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This paper will explore documentaries and storytelling as an important part of culture, what a documentary is compared to a story, and how storytelling is abandoned for this modern media. In this world there exists something that we all have in common and upon which the success of our entire civilization rests. It is the almost magical way in which we communicate and understand each other. Simply said, it is storytelling. Storytelling is a very cool, in media terms, interactive experience between a teller and a listener. In a sense, many mediums such as novels and television, while they contain stories, are not seen in the same light as "storytelling" which permits live storytellers the opportunity to morph and change their stories based on the reactions of story listeners. Most of us recognize story in every facet of life. The American writer and psychiatrist Robert Coles expresses that stories, “whether written or heard are an encounter with metaphors that bear on everyday life.” Those of us who are careful listeners come to see people’s everyday lives as stories. When speaking to one another we tell our stories, and that the stories we reach out and identify with can help us make choices, find direction, identify morals, and understand our personal lives. (The Call of Story) Anthropologists, psychologists, and historians believe that storytelling has been with us since the beginning of our existence. For thousands of years, as people struggled to survive, they passed on stories of the wisdom and knowledge they accumulated. In early times, storytelling was used to explain significant and often confusing events such as storms, tidal waves, lightening, and fire. Special types of stories about heroes and gods were used to bind individuals to a common belief system, and moral tales conveyed the first laws that ensured the harmony, cooperation, and ultimately the success of early human populations.(Ebscohost) The stories we are willing to share with one another give our culture its values, beliefs, goals, and traditions. They bring us together into a society, allowing us to work together with a common purpose. Storytelling lives at the heart of human experience. Storytelling is a compelling form of personal communication as ancient as language itself. Since the beginnings of humankind, we have shared through stories the events, beliefs, and values held dear by our families, communities, and cultures. The most important stories we share may be those with family and friends, but all help preserve memory, explain our present, and imagine our future.
This report aims to make light of certain elements of documentary making that are perhaps more susceptible to influence on the director’s part, and once again explore the effect of these decisions on the audience’s reaction to the information presented.
Like the argument nature versus nurture, people have been telling stories for years, all the way back to the stone ages. Stories are the way people communicated the news and passed lessons from family
Storytelling’s impact on people who use it has been life saving in certain cases. By asserting the existence of different perspectives, writers get to suppress their own opinions in order to sympathize with others. (insert thing about meta-fiction) With this idea in mind, author Kate Taylor wrote the novel Serial Monogamy, a meta-fiction of a writer recalling the story of her husband’s affair and her deal with terminal breast cancer, all through her telling of Dickens’ secret life and tales of the Arabian Nights. In Serial Monogamy, storytelling makes people more understanding as they explore new perspectives.
The act of storytelling goes hand-in-hand with human existence. The evolution of man from that of a single celled organism into the complex structure that we now know today in and of itself is a story. A story that is written in the genetic code of our Deoxyribonucleic Acid or DNA. That DNA is broken down into the amino acid building blocks A, C, T, and G. Four amino acids written like four notes in a bass cleft staff, "what could be simpler?" With that evolution of man, evolved the art of storytelling; from simple stories of the hunt told around the fire to the written works of authors that we now read in books today. The pinnacle of the integrated story is the novel by Richard Powers titled The Gold Bug Variations.
Individualism is an essential part of stories, because individuals tell stories. They also add and take out what they want to in the story, like Luo did when he didn’t say in his story (p149) that the seamstress got bit by a snake while swimming for Lou’s keys that he tossed in the water.
We are shaped by stories because we learn through “mythistory” which is history mixed with mythological stories to help learn about our past and ourselves since the beginning of the storytelling times (125). Therefore, storytelling has been a part of human society since the beginning of time. Humans are creatures of habit and that means they will continue to tell and live through stories because that is what they know. Gottschall eloquently states this idea throughout the novel by reiterating that humans learn from the stories told by the ancestors. Furthermore, that is why we continue to tell stories because the more we can relate to the topic at the hand the more willing a person is to continue to work towards the goal or dream. Additionally, it one can relate to the topic several others can at the same time, because whether it be reading, music, or film people everywhere are watching therefore they are connecting (137). Human instinct is to connect to on other; that attribute comes from years of stories telling children about how they are only as strong as the group they are with. Our lives are shaped by stories because our lives are about being connected to one other around the world because if one is not connect then one is not important to the world they think. Therefore, as previously mentioned stories are a
Eitzen, D. (1995). "When Is a Documentary? Documentary as a Mode of Reception." Cinema Journal. v.35, n.1, p.92-94.
Why do we tell stories? What can stories change? A story is an account of past events in someone's life or in the evolution of something. Stories we tell can often take a toll on someone’s life, because it is a way of keeping memoires alive that might have faded once before. After telling stories it may be worth remembering, although sometimes stories we tell are exaggerated, or only what we remember, we tell stories because it is apart of life. If it was not for storytelling, what would even exist in history? The bible is the oldest story told to man. The Bible is also the oldest story to ever be told. Stories we tell do largely overlap however, creating a common core. Similar to when we hear stories that are passed
In life, stories are an essential component of human survival and success. Stories enable people’s legacies to continue even when they pass away. Also, stories allow the storyteller freedom to share what he chooses to. The significance of stories is demonstated throughout literary works. Some works that show the significance of stories include, The Things They Carried, The Big Fish, “The Evolutionary Case for Great Fiction” and “For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend a Little Chekhov.” Stories are an essential aspect to human life because of their ability to keep memories alive as they aid man in coping with death and post-traumatic stress. Also, stories play an important role in many different areas ranging from the survival of a species to preparation for a job interview.
Mueller expresses how stories allow children to achieve the impossible, such as flying when they are incapable and discovering the unknown. Stories give a life to the people who are unable to live, and that is one of the reasons why imagination is so essential to our world. The sharing of tales bring genuine joy to people without the need of materialistic items; it gives people the chance to relate to the author on a common ground. The sense of shared joy and mutual connection brings people closer together and expands on relationships. People begin to feel as if they are apart of an imagined community, which is a community in which people perceive themselves to be apart of, through common interests or relations from media or works of literature. Communities such as these allow people to connect with each other, despite never crossing paths. It allows the birth and the strengthening of relationships, for when people begin to converse with others, the first thing they do is find common experiences or interests that they share. In addition, a quote from Mueller, herself, adds to why we tell stories: “Because the story of our life becomes our life. Because each of us tell the same story but tell it differently, and none of us tells it the same way twice.” Tales are devised with the incorporation of the narrator’s imagination; it is a way to
Stories are an essential part of understanding the world and forming identities - whether they are individual, cultural, national or of any other kind.
Storytelling has been used throughout history to explain the unexplained mysteries in the time of the storyteller. Today the current generation makes it appear that the “stories that sell the most cause” (Kristina) widely spread misconceptions and aggression towards these stereotypes. These misconceptions are seen throughout history, whether it is about the destructive forces of the weather or the animals roaming the planet we call home. Aggression can be seen evident throughout history as well, be it wars of religions live in the crusades, or the war against Afghanistan. Storytelling throughout time has created “a safe space in” (Horn) an environment. They have been used to calm the fears children from ancient times to the present, as well a comfort them when parents as they are told a story to help them sleep. Stories are told through the toughest times from economic failure to bombings raining destruction from above. Historically storytellers have traditionally been the elders of the communities who start to tell younger generations when “the person [is] at a young age” (Horn) and more often then not influences the overall outlook of that child. History has been filled with the tradition of the elders of t...
Many people tell stories to inform others about themselves. Throughout my life people in my family have told me many stories, and behind each story there is a purpose. The stories I was told growing up were about experiences that people in my family have had or things that I have done. These stories mean a lot to me because through these stories different family members reveal many things about themselves. They want me to understand their ideas, beliefs, or feelings about a certain subject. They want people to praise or admire what they have done or accomplished. Funny stories are told to humor or embarrass someone, usually me. Other stories express that we are not alone in the world, and there are other people, like my aunt, that have had similar experiences.
Storytelling is an art that has advanced and changed throughout the history of civilization. From Dante Alighieri’s; The Divine Comedy and The Epic of Gilgamesh; to modern day storytelling, such as cinematography, comics and more. Human kind has relied on storytelling in order to explain the unexplainable. These stories brought people and civilizations together. Religions took use of this, and allowed civilizations to control their citizens to some extent. Storytelling, has affected much of human history, however over the years storytelling itself has gone through much iteration and change.
establish and maintain friendship; to construct and communicate a sense of self; to recast events in ways that are satisfying; and to participate in their culture. Kumar (1992) talked about real gains of storytelling as it promotes good listening; gives children training in prediction that further reinforces the child’s confidence in his/her ability to predict; to experience the world around them and gives meaning to their words. He further appreciated storytelling for its ‘pluralistic inheritance’ and that it should be celebrated as an oral heritage.