|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The main purpose of storytelling is to share the feelings, thoughts, and meaning of a story with another. It is meaningless without an audience. This could be an audience of one or three hundred. Augusta Baker and Ellin Greene state that "Storytelling brings to the listeners heightened awareness--a sense of wonder, of mystery, of reverence for life. This nurturing of the spirit-self comes first. It is the primary purpose of storytelling, and all other uses and effects are secondary." [Baker, p. 17].
The storyteller must be willing to take emotional risks in order to convincingly convey the deepest meanings in a story. Master storytellers are able to do take this emotional risk and can touch our deepest emotions through their telling.
When we tell, we show our willingness to be vulnerable, to expose our deepest feelings, our values. That kind of nakedness that says you care about what you’re relating invites children to listen with open minds and hears... properly done, [it] produces a relaxed, restful feeling. It establishes a happy relationship between teller and listener, drawing people closer to one another, adult to child, child to child" [Baker, p. 17].
According to Elizabeth Nesbitt, "Story-telling provides the opportunity to interpret for the child life forces which are beyond his immediate experience, and so to prepare him for life itself. It gives the teller the chance to emphasize significance rather than incident. It enables her, through the magic quality of the spoken word, to reveal to the child the charm and subtle connotations of word sounds, all the evanescent beauty emanating from combinations of words and from the cadence, the haunting ebb and flow, of rhythmical prose. It is through the medium of interpretation that all of us, adults and children, come to genuine appreciation. We approach the great, the significant, the infinite, through some mind more perceptive, more articulate that our own. That is the function of all art. It goes beyond the truth of fact to an all-embracing, unchanging truth, and it clothes this in a beauty which heightens its poignancy, and which gains new beauty with the praise of each succeeding age. Story-telling, rightly done, is such an art" [Baker, p. 17-18].
In the fine art world of visual arts, artists work with paints, charcoal, clay, bronze, and other materials to create works of arts. The actor works with words, emotions, voice, and their body gestures to convey the essence of a character and the interaction necessary for the role. The musician works with a musical instrument, music, and notes. The storyteller uses words, voice, pacing, and gestures to convey the essence and meaning of a story.
For the parent, librarian, and teacher storytelling can be a means of leading children to literature. For the therapist and social worker, it can be a means of therapy. For the educator, it can be a means of enhancing a learning experience or lesson plan. For the historian, it could be used to bring history alive. Storytelling improves children’s listening skills, improves their visualization, increases their understanding of themselves, others, other cultures, and the world.
Storytelling serves many purposes. It is a means for parents, librarians, and teachers to lead children to literature and encourage reading, a therapeutic technique used by therapists and social workers to help others deal with their feelings, and a means for teachers to enhance the learning experience. It also serves as a way of keeping alive and sharing the cultural heritage of other ethnic groups and races.
Home | Resume | Portfolio | Interests | Sitemap | E-Mail Link | Search | Baylor
Updated May 3, 2007 © Sharon Peregrine Johnson, All rights reserved, 2007.