa, the chanting of the neighbor saves her. A very sweetly told story of a child's appetite and impulsiveness and the moral dilemma of facing the father. We saw that some clarification of the system of banking at the post office and some expansion of the "praise poem" used in greeting could satisfy our cultural curiosity and allow us to remain oriented to the story. There was a wonderful contrast between the anticipation of father returning n his taxi and the anticipation of father responding to the empty money box.
Leah: Werewolves and Drunks
A smooth and humorous conversational opening lead us from Leah's favorite color to irrational fears to her father's fear of werewolves. Throughout the telling, Leah gave us a persona that is tricky and enjoys mischief. There was some confusion about the age of the younger brother which caused concern as he was being taken out to get drunk. The moral dilemma with Leah's promise to the mother was a good moment of drama and her solution to take the boy out of the house a humorous compromise. More could be made of the sighting of the werewolf, perhaps a reference back to the father reminding us that we are in a story in a story. Something more was desired at the ending to satisfy our need to know about the younger brother and tie up loose ends.
Tenika: East Meets West
Here again, a conflict with the father provides a dramatic core for the story. The conflict with Tenika's biological father is extended to include her spiritual father as she worries about enjoying herself too much while dong missionary work. The detailed descriptions of the elephant ride and the orangutan, the flowers in the fountains and the street scenes need to find their counterpart in description of the missionary group and work. Be careful about drifting into generalities and over-charged emotional language. Sometimes the teller's feeling the moment in the story can compete with the listener's ability to participate. Intention should be to give the listener the experience. We discovered that there is opportunity to better establish the expectations of missionary work during the report-out from Poland.
Archives
February 2006 March 2006 April 2006
