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Turning Points: Guest Essay

The Big Question: Why Do We Tell Stories?

Some key figures in literature, the performing arts, science and more ponder the purpose and vitality of storytelling in our lives.

Credit... Paul Blow

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By The New York Times

Dec. 8, 2022

This article is part of a series called Turning Points , in which writers explore what critical moments from this year might mean for the year ahead. You can read more by visiting the Turning Points series page .

We have been telling stories since our beginnings. Some researchers posit that the origins of language date back more than 20 million years, while writing surfaced around 3200 B.C. Today, elaborate cave paintings, ancient parchment scrolls and centuries-old poems have evolved into literature and operas and Twitter threads, but our innate drive to recount narratives about who we are, where we come from and what we mean to each other remains an essential trait of being human.

We asked a group of luminaries from various fields to answer a fundamental question: Why do we tell stories?

Their responses below have been edited and condensed.

Amanda Gorman: ‘We Tell Stories Because We Are Human’

In elementary school, I was told there are only a few reasons to write: to explain, persuade or entertain an audience, or to express oneself. As a young girl passing through the educational system, those purposes suited me for a time; I could write the assigned essay and receive an A grade. But as I continued to grow and challenge myself as a poet and activist, I soon found that those purposes I had unquestioningly absorbed weren’t enough for me.

While I’ve been writing ever since I can remember, I was around 8 when my love for language started to kick in full throttle. In third grade, my teacher read chapters of Ray Bradbury’s “Dandelion Wine” to my class, and every day I’d sit, enchanted and enraptured by the sweeping words of this literary great. While it was prose, not poetry, the makings of poetry in this novel were clear and intoxicating to my elementary school mind: metaphor, simile and rhythm. I didn’t choose poetry, but rather it chose me. In it, I found a safe place where I could write — literally — outside the lines, break the rules and be heard.

As I grew older and continued to write in my own voice, I discovered that I wasn’t doing so just for entertainment, explanation or expression. I wrote to empathize — both with myself and with the world. I’ve learned I’m not the only one. For millenniums, humans have told stories to connect, relate and weave imaginative truths that enable us to see one another more clearly with compassion and courage. Finding empathy is a difficult challenge but also the most human of the reasons we tell stories. Often, we explain and express so that we can be seen or so that others can empathize with us. Often, effective persuading means truly stepping into another’s point of view. Often, we entertain to bring joy and light not only to our audience but to ourselves as creators.

We tell stories because we are human. But we are also made more human because we tell stories. When we do this, we tap into an ancient power that makes us, and the world, more of who we are: a single race looking for reasons, searching for purpose, seeking to find ourselves.

Amanda Gorman is a poet and the author of “The Hill We Climb” and “Call Us What We Carry.”

Amy Chua: ‘To Build Dynasties of Meaning’

When my mother was 1, her family boarded a junk and left China forever. They were bound for the Philippines, where, in their new home, my grandmother enthralled her with spellbinding tales of drunken deities and wandering poets, of wise fools and talking animals, of the Yellow Emperor, the Great Wall and other glories of the magnificent 5,000-year-old civilization that was the Middle Kingdom.

When I was growing up in West Lafayette, Ind., my mother told me the same stories. But she also told me about her harrowing childhood living through the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. She described Japanese troops bayoneting babies and forcing one of her uncles to drink so much water he exploded. She recounted how her parents disguised her as a boy — I only realized much later that this was because they had heard so many horrific stories of what Japanese soldiers had done to young girls. And she recalled the exhilarating day when Gen. Douglas MacArthur liberated the Philippines and she and her friends ran after the American jeeps, cheering wildly as soldiers tossed out cans of Spam.

When I had my own two daughters, I told them all the stories my mother had told me. When they were 13 and 16, I wrote a book called “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” about how I was trying to raise them the same way my parents had raised me and why I asked so much of them, retelling stories of my daughters’ childhood from my perspective. The book was part love letter, part apology, part apologia. I never expected so many people to find my stories so hair-raising. But stories mean different things to different people. And they have a way of taking on a life of their own, generating more stories and counter-stories and meta-stories.

We tell stories for countless reasons: to delight and destroy, to arm and disarm, to comfort and crack up. These days, I love regaling my students with tales of rejection and humiliation from my younger days — mortifying total fails that still make my face burn. Stories can bridge chasms, connecting us in our common ridiculousness. Among outsiders, we tell stories to preserve, to transmit pride across generations, to build dynasties of meaning.

Amy Chua is a professor of law at Yale University and an author. Her most recent book is “Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations.”

Wendell Pierce: ‘The Gateway to Truth-Telling’

“A man can’t go out the way he came in,” the character Willy Loman declares in Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman.” “A man has got to add up to something.”

With each performance I give in that role in the play’s current Broadway revival , I’m reminded it epitomizes the innate human desire to make a lasting impact in our world before we depart. As an artist, telling stories has always been a privilege for me, whether by recording music, narrating a documentary or becoming a character onscreen. To tell the story of our journeys gives our lives purpose, meaning and longevity, providing insight into the human condition that can be shared for generations and that carries the power to change perspectives.

Storytelling is also the gateway to truth-telling, which helps inform our opinions, decision-making and self-views. Sharing our stories allows us to come together, declare what our values are and act on them. Without storytelling, we would not have the layers of history that impact our present and influence the future. It’s impossible to imagine a world in which our ancestors did not share their journeys of enslavement, persecution, horror, honor, hope and triumph.

Think about what the landscape of storytelling in jazz — the idea of freedom and form coexisting in art — would be without the likes of Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. There would be no Terence Blanchard, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Wynton Marsalis and all the musicians who’ve carried jazz into the present day. And when the coronavirus pandemic hit, storytelling became a revered place of comfort and creativity. We discovered new authors and auteurs, rediscovered film and TV favorites and attended virtual theatrical performances by companies worldwide.

I discovered my gateway to storytelling as a boy growing up in New Orleans inspired by the historic Free Southern Theater, and throughout my 40-year career I’ve developed a full appreciation of its power. Each time I step onstage or in front of a camera, I am building a relationship with the audience, hoping to leave them with their own story to tell once the experience has concluded.

Being onstage each day in “Death of a Salesman,” embodying the iconic role of Willy Loman, is not only a watershed moment in my life and career, but it also adds a necessary historic chapter that now leaves the door open for this story to be told by a multitude of diverse voices and artists. I hope that with each performance, we are burning down a house that has confined us, so that we, as artists, can build a bigger, more inclusive home — one that provides a nurturing space to celebrate the full richness of all our stories.

Wendell Pierce is an actor and recording artist. He currently stars in the Broadway revival of “Death of a Salesman.”

Liu Cixin: ‘A Thought Laboratory’

Telling stories — using the imagination to create virtual worlds outside of reality — is an important and unique human ability. So far there is no evidence that any other species on Earth has this power.

The virtual worlds that make up the essence of human storytelling may sometimes be similar to the real world, but they can also share little with it. The story must have enough similarity with the actual world for people to find touchpoints within it but be different enough to allow for exploration.

This virtual world — the story — serves many important functions. First, it is an extension of real life. People create or appreciate experiences in stories that can’t exist in reality. Therefore, humans can have spiritual and emotional encounters in this space that are not possible in other contexts.

Stories also allow people to understand the world from a different perspective. The virtual world formed by stories is a thought laboratory in which nature can operate in a variety of extreme states, allowing the storyteller to explore various theories and hypotheses about nature and its connection to humans. Exploring the limits of the natural world in this virtual setting can reveal aspects of its fundamental essence yet untested in reality.

Stories do not only exist in a virtual space. They can create real-world connections. When people read or hear the same story, they enter a shared virtual universe. This collective experience can lead to the construction of a connected community in real life, built on encounters within this virtual space.

Liu Cixin is a science fiction writer and the author of the Hugo Award-winning novel “The Three-Body Problem,” which is being adapted into a Netflix series.

Michelle Thaller: ‘The Universe Is a Story That Exists From Start to Finish’

The human mind is all about connections. A single neuron, thought or fact makes no sense; it’s the links and underlying maps we create that allow us to parse reality. Thousands of years ago, perhaps around a campfire, early storytellers must have discovered the previously hidden power of the human mind. Today, we latch onto stories as if our brains are hungry for them. They allow us to organize knowledge and pass it on to others. Storytelling may very well be what made us fully conscious.

A story is the progression from one point to another that makes sense of the facts and the events it contains. Allow your favorite book to fall open to any page and glance at the first sentence you see. Immediately, you will have access to the entirety of the story. You will know which events have come before, what character is speaking and how it will all end. An entirety of existence can be contained in a single point.

Reality may be nothing but connections. There may be no events or places, no space or time as we understand them. The universe may be similar to a hologram (no, this does not mean we are in some kind of computer simulation), and our perception of space and time may be part of a larger whole that we are unaware of. I made a hologram in college: a glass plate smeared with light-sensitive gel. I developed an image of a small vase of flowers and admired the three-dimensional effect when I shone a laser through the glass, turning the plate to see the flowers at different angles. Then, the instructor told me to break my plate with a hammer. Looking through a small, brittle shard of the original glass, I could still see the entire image. Every single point of a hologram contains every other part.

This is where the deep nature of stories is revealed. What we think of as a universe extending into space and time is just how our limited brains perceive an underlying structure of pure connection.

I like to think that the universe is a story that exists from start to finish, all at once. The page has fallen open to this moment you are experiencing now, but all the other pages still exist. The whole story is contained in every point, even the tiny point of space and time in which you are reading this. We are all in this story together, for all of space and time. Let’s try to make it a good one.

Dr. Michelle Thaller is an astronomer and science communicator. She works at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Fang Fang: ‘Our Most Kind and Enduring Companion’

As long as people breathe, they will speak, they will write, and they will tell stories.

Stories have existed even before humankind had the ability to narrate them. The interplay between people’s lives and their primitive emotions certainly led to the creation of all kinds of stories. Once humans began to interact and form social ties, these stories began to display their vividness and complexity, gradually revealing their function to entertain and educate.

No matter what stage humankind finds itself in, stories are always right beside us, becoming our most kind and enduring companions. From the earliest moments as babies when we begin to imitate sounds, we are already intently listening to stories. They come from our family, our neighbors, from the fields and the streets, from books. From these stories, we learn about principles like justice, rites, the nature of wisdom and what it means to have faith; we come to understand good and evil, civilization and culture, intelligence and ignorance.

Although the vehicle through which they are conveyed might change over time, the inner heart of these stories remains constant. During each stage of human existence, we see the recurrence of stories with similar themes. Birth, aging, sickness and death; the sadness of departure and the joy of reunion. These are universal experiences. But the details of how these themes are approached and narrated evolve during different eras and take on different forms depending on circumstances like background, race and gender.

Countless individual stories come together to form the collective story of all human knowledge and emotion. Some stories are short, others are long, and some are unclear and incomplete — but they are all a part of our evolution. As we move through life, we, too, become storytellers. As our lives ascend like a spiral, so, too, our stories are constantly elevated.

Fang Fang is a writer and a Lu Xun Literary Prize winner. She is the author of “Wuhan Diary: Dispatches From a Quarantined City.”

This essay was translated from the Chinese by Michael Berry.

Hikaru Nakamura: ‘The Story of Chess Is a Broader Human Story’

I tell stories because, as a Twitch streamer , I’m expected to be an entertainer. On the surface, people tune in to my stream to watch me play chess, but if there were no story to tell about the moves I make, I might as well be a computer program. I have to enhance — or create — the drama in the game to keep the attention of my fans and generate more interest.

In my streams, I tell stories about chess, chess tournaments, historical events and games. I also make myself a character in the story of chess. After all, in my experience, only a few hundred people can tolerate a dry analysis of strings of chess moves, but hundreds of thousands want to hear that your opponent kept kicking you under the table or that his breath was so hideous it distracted you. In this way, the story of chess is a broader human story. Even people who don’t know much about the game can connect with a player who has faced off against an unlikable rival, experienced a painful loss or pulled off a dramatic, come-from-behind victory.

For those of us who love chess, however, telling stories about the game serves another purpose. Recounting competitions and the experiences of chess players allows those in local clubs to imagine a world beyond their small circle of regular opponents. They can envision themselves as part of a huge global community made up of colorful, talented people who may speak different languages and come from diverse cultures but can still communicate via chess moves.

The stories that I tell about chess may have universal themes, but they come from a deeply personal place. When I talk about the people who taught me, who surprised me, who showed me special things about chess, I stay connected to the part of me that loves this game. These stories encourage me to look for new ideas and more beautiful themes in the chess moves, discovering new things about the game — and about myself.

Hikaru Nakamura is a chess grandmaster, one of the world’s top blitz chess players, a five-time U.S. chess champion and the most popular chess personality on Twitch and YouTube.

Naomi Watanabe: ‘Stories Are Life’s Inheritance’

There are as many stories as there are people. I want to know and learn from as many stories as possible. As a performer onstage and onscreen, I encounter different types of individuals and listen to their accounts. I want to hear about their adventures and understand how they live and what they are feeling.

Stories provide opportunities to see the world in different ways. Each of us brings a unique background to the table. It can be challenging to step out of our bubbles and embrace other perspectives. But life is short, so I want to pick up on everyone’s insight into what is happening in the world around me.

My story isn’t just made up of my singular life experiences; everyone’s tales blend into mine and become part of my story. These tales from others can help us find purpose and bring fullness to our lives — if we choose to learn from them. That’s why I want to treasure everyone’s narratives.

These narratives allow us to step outside ourselves and view our realities with renewed vigor. Think of life as a buffet, and you get to sample bits of what it has to offer. You may sometimes realize, “I wanted to eat this, but now I want to try this instead.” You leave that buffet with a full plate, strewn with dishes you may not otherwise have sampled. The same holds true in our everyday lives. But unfortunately, we often get so caught up focusing on the big picture that we forget the smaller, yet equally valuable, moments that shape our stories. That’s why I try to post on Instagram. I use social media to record and share what I encounter in my daily life.

Stories are life’s inheritance. They unfold every day, every minute and every second. Stories leave us with a wealth of collective experiences, and if we choose to open our hearts and minds to these indispensable heirlooms, they will deeply enrich our lives.

Naomi Watanabe is a comedian.

Christopher Wheeldon: ‘The Tormented Tempest of the Human Condition’

We tell stories because it’s easier to comprehend deep truths through myths, legends and universal ideas. Because music and movement are universal, even primordial, the deep part of us that understands the arc of a story is particularly illuminated by dance.

One expects all the drama in a story ballet to emerge through the union of steps and music. But a moment without motion can also be powerful. Take the third act of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s classic production of the ballet “Romeo and Juliet.” After Tybalt’s murder at Romeo’s hands, and as Juliet faces a forced marriage to Paris, MacMillan chooses stillness to describe Juliet’s torment.

After so expertly expressing the tempestuous passions of the protagonists through a marriage of classical ballet steps driven by Sergei Prokofiev’s score, MacMillan chooses to show us the swirling machinations of Juliet’s mind by simply sitting Juliet at the end of her bed. She does not move, her toes resting together on pointe. Even her gaze is hauntingly fixed, allowing the tumult of the tumbling strings and discordant brass line to narrate Juliet’s thoughts as her emotional spiral comes into focus.

Every pirouette, every carried lift, has brought us to this moment where stillness reigns. It is a beautiful example of how movement — and the spaces in between — resonate with us on a deeply emotional level. Dance can convey fear, love or joy, or even go deeper into the tormented tempest of the human condition.

Christopher Wheeldon is a choreographer and director, most recently of “MJ: The Musical.”

Diana Gabaldon: ‘How We Make Ourselves Whole’

We tell stories because we need to see patterns. Everyone asks me, “How did you get from being a scientist to being a novelist?”

“Wrote a book,” I reply, shrugging. “They don’t make you get a license.”

Art and science aren’t different things, you know; they’re two faces of the same coin. And what makes a good writer — or any other sort of artist — is the same thing that makes a good scientist: the ability to perceive patterns within what looks like chaos.

A scientist observes the external world and works by circumscribing a small quantity of chaos (say, in an ecosystem, planetology, an organism or molecular structures) and divining its patterns. An artist does something similar, but draws from the internal world of their personal chaos.

Patterns are the logic of both the material and the spiritual worlds, and stories are how we make that logic evident to one another. Each pattern explains and connects, fills in a blank, and provides a steppingstone to something more.

Stories are how we make ourselves whole.

Diana Gabaldon is an author. Her most recent novel is “Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone,” the ninth installment in the Outlander series.

Ideas and insights from Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning

Learning and development professionals walking and talking

What Makes Storytelling So Effective For Learning?

This is the second of two posts co-written by Vanessa and Lani Peterson, Psy.D., a psychologist, professional storyteller and executive coach.

Telling stories is one of the most powerful means that leaders have to influence, teach, and inspire. What makes storytelling so effective for learning? For starters, storytelling forges connections among people, and between people and ideas. Stories convey the culture, history, and values that unite people. When it comes to our countries, our communities, and our families, we understand intuitively that the stories we hold in common are an important part of the ties that bind.

This understanding also holds true in the business world, where an organization’s stories, and the stories its leaders tell, help solidify relationships in a way that factual statements encapsulated in bullet points or numbers don’t.

Connecting learners Good stories do more than create a sense of connection. They build familiarity and trust, and allow the listener to enter the story where they are, making them more open to learning. Good stories can contain multiple meanings so they’re surprisingly economical in conveying complex ideas in graspable ways. And stories are more engaging than a dry recitation of data points or a discussion of abstract ideas. Take the example of a company meeting.

At Company A, the leader presents the financial results for the quarter. At Company B, the leader tells a rich story about what went into the “win” that put the quarter over the top. Company A employees come away from the meeting knowing that they made their numbers. Company B employees learned about an effective strategy in which sales, marketing, and product development came together to secure a major deal. Employees now have new knowledge, new thinking, to draw on. They’ve been influenced. They’ve learned.

Something for everyone Another storytelling aspect that makes it so effective is that it works for all types of learners. Paul Smith, in “Leader as Storyteller: 10 Reasons It Makes a Better Business Connection”, wrote:

In any group, roughly 40 percent will be predominantly visual learners who learn best from videos, diagrams, or illustrations. Another 40 percent will be auditory, learning best through lectures and discussions. The remaining 20 percent are kinesthetic learners, who learn best by doing, experiencing, or feeling. Storytelling has aspects that work for all three types. Visual learners appreciate the mental pictures storytelling evokes. Auditory learners focus on the words and the storyteller’s voice. Kinesthetic learners remember the emotional connections and feelings from the story.

Stories stick Storytelling also helps with learning because stories are easy to remember. Organizational psychologist Peg Neuhauser found that learning which stems from a well-told story is remembered more accurately, and for far longer, than learning derived from facts and figures. Similarly, psychologist Jerome Bruner’s research suggest that facts are 20 times more likely to be remembered if they’re part of a story.

Kendall Haven, author of Story Proof and Story Smart, considers storytelling serious business for business. He has written:

Your goal in every communication is to influence your target audience (change their current attitudes, belief, knowledge, and behavior). Information alone rarely changes any of these. Research confirms that well-designed stories are the most effective vehicle for exerting influence.

Stories about professional mistakes and what leaders learned from them are another great avenue for learning. Because people identify so closely with stories, imagining how they would have acted in similar circumstances, they’re able to work through situations in a way that’s risk free. The extra benefit for leaders: with a simple personal story they’ve conveyed underlying values, offered insight into the evolution of their own experience and knowledge, presented themselves as more approachable, AND most likely inspired others to want to know more.

Connection. Engagement. Appealing to all sorts of learners. Risk-free learning. Inspiring motivation. Conveying learning that sticks. It’s no wonder that more and more organizations are embracing storytelling as an effective way for their leaders to influence, inspire, and teach.

Read more about the power of storytelling in our brief, “ Telling Stories: How Leaders Can Influence, Teach, and Inspire ”

Vanessa Boris is Senior Manager, Video Solutions at Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. Email her at [email protected]

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human behavior

How Telling Stories Makes Us Human

O dds are, you’ve never heard the story of the wild pig and the seacow — but if you’d heard it, you’d be unlikely to forget it. The wild pig and seacow were best friends who enjoyed racing each other for sport. One day, however, the seacow hurt his legs and could run no more. So the wild pig carried him down to the sea, where they could race forever, side by side, one in the water, one on the land.

You can learn a lot from a tale like that — about friendship, cooperation, empathy and an aversion to inequality. And if you were a child in the Agta community — a hunter-gatherer population in The Philippines’ Isabela Province — you’d have grown up on the story, and on many others that teach similar lessons. The Agta are hardly the only peoples who practice storytelling; the custom has been ubiquitous in all cultures over all eras in all parts of the world. Now, a new study in Nature Communications , helps explain why: storytelling is a powerful means of fostering social cooperation and teaching social norms, and it pays valuable dividends to the storytellers themselves, improving their chances of being chosen as social partners, receiving community support and even having healthy offspring.

The researchers, led by anthropologist Daniel Smith of University College London, began their work by conducting a literature search of 89 different stories told by seven different forager cultures in Thailand, Malaysia, Africa and elsewhere. All of the tales carried lessons about social cooperation, empathy and justice, and many taught sexual equality too. The researchers then turned their attention specifically to the Agta, focusing on two communities, with a total of roughly 1,250 people, and conducted a number of experiments to determine the power and purpose of storytelling.

In the first experiment, the investigators asked 297 people across 18 villages in the two communities to vote for the best storytellers in their group. There was no limit on the number of people they could name. The votes in each of the camps were tallied, with higher overall scores taken as an indicator of a camp with more and better storytellers.

A different 290 people in the same camps were then asked to play a resource allocation game, in which people were given up to 12 tokens, each of which could be exchanged for about an eighth of a kilo of rice. They were told they could either keep all of the tokens or give as many as they wished to any or all of up to 12 other residents of the camp the researchers secretly chose. All of the subjects made their decisions privately, in the presence of only the researchers. (At the end of the experiment, all of the rice was distributed to all of the villagers according to the choices the subjects had made.)

Perhaps not surprisingly, the subjects kept an average of 62.6% of the rice tokens for themselves. But the actual total changed camp-to-camp, with every 1% advantage in the number of good storytellers in any community associated with a 2.2% increase in the amount of rice given away in the game. The more good storytellers in a village, in other words, the more generous people were. It is impossible to say definitively that the two were connected, but the fact remained, as the researchers wrote, that “Camps with a greater proportion of skilled storytellers, were associated with increased levels of cooperation.”

In the second experiment, 291 people in the same 18 camps were asked to name a maximum of five people in their own community with whom they would be happy to live. Of the 857 people who were named, those who had been designated as good storytellers in the previous experiment were nearly twice as likely to be chosen as those who weren’t. Remarkably, storytellers were chosen over people who had equally good reputations for hunting, fishing and foraging — which at least suggests that human beings may sometimes prize hearing an especially good story over eating an especially good meal.

Of course, nothing captures natural selection quite like the number of babies any one person has, and storytelling confers that benefit too — at least on the tellers. “Storytelling is a costly behavior,” write the researchers, “requiring an input of time and energy into practice, performance and cognitive processing.” But the payoff for making such an effort is big: When the investigators looked at family groups within the 18 camps, they found that skilled storytellers had, on average, .53 more living children than other people.

One reason for that is obvious: if you’re popular — and storytellers are — you’re more likely to have a partner. Another potential explanation is that the rest of the community is inclined to look favorably on the storyteller’s family and extend help when needed in the form of childcare, pitching in to look after a sick family member, or even offering financial or material support when necessary. Significantly, in the resource sharing game, it was storytellers who were likeliest to be recipients of rice. In the real world, all of this community support gives the children of the storyteller a small but real survival edge.

The investigators concede that one study is by no means conclusive and that further work needs to be conducted. That would especially include longitudinal studies in which the composition and welfare of camps with and without good storytellers is tracked over decades and generations. Over the course of those generations, of course, many more Agta children will continue to hear many more instructive stories: of the sun and the moon — a man and a woman — who fight to a draw in their battle for the sky and choose to cooperate to share the day and the night; of the monkey who became a hero for killing a giant, but was kept wise and humble with the knowledge that all monkeys — even him — must still fear the eagle. All of the stories will merely be make-believe — and all of them will be much more than that too.

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Why Storytelling Is a Pillar of a Meaningful Life

Family storytelling weaves lives of connection, meaning, and purpose.

Posted July 6, 2022 | Reviewed by Vanessa Lancaster

Listening to others’ stories helps us tell our own stories in new ways.
Storytelling is one of the pillars of building a meaningful life because stories are, at heart, about meaning and connection.

Is there more to life than being happy?

This is the question that Emily Esfahani Smith asks in her book, The Power of Meaning: Finding Fulfillment in a World Obsessed with Happiness . Building on the tenets of positive psychology, Smith argues that, whereas happiness is fleeting, a momentary state of feeling good, building a life of meaning creates an enduring sense of well-being.

How are we to build a life of meaning? Smith suggests four pillars: belonging, purpose, transcendence, and storytelling. The first three make intuitive sense: a sense of belonging through loving others and being loved, a sense of purpose that one is accomplishing something in their life, a sense of transcendence, of simply being in the moment. These have been written about in philosophy , psychology, and self-help literature for years.

But storytelling? How is telling stories a pillar of a meaningful life?

Smith focuses on stories we tell about ourselves–how we create stories that explain who we are and how we became this way, what the psychologist Dan McAdams calls a narrative identity . Narrative identity weaves our various life experiences into a coherent story that not only links experiences into temporal and causal chains but creates meaning through the expression of values and ideals.

As Smith argues, we can change our stories; we can create stories that affirm positive values and create meaning and purpose. But for many of us who have faced obstacles and challenges in life, changing our story may not be as easy as it sounds. How do we create positive meaning and purpose from experiences of hardship and stress ?

Smith’s own story points to a way. In telling her story, she relies on the stories of two other people. First, she tells the story of a young football player who was seriously injured and initially told his story as one of loss and desolation, what McAdams calls a “contamination story”—things were good and now are bad.

But this young man changed his story; through personal reflection and reframing, his story became one of finding new values, of discovering his purpose in life as a youth mentor, what McAdams calls a “redemption” story, good things came from the bad.

Smith tells the second story about her father, who lived a simple life as a carpenter and a Sufi. When he had a massive heart attack and needed surgery, as he was going under anesthesia, instead of counting down from 100, he counted off the names of his children because this reminded him of his purpose and meaning, his reason to live.

But how do we reframe our experiences to be redemptive? That Smith finds a way forward, and a way to frame her own story through the stories of others underscores that our own stories are not solely our own; our stories are interwoven with the stories of others. Through hearing, listening, and sharing others’ stories, we come to tell our own stories in new ways, to reframe our own stories to create more redemptive meanings.

Research from the Family Narratives Lab indicates that family stories, stories of our parents and grandparents, may be especially effective in providing models of how to live a meaningful life. Adolescents and young adults who know more stories and more coherent and detailed stories about their parents growing up and their family history show higher levels of self-esteem , less anxiety , and, yes, higher levels of meaning and purpose in life. Why might this be?

Stories are how we understand human experience and make sense of what can sometimes be senseless events. Stories provide coherent frameworks for expressing values and ideals. And family stories may be especially important because adolescents and young adults identify with their family members.

Even when they might not be getting along, this is the family in which one is embedded and has shared a life. When adolescents hear stories about family members struggling with difficult times and challenges and obstacles, they learn that life is not always about the good times; it is about striving for something better, fighting for beliefs, and overcoming the odds.

Storytelling is one of the pillars of building a meaningful life because stories are, at heart, about meaning and connection. Our personal stories live within a world of stories, stories of distant others, friends, and family. We can create meaningful stories for ourselves because we have meaningful stories about others as models and inspiration.

And in telling our stories, we help others create meaning in their lives. And it starts in the family. Family storytelling, even of the mundane experiences of our lives, weaves lives of connection, meaning, and purpose. Happiness may come and go, but stories live forever.

Smith, E. E. (2017). The power of meaning: Finding fulfillment in a world obsessed with happiness. Crown.

McAdams, D. P. (2015). The redemptive self: Generativity and the stories Americans live by. In Research in human development (pp. 81-100). Psychology Press.

Robyn Fivush, Ph.D. is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Developmental Psychology at Emory University and the director of the Family Narratives Lab.

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What is a Narrative Essay? How to Write It (with Examples)

Narrative essays are a type of storytelling in which writers weave a personal experience into words to create a fascinating and engaging narrative for readers. A narrative essay explains a story from the author’s point of view to share a lesson or memory with the reader. Narrative essays, like descriptive essays , employ figurative language to depict the subject in a vivid and creative manner to leave a lasting impact on the readers’ minds. In this article, we explore the definition of narrative essays, list the key elements to be included, and provide tips on how to craft a narrative that captivates your audience.

What is a narrative essay, choosing narrative essay topics, key elements in a narrative essay, creating a narrative essay outline, types of narrative essays, the pre-writing stage, the writing stage, the editing stage, narrative essay example, frequently asked questions.

Narrative essays are often based on one’s personal experience which allows the author to express himself/herself in compelling ways for the reader. They employ storytelling elements to convey the plot and captivate the reader while disclosing the story’s theme or purpose. The author must always have a purpose or theme in mind when writing a narrative essay. These essays may be assigned to high school students to assess their ability to create captivating stories based on personal experiences, or they may be required as part of a college application to assess the applicant’s personal traits. Narrative essays might be based on true events with minor tweaks for dramatic purposes, or they can be adapted from a fictional scenario. Whatever the case maybe, the goal is to tell a story, a good story!

In narrative essays, the emphasis is not so much on the narrative itself as it is on how you explain it. Narrative essay topics cover a range of experiences, from noteworthy to mundane, but when storytelling elements are used well, even a simple account can have weight. Notably, the skills required for narrative writing differ significantly from those needed for formal academic essays, and we will delve deeper into this in the next section.

You can talk about any narrative, but consider whether it is fascinating enough, has enough twists and turns, or teaches a lesson (It’s a plus if the story contains an unexpected twist at the end). The potential topics for a narrative essay are limitless—a triumphant story, a brief moment of introspection, or a voyage of self-discovery. These essays provide writers with the opportunity to share a fragment of their lives with the audience, enriching both the writer’s and the reader’s experiences. Narrative essay examples could be a write-up on “What has been your biggest achievement in life so far and what did it teach you?” or “Describe your toughest experience and how you dealt with it?”.

While narrative essays allow you to be creative with your ideas, language, and format, they must include some key components to convey the story clearly, create engaging content and build reader interest. Follow these guidelines when drafting your essay:

Tell your story using the first person to engage users.
Use sufficient sensory information and figurative language.
Follow an organized framework so the story flows chronologically.
Include interesting plot components that add to the narrative.
Ensure clear language without grammar, spelling, or word choice errors.

Narrative essay outlines serve as the foundational structure for essay composition, acting as a framework to organize thoughts and ideas prior to the writing process. These outlines provide writers with a means to summarize the story, and help in formulating the introduction and conclusion sections and defining the narrative’s trajectory.

Unlike conventional essays that strictly adhere to the five-paragraph structure, narrative essays allow for more flexibility as the organization is dictated by the flow of the story. The outline typically encompasses general details about the events, granting writers the option to prioritize writing the body sections first while deferring the introduction until later stages of the writing process. This approach allows for a more organic and fluid writing process. If you’re wondering how to start writing a narrative essay outline, here is a sample designed to ensure a compelling and coherent narrative:

Introduction

Hook/Opening line: The introduction should have an opening/hook sentence that is a captivating quote, question, or anecdote that grabs the reader’s attention.
Background: Briefly introduce the setting, time, tone, and main characters.
Thesis statement: State clearly the main theme or lesson acquired from the experience.
Event 1 (according to occurrence): Describe the first major event in detail. Introduce the primary characters and set the story context; include sensory elements to enrich the narrative and give the characters depth and enthusiasm.
Event 2: Ensure a smooth transition from one event to the next. Continue with the second event in the narrative. For more oomph, use suspense or excitement, or leave the plot with cliffhanger endings. Concentrate on developing your characters and their relationships, using dialog to bring the story to life.
Event 3: If there was a twist and suspense, this episode should introduce the climax or resolve the story. Keep the narrative flowing by connecting events logically and conveying the feelings and reactions of the characters.
Summarize the plot: Provide a concise recap of the main events within the narrative essay. Highlight the key moments that contribute to the development of the storyline. Offer personal reflections on the significance of the experiences shared, emphasizing the lasting impact they had on the narrator. End the story with a clincher; a powerful and thought-provoking sentence that encapsulates the essence of the narrative. As a bonus, aim to leave the reader with a memorable statement or quote that enhances the overall impact of the narrative. This should linger in the reader’s mind, providing a satisfying and resonant conclusion to the essay.

There are several types of narrative essays, each with their own unique traits. Some narrative essay examples are presented in the table below.

How to write a narrative essay: Step-by-step guide

A narrative essay might be inspired by personal experiences, stories, or even imaginary scenarios that resonate with readers, immersing them in the imaginative world you have created with your words. Here’s an easy step-by-step guide on how to write a narrative essay.

Select the topic of your narrative

If no prompt is provided, the first step is to choose a topic to write about. Think about personal experiences that could be given an interesting twist. Readers are more likely to like a tale if it contains aspects of humor, surprising twists, and an out-of-the-box climax. Try to plan out such subjects and consider whether you have enough information on the topic and whether it meets the criteria of being funny/inspiring, with nice characters/plot lines, and an exciting climax. Also consider the tone as well as any stylistic features (such as metaphors or foreshadowing) to be used. While these stylistic choices can be changed later, sketching these ideas early on helps you give your essay a direction to start.

Create a framework for your essay

Once you have decided on your topic, create an outline for your narrative essay. An outline is a framework that guides your ideas while you write your narrative essay to keep you on track. It can help with smooth transitions between sections when you are stuck and don’t know how to continue the story. It provides you with an anchor to attach and return to, reminding you of why you started in the first place and why the story matters.

Compile your first draft

A perfect story and outline do not work until you start writing the draft and breathe life into it with your words. Use your newly constructed outline to sketch out distinct sections of your narrative essay while applying numerous linguistic methods at your disposal. Unlike academic essays, narrative essays allow artistic freedom and leeway for originality so don’t stop yourself from expressing your thoughts. However, take care not to overuse linguistic devices, it’s best to maintain a healthy balance to ensure readability and flow.

Use a first-person point of view

One of the most appealing aspects of narrative essays is that traditional academic writing rules do not apply, and the narration is usually done in the first person. You can use first person pronouns such as I and me while narrating different scenarios. Be wary of overly using these as they can suggest lack of proper diction.

Use storytelling or creative language

You can employ storytelling tactics and linguistic tools used in fiction or creative writing, such as metaphors, similes, and foreshadowing, to communicate various themes. The use of figurative language, dialogue, and suspense is encouraged in narrative essays.

Follow a format to stay organized

There’s no fixed format for narrative essays, but following a loose format when writing helps in organizing one’s thoughts. For example, in the introduction part, underline the importance of creating a narrative essay, and then reaffirm it in the concluding paragraph. Organize your story chronologically so that the reader can follow along and make sense of the story.

Reread, revise, and edit

Proofreading and editing are critical components of creating a narrative essay, but it can be easy to become weighed down by the details at this stage. Taking a break from your manuscript before diving into the editing process is a wise practice. Stepping away for a day or two, or even just a few hours, provides valuable time to enhance the plot and address any grammatical issues that may need correction. This period of distance allows for a fresh perspective, enabling you to approach the editing phase with renewed clarity and a more discerning eye.

One suggestion is to reconsider the goals you set out to cover when you started the topic. Ask yourself these questions:

Is there a distinct beginning and end to your story?
Does your essay have a topic, a memory, or a lesson to teach?
Does the tone of the essay match the intended mood?

Now, while keeping these things in mind, modify and proofread your essay. You can use online grammar checkers and paraphrase tools such as Paperpal to smooth out any rough spots before submitting it for publication or submission.

It is recommended to edit your essay in the order it was written; here are some useful tips:

Revise the introduction

After crafting your narrative essay, review the introduction to ensure it harmonizes with the developed narrative. Confirm that it adeptly introduces the story and aligns seamlessly with the conclusion.

Revise the conclusion and polish the essay

The conclusion should be the final element edited to ensure coherence and harmony in the entire narrative. It must reinforce the central theme or lesson outlined initially.

Revise and refine the entire article

The last step involves refining the article for consistent tone, style, and tense as well as correct language, grammar, punctuation, and clarity. Seeking feedback from a mentor or colleague can offer an invaluable external perspective at this stage.

Narrative essays are true accounts of the writer’s personal experiences, conveyed in figurative language for sensory appeal. Some narrative essay topic examples include writing about an unforgettable experience, reflecting on mistakes, or achieving a goal. An example of a personal narrative essay is as follows:

Title: A Feline Odyssey: An Experience of Fostering Stray Kittens

Introduction:

It was a fine summer evening in the year 2022 when a soft meowing disrupted the tranquility of my terrace. Little did I know that this innocent symphony would lead to a heartwarming journey of compassion and companionship. Soon, there was a mama cat at my doorstep with four little kittens tucked behind her. They were the most unexpected visitors I had ever had.

The kittens, just fluffs of fur with barely open eyes, were a monument to life’s fragility. Their mother, a street-smart feline, had entrusted me with the care of her precious offspring. The responsibility was sudden and unexpected, yet there was an undeniable sense of purpose in the air , filling me with delight and enthusiasm.

As the days unfolded, my terrace transformed into a haven for the feline family. Cardboard boxes became makeshift cat shelters and my once solitary retreat was filled with purrs and soothing meows. The mother cat, Lily, who initially observ ed me from a safe distance, gradually began to trust my presence as I offered food and gentle strokes.

Fostering the kittens was a life-changing , enriching experience that taught me the true joy of giving as I cared for the felines. My problems slowly faded into the background as evenings were spent playing with the kittens. Sleepless nights turned into a symphony of contented purring, a lullaby filled with the warmth of trust and security . Although the kittens were identical, they grew up to have very distinct personalities, with Kuttu being the most curious and Bobo being the most coy . Every dawn ushered in a soothing ritual of nourishing these feline companions, while nights welcomed their playful antics — a daily nocturnal delight.

Conclusion:

As the kittens grew, so did the realization that our paths were destined to part. Finally, the day arrived when the feline family, now confident and self-reliant, bid farewell to my terrace. It was a bittersweet moment, filled with a sense of love and accomplishment and a tinge of sadness.

Fostering Kuttu, Coco, Lulu, and Bobo became one of the most transformative experiences of my life. Their arrival had brought unexpected joy, teaching me about compassion and our species’ ability to make a difference in the world through love and understanding. The terrace, once a quiet retreat, now bore the echoes of a feline symphony that had touched my heart in ways I could have never imagined.

The length of a narrative essay may vary, but it is typically a brief to moderate length piece. Generally, the essay contains an introductory paragraph, two to three body paragraphs (this number can vary), and a conclusion. The entire narrative essay could be as short as five paragraphs or much longer, depending on the assignment’s requirements or the writer’s preference.

You can write a narrative essay when you have a personal experience to share, or a story, or a series of events that you can tell in a creative and engaging way. Narrative essays are often assigned in academic settings as a form of writing that allows students to express themselves and showcase their storytelling skills. However, you can also write a narrative essay for personal reflection, entertainment, or to communicate a message.

A narrative essay usually follows a three-part structure: – Introduction (To set the stage for the story) – Body paragraphs (To describe sequence of events with details, descriptions, and dialogue) – Conclusion (To summarize the story and reflect on the significance)

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What is a Descriptive Essay? How to Write It (with Examples)

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10.1 Narration

Learning objectives.

Determine the purpose and structure of narrative writing.
Understand how to write a narrative essay.

Rhetorical modes simply mean the ways in which we can effectively communicate through language. This chapter covers nine common rhetorical modes. As you read about these nine modes, keep in mind that the rhetorical mode a writer chooses depends on his or her purpose for writing. Sometimes writers incorporate a variety of modes in any one essay. In covering the nine modes, this chapter also emphasizes the rhetorical modes as a set of tools that will allow you greater flexibility and effectiveness in communicating with your audience and expressing your ideas.

The Purpose of Narrative Writing

Narration means the art of storytelling, and the purpose of narrative writing is to tell stories. Any time you tell a story to a friend or family member about an event or incident in your day, you engage in a form of narration. In addition, a narrative can be factual or fictional. A factual story is one that is based on, and tries to be faithful to, actual events as they unfolded in real life. A fictional story is a made-up, or imagined, story; the writer of a fictional story can create characters and events as he or she sees fit.

The big distinction between factual and fictional narratives is based on a writer’s purpose. The writers of factual stories try to recount events as they actually happened, but writers of fictional stories can depart from real people and events because the writers’ intents are not to retell a real-life event. Biographies and memoirs are examples of factual stories, whereas novels and short stories are examples of fictional stories.

Because the line between fact and fiction can often blur, it is helpful to understand what your purpose is from the beginning. Is it important that you recount history, either your own or someone else’s? Or does your interest lie in reshaping the world in your own image—either how you would like to see it or how you imagine it could be? Your answers will go a long way in shaping the stories you tell.

Ultimately, whether the story is fact or fiction, narrative writing tries to relay a series of events in an emotionally engaging way. You want your audience to be moved by your story, which could mean through laughter, sympathy, fear, anger, and so on. The more clearly you tell your story, the more emotionally engaged your audience is likely to be.

On a separate sheet of paper, start brainstorming ideas for a narrative. First, decide whether you want to write a factual or fictional story. Then, freewrite for five minutes. Be sure to use all five minutes, and keep writing the entire time. Do not stop and think about what to write.

The following are some topics to consider as you get going:

The Structure of a Narrative Essay

Major narrative events are most often conveyed in chronological order , the order in which events unfold from first to last. Stories typically have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and these events are typically organized by time. Certain transitional words and phrases aid in keeping the reader oriented in the sequencing of a story. Some of these phrases are listed in Table 10.1 “Transition Words and Phrases for Expressing Time” . For more information about chronological order, see Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” and Chapter 9 “Writing Essays: From Start to Finish” .

Table 10.1 Transition Words and Phrases for Expressing Time

The following are the other basic components of a narrative:

Plot . The events as they unfold in sequence.
Characters . The people who inhabit the story and move it forward. Typically, there are minor characters and main characters. The minor characters generally play supporting roles to the main character, or the protagonist .
Conflict . The primary problem or obstacle that unfolds in the plot that the protagonist must solve or overcome by the end of the narrative. The way in which the protagonist resolves the conflict of the plot results in the theme of the narrative.
Theme . The ultimate message the narrative is trying to express; it can be either explicit or implicit.

Writing at Work

When interviewing candidates for jobs, employers often ask about conflicts or problems a potential employee has had to overcome. They are asking for a compelling personal narrative. To prepare for this question in a job interview, write out a scenario using the narrative mode structure. This will allow you to troubleshoot rough spots, as well as better understand your own personal history. Both processes will make your story better and your self-presentation better, too.

Take your freewriting exercise from the last section and start crafting it chronologically into a rough plot summary. To read more about a summary, see Chapter 6 “Writing Paragraphs: Separating Ideas and Shaping Content” . Be sure to use the time transition words and phrases listed in Table 10.1 “Transition Words and Phrases for Expressing Time” to sequence the events.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your rough plot summary.

Writing a Narrative Essay

When writing a narrative essay, start by asking yourself if you want to write a factual or fictional story. Then freewrite about topics that are of general interest to you. For more information about freewriting, see Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” .

Once you have a general idea of what you will be writing about, you should sketch out the major events of the story that will compose your plot. Typically, these events will be revealed chronologically and climax at a central conflict that must be resolved by the end of the story. The use of strong details is crucial as you describe the events and characters in your narrative. You want the reader to emotionally engage with the world that you create in writing.

To create strong details, keep the human senses in mind. You want your reader to be immersed in the world that you create, so focus on details related to sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch as you describe people, places, and events in your narrative.

As always, it is important to start with a strong introduction to hook your reader into wanting to read more. Try opening the essay with an event that is interesting to introduce the story and get it going. Finally, your conclusion should help resolve the central conflict of the story and impress upon your reader the ultimate theme of the piece. See Chapter 15 “Readings: Examples of Essays” to read a sample narrative essay.

On a separate sheet of paper, add two or three paragraphs to the plot summary you started in the last section. Describe in detail the main character and the setting of the first scene. Try to use all five senses in your descriptions.

Key Takeaways

Narration is the art of storytelling.
Narratives can be either factual or fictional. In either case, narratives should emotionally engage the reader.
Most narratives are composed of major events sequenced in chronological order.
Time transition words and phrases are used to orient the reader in the sequence of a narrative.
The four basic components to all narratives are plot, character, conflict, and theme.
The use of sensory details is crucial to emotionally engaging the reader.
A strong introduction is important to hook the reader. A strong conclusion should add resolution to the conflict and evoke the narrative’s theme.

The Power of Story

Storytelling Workshops

Power of Story

People remember how stories make them feel, and are more inspired to take action than if they just heard facts and figures.

The classic storytellers, the modern storytellers.

Much like our ancestors telling stories around a communal fire, Explorers come back from their sojourns with a tale to tell. Unlike legends of yore, their stories are grounded in scientific fact, but told with as much heart as ever.

Jahawi Bertolli

Malaika Vaz

Explorer Malaika Vaz is producing an upcoming feature documentary, Sacrifice Zone , that investigates the global impact of the world's largest, most profitable extractive industries—oil and gas, plastic, fast-fashion and coal—on communities of color in India, Colombia, Bangladesh and the United States. Aimed at shifting the narrative on environmental responsibility from consumer guilt to corporate accountability, the film examines the link between racial inequity and environmental exploitation, and the nexus between corporate power and government, and shines a light on the frontline communities fighting for justice.

Luján Agusti

Prasenjeet Yadav

For over a century, India has led global tiger conservation, doubling its tiger populations. But hunting and growing human settlements have cost tigers most of their historic range and isolated them in small areas that are not connected with other tiger populations. Explorer Prasenjeet Yadav is documenting the story of six “tiger islands” in India, showing the importance of connectivity and genetic diversity to ensure the tigers' future.

Laurel Chor

The National Geographic Storytellers Collective continues the timeless tradition of storytelling by showing how to structure narratives to open hearts and change minds.

Photo credits: Karabo Moilwa, Aaron Huey, Elke Bertolli, Luis Antonio Rojas, Nitye Sood, Joshua Irwandi, Jerome Favre, Shashank Dalvi

Writing for Success

Learning Objectives

Determine the purpose and structure of narrative writing.
Understand how to write a narrative essay.

THE PURPOSE OF NARRATIVE WRITING

The following are some topics to consider as you get going:

THE STRUCTURE OF A NARRATIVE ESSAY

Major narrative events are most often conveyed in chronological order, the order in which events unfold from first to last. Stories typically have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and these events are typically organized by time. Certain transitional words and phrases aid in keeping the reader oriented in the sequencing of a story. Some of these phrases are listed in Table 10.1 “Transition Words and Phrases for Expressing Time”.

The following are the other basic components of a narrative:

Plot. The events as they unfold in sequence.
Characters. The people who inhabit the story and move it forward. Typically, there are minor characters and main characters. The minor characters generally play supporting roles to the main character, or theprotagonist.
Conflict. The primary problem or obstacle that unfolds in the plot that the protagonist must solve or overcome by the end of the narrative. The way in which the protagonist resolves the conflict of the plot results in the theme of the narrative.
Theme. The ultimate message the narrative is trying to express; it can be either explicit or implicit.

WRITING AT WORK

Take your freewriting exercise from the last section and start crafting it chronologically into a rough plot summary. To read more about a summary, see Chapter 6 “Writing Paragraphs: Separating Ideas and Shaping Content”. Be sure to use the time transition words and phrases listed in Table 10.1 “Transition Words and Phrases for Expressing Time” to sequence the events.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your rough plot summary.

WRITING A NARRATIVE ESSAY

When writing a narrative essay, start by asking yourself if you want to write a factual or fictional story. Then freewrite about topics that are of general interest to you.

Key Takeaways

Narration is the art of storytelling.
Narratives can be either factual or fictional. In either case, narratives should emotionally engage the reader.
Most narratives are composed of major events sequenced in chronological order.
Time transition words and phrases are used to orient the reader in the sequence of a narrative.
The four basic components to all narratives are plot, character, conflict, and theme.
The use of sensory details is crucial to emotionally engaging the reader.
A strong introduction is important to hook the reader. A strong conclusion should add resolution to the conflict and evoke the narrative’s theme.

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What is Storytelling? An Ultimate Guide

This blog will explore the art of Storytelling, its significance in communication, the various purposes it serves, and the step-by-step process of Storytelling. You will discover its profound impact on our lives. In this blog, you will learn What is Storytelling, its importance, and the processes involved.

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When it comes to engaging an audience, capturing their attention, and conveying a message, nothing beats the power of Storytelling. However, Storytelling is not just about telling tales or anecdotes, it is a skill that can be learned and mastered that can transform the way you communicate, persuade, and inspire. But do you know exactly What is Storytelling, and why is it so crucial in communication?

If you are interested in learning more about it, then this blog is for you. In this blog, you will learn What is Storytelling, its importance, and the processes involved. Let’s delve in to learn more!

Table of Contents

1) Understanding What is Storytelling

2) The purpose of Storytelling

3) The process of Storytelling

4) Tips for effective Storytelling

5) Conclusion

Understanding What is Storytelling

Storytelling is the art of conveying narratives through words, visuals, or experiences to engage, inform, or entertain an audience. It is a powerful and timeless practice that captures human emotions, experiences, and ideas.

Thus, it enables us to connect with others, convey messages effectively, and inspire action. Whether through spoken words, written stories, visual presentations, or immersive experiences, Storytelling plays a pivotal role in human communication and expression.

The purpose of Storytelling

Now that you are aware of What is Storytelling, let’s understand its purpose. From igniting inspiration to fostering ideas, Storytelling serves as a versatile and indispensable tool in human communication. Let's delve into some of its crucial purposes below:

Making abstract concepts tangible

Through Storytelling, complex and abstract ideas are brought down from the clouds of obscurity and made relatable and understandable. It's like disassembling a perplexing puzzle and presenting its pieces in a simplified form.

This process allows people to grasp these once-elusive concepts with greater ease and clarity. For instance, when explaining intricate scientific theories, stories can provide real-world examples that breathe life into these otherwise esoteric ideas.

Stories foster and mould ideas

Storytelling transcends the mere conveyance of information; it is a potent instrument for nurturing and shaping ideas. Imagine stories as the fertile soil where thoughts take root, grow, evolve, and eventually transform into innovative and creative solutions. By enveloping concepts and challenges within narratives, storytellers encourage fresh perspectives and generate new insights, propelling the development of ideas.

Stories create a sense of unity among people

Narratives possess a remarkable power to forge connections among individuals from diverse backgrounds. They craft shared experiences and cultivate a profound sense of belonging. These shared themes, values, and emotions serve as bridges that bring people together.

Thus, they help foster unity. In an era where divisions often dominate, Storytelling becomes an essential tool for building stronger and more inclusive communities and societies.

Stories ignite inspiration and drive

One of the most compelling aspects of Storytelling lies in its ability to spark inspiration and ignite motivation. Stories establish a direct connection with our emotions, awakening a deep sense of purpose and determination. They possess the capacity to imbue individuals and groups with the passion and drive to pursue their goals vigorously.

In this way, stories act as catalysts for positive change, propelling individuals and societies toward transformative actions and progress. They become the driving force behind impactful and meaningful endeavours.

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The process of Storytelling

Storytelling is a structured process that goes beyond merely crafting narratives; it ensures that your message is effectively conveyed to your intended audience. To create a compelling story, follow these essential steps:

1) Understand your audience

Successful Storytelling starts with knowing who you're speaking to. Understand your audience's demographics, interests, preferences, and needs. Are you addressing children or adults? Professionals or hobbyists?

Knowing your audience allows you to optimise your story to resonate with them. It's like customising the key to fit the right lock. This knowledge helps you choose the appropriate tone, style, and content that will engage your audience effectively.

2) Clearly outline your central message

Imagine you're setting the destination before embarking on a journey. What is the main idea or message you want your audience to take away from your story? A clear central message serves as your North Star, keeping your Storytelling focused and impactful. It helps you avoid wandering off course and ensures that your audience grasps the essence of your narrative.

3) Determine the type of story you intend to convey

Different stories serve different purposes. Are you aiming to inform, persuade, entertain, or do a combination of these? Understanding the intended purpose of your story guides your Storytelling approach. For instance, an informative story might rely on facts and data, while an entertaining story might prioritise humour or suspense. Clarifying your story type sets the stage for crafting the most effective narrative.

4) Set your Call-to-Action (CTA)

Every story should lead to something. Determine what you want your audience to do or take away after experiencing your story. This call to action could be anything from making a purchase to changing a behaviour or simply gaining a new perspective. A well-defined Call-to-Action encourages engagement and drives the desired outcome, making your Storytelling purposeful.

5) Select your Storytelling medium

Storytelling can take various forms, such as the written word, spoken language, visual presentations, or interactive experiences. Select the medium that best suits your story and resonates with your audience. For instance, a visual story might be more effective for showcasing a product, while a written narrative could delve deep into complex ideas. Choosing the right medium enhances the overall impact of your Storytelling.

6) Strategise and arrange the structure of your narrative

Think of your story as a journey with a beginning, middle, and end. Start with a captivating introduction that draws your audience in. Develop a well-structured middle that unfolds the plot, characters, and conflict. Conclude with a satisfying ending that leaves a lasting impression. Organising your narrative ensures coherence and maintains your audience's engagement throughout the Storytelling journey.

7) Begin the writing process

With all the preparations in place, it's time to start writing your story. Create engaging characters, vivid settings, and a captivating plot. Use descriptive language, dialogue, and emotions to immerse your audience in your narrative. Writing is where your story comes to life, where words transform into images, and ideas resonate with your audience. Embrace your creative side and let your Storytelling skills shine.

In essence, effective Storytelling is a well-thought-out process that combines understanding your audience, defining your message, choosing the right story type, setting clear objectives, selecting the appropriate medium, structuring your narrative, and finally, bringing it all together through the act of writing. When executed skillfully, Storytelling has the power to captivate, inform, persuade, and inspire, leaving a lasting impact on your audience.

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Tips for effective Storytelling

Effective Storytelling is a powerful tool that captivates audiences and leaves a lasting impact. Here are some tips to enhance your Storytelling capabilities:

a) Compelling opening: Grab attention with a strong opening that raises questions or creates curiosity. Engage emotions early on to establish a connection.

b) Character development: Craft well-rounded characters with relatable qualities and motivations. Show character growth or transformation to keep the audience invested.

c) Clear structure: Organise your story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Utilise plot points to maintain a smooth and logical flow.

d) Descriptive language: Paint vivid imagery with descriptive language to immerse the audience in the story. Appeal to the senses to evoke a more profound emotional response.

e) Conflict and resolution: Introduce conflicts that create tension and keep the audience engaged. Resolve conflicts in a satisfying and meaningful way to provide closure.

f) Pacing: Control the pace to build suspense during key moments and allow for reflection in quieter scenes. Balance fast-paced action with slower, introspective moments.

g) Dialogue Mastery: Craft authentic and impactful dialogue that reveals character traits and advances the plot. Use dialogue to convey emotion and create dynamic interactions.

h) Themes and messages: Incorporate themes that resonate with universal human experiences. Convey a clear message or moral that adds depth to the narrative.

i) Practice and feedback: Practice storytelling regularly to refine your skills. Seek feedback from peers or mentors to gain valuable insights for improvement.

By incorporating these pointers, you can elevate your Storytelling to new heights, captivating your audience and leaving a lasting impression.

Conclusion

We hope you read and understand What is Storytelling. It is a timeless and universal art, weaves the threads of human experience, connecting hearts and minds across cultures and time. Its significance in communication cannot be overstated, as it simplifies complex ideas, fosters unity, and ignites inspiration. Embrace the power of Storytelling, for it has the potential to transform and uplift lives, making our narratives truly unforgettable.

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Frequently Asked Questions

In order to enhance the relatability of your Storytelling , it's essential to start by understanding your audience thoroughly. Tailor your narrative to their interests and experiences. Utilise relatable characters and situations that mirror your audience's lives. Emphasise emotions and experiences that strike a chord with them, creating a deeper connection.

Authenticity plays a pivotal role in Storytelling by establishing trust and credibility. Authentic stories are inherently relatable, as they reflect genuine human experiences and emotions. They resonate deeply with audiences, forging a sincere connection that transcends superficiality, making your narrative more impactful and memorable.

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Narrative Essay

1.1 purpose & structure of narrative writing.

This section will help you determine the purpose and structure of narration in writing.

The Purpose of Narrative Writing

Narration means the art of storytelling, and the purpose of narrative writing is to tell stories. Any time you tell a story to a friend or family member about an event or incident in your day, you engage in a form of narration. A narrative can be factual (true) or fictional (made-up). A factual story is one that is based on, and tries to be faithful to, actual events as they unfolded in real life. A fictional story is a made-up, or imagined, story; the writer of a fictional story can create characters and events as he or she sees fit.

The big distinction between factual and fictional narratives is based on a writer’s purpose . The writers of factual stories try to recount events as they actually happened, but writers of fictional stories can depart from real people and events because the writers’ intents are not to retell a real-life event. Biographies and memoirs are examples of factual stories, whereas novels and short stories are examples of fictional stories.

Know Your Purpose

The Structure of a Narrative Essay

Chronological Transitional Words

The basic components of a narrative are:

Plot – The events as they unfold in sequence.
Characters – The people who inhabit the story and move it forward. Typically, there are minor characters and main characters. The minor characters generally play supporting roles to the main character, also known as the protagonist.
Conflict – The primary problem or obstacle that unfolds in the plot that the protagonist must solve or overcome by the end of the narrative. The way in which the protagonist resolves the conflict of the plot results in the theme of the narrative.
Theme – The ultimate message the narrative is trying to express; it can be either explicit or implicit.
Details – The specific descriptions of setting, characters, actions, and all other items that make up the physical world and can be experienced through the senses.

Writing a Narrative Essay

When writing a narrative essay, start by asking yourself if you want to write a factual or fictional story. Then freewrite , brainstorm , or mindmap about topics that are of general interest to you. For more information about pre-writing, review the materials in “My Writing Process – Prewriting and Draft.”

Keep the Senses in Mind

To create strong details , keep the human senses in mind. You want your reader to be immersed in the world that you create, so focus on details related to sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch as you describe people, places, and events in your narrative.

Narratives Tell A Story

Every day, you relate stories to other people through simple exchanges. You may have had a horrible experience at a restaurant the night before, or you may have had some good news you are ready to share. In each one of these experiences there’s a story, and when you begin to share a personal experience, you often communicate in a narrative mode .

Although narratives can vary widely, they all feature the basic components as explained above. Effective storytellers establish:

Characters , the person/people (sometimes they are animals) the story is about, which may include the storyteller
A sequence of events in a plot , or order of what happens in the story, that keeps the audience engaged as the story unfolds
Conflict , or struggle in the story, that builds their audience’s interest
Details , or descriptions, that appeal to the senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste
Reflection of events around a theme , or unifying idea, for telling the story

Narratives of Love and War

Consider two narratives that couldn’t be more different—a tale of love and a story of war: John Hodgman’s sweet, geeky tale of falling in love and Emmanuel Jal’s story of being a child soldier and learning to forgive his enemies. Review these videos below then engage in a discussion following the directions as listed.

John Hodgman: A Brief Digression on Matters of Lost Time

Emmanuel Jal: The Music of a War Child

Key Takeaways

Narration is the art of storytelling.
Narratives can be either factual or fictional. In either case, narratives should emotionally engage the reader.
Most narratives are composed of major events sequenced in chronological order.
Time transition words and phrases are used to orient the reader in the sequence of a narrative.
The four basic components to all narratives are plot, character, conflict, and theme.
The use of sensory details is crucial to emotionally engaging the reader.
A strong introduction is important to hook the reader. A strong conclusion should add resolution to the conflict and evoke the narrative’s theme.
Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : http://lumenlearning.com/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
Successful Writing. Provided by : Anonymous. Located at : http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/successful-writing/s14-01-narration.html . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
My College Education. Authored by : Scott McLean. Located at : http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/successful-writing/s19-02-narrative-essay.html . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
A Brief Digression on Matters of Lost Time. Authored by : John Hodgman . Provided by : TED Talks. Located at : http://youtu.be/8W51H1croBw . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube License
The Music of a War Child. Authored by : Emmanuel Jal. Provided by : TED Talks. Located at : http://youtu.be/nF_dHdNOgSA . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube License

Macdonald DeWitt Library at SUNY Ulster

Eng 101 oer: narration.

Reading to Write
Why We Write
Rhetorical Context
Brainstorming
Proofreading & Editing
Paragraph Development
Thesis Statements
Introductions
Conclusions

Transitions & Phrases

Peer Reviews
Exemplification
Classification
Cause/Effect
Grammar Resources

Learning Objectives

Determine the purpose and structure of narrative writing.
Understand how to write a narrative essay.

The Purpose of Narrative Writing

The Structure of a Narrative Essay

The following are the other basic components of a narrative:

Plot . The events as they unfold in sequence.
Characters . The people who inhabit the story and move it forward. Typically, there are minor characters and main characters. The minor characters generally play supporting roles to the main character, or the protagonist.
Conflict . The primary problem or obstacle that unfolds in the plot that the protagonist must solve or overcome by the end of the narrative. The way in which the protagonist resolves the conflict of the plot results in the theme of the narrative.

Writing a Narrative Essay

When writing a narrative essay, start by asking yourself if you want to write a factual or fictional story. Then freewrite about topics that are of general interest to you.

What makes a great story? For legendary filmmaker Ken Burns, the answer is both complicated and personal. In this short documentary about the craft of storytelling, he explains his lifelong mission to wake the dead. Recently featured on The Atlantic.

Ken Burns: On Story from Redglass Pictures on Vimeo .

Student Sample Essay

My College Education

The first class I went to in college was philosophy, and it changed my life forever. Our first assignment was to write a short response paper to the Albert Camus essay “The Myth of Sisyphus.” I was extremely nervous about the assignment as well as college. However, through all the confusion in philosophy class, many of my questions about life were answered.

I entered college intending to earn a degree in engineering. I always liked the way mathematics had right and wrong answers. I understood the logic and was very good at it. So when I received my first philosophy assignment that asked me to write my interpretation of the Camus essay, I was instantly confused. What is the right way to do this assignment, I wondered? I was nervous about writing an incorrect interpretation and did not want to get my first assignment wrong. Even more troubling was that the professor refused to give us any guidelines on what he was looking for; he gave us total freedom. He simply said, “I want to see what you come up with.”

Full of anxiety, I first set out to read Camus’s essay several times to make sure I really knew what was it was about. I did my best to take careful notes. Yet even after I took all these notes and knew the essay inside and out, I still did not know the right answer. What was my interpretation? I could think of a million different ways to interpret the essay, but which one was my professor looking for? In math class, I was used to examples and explanations of solutions. This assignment gave me nothing; I was completely on my own to come up with my individual interpretation.

Next, when I sat down to write, the words just did not come to me. My notes and ideas were all present, but the words were lost. I decided to try every prewriting strategy I could find. I brainstormed, made idea maps, and even wrote an outline. Eventually, after a lot of stress, my ideas became more organized and the words fell on the page. I had my interpretation of “The Myth of Sisyphus,” and I had my main reasons for interpreting the essay. I remember being unsure of myself, wondering if what I was saying made sense, or if I was even on the right track. Through all the uncertainty, I continued writing the best I could. I finished the conclusion paragraph, had my spouse proofread it for errors, and turned it in the next day simply hoping for the best.

Then, a week or two later, came judgment day. The professor gave our papers back to us with grades and comments. I remember feeling simultaneously afraid and eager to get the paper back in my hands. It turned out, however, that I had nothing to worry about. The professor gave me an A on the paper, and his notes suggested that I wrote an effective essay overall. He wrote that my reading of the essay was very original and that my thoughts were well organized. My relief and newfound confidence upon reading his comments could not be overstated.

What I learned through this process extended well beyond how to write a college paper. I learned to be open to new challenges. I never expected to enjoy a philosophy class and always expected to be a math and science person. This class and assignment, however, gave me the self-confidence, critical-thinking skills, and courage to try a new career path. I left engineering and went on to study law and eventually became a lawyer. More important, that class and paper helped me understand education differently. Instead of seeing college as a direct stepping stone to a career, I learned to see college as a place to first learn and then seek a career or enhance an existing career. By giving me the space to express my own interpretation and to argue for my own values, my philosophy class taught me the importance of education for education’s sake. That realization continues to pay dividends every day.

Key Takeaways

Narration is the art of storytelling.
Narratives can be either factual or fictional. In either case, narratives should emotionally engage the reader.
Most narratives are composed of major events sequenced in chronological order.
Time transition words and phrases are used to orient the reader in the sequence of a narrative.
The four basic components to all narratives are plot, character, conflict, and theme.
The use of sensory details is crucial to emotionally engaging the reader.
A strong introduction is important to hook the reader. A strong conclusion should add resolution to the conflict and evoke the narrative’s theme.

This is a derivative of WRITING FOR SUCCESS by a publisher who has requested that they and the original author not receive attribution, originally released and is used under CC BY-NC-SA. This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License .

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Last Updated: Sep 7, 2023 10:19 AM
URL: https://libguides.sunyulster.edu/eng101oer

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Peer-Reviewed

Why Storytelling Matters: Unveiling the Literacy Benefits of Storytelling

Denise E. Agosto

S torytelling is a long-standing tradition in US public and school libraries. Storytelling, not to be confused with story reading , involves telling a story from memory without the aid of a book or written script. Some tellers memorize their stories; others memorize the characters and events and freely tell their stories, varying them with each telling.

Many storytellers have written about the strong emotional connections that storytelling builds with listeners, about children’s deeper engagement with live storytelling than with reading aloud, and about the literacy benefits of storytelling. 1 However, little research has tested whether or not these assumed benefits are real. To investigate the possible literacy benefits of storytelling, I analyzed thank-you cards created by children in a second grade class in response to a live storytelling session. The study findings show support for some of the previously assumed literacy benefits of live oral storytelling and point to the importance of continuing to offer storytelling events in public and school libraries.

What Do We Know about the Literacy Benefits of Storytelling?

Most of the writing about the literacy benefits of storytelling in the professional literature has been based on observations from practice rather than on research findings. Authors of these pieces typically suggest that storytelling helps children to become better listeners and better readers while building vocabulary. 2

A small body of research has tested these assumptions. 3 Three of these studies are highlighted here.

First, Brian Sturm studied the trance-like state that listeners enter when they are deeply involved in listening to oral storytelling. 4 He interviewed children and adults at a storytelling festival and identified six characteristics of the storytelling trance:

“Six categories emerged from the listeners’ descriptions of the storylistening trance phenomenon:

Realism: the sense that the story environment or characters are real or alive
Lack of awareness: of surroundings or other mental processes
visual (both physical watching and mental visualization)
auditory (both physical hearing and mental “chatter”)
kinesthetic
Control: of the experience by the listener, or someone or something else
“Placeness:” the sense that the listener “goes somewhere” (often “into”) another space
Time distortion: the sense that subjective time moves at a different speed than objective, clock time.” 5

While Sturm didn’t address literacy directly, the deep engagement in story content that he identified has been tied to improvements in literacy skills. 6

Next, Louise Phillips conducted a four-week storytelling program with preschoolers to study the usefulness of storytelling in early education. 7 She found storytelling to build community among students and teachers, to enhance memory recall, to support early literacy development, and to promote creative thinking.

More recently, Jo Kuyvenhoven explored the storytelling trance with fourth and fifth graders. 8 She found that during storytelling, children created mental pictures of the stories and often envisioned themselves in the story settings taking part in the action: “They made [mental] pictures and then slid into participation beyond the classroom walls and storyteller’s presence.” 9 Again, this deep level of engagement has been tied to improved literacy.

Together these studies provide general support for the connection between oral storytelling and improved literacy, but they provide few details about effects on specific literacy skills.

Study Procedures

To begin to investigate the literacy benefits of oral storytelling, I worked with a class of twenty second-grade students in a suburban public school in the Eastern United States. It is a Title 1 school located in a mixed-income, mixed ethnic/racial neighborhood. The study participants included nine girls and eleven boys, all aged seven or eight. Ten of the children were white, non-Hispanic; four were African American; three were Hispanic; and three were Asian American.

I told two stories of about fifteen minutes each to the students, who were seated around me on the classroom floor. It was the first time the class had experienced live storytelling. The first story was an original tale, “The Runaway Pumpkin,” about a boy who plants a pumpkin in his garden. It grows to an enormous size, and he rides it as it bounces out of his garden and across town.

The second story was based on a German folktale “The Three Wishes,” in which an elf grants a woodcutter and his wife three wishes in return for not chopping down the tree in which he lives. The woodcutter first wishes for a large sausage. His wife, angry that he wasted a wish, wishes that the sausage would stick to his nose. The woodcutter is forced to use his third and final wish to remove the sausage. A version of this tale can be found in Margot Zemach’s The Three Wishes: An Old Story . 10

The children appeared to be highly engaged during the stories, frequently giggling and making appropriate comments, such as guessing what would happen next or yelling advice to the characters. I spent about five minutes after each story answering the children’s questions, such as, “Did the woodcutter ever get any more wishes?” After the stories and questions ended, I thanked the students for being a good audience and left the classroom.

Data Collection

When conducting research with children, gathering useful data can be difficult due to still-developing oracy and literacy skills. For this reason, I chose drawings as the main source of data for analyzing the children’s story responses. Immediately following the story session, the children’s teacher asked the class to create thank-you cards to send to the guest storyteller. She gave the children blank pieces of paper to fold into quarters to create cards. Beyond that, she let them create their own designs. She did write my name and the words “Thank you” on the chalkboard for children who needed spelling assistance.

After twenty minutes, she collected the cards, asking each student to “Tell me about your card.” She recorded the students’ responses verbatim.

All twenty children completed the thank-you card task. Fifteen wrote words and drew pictures on their cards. Five wrote words alone—no drawings. Several drew more than one picture, resulting in twenty-four separate drawings for analysis. Each child wrote between thirteen and forty-nine words on his/her card, with an average of twenty-five words per card. All twenty children provided verbal descriptions of their cards, ranging in length from twelve to forty-eight words, with an average length of twenty words.

I used the constant comparative method to analyze the words and drawings. The constant comparative method is the most common method for analyzing qualitative data. 11 Developed by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss for use in developing grounded theory, “the constant comparative method of data analysis is inductive and comparative and so has been widely used throughout qualitative research without building a grounded theory,” as it was used here. 12 The constant comparative method has most commonly been used to analyze qualitative data in word format, but it can also be useful for analyzing visual data, such as drawings:

With drawings, photographs, and/or videos, constant comparative analysis can be conducted to assess similarities and differences among the pictures. The similarities/differences are identified by selecting sections of the pictures to analyze, giving them codes, then grouping the codes together to create themes. As themes emerge, new drawings, photographs, and/or video clips are compared to these themes to determine where this new visual information fits in the overall thematic development. 13

During iterative rounds of coding, the analysis progressed from initial descriptive codes of both the drawings and words (such as “pumpkins”) to more conceptual, inferential codes (such as “critical thinking”). 14

The final coding scheme included four literacy benefits that children can gain from listening to oral storytelling. These include practice in visualization, cognitive engagement, critical thinking, and story sequencing. Each of these skills is described below with supporting examples from the data. They are listed in order from most to least supporting evidence in the data. Note, however, that the amount of supporting data is not necessarily a valid indicator of strong or weak connection between storytelling and each benefit, as some literacy skills are better suited to detection through the study methods (such as visualization) than others (such as story sequencing).

Visualization

Visualization, or the ability to picture a story or other written information, is a foundational literacy skill, helping young readers to comprehend written texts. 15 In describing their drawings, several children discussed having envisioned the stories as they listened. For example, pointing to her drawing of a pumpkin one of the girls explained: “This is how the pumpkin looked when I saw it in my head.”

As another example, figure 2 shows a tree that another girl drew in response to the story “The Three Wishes.” Her drawing shows that she was able to translate into visual form one of the key story elements.

In this same vein, figure 1 depicts the main character from “The Runaway Pumpkin” standing next to his garden. The drawing depicts the three key physical elements of the story: the protagonist, the pumpkin, and the garden.

Cognitive Engagement

Cognitive engagement has also been tied to improved literacy. 16 If new readers are interested in stories or other reading materials, they are more motivated to try to understand them. Cognitive engagement is hard to determine after a learning activity has ended, but visual observation during the storytelling session showed rapt attention and strong engagement on behalf of most of the children, with most laughing at appropriate points in the stories and many guessing aloud what might happen next or offering verbal advice to the characters.

There was additional evidence of cognitive engagement in the data. For example, one of the girls drew a picture of a figure on a pumpkin and wrote, “I am riding run-away pamkin” on her card, indicating that she imagined herself taking part in the action of the story. Other students reimagined the stories and offered alternate storylines. For instance, one of the boys wrote on his card: “In the three wishes he could of wished for a ton of gold and get a lot of $.” Another wrote: “If I had 3 wishis I well wish for a milion dollrs.” (See figure 3.)

Critical Thinking

Of course, literacy skills involve more than just decoding and understanding words. Critical thinking is also an important component. 17 Throughout the data, there were several examples of participants’ applying critical thinking to the stories they had heard. For example, one of the boys showed evidence of critical thinking when he wrote on his card: “how can a pumpkin bounse?” (See figure 3.) Rather than merely accepting the unusual activity in the story as fact, he questioned it strongly enough to write his question on his card. Critical thinking is closely tied to cognitive engagement; both involve deep thinking about story content and meaning.

Story Sequencing Ability

The fourth and final literacy skill identified in this study is story sequencing, an important skill for literacy development. 18 Story sequencing is the ability to identify different events in a story and place them in chronological order.

Three students each drew a series of vignettes from the stories, showing events in order, such as the series of pumpkins shown in figure 4. Each successive pumpkin is slightly larger than the previous one to represent the growth throughout the story. Arrows clearly indicate the direction of change—from small pumpkin to large—and serve as strong proof of the young artist’s understanding of the order of events in the story.

This single storytelling session enabled a class of second graders to practice at least four important literacy skills: visualization, cognitive engagement, critical thinking, and story sequencing. It’s important to point out that this was a small, preliminary study. While it offers strong evidence that storytelling is beneficial for literacy development, more research with repeated storytelling sessions, different delivery methods, varied types of stories, etc., is needed to determine the full range of literacy benefits of storytelling and the strength of their impact on literacy development. Nonetheless, this study adds to the growing body of work pointing to connections between live storytelling and literacy development, and it provides a strong argument for the continuation of storytelling in public and school libraries.

This study also shows that post-storytelling activities can enhance these literacy benefits. In creating their cards, the study participants demonstrated ongoing cognitive engagement and critical thinking in their drawings, written words, and oral descriptions of their work. Other follow-up activities to enhance the literacy benefits of storytelling, and that are well-suited to library settings, include:

Follow-up questions. Asking listening audiences simple follow-up questions related to story comprehension and reflection, such as: “When do you think this story took place?” or “What do you think happened after the story ended?” encourages ongoing cognitive engagement and critical thinking.
Personal connection building. Asking questions like: “What was your favorite part of the story and why?” “If you were the main character, what would you have done in her situation?” and “Have you ever had an experience like the one in the story?” helps children learn to connect stories to their own life perspectives and experiences. Learning how to make personal connections can help young readers to comprehend written texts more easily. 19
Reenactments. Younger children often enjoy reenacting a story they have heard, thereby enabling them to become a part of the story. Reenactments don’t need to be fancy or involved; the storyteller can simply ask young volunteers to reenact the story as he or she retells it. Or, the storyteller can divide the audience into small groups and encourage each group to act out the story as s/he retells it.
Retellings. The storyteller can invite one or more listeners to retell a story after the initial telling to improve recall abilities and to strengthen story sequencing skills. Storytellers can also post audio or video recordings of their tellings to the web to enable children to listen again on their own.
Connections to books. Providing book versions of the stories (or of similar stories) for listeners to read in the library or to take home to read encourages continued thinking and reflection.
Connections to other stories. As another way to increase children’s critical thinking, storytellers can tell two similar stories or tell a story and read a book version of the same story. Follow-up discussions should focus on asking children how the stories correspond and differ.
Response drawings. As shown in this study, asking children to create drawings in response to a story they have heard encourages continued engagement with the story and helps to build visualization skills.

Nearly two hundred years ago, Friedrich Froebel, the founding father of the kindergarten education movement, championed storytelling as an ideal method for educational delivery to young children. 20 Even in the digital age, when many public and school librarians are under pressure to focus programs and lessons on digital-skills building, traditional oral storytelling remains a vital cultural tradition and, as this study has shown, a useful tool for helping new readers build essential literacy skills. 21

There is another equally compelling reason to feature storytelling in public and school libraries: the joy that it brings to young listeners. In addition to showing that storytelling enabled the participants in this study to practice important literacy skills, the data also revealed the joy that many of them experienced during the storytelling session.

They wrote glowing reviews of the experience, such as: “It was so fun and so funny espesially when the pumpkin jumped!” One student even drew a smiling girl’s face on her card. When her teacher asked her about the picture, she said: “I made me smiling at her during the stories when she told it, the stories.”

Live storytelling can bring joy to children and encourage them to view libraries and literacy in a positive light, helping to advance the core mission of libraries. That outcome alone is reason to continue providing storytelling for children in public and school libraries for many years to come. &

Cynthia Keller, “Storytelling? Everyone Has a Story,” School Library Monthly 28, no. 5 (February 2012): 10–12; Jerry Pinkney, “The Power of Storytelling,” Horn Book Magazine 91, no. 3 (June 2015): 29–30.
Dianne Butler, “Storytelling in the Classroom or Library,” Mississippi Libraries 76, no. 3 (Fall 2013): n.p.; Janice M. Del Negro, “The Whole Story, the Whole Library: Storytelling as a Driving Force,” ILA Reporter 33, no. 2 (April 2015): 4–7.
For a more comprehensive review, see Kendall Haven, “The Story of the Story: Research Support for the School Librarian’s Role in Teaching Writing,” School Library Monthly 26, no. 6 (February 2010): 39–41.
Brian W. Sturm, “The Enchanted Imagination: Storytelling’s Power to Entrance Listeners,” School Library Media Research 2 (1999), accessed August 8, 2015, www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume21999/vol2sturm.cfm .
For example, see Susan C. Cantrell et al., “The Impact of Supplemental Instruction on Low-Achieving Adolescents’ Reading Engagement,” Journal of Educational Research 107, no. 1 (2014): 36–58.
Louise Phillips, “Storytelling: The Seeds of Children’s Creativity,” Australian Journal of Early Childhood 25, no. 3 (2000): 1–5.
Jo Kuyvenhoven, “‘What Happens Inside Your Head When You Are Listening to a Story?’ Children Talk about Their Experience during a Storytelling,” Storytelling, Self, Society 3, no. 2 (2007): 95–114.
Ibid., 111.
Margot Zemach, The Three Wishes: An Old Story (New York: Farrar, 1986).
Denise Agosto and Sandra Hughes-Hassell, “People, Places, and Questions: An Investigation of the Everyday Life Information-Seeking Behaviors of Urban Young Adults,” Library & Information Science Research 27, no. 2 (Spring 2005): 146.
Barney G. Glaser and Anselm L. Strauss. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research (Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter, 1967); Sharan B. Merriam, Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009), 175.
Nancy L. Leech and Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie, “Qualitative Data Analysis: A Compendium of Techniques and a Framework for Selection for School Psychology Research and Beyond,” School Psychology Quarterly 23, no. 4 (December 2008): 599.
Matthew B. Miles and A. Michael Huberman, Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, 2nd ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994).
Dawnene Hassett, “Teacher Flexibility and Judgment: A Multidynamic Literacy Theory,” Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 8, no. 3 (December 2008): 295–327.
For example, see Cantrell et al., “The Impact of Supplemental Instruction on Low-Achieving Adolescents’ Reading Engagement.”
For example, see Nancy J. Ellsworth, “Literacy and Critical Thinking,” in Literacy: A Redefinition (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1994), 91–108.
Maggie Chase, Eun Hye Son, and Stan Steiner, “Sequencing and Graphic Novels with Primary-Grade Students,” Reading Teacher 67, no. 6 (March 2014): 435–443.
For example, see Carter Latendresse, “Literature Circles: Meeting Reading Standards, Making Personal Connections, and Appreciating Other Interpretations,” Middle School Journal 35, no. 3 (January 2004): 13–20.
Martha E. Gregor, Storytelling in the Home, School, and Library, 1890–1920 . University of Oregon, Department of History, master’s thesis (2010), accessed August 9, 2015, http://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/jspui/bitstream/1794/10639/1/Gregor_Martha_E_ma2010sp.pdf .
Del Negro, “The Whole Story, the Whole Library.”

Figure 1. An example of visualization

Figure 2. An example of visualization

Figure 3. An example of critical thinking

Figure 4. An example of story sequencing skills

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Storytelling: What is it and Why is it Important?

It would feel morally wrong to write an article about storytelling and not tell you how our company came to be… Digital Storyteller starts with our Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Amanda Rogers .

In 1997, when the actors union was on strike, Amanda taught herself how to code from a book. (Yes, these were the days before WordPress, Squarespace, and WIX—scary times…)

Anyway, Amanda’s martial arts teacher was an 8th degree blackbelt teaching amazing Tang Soo Do in New York City—and had only five students. Amanda knew he needed a website—so she taught herself to write HTML, CSS, and Javascript to try to help him build a studio.

A year later when Amanda moved to Los Angeles, the studio was thriving. In fact, 80% of the students came to him through the website. She was hooked.

After a few twists and turns, Digital Storyteller was born—an organic digital marketing agency in Encinitas, California.

Today, the team has grown from one to nearly 15. On our team , we’ve got content specialists, social media experts, a client success manager, SEO team, as well as a website and graphic design team to continue what Amanda started.

That’s our story . If you haven’t already recognized the importance of storytelling within a business, we’ll continue on for you. Better yet, we snagged the CEO and Owner of Digital Storyteller to chat about storytelling on camera, Andrew Marr .

What is Storytelling?

At its core, storytelling is (you guessed it!) about telling stories. Yoast tells us that storytelling is “about using stories to engage your audience, or to make something more clear.”

As humans, we’re wired for story. From each of our early days, it’s likely we recall our parents and the people around us sharing and telling stories. We love to read books and see movies and musicals—why? Because people are addicted to stories.

But what does storytelling look like when it comes to marketing for your business? When it comes to marketing for financial services companies, we see storytelling as making what you do and the services you provide:

Relatable
Easy to understand by your audience

Why is Storytelling Important in Marketing?

Storytelling builds trust . Here are some of the stories you can share in your marketing strategy as well as how you can share them:

Share your stories on your website
Share your origin story
Share how you’ve grown
Share the challenges your business has faced (How did you overcome these challenges? Did any positives come out?)
Share how you help your clients (A lot of companies don’t share how they help their clients. Come on, boast a little!)

As the old adage goes, sharing is caring… Communicating your story with your audience.

A Word of Advice from Our CEO and Owner

So, how important is it to share your company story with your digital followers? (i.e. prospects, people in similar industries, current clients, etc.)

According to Andrew, it’s extremely important if you want to build trust and if you want to build a following. We believe in the power of storytelling. In fact, we start all of our partnerships with a Brand Storytelling Session .

Picture this: You go onto a website. For ease, let’s say it’s a digital marketing agency. You’re looking at their services, considering partnering with this company but you don’t find anything about their story.

There’s nothing about their employees or how the company came to be. Does that make you want to partner with that company even more? No, of course it doesn’t. That’s not the way things go.

For those who feel like it’s weird to talk about yourself or what you bring to the table as a business, for fear of coming off as arrogant or boastful, think about it… It’s your website. That’s kind of the point!

Let go of the taboo you were taught in grade school, that it’s bad to talk about yourself.

In business, it’s important that you share your success stories and tell people how you help them.

Lastly, share your company culture. People want to know what it’s like to work with you. People wanna know if your employees are happy. Are they going to do a great job for them if they decide to partner with you? Share stories, story after story.

Interested in learning how to build more trust with your prospects and clients? Check out this article on how pricing transparency builds trust .

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How stories connect and persuade us: unleashing the brain power of narrative.

Elena Renken

When you listen to a story, your brain waves actually start to synchronize with those of the storyteller. And reading a narrative activates brain regions involved in deciphering or imagining a person's motives and perspective, research has found. aywan88/Getty Images hide caption

When you listen to a story, whatever your age, you're transported mentally to another time and place — and who couldn't use that right now?

"We all know this delicious feeling of being swept into a story world," says Liz Neeley , who directs The Story Collider, a nonprofit production company that, in nonpandemic times, stages live events filled with personal stories about science. "You forget about your surroundings," she says, "and you're entirely immersed."

Depending on the story you're reading, watching or listening to, your palms may start to sweat, scientists find. You'll blink faster, and your heart might flutter or skip. Your facial expressions shift, and the muscles above your eyebrows will react to the words — another sign that you're engaged.

A growing body of brain science offers even more insight into what's behind these experiences.

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Storytelling Helps Hospital Staff Discover The Person Within The Patient

On functional MRI scans , many different areas of the brain light up when someone is listening to a narrative, Neeley says — not only the networks involved in language processing, but other neural circuits, too. One study of listeners found that the brain networks that process emotions arising from sounds — along with areas involved in movement — were activated, especially during the emotional parts of the story.

As you hear a story unfold, your brain waves actually start to synchronize with those of the storyteller, says Uri Hasson , professor of psychology and neuroscience at Princeton University. When he and his research team recorded the brain activity in two people as one person told a story and the other listened, they found that the greater the listener's comprehension, the more closely the brain wave patterns mirrored those of the storyteller.

Brain regions that do complex information processing seem to be engaged, Hasson explains: It's as though, "I'm trying to make your brain similar to mine in areas that really capture the meaning, the situation, the schema — the context of the world."

Other scientists turned up interesting activity in the parts of the brain engaged in making predictions. When we read, brain networks involved in deciphering — or imagining — another person's motives, and the areas involved in guessing what will happen next are activated, Neeley says. Imagining what drives other people — which feeds into our predictions — helps us see a situation from different perspectives . It can even shift our core beliefs, Neeley says, when we "come back out of the story world into regular life."

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Your Brain On Storytelling

Listeners, in turn, may keep thinking about the story and talk to others about it, she says, which reinforces the memory and, over time, can drive a broader change in attitudes.

Different formats of information — lists of facts, say, or charts — may be better suited to different situations, researchers say, but stories wield a particularly strong influence over our attitudes and behavior.

In health care contexts, for example, people are more likely to change their lifestyles when they see a character they identify with making the same change, notes Melanie Green , a communication professor at the University at Buffalo who studies the power of narrative, including in doctor-patient communication. Anecdotes can make health advice personally important to a patient, she finds. When you hear or read about someone you identify with who has taken up meditation , for example, you might be more likely to stick with it yourself.

Stories can alter broader attitudes as well, Green says — like our views on relationships, politics or the environment. Messages that feel like commands — even good advice coming from a friend — aren't always received well. If you feel like you're being pushed into a corner, you're more likely to push back. But if someone tells you a story about the time they, too, had to end a painful relationship, for example, the information will likely come across less like a lecture and more like a personal truth.

Neeley has been taking advantage of these effects to shift perceptions about science and scientists in her work with Story Collider. "We try and take everybody — all different people and perspectives — put them onstage, and hear what a life in science is really like," she says.

Solid information in any form is good, Green says. "But that's not necessarily enough." A vivid, emotional story "can give that extra push to make it feel more real or more important." If you look at the times somebody's beliefs have been changed, she says, it's often because of a story that "hits them in the heart."

This story adapted from an episode of NPR's weekday science podcast Short Wave.

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The Importance of Storytelling and Story Creation

Helping children who are blind or visually impaired or deafblind to tell their stories is very important to their social, emotional and cognitive development, especially communication and literacy.

Written by: Kate Hurst

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By Kate Hurst

Perhaps the thing that makes us human is the stories (real and imagined) that each of us has inside. Many people think that the gift of storytelling belongs only to writers, shamans, and the very old. The reality is we are all storytellers from the very earliest days of our lives. Children who are blind and visually impaired or deafblind also have stories inside them. Helping them to tell their stories is very important to their social, emotional and cognitive development, especially communication and literacy.

Stories come in different forms and mediums.

Stories come in a variety of forms: poetry, song, movement, pictures, plays and even Dad Jokes. The creators of the stories use various mediums such as braille, sign language, movies, and dance to share the stories with others.

Some stories are dynamic, we hear them or experience them and then they are gone. Stories become static when we write them down or record them in some way so we can revisit them over-and-over again.

Children who are visually impaired or Deafblind, may experience a story by tactually exploring items collected on a walk or playing with the materials used to take a bath if these are placed in an experience box or bag. Another child with low vision may enjoy simple picture books with limited print. Audio and braille are other mediums that may be used to share a story with others.

The form or the medium are not as important as the story itself or the creation of the story.

Stories help us cope.

We make sense of our life experiences in part by the stories we learn or tell ourselves. Imagine a story the young child might create and revisit.

“It is dark and stormy. I am frightened. I think I see a monster in my closet. Will it hurt me? If I cry out loud Dad or Mom will come save me.”

At the time the child tells himself the story he doesn’t know if it is fiction or nonfiction. He is just building a story based on his experience of what happens when he cries out at night. But the power of that story may help to calm him and take action to meet his own needs. This can be true of many stories we read or hear.

Even stories that might frighten us a bit, help us to cope because the outcome for the protagonist or hero ultimately turns out well. So, when we face challenges in our own lives we may have a certain belief that everything will be alright eventually if we take action.

Research actually shows that using expressive writing can help us deal with stressful and traumatic events and can even positively impact our health. ( Opening Up by Writing It Down , Pennebaker, J.W. and Smyth, J. M., 2016)

Pen and ink drawing of 3 young children reading a newspaper outside

Stories help us remember and imagine.

Humans are constantly creating stories. We make up stories in our heads about how our day will go before we head for the office. We tell ourselves stories about the amazing places we will see and exciting things we will do as we plan our vacations. We tell ourselves stories about how people treat us and how we treat them. We are our stories.

Many people may not agree that this is storytelling, but it is where many of us begin to learn the power our own memory and imagination. Stories told within a family or in a culture become even more powerful as they are shared year after year. They become part of who we are, what we believe, and how we see our future.

When we preserve stories in some static form like a book or a recording or a movie, people from different times and places can share that story. Many of these stories guide whole populations in learning how to live their lives (e.g., religious and spiritual texts, the Constitution).

Using our imaginations to modify an existing story or create a fictional world allows us to create solutions to existing problems or imagine places where other challenges exist. For example, think of the different real-life devices that reflect the long-ago creations of Jules Verne in his stories, such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea or From the Earth to the Moon .

Stories help us solve problems and try on solutions.

Stories also help us to solve problems by providing opportunities to try out different actions that might lead to different outcomes. This is especially true if another person is helping to co-create the story.

When someone is creating a story with us, he or she might suggest a different action than we would suggest. What will be the outcome of the story with this new twist? What might I learn from their suggestion or solution? We can often work through a problem or situation by writing about it or creating a story.

Two students collaborate to co-create a play-based story.

Stories engage our attention.

When we find ourselves sitting in an airport or waiting to see the dentist, reading a magazine or book engages our attention and helps to make time pass more easily. For many of us, there is no better form of escape than to stick our noses in a book and vanish into the story. With the advent of audiobooks and podcasts, many of us listen to stories as we jog or walk or ride in a car or airplane. For many of us, reading or listening to stories is our favorite form of recreation.

Stories help us understand others.

Stories have the ability to help us learn about others and to find understanding and empathy for them and their situations. Whether we actually know the individual or not, hearing their story evokes feelings within us. Learning to relate to others and empathize with them is so important in developing social skills and making friends.

We need stories.

Stories serve so many purposes in our lives. Stories are about so much more than just reading or listening. They are instrumental in cognitive, social and emotional development.

Literacy begins with stories others tell us or we tell ourselves. Co-creating stories with an adult or peers helps our children and students begin to create stories they can share with others.

Adults begin “storytelling” with infants and toddlers by sharing nursery rhymes, songs, and bedtime stories. Then we help them to learn to read others’ stories and write their own.

Stories help us understand others and ourselves. We feel empathy with the characters we encounter in stories. This ability to learn from stories is a skill that will help our students throughout their lives. In addition to academic goals, stories enrich lives and provide guidance to living.

If you want to do something great for your child or student, explore the ways you can begin to co-create stories with them.

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6.1: The Purpose of Narrative Writing

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Amber Kinonen, Jennifer McCann, Todd McCann, & Erica Mead
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Narration means the art of storytelling, and the purpose of narrative writing is to tell stories. Any time you tell a story to a friend or family member about an event or incident in your day, you engage in a form of narration. While any narrative essay you write for this class will be nonfiction (i.e. a true story), a narrative can be factual or fictional. A factual story is one that is based on, and tries to be faithful to, actual events as they unfolded in real life. A fictional story is a made-up, or imagined, story; the writer of a fictional story can create characters and events as he or she sees fit.

Ultimately, whether a story is fact or fiction, narrative writing tries to relay a series of events in an emotionally engaging way. You want your audience to be moved by your story, which could mean through laughter, sympathy, fear, anger, and so on. The more clearly you tell your story, the more emotionally engaged your audience is likely to be.

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Why Do We Tell Stories?

The article features Amy Chua, Liu Cixin, and Fang Fang, among other writers.–Kirk

Source: NYT (12/8/22) The Big Question: Why Do We Tell Stories? Some key figures in literature, the performing arts, science and more ponder the purpose and vitality of storytelling in our lives. By the NYTimes

We asked a group of luminaries from various fields to answer a fundamental question: Why do we tell stories?

Their responses below have been edited and condensed.

Amanda Gorman: ‘We Tell Stories Because We Are Human’

Amanda Gorman. Credit…Danny Williams

Amanda Gorman is a poet and the author of “The Hill We Climb” and “Call Us What We Carry.”

Amy Chua: ‘To Build Dynasties of Meaning’

Amy Chua. Credit…Fadil Berisha

Amy Chua is a professor of law at Yale University and an author. Her most recent book is “Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations.”

Wendell Pierce: ‘The Gateway to Truth-Telling’

“A man can’t go out the way he came in,” the character Willy Loman declares in Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman.” “A man has got to add up to something.”

Wendell PierceCredit…Courtesy of Wendell Pierce

Wendell Pierce is an actor and recording artist. He currently stars in the Broadway revival of “Death of a Salesman.”

Liu Cixin: ‘A Thought Laboratory’

Liu Cixin. Credit…Courtesy of Liu Cixin

Liu Cixin is a science fiction writer and the author of the Hugo Award-winning novel “The Three-Body Problem,” which is being adapted into a Netflix series.

Michelle Thaller: ‘The Universe Is a Story That Exists From Start to Finish’

Michelle Thaller. Credit…Courtesy of Michelle Thaller

This is where the deep nature of stories is revealed. What we think of as a universe extending into space and time is just how our limited brains perceive an underlying structure of pure connection.

Dr. Michelle Thaller is an astronomer and science communicator. She works at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Fang Fang: ‘Our Most Kind and Enduring Companion’

As long as people breathe, they will speak, they will write, and they will tell stories.

Fang Fang. Credit…Zhang Jinfan

Fang Fang is a writer and a Lu Xun Literary Prize winner. She is the author of “Wuhan Diary: Dispatches From a Quarantined City.”

This essay was translated from the Chinese by Michael Berry.

Hikaru Nakamura: ‘The Story of Chess Is a Broader Human Story’

Hikaru Nakamura. Credit…Austin Fuller

Hikaru Nakamura is a chess grandmaster, one of the world’s top blitz chess players, a five-time U.S. chess champion and the most popular chess personality on Twitch and YouTube.

Naomi Watanabe: ‘Stories Are Life’s Inheritance’

Naomi Watanabe. Credit…Courtesy of Naomi Watanabe

Naomi Watanabe is a comedian.

Christopher Wheeldon: ‘The Tormented Tempest of the Human Condition’

Christopher Wheeldon. Credit…Angela Sterling

Christopher Wheeldon is a choreographer and director, most recently of “MJ: The Musical.”

Diana Gabaldon: ‘How We Make Ourselves Whole’

We tell stories because we need to see patterns. Everyone asks me, “How did you get from being a scientist to being a novelist?”

“Wrote a book,” I reply, shrugging. “They don’t make you get a license.”

Diana Gabaldon. Credit…Doug Watkins

Stories are how we make ourselves whole.

Diana Gabaldon is an author. Her most recent novel is “Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone,” the ninth installment in the Outlander series.

The Power of Digital Storytelling

What Is Digital Storytelling?

The benefits of digital storytelling, storytelling as a way of thinking, quick-win digital storytelling projects, human-centered experiences.

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The process of creating story projects helps students develop the mindset and workflow they need to thrive in the future.

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Tips for Incorporating Digital Stories in Your Classroom

Start small. Take a single assignment, like a report or presentation, and turn it into a digital storytelling project by having students produce an explainer video or podcast instead.

Keep stories short (a 1–3-page book or 60-second video, for example).

Use what you’ve got. Smartphones and tablets have built-in cameras and microphones, and graphics apps like Canva or Adobe Express can be downloaded on any device.

Honor the medium and know the limits of what it can convey. In the same way a movie version of a novel is different from the original book, so too are digital stories from their traditional writing equivalents. Dial back expectations of how much content students can cover in a single story project.

Storytelling With Purpose

Reimagine learning with this book’s practical advice, case studies, and strategies on using digital storytelling as a vehicle for student inquiry and assessment.

Bobek, E., & Tversky, B. (2016). Creating visual explanations improves learning. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 1 (1), 27.

Di Vesta, F. J., & Peverly, S. T. (1984). The effects of encoding variability, processing activity, and rule–examples sequence on the transfer of conceptual rules. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76 (1), 108–119.

Kidd, C., & Hayden, B. (2015). The psychology and neuroscience of curiosity. Neuron, 88 (4), 449–460.

Miller, S., & Pennycuff, L. (2008). The power of story: Using storytelling to improve literacy learning. Journal of Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives in Education, 1 (1), 36–43.

NAMLE. (2020, September 18). What is media literacy? Media literacy defined . https://namle.net/resources/media-literacy-defined/

Saavedra, A. R., Liu Y., Haderlein, S. K., Rapaport, A., Garland, M., Hoepfner, D., et al. (2021). Project-based learning boosts student achievement in AP course. Lucas Education Research.

Summers, E., & Dickinson, G. (2012). A longitudinal investigation of project–based instruction and student achievement in high school social studies. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 6 (1).

Michael Hernandez is an award-winning teacher, speaker, and author in Los Angeles whose work focuses on digital and civic literacy, project-based learning, and innovative teaching strategies. His new book, Storytelling With Purpose: Digital Projects to Ignite Student Curiosity , will be published by ISTE in February 2024.

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

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Earth Day 2024: Planet Vs. Plastic

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Born in 1970, Earth Day has evolved into one of the largest civic events of all time. When we observe the 54 th Earth Day on April 22, the health and safety of the planet couldn’t be timelier, especially when it comes to dealing with the proliferation of plastic.

Over the past 60 years, around eight billion tons of plastic has been produced, according to a recent study in the journal Science Advances — 90.5 per cent of which has not been recycled . As a result, this year’s Earth Day theme— “Planet vs. Plastic”— demands a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.

Just how big of a challenge is this? What type of numbers are we talking about? Here’s some perspective:

In 1950, the world produced just two million tons of plastic. We now produce over 450 million tons .
Half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 15 years.
P roduction is expected to double by 2050.
More than one million plastic water bottles are sold every minute.
Every year, about 11 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the ocean.
Only 9% of plastics ever produced has been recycled.
Plastics often contain additives that can extend the life of products, with some estimates ranging to at least 400 years to break down.

Plastic is literally everywhere

An advertisement from the American Plastics Council in a 1997 edition of the New Yorker suggested that plastic wrappers and containers were the “sixth food group” that were there to keep contaminates out of our food.

Close up shot of microplastics on a hand.

In a twisted type of irony, Microplastics are now in almost everything and everywhere. Even in in much of the food we eat and water we drink! Microplastics are tiny particles of plastic (from ½ inch to microscopic) is synthetic that never disappears. As Stephen Jamieson recently explained in a Future of Supply Chain podcast, “We're ingesting a credit card size worth of plastic every single week as humans, and the real health impacts of that, we don't truly know and don't truly understand.”

What is the world doing about it?

In the Podcast, Stephen discussed the upcoming fourth session of the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee he is attending in Ottawa, Canada from 23rd to the 29th of April. The goal is to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, that will, as Stephen stated, “by early next year, actually ratify a new treaty at the United Nations to eliminate plastic pollution by 2040”.

What can businesses do about it?

Think about optimizing your entire supply chain for sustainability, rather than just individual functions.

For example, you may be pulling certain levers in your design processes, or manufacturing plants, only to realize that the sustainability gains in that process are offset by much a much larger negative impact on logistics or at the end of life of a product.

Perform Life Cycle Assessments on your products

A Life Cycle Assessment is a method for the compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product throughout its life cycle (ISO standard 14040).

In simple terms, it’s a way by which you can understand the sustainability footprint of a product throughout it’s full lifecycle, from “cradle to grave.”

By enabling product footprints periodically across the entire product lifecycle, you can gain insights on the environmental impacts of your products across the entire lifecycle for disclosure and internal product and process optimization.

Design with end of life in mind

As Earthday.org says, “We need to invest in innovative technologies and materials to build a plastic-free world”.

And this starts with how we design products and packaging material in the goods we manufacture and deliver. The sooner we phase out all single use plastics, the better. We need responsible design and production solutions that facilitate a product and package redesign that enables companies to engage in the circular economy and reduces waste without sacrificing quality.

Enforce compliance at each step of the product lifecycle

If you look at most companies’ website for their mission statement or purpose, sustainability is front and center. And supply chain sits right in the middle, both as a major contributor to the problem, and a major opportunity to improve.

But you can’t manage regulatory and sustainability requirements, track registrations and substance volumes, classify products, and create compliance documents, as well as package, transport, and store hazardous materials properly with accurate labeling you won’t be able to measure how you are performing.

This takes a stepwise approach to:

Record: The first step is to gather all necessary ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) data along the entire value chain. This data cannot be found easily in one single system. Currently this is a highly manual and therefore time consuming effort compounded by data quality challenges.

Report: There are more than 600 ESG frameworks/standards out there and they are being constantly developed further (Take the evolving plastics taxes across Europe for example). The requirements for companies are constantly changing. A high effort is required to keep up with the current requirements to report along the respective regulatory & voluntary frameworks.

Act: In many companies sustainability action is already happening but in many cases this this is still partly disjoint from the strategy or not yet covering all business processes

What can we as individuals do about it?

The reality is that everybody has a role to play in the “Planet vs. Plastics battle, and the sustainability of the planet in general.

Little things like using reusable bottles and straws and bringing reusable bags to the store are great first step.

You can also go to earthday.org to learn more about the battle between planet vs. plastics, and find an event near you where you can help clean up the planet.

Let’s make every day Earth Day, to protect this beautiful rock we live on for future generations.

To learn more, listen to The Future of Supply Chain Podcast – Earth vs. Planet .

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Part of the Commencement 2024 series

A collection of stories covering Harvard University’s 373rd Commencement.

For Dora Woodruff, it’s math or bust.

“I don’t really have a backup plan,” said the graduating mathematics concentrator, who was drawn by the beauty and abstraction of numbers from a young age.

Woodruff arrived at Harvard from New York City knowing she wanted to dive deeply into pure mathematics and stretch herself into subfields such as topology, combinatorics, and extremal graph theory. She’s also been able to explore nonmathematical interests, taking courses in literature and linguistics, and playing oboe in the Harvard Bach Society and Harvard College Opera.

Yet it’s through mathematics that Woodruff accesses her most creative side. “To make any kind of progress in math, you have to have original ideas and be inventive,” she said.

Her senior thesis explored “equivariant topology and its combinatorial applications.” As the recipient of the department’s Friends Prize, Woodruff was invited to give a thesis seminar.

“For me, this thesis was an opportunity to read a ton of papers that I wanted to read — and would have had fun reading anyway — and then explain them to someone else,” she said. “It was also a way for me to learn a lot more advanced techniques around topology and do so in a fun way.”

“To make any kind of progress in math, you have to have original ideas and be inventive.”

Woodruff will next pursue a Ph.D. at MIT in algebraic combinatorics, a branch of mathematics that applies methods found in abstract algebra to discrete counting problems. The way she explains it: “The motivation behind algebraic combinatorics is to take problems from other areas, like algebraic geometry, or representation theory, and try to translate them into combinatorial problems, and then use combinatorics to solve them.” She loves the interplay between different ways of thinking about solutions and breaking big problems into more manageable bites.

“One of my favorite ways to solve a problem is to kind of start with small cases, small examples, and see if patterns that I notice generalize,” she said.

Unearthing connections between fields via the common language of combinatorics aligns with Woodruff’s desire to be a public ambassador for math. At Harvard, she has most appreciated moments in which mathematics communities have been “inclusive on purpose”; she’s found most of her professors to be hyper-conscious about creating welcoming environments.

Even so, the lingering effects of mathematics as traditionally male-dominated are pervasive and subtle — so much so that Woodruff suspects many think such problems don’t exist anymore. “Microaggressions are definitely a thing,” she said. She recalls well-meaning distant family members who, upon finding out she was interested in math, assumed she wanted to teach elementary school math.

Among her efforts to promote equity in the mathematics community, Woodruff served as co-president of Harvard Undergraduate Gender Inclusivity in Mathematics. The group has hosted events from department town halls to seminars about research experience opportunities for undergraduates.

Woodruff herself participated in multiple undergraduate research projects over three summers at different institutions, resulting in co-authorship on three research papers now under review.

She also served on the department’s Community Committee, launched by Michael Hopkins, Math Department chair and George Putnam Professor of Pure and Applied Mathematics. The goal was to address longstanding culture issues within the department.

“[Dora] was extremely insightful about things we might need to do to change,” said Hopkins, who was also her thesis adviser. He was impressed by the leadership roles Woodruff took on atop her challenging coursework and teaching. “Brilliant, humble, gracious, and inclusive” was how he described her.

Woodruff worked as a course assistant for Math 55, a first-year honors course in algebra and analysis with a reputation for being extremely difficult. “I think the legendary status is maybe a little bit overhyped,” said Woodruff. “I think anyone with a proof-based background and a real desire to spend a lot of time on math can do well in the class. And honestly, I feel like I’ve taken classes that were a little bit crazier.”

Woodruff has been a course assistant nearly every semester — in ring theory, algebraic topology, and others. Revisiting material as a teacher has helped her nail down concepts in her own head. “Having to explain it to other people in a clear way helps me clarify it for myself, too,” she said.

After her four years at Harvard, Woodruff found that her conception of being “good at math” has evolved.

“I think I’ve gotten better at not getting discouraged when I don’t immediately get something,” she said. “I think building up resilience is important. As a mathematician, especially when you’re doing research, a lot of being ‘good’ at math is not giving up on a really hard problem and being willing to think about the same thing over and over again for many days. It’s just really loving it. I think those are qualities I have.”

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The Purpose of Narrative Writing. Narration means the art of storytelling, and the purpose of narrative writing is to tell stories. Any time you tell a story to a friend or family member about an event or incident in your day, you engage in a form of narration. A narrative can be factual (true) or fictional (made-up).
DeWitt Library Subject Guides: ENG 101 OER: Narration
The Purpose of Narrative Writing. Narration means the art of storytelling, and the purpose narrative writing is to tell stories. Any time you tell a story to a friend or family member about an event or incident in your day, you engage in a form of narration. In addition, a narrative can be factual or fictional.
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When math is the dream
A collection of stories covering Harvard University's 373rd Commencement. For Dora Woodruff, it's math or bust. "I don't really have a backup plan," said the graduating mathematics concentrator, who was drawn by the beauty and abstraction of numbers from a young age. Woodruff arrived at Harvard from New York City knowing she wanted to ...

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WRITING AT WORK

Collaboration

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Understanding What is Storytelling

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Making abstract concepts tangible

Stories foster and mould ideas

Stories create a sense of unity among people

Stories ignite inspiration and drive

The process of Storytelling

1) Understand your audience

2) Clearly outline your central message

3) Determine the type of story you intend to convey

4) Set your Call-to-Action (CTA)

5) Select your Storytelling medium

6) Strategise and arrange the structure of your narrative

7) Begin the writing process

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