foundations of storytelling1c

FOUNDATIONSOF

STORYTELLING

What is STORYTELLING?

Every life is a story…Everyone’s life is composed of a series of stories.Each of these stories is a threadin the tapestry of the human story.

A story is simply telling something to someone using….

• IMAGES

• SOUND

When Did Storytelling Begin?

PREHISTORY

150,000 years ago

PRESENT

2000BC

Invention of Writing “Historic Times

Storytelling took the form ofwhat we call the

ORAL TRADITION

PREHISTORY

150,000 years ago

PRESENT

2000BC

Invention of Writing “Historic Times

Which do you think people used first to tell stories?

IMAGES or SOUNDS

The Rock Art of Southern France

LANGUAGE

• All animals communicate in some way.

• We don’t know exactly when the spoken word emerged.

• But linguists say at least 6,000 different spoken languages have been used by humans.

Before the invention of writing, oral storytelling depended on….

MNEMONIC devices.

What is a Mnemonic device?

What is a Mnemonic device?

Mnemonic comes from a Greek word

meaning memory…and a Mnemonic device is anything that aids in memory.

i.e. IMAGES, NUMBERS AND RHYME (POETRY)

From the earliest times, image and sound were combined to produce

storytelling DEVICES:

• LANGUAGE and the SPOKEN WORD• DANCE• MUSIC• THEATRE• CEREMONY

THE MEDIA OF STORYTELLING

Within every story there is a:

• BEGINNING

• MIDDLE

• END

THE 5 “W” QUESTIONSof a STORY

• WHO

• WHAT

• WHERE

• WHEN

• WHY

ELEMENTS OF A STORY

• SETTING

• PLOT

• CHARACTER

• THEME or AUTHOR’S PURPOSE

Why Do People Tell Stories?

• INFORM

• EDUCATE

• ENTERTAIN

• ENGAGE EMOTIONS

• PRESERVE MEMORY

• SOCIALIZE & FOSTER COMMUNITY

• HELP UNDERSTAND

PART II

PREHISTORY

PRESENT

BEGINNING OF STORYTELLING

IMAGES: CAVE PAINTINGS

Cave Paintings and Rock Art emerged about 30,000 – 40,000 years agoLascaux, France Cave Arthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV0xrbvVAQw&feature=related

IMAGES: CAVE PAINTINGS

Cave Paintings and Rock Artemerged about 30,000 – 40,000 years ago.

PetroglyphsAre a form ofProto-Writing

Aboriginal Rock ArtArt becomes more than just art…

STORIES BECOMEMORE THAN JUST STORIES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSHKqX8_pqU&feature=related

The POWER of SYMBOLS

NIKE LOGOA logo is a symbol and a

valuable intellectual property.

WRITING

PREHISTORIC

HISTORIC

INVENTION OF WRITING

WRITING

PHOENECIAN ALPHABETis considered the basis of the Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin…and from Latin comes English.

These are phonetic alphabets meaning the symbols relate to a sound which are then formed into words. These are phonetic alphabets meaning the symbols relate to a sound which

are then formed into words.

PART III

What inspired the invention of writing?

• A desire to PRESERVE MEMORY

2000

BC

PRESENT

4,000 YEARS

wRITING

800

BC

HOMERIliad

TrojanWar

Prehistory

2000

BC

PRESENT

4,000 YEARS

wRITING

800

BC

HOMERIliad

TrojanWar

Prehistory

7 BASIC PLOT LINES

1. [wo] man vs. nature

2. [wo] man vs. man

3. [wo] man vs. the environment

4. [wo] man vs. machines/technology

5. [wo] man vs. the supernatural

6. [wo] man vs. self

7. [wo] man vs. god/religion

STORY ARCHETYPES

• An ARCHETYPE is collectively inherited

ideas and patterns of thought that appear

universally throughout different cultures.

• An ARCHETYPE is a shared view of the

World and of the human story.

12 Elements of the Hero’s Journeyas stated by Joseph Campbell

1. Ordinary World2. Call to adventure3. Refusal of the call4. Meeting the mentor5. Crossing the first threshold6. Tests, allies & enemies7. Approach to the inner cave8. Supreme ordeal9. Seizing sword10. The road back11. Resurrection12. Return with the prize

Ancient Theatre

Began as ceremony

Incorporated themes, stories and archetypes from pre-historic times.

STORYTELLER BECOMES THE PLAYWRIGHT

ThespisSophoclesEuripides

GENRES:

DRAMA

COMEDY

2000

BC

PRESENT

105

AD

Illustrated Manuscripts

wRITING

800

BC

HOMER

PAPER

Books with images and words were hand made.

What is a BARD?

• “Bard” is a Gaelic/Scottish/Celtic word meaning to “raise one’s voice in praise”.

• A Bard was a professional and often itinerant poet and storyteller.

• Bards were first employed to compose and then sing or tell stories of their patrons or the family of their patrons.

The first and most famous “English”Storyteller or Bard was named Taliesin.

He lived in the 6th century AD…about thetime of the legendary King Arthur.

A manuscript has been found that may bewritten by him and therefore called“The Book of Taliesin”

Across your Europe,“Bards” were called“Troubadours”

“Troubadours” told andStories of chivalry andcourtly love.

PART III

MARSHALL McCLUHAN

INNOVATIONS IN STORYTELLING

• STATEMENT:

– Storytelling necessarily changes as new innovations and technology are applied to the art of telling a story.

That does not mean that the storyteller’s craft or the writer’s art changes.

WHAT DOES NOT CHANGE?

WHAT DOES NOT CHANGE?

Story Elements

• SETTING

• PLOT

• CHARACTER

• THEME/ARTIST’S PURPOSE

BEGINNING MIDDLEEND

7 BASIC PLOT LINES

1. [wo] man vs. nature

2. [wo] man vs. man

3. [wo] man vs. the environment

4. [wo] man vs. machines/technology

5. [wo] man vs. the supernatural

6. [wo] man vs. self

7. [wo] man vs. god/religion

WRITING

PREHISTORIC

HISTORIC

INVENTION OF WRITING

WRITING

PHOENECIAN ALPHABETis considered the basis of the Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin…and from Latin comes English.

These are phonetic alphabets meaning the symbols relate to a sound which are then formed into words. These are phonetic alphabets meaning the symbols relate to a sound which

are then formed into words.

MARSHALL McCLUHAN

Canadian born philosopher, scholar,Literature professor and communicationstheorist. McLuhan's work is considered fundamental to media theory, as it relates to “new media”.

MARSHALL McCLUHAN

McChluhan is best known for predicting or foreseeing the internet and for a couple phrases….

“GLOBAL VILLAGE”

“THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE”

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What does it mean:

“THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE”

MASS MEDIA

2000

BC

PRESENT

105

AD

Illustrated Manuscripts

wRITING

800

BC

HOMER

PAPER

Books with images and words were hand made.

Across your Europe,“Bards” were called“Troubadours”

“Troubadours” told andStories of chivalry andcourtly love.

FolktalesA folk tale is a traditional narrative story usually handed down by word of mouth ….the Oral Tradition.

Among the first to collect and write down these tales were the GermanGrimm Brothers…Jacob & Wilhelm.

SHORT STORIES

Geoffrey Chaucer

“Canterbury Tales”

PRESENT

AGE OF MASS MEDIA

PRINTING

PRESS

1st Mass Media Technology

1450

AD

Gutenberg Press

Thousands of pages a day could be printed.

Hundreds of thousands of copies of best selling books could be printed.

Movable Type

Johannes Gutenberg

GUTENBERG PRESS

NOVEL = NOVELA (Italian)

“Something New”• LONG NARRATIVE of LITERARY PROSE

• ORIGINS

Origins:• Medieval & Early Modern Romance….The stories of chivalry and courtly love told by the troubadours.

The novel depended entirely on the availability of printed books.

The NOVEL is the first storytelling medium of the Age of Mass Media.

One of the earliest novels….“Don Quixote” 1605

Miquel de Cervantes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24gDcvp9Agw&feature=related

“ROBINSON CRUSOE”

…was one of the earliestEnglish Language novels.

Daniel Defoe

1719

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzIy_07orQw&feature=related

QUESTION:

HOW DOES A NOVEL APPROACH THE ELEMENTS OF A STORY DIFFERENTLY FROM A STORY TOLD BY MEANS OF ORAL TRADITION?