Once Upon a Time: Storytelling

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Storytelling is an art of expression that has been existent for the at least the last two millenniums. Nobody knows when this art form had originated but people have assumed that storytelling history dates back as early as the BCE era. Storytelling was popular among earlier human life that inhabited the world. The earlier generations of Native Americans would use storytelling as part of their culture whether it was an activity to pass time or to bond with the family and their tribes. In Azar Nafisi’s “Selections of Reading Lolita in Tehran”, she uses various literary works to share different experiences with her students. Different books were discussed by Nafisi to give the students insight on the world outside of their own. Whereas Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story” defines the purpose of a war story while telling his own about his experience in Vietnam with his battle buddies. In addition to telling his story, he also throws in some tips on how to tell an effective war story. Stories do not just contain characters and a plot line; it also contains life lessons and morals that could be applied to almost anyone. These stories are often passed onto the next person through the art of storytelling. The purpose of storytelling is to share personal experiences and lessons with people in hopes to teach or inspire them when creating their own experience. People tell stories to share the unforgettable moments that gave them a range of emotions and in return, people read these stories to learn about those moments and relate to them with moments of their own.
Storytelling provides a way to share unforgettable experiences and valuable information with other people and teach life lessons that could be useful to those who receive t...

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... and will continue to be around in the future. Storytelling will never die out because word of mouth is one of the easiest methods to educate information and spread experiences that can influence others. Often times they are just used as a form of pastime that many individuals just enjoy being able to listen to.

Works Cited

Nafisi, Azar. “Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran.” Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. New York: Random House, 2003. Print. Excerpt from The New Humanities Reader. Ed. Richard E. Miller and Kurt Spellmeyer. 4th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. 247-67. Print.

O’Brien, Tim. “How to Tell a True War Story.” The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1998. Print. Excerpt from The New Humanities Reader. Ed. Richard E. Miller and Kurt Spellmeyer. 4th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. 268-80. Print.

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