The document discusses various types of narratives and stories. It defines a narrative as a sequence of connected events typically involving humans or sentient beings. Stories are said to involve at least one central character moving toward a goal. Different types of stories are also discussed, including myths, legends, and folktales, which often involve supernatural elements and serve to explain cultural beliefs.

1. sequenced and interrelated events *Michael Toolan, 2001. Narrative. New York: Routledge . foregrounded individuals crisis to resolution progression

2. What are the key features or elements of a story? Storytelling

3. When it is your turn, create one line of the story. Storytelling Game

4. “ A narrative is a perceived sequence of non-randomly connected events, typically involving, and the experiencing agonist, humans, quasi-humans, or sentient beings, from whose experience we humans can ‘learn’.” stories (definition)* *Michael Toolan, 2001. Narrative. New York: Routledge.

5. a connected sequence of events , with at least one central character, who moves towards some goal or purpose stories (revision?)

6. I turned off my alarm, and got out of bed. Minimal Story EVENT 1 EVENT 2 MAIN CHARACTER

7. stories conceal as much as they reveal KEY POINT

8. William Bascom

9. William Bascom myth legend folktale belief/story

10. MYTHOLOGY: Puranas (From the Rg Veda)

11. LEGEND: HIV Needle-Prick-in-Theater

12. FOLKTALE: Little Red Riding Hood

14. William Bascom

15. The Hourglass Metaphor: How do stories shape time? legends myths folktales legend recent past remote past eternal present

16. Down the Rabbit Hole: How are ALL stories “mythic” or “legendary” ? belief, storyrealm* transformation taleworld* (enter into the “ world” of the tale) beginning end middle *Katherine Young, “ The Phenomenology of Narrative” world of conversation, present discourse

17. 1. these are idealized categories; 2. that means that they cannot describe all types of stories; 3. there are different “names” for stories around the world

18. Solution the key is understanding the context in which a story occurs (background, setting, attitude, tellers, audiences, etc.)

19. Which of the following would be a myth, legend, or folktale ? Heroes (TV Show) The Jessica Lynch Story The Kentucky-Fried Rat Batman: The Dark Knight Oedipus the King (Sophocles) Genesis 1 (The Bible)

20. When tradition must be stored in the brain and transmitted orally, people reserve the formal oral tradition for transmitting information they consider most important, often for survival. Myth Principles MEMORY CRUNCH

21. What is “myth”? “ deep stories”

22. What is “myth”? considered most meaningful

23. to a particular group

24. passed down through generations (repetition and variation)

25. definitions of “myth”

26. Mythology: Definitions

27. Mythology: Definitions Greater or more relevant reality

28. Mythology: Definitions

29. Mythology: Definitions 2. Traditional fictions or stories

30. Mythology: Definitions

31. Mythology: Definitions Misconceived belief/ untruth/lie

32. Mythology: Definitions

33. Mythology: Definitions 4. Personal organizing principle

34. Mythology: Definitions

35. Mythology: Definitions 5. Collective organizing principle

36. Mythology: Definitions

37. Mythology: Definitions 6. Metaphor/symbol

38. Mythology: Definitions

39. Avatar: James Cameron (2009)

40. Avatar: Popular American Films

41. Avatar: Hindu mythology

42. Sisyphus: A Greek Tale

43. Titian, “Sisyphus” (1549)

44. Albert Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus”

45. The Modern Sisyphus (1844)

46. Zachary Kanin, The New Yorker, 2009

47. Countee Cullen (1925) "Yet Do I Marvel” I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind, And did He stoop to quibble could tell why The little buried mole continues blind, Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die, … From Color by Countee Cullen. Copyright © 1925 Harper & Bros., renewed 1963 by Ida. M Cullen.

48. Countee Cullen (1925) Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus Is baited by the fickle fruit, declare If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus To struggle up a never-ending stair. …

49. Countee Cullen (1925) Inscrutable His ways are, and immune To catechism by a mind too strewn With petty cares to slightly understand What awful brain compels His awful hand. …

50. Countee Cullen (1925) Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing!

51. The Modern Sisyphus (1844)

52. not necessarily a single, “ original” author or teller

53. often set in the remote past

54. often considered sacred by tellers and audiences

55. often concern gods and the supernatural

56. often explain, justify, instruct, warn

57. I Heard It Through the Grapevine: The Transmission of Rumor and Legends

58. The Telephone Game

59. 1. The first person makes up a phrase. 2. He or she then whispers that phrase to the next person. 3. The next person quickly whispers this phrase to the next person , and so on, until everyone has “passed on” the phrase in question. THE TELEPHONE GAME: A REPLAY

60. WHAT STICKS?: A Rumor Experiment* *Inspired by Allport and Postman’s 1945 Study of Rumors

61. 1. The first person tries to remember as many details as possible about a particular event. 2. He or she then tells a story about the event to the next person waiting outside. 3. The next person tells what they believe happened based on the story of the previous person. 4. The audience listens for similarities and differences in the story along the way. WHAT STICKS?

63. WHAT STICKS? LEVELING SHARPENING ASSIMILATION Allport and Postman (1945, 1947)

64. 1. “brief, unsubstantiated bits of information” (Fine and Turner) 2. “improvised news” (Shibutani) What is a rumor?

65. 1. Describe at least one rumor (urban legends or myths). 2. Explain its symbolism and meanings. What is a rumor?

66. I. Rumors are “brief, unsubstantiated bits of information” between people that offer a “truth claim.” Rumor may be spread through face-to-face, news, or other forms of mediated communication (Fine and Turner) What is a rumor?

67. II. Rumors are “improvised news” or forms of “problem-solving for ambiguous situations” : What is a rumor?

68. In other words, they are a “form of communication through which men [an women are] caught together in an ambiguous situation attempt to construct a meaningful interpretation of it by pooling their intellectual resources.” (Shibutani) What is a rumor?

69. Sample Folktales and Political Stories: Extra-Credit

70. “ Fairy” tales folktales with fictional characters that undergo a status change

71. “ Fairy” tales Some of these tales contain “fairies,” or magical creatures that help the main characters on there adventures.

72. “ Fairy” tales ??? Oddly enough, this genre has referred to stories that do not involve “fairies” of any kind.

73. “ Fairy” tales Better term: “ Magic or Wonder Tale”

74. *Ruth B. Bottigheimer. 2009. Fairy Tales: A New History . Albany: State University Press of New York, pp.10-13. Based in the world of human beings, these tales begin with a royal figure who is driven away from home, goes on an adventure, and returns “restored” to their social position. Restoration Fairy Tales*

75. *Ruth B. Bottigheimer. 2009. Fairy Tales: A New History . Albany: State University Press of New York, pp.10-13. Restoration Fairy Tales* Royal Origins Royal Restoration Tasks, Tests, Trials

76. Rise Fairy Tales* These tales begin with a poor boy or girl who suffers the effects of poverty and undergoes a series of challenges until he or she, through various forms of magical help, becomes married to royalty or acquires wealth. *Ruth B. Bottigheimer. 2009. Fairy Tales: A New History . Albany: State University Press of New York, pp.10-13.

77. *Ruth B. Bottigheimer. 2009. Fairy Tales: A New History . Albany: State University Press of New York, pp.10-13. Rise Fairy Tales* Poor Origins Royal Marriage or Wealth Tasks, Tests, Trials Magic

78. History of Fairytales

79. Apuleius (100-200 A.D.)

80. Panchatantra (300 A.D.)

81. One Thousand and One Arabian Nights (circa 1300)

82. One Thousand and One Arabian Nights (circa 1500)

83. Gianfrancesco Straparola (1550)

84. Giambattista Basile (1634)

85. Madame d’Aulnoy (1696)

86. Charles Perrault (1697)

87. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (1812)

88. Kinder und Hausmärchen (1812)

89. Edgar Taylor (1823)

90. German Popular Stories (English Translation) Rumpelstilskin

91. Hans Christian Andersen (1835)

92. Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Moe (1845)

93. Aleksandr Afanasyev (1866)

94. Aleksandr Afanasyev (1866) VLADIMIR PROPP based his Morphology of the Folktale on this collection of Russian fairytales (Thirty-One Functions).

95. Chapbooks

96. Chapbooks

97. Lewis Carroll

99. Walt Disney

100. Snow White (1937)

101. Cinderella (1950)

102. The Princess and the Frog (2009)

103. Alice in Wonderland (1951)

104. Alice in Wonderland: 3D (2010)

105. Alice: Central Park, NY (Sculpture)

106. Folktale Transformations: The Cultural Evolution of Little Red Riding Hood

107. The False Grandmother (Little Red Riding Hood) Oral Versions (Italy, France, late 1600s)

108. Le petite chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood) Charles Perrault (1697)

109. Röttkappchen (Little Red Cap) The Brothers Grimm (1812)

110. Little Rural Riding Hood Tex Avery (1943)

111. Sam and the Pharaohs (1963) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FA85RO89HA

112. QUESTIONS Who are the central characters in most versions of Little Red Riding Hood? Why do you think this story appears in so many cultural and historical forms? What motifs or themes persist over time? What motifs or themes change over time? Compare and contrast the early text versions of the tale, the Tex Avery cartoon, the version by Sam and the Pharaohs, and the bawdy joke. Which of these texts grabbed your interest the most ? Why?

113. The Triumphant Individual The Benevolent Community The Mob at the Gates The Rot at the Top Dominant American Political Stories Robert Reich. “The Lost Art Of Democratic Narrative,” The New Republic , March 21, 2005

114. The Triumphant Individual. [TI] This is the familiar tale of the little guy who works hard, takes risks, believes in himself, and eventually gains wealth, fame, and honor. It's the story of the self-made man (or, more recently, woman) who bucks the odds, spurns the naysayers, and shows what can be done with enough gumption and guts. He's instantly recognizable: plainspoken, self-reliant, and uncompromising in his ideals--the underdog who makes it through hard work and faith in himself. Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography is the first in a long line of U.S. self-help manuals about how to make it through self-sacrifice and diligence. The story is epitomized in the life of Abe Lincoln, born in a log cabin, who believed that "the value of life is to improve one's condition." The theme was captured in Horatio Alger's hundred or so novellas, whose heroes all rise promptly and predictably from rags to riches. It's celebrated in the tales of immigrant peddlers who become millionaire tycoons. And it's found in the manifold stories of downtrodden fighters who undertake dangerous quests and find money and glory. Think Rocky Balboa, Norma Rae, and Erin Brockovich. The moral: With enough effort and courage, anyone can make it in the United States. Robert Reich. “The Lost Art Of Democratic Narrative,” The New Republic , March 21, 2005

115. The Benevolent Community. [BC] This is the story of neighbors and friends who roll up their sleeves and pitch in for the common good. Its earliest formulation was John Winthrop's "A Model of Christian Charity," delivered on board a ship in Salem Harbor just before the Puritans landed in 1630--a version of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount, in which the new settlers would be "as a City upon a Hill," "delight in each other," and be "of the same body." Similar communitarian and religious images were found among the abolitionists, suffragettes, and civil rights activists of the 1950s and 1960s. "I have a dream that every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low," said Martin Luther King Jr., extolling the ideal of the national community. The story is captured in the iconic New England town meeting, in frontier settlers erecting one another's barns, in neighbors volunteering as firefighters and librarians, and in small towns sending their high school achievers to college and their boys off to fight foreign wars. It suffuses Norman Rockwell's paintings and Frank Capra's movies. Consider the last scene in It's a Wonderful Life, when George learns he can count on his neighbors' generosity and goodness, just as they had always counted on him. Robert Reich. “The Lost Art Of Democratic Narrative,” The New Republic , March 21, 2005

116. The Mob at the Gates. [MG] In this story, the United States is a beacon light of virtue in a world of darkness, uniquely blessed but continuously endangered by foreign menaces. Hence our endless efforts to contain the barbarism and tyranny beyond our borders. Daniel Boone fought Indians—white America's first evil empire. Davy Crockett battled Mexicans. The story is found in the Whig's anti-English and pro-tariff histories of the United States, in the anti-immigration harangues of the late nineteenth century, and in World War II accounts of Nazi and Japanese barbarism. It animates modern epics about space explorers (often sporting the stars and stripes) battling alien creatures bent on destroying the world. The narrative gave special force to cold war tales during the 1950s of an international communist plot to undermine U.S. democracy and subsequently of "evil" empires and axes. The underlying lesson: We must maintain vigilance, lest diabolical forces overwhelm us. Robert Reich. “The Lost Art Of Democratic Narrative,” The New Republic , March 21, 2005

117. The Rot at the Top. [RT] The last story concerns the malevolence of powerful elites. It's a tale of corruption, decadence, and irresponsibility in high places--of conspiracy against the common citizen. It started with King George III, and, to this day, it shapes the way we view government--mostly with distrust. The great bullies of American fiction have often symbolized Rot at the Top: William Faulkner's Flem Snopes, Willie Stark as the Huey Long-like character in All the King's Men, Lionel Barrymore's demonic Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life, and the antagonists that hound the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath. Suspicions about Rot at the Top have inspired what historian Richard Hofstadter called the paranoid style in U.S. politics--from the pre-Civil War Know-Nothings and Anti-Masonic movements through the Ku Klux Klan and Senator Joseph McCarthy's witch hunts. The myth has also given force to the great populist movements of U.S. history, from Andrew Jackson's attack on the Bank of the United States in the 1830s through William Jennings Bryan's prairie populism of the 1890s. Robert Reich. “The Lost Art Of Democratic Narrative,” The New Republic , March 21, 2005