2012 AASA Conference

Alex Brostoff & Jason Lang

The Nature of Storytelling

“The universe is made of stories, not atoms.” –Muriel Rukeyser

“Stories are the equipment of living.” –Kenneth Burke

Definition of “Story”

Story— a narrative, either true or fictitious, in prose or verse, designed to (a) ______,

(b) ______and/or (c) ______the hearer or reader.

Opening Activity:

One Sentence Description:

Unit Objectives

Students will be able to:

  1. Identify, analyze, compare, and contrast the role/s storytelling plays and should play in history and literature.
  2. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of fact and fiction in storytelling.
  3. Identify and critically evaluate authorial bias/perspective, authorial intention, and target audience in history & literature.
  4. Critically examine the various sources & stories of the past e.g. Vietnam War.
  5. Design rationalize a memorial commemorating an event of 20th century U.S. foreign policy.

Unit Outline

Week / Literature / History
1 / Critical theory introducing themes of unreliable narration, authorial distance, and the role of the postmodern reader. /
  • Divide into student groups
  • Evaluate of primary and secondary sources
  • Students create Reading Guides, Key Terms Sheet, and selection of key themes
  • Students select key subjects of Vietnam War history & divide among group

2 / Vietnam poetry packet and gallery walk; O’Brien’s The Things They Carried; creative assignment “The Things I Carry”
3 / O’Brien’s The Things They Carried; selected poetry; “Story-Truth Personal Essay” assignment /
  • Each group member composes their selected history of – 1,250—1,500 mentioning critical factual info.
  • Groups evaluate one another’s histories
***Ideally, incorporate Guest Speaker
4 / O’Brien’s The Things They Carried; literary technique scavenger hunt and method-to-meaning expository analysis
5 / Literary criticism; silent dialogue graffiti walk synthesizing themes; “Designing the Future Memorial Project” /
  • Assessment on Key Terms & Reading Guides
  • Designing the Future Memorial Project

What is the story in History? - Fact vs. Fiction

Directions:Circle the star on the continuumsbelow of which you think best answers the questions.

1)Is there a fact of the matter? Did something happen, somewhere, sometime, and often to/with someone? Is there a difference between fact and fiction?

2012 AASA Conference

Alex Brostoff & Jason Lang

  1. * ** * *Columbus landed in the Caribbean in 1492.

FictionFact

  1. * ** * *Nearly 60,000 U.S. citizens died in Vietnam.

FictionFact

  1. * ** * *A unicorn just jumped over the blue giraffe.

FictionFact

2012 AASA Conference

Alex Brostoff & Jason Lang

2)Are there facts that we can know with certainty? Do we always admit a small margin of error?

  1. * * * * * You were born on ______[insert birthday].

Cannot know UnsureKnow without doubt

  1. * * * * * The Holocaust took place during WWII.

Cannot know UnsureKnow without doubt

  1. * * * * * European explorers found the Fountain of Youth.

Cannot know UnsureKnow without doubt

3)Can we judge some stories i.e. interpretations of historical events more (a) trustworthy, (b) objective, (c) complete, &/or (d) well-writtenthan another as Wikipedia asks it readers to do?

  1. The U.S. Cold Warmilitary interventions in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Middle East were fundamentally motivated by analtruistic, humanitarian interest of the U.S. government.
  1. *** * *

Not Trustworthy Unsure__Trustworthy

  1. *** * *Subjective Unsure __Objective
  1. *** * *

Incomplete Unsure __ Complete

  1. *** * *

Not well written Unsure Well-written

  1. By many political, economic, social, and humanitarian concerns, the U.S. Cold War interventions military and public aid in Latin America, Asia, Africa,and Middle East was prompted.
  1. *** * *

Not Trustworthy Unsure__Trustworthy

  1. *** * *Subjective Unsure __Objective
  1. *** * *

Incomplete Unsure __ Complete

  1. *** * *

Not well written Unsure Well-written

The Nature of Literature: “The Truth that Reality Obscures”

Background:Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a conglomeration of graphic vignettesdescribing multiple soldiers’ experience of the Vietnam War. It is known for its metafictiveplay on the blurred boundary between fact and fiction.

First, brainstorm three potential meanings of or associations you have with the word “form.”

  1. ______
  2. ______
  3. ______

With this in mind as a point of departure, what might the chapter title “Good Form” suggest? ______.

Story time! Listen to the following chapter of Tim O´Brien´s The Things They Carried. Pay careful attention to his metafictive commentary regarding the nature of “story-truth” vs. “happening-truth.”

“But listen. Even that story is made up. I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why

story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth” (O´Brien 180).

“HAPPENING-TRUTH” / “STORY-TRUTH”
Quotesfrom “Good Form” / “Here is the happening-truth. I was once a soldier. There were many bodies, real bodies, with real faces, but I was young then and I was afraid to look. And now, twenty years later, I´m left with faceless responsibility and faceless grief” (O´Brien 180). / “Here is the story-truth. He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay in the center of a red clay trail near the village of My Khe. His jaw was in his throat. His one eye was shut, the other eye was a star-shaped hole. I killed him” (O´Brien 180).
Definition
and
Synonyms

“What stories can do, I guess, is make things present. I can look at things I never looked at. I can attach faces grief and love and pity and God. I can be brave. I can make myself feel again.

´Daddy, tell the truth,´Kathleen can say, ´did you ever kill anybody?´

And I can say, honestly, ´Of course not.´Or I can say, honestly, ´Yes´” (Obrien 180).

Is there a paradox inherent in the text?Circle: Yes / No If so, what is the paradox? ______.

If not, why not? ______.

In essence, according to O´Brien, what is the purpose of storytelling? ______

______.

What then can we infer about “Good Form?” ______

______.

Closing Activity:

Notes: