Module 2 Reading Discusion, Group 5: Matthew, Jacqueline, Jennifer & Rosie by Jacqueline Vulcano

Zigzaging

jenvered — 2015-06-03 04:52:48 UTC

“To McKee, a story is most engaging when it moves in the direction of resolution, and away from it, then toward it, and so on. In practical terms, something happens that moves characters toward their goal; then something happens to undermine this —- playing Ping Pong with the audience’s emotions, so to speak. It’s the seesawing that maintains a constant edge of tension / resolution that keeps listeners wanting to know what will happen next. To McKee, characters’ lives are thrown so out of balance that they spend the story struggling to regain it. Doing so becomes a question of how to go about it and for what purpose…Once you see the zigzag pattern in one piece of media, it is hard not to see it in most media.” (Ohler, 2013, pp. 151-2)

As I read through Ohler’s descriptions of different types of story mapping, I felt many of my favorite books and films did not fit any of them. Even though I found those with reversals (p. 150) and a circular pattern appealing (p. 148), they do not represent a storytelling reality. A character always moves forward and changes, or his or her reality somehow changes, and people can never really return or reverse anything. Even time travel stories do not allow a character to reverse anything! McKee’s Quest Diagram, although it seems harsher than any of the other maps, more closely resembles “real life” and the trials and tribulations we all face. The core story of our life continues to inch forward, even as we swing over it, holding on to the core pendulum.

One of my favorite childhood books is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Roald Dahl’s characters always zigzag away from their goal, and just when you believe there is no way to turn back, they turn around and swing in the other direction. At the core of the story is Charlie’s quest to help his family in some honest way. The story begins with these zigzags:

-Charlie wants to see the factory… but it has been closed since before his birth!

-Now there is a contest to go inside… but he is too poor to buy chocolate!

-He gets chocolate as a gift… but it’s not the winner!

-The winners are all found…but one ticket was a fake!

These are only a few zigzags before the adventure in the factory begins. Attached is the final zigzags of the movie version, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, in which Charlie literally walks in one direction, and then turns back, changing his life forever. -Jennifer

References:

Margulies, S., Wolper, D. (Producers), Dahl, R. (Writer), & Stuart, M. (Director). (1971). Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory [Motion Picture]. Retrieved 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgVS1OhucbI

Ohler, J. B. (2013). Digital Storytelling In The Classroom: New Media Pathways To Literacy, Learning, And Creativity (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin: A SAGE Company.

First Person

jenvered — 2015-06-04 04:06:00 UTC

“From the very beginning we have believed in framing all narratives in the first person. This was simply more honest. Our unique perspective on experience is all we have, but it is just that. Our stories are not a doorway to truth, but they are one portal where light can fall through. And the more light, the better.” (Lambert, 2013, p. 96)

Framing a story from your own personal perspective removes the tone of bias, and creates bare openness. Instead of saying, “This is what happened,” you are saying, “This is what I saw, felt, heard, and thought.” -Jennifer

Image: Light shines through a portal illuminating images and personal stories at Yad VaShem Holocaust Memorial Museum

Photo: Dr. Avishai Taicher [CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APikiWiki_Israel_12495_hall_of_names_in_yad_vashem.jpg

Interactivity vs. Participation

jenvered — 2015-06-04 23:41:12 UTC

“Interactivity…involves [students/users] as co-narrators who select among preprogrammed choices… In contrast, participation allows [students/users] to ‘take the resources offered by a text and push it in a range of directions which are neither preprogrammed nor authorized by the producers’ (Jenkins, 2011)… Students raised on social media won’t want to simply pursue someone else’s academic story. They will want to actually shape the story the story as it unfolds.” (Ohler, 2013, pp. 166-7)

As we delve deeper into DST, I become more fascinated with how this will relate to my pursuit of developing narrative tutorials. Up until I read this quote, I felt simply that an instructor-created narrative tutorial would be more engaging, and cause more memorable understanding than a non-narrative one. It would still lack one of the goals that I seek as an instructor: pushing students towards more critical thinking, problem solving, and independent choices while using computer applications, like Excel. This idea of “participation” in the narrative, sparks ideas. What about narrative tutorials that are open-ended and require technology “participation” to complete? Students could present or share their individualized ends and solutions to the narrative. This could also be a narrative tutorial crossed with a work simulation. Students could explain or even use other applications to produce a digital story ending themselves. This could be used for other subjects like political science or ethics. -Jennifer

References Jenkins, H. (2011, August 1). Transmedia 202: Further reflections. http://henryjenkins.org/2011/08/defining_transmedia_further_re.html

Ohler, J. B. (2013). Digital Storytelling In The Classroom: New Media Pathways To Literacy, Learning, And Creativity (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin: A SAGE Company.

Image source: http://kantianschool.blogspot.com/

What did you say?

jacqueline0427 — 2015-06-06 20:32:22 UTC

"We forget lectures, but we remember stories" (Ohler, 2013, p. 123).

In college, I took a summer geography class which took 21 students and two instructors on a three-week camping trip to national parks throughout the western states -- from Wisconsin, down to Mexico, over to Nevada and back.

One night, in Guadalupe National Park in Texas, I met a furry friend by accident. Inside a small green tent, supplied by the college, my tent-mate Bridgette and I were sleeping away under the stars. It was a warm night, so I was sleeping on top of my sleeping bag. I was dreaming that my cat Sammie was licking my toes. My cat doesn't lick my toes! Eyes half-opened, I lifted my head to see a cobra-shaped shadow. I froze. What do I do? As my eyes focused, I realized it was inside my tent! It's not a snake; it's a skunk! The skunk started making its way over to Bridgette's side. My heart was pounding. Slowly, I moved forward to unzip the door at the foot of my sleeping bag and slid back to my side of the tent. I watched as the skunk waddled its way back out the door. I jumped up to quickly zip the tent TIGHTLY shut and laid back on my sleeping bag with my heart gradually slowing down to a normal beat.

I may not remember a single lecture from those three weeks about the history of the Mormons or the rock formations, but I sure do remember that story of a skunk in my tent as multiple scenses and emotions were intertwined in it. The story lingers in my head to be remembered from time to time.

-Jacqueline

References:

Nielsen, E. C. (n.d.). Skunk in grass [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.dnr.state.il.us/orc/wildlife/virtual_news/images/striped_skunk/index.htm

Ohler, J. B. (2013). Digital storytelling in the classroom: New media pathways to literacy, learning and creativity (2^nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Universal Stories

jacqueline0427 — 2015-06-06 21:40:05 UTC

"[A] story is universal if the experiences of the main character connect with your life and your experiences. Because of the connection, we can learn and be transformed" (Ohler, 2013, p.136).

I came across this video of three German students "taking a few minutes out of their time to help a homeless person in their community" (Turner, n.d.) and it brought me to tears. How many times have you walked passed a homeless person? Have you ever been asked for money from a homeless person? A story like this is powerful, making a person feel a connection to daily life and possibly transforming thoughts of how he or she may act in the future.
-Jacqueline

References:
be japy e.V. (2014, July 1). Three German students surprise a homeless guy [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0gA2mxbjSY

Ohler, J. B. (2013). Digital storytelling in the classroom: New media pathways to literacy, learning, and creativity (2^nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Turner, P. (n.d.). How can we help the homeless? This video shows the power of people who care! [Weblog post]. Retrieved from http://blog.thehungersite.com/StudentsSurpriseHomeless/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=thsfan&utm_campaign=StudentsSurpriseHomeless&utm_term=20150606#WwLEGKDYIszQmiE4.01

Problem/Resolution dynamic

mcpherson_mj — 2015-06-07 02:30:09 UTC

“What Egan adds to our discussion about story conflict is that beneath the problem/resolution dynamic that provides a story’s forward momentum is a thematic tension created by two opposing forces of human nature or of nature itself,” (Ohler, 2013).

This quote comes after a good long series of great information on how to cast your story. It is helpful as an approach specifically for this reason. This sums up some great advice and if I could quote the whole 2-page segment here, I wouldn’t need to add my 2 cents. Inasmuch, in examining Egan’s approach, we realize that he gives some helpful storytelling advice, to take the story out of statistics, numbers or data and give the idea in the form of conflict. “A unit of science studying steam generation can be cast in terms of heat as helper versus heat as destroyer, rather than as a list of facts or a progression of physical events,” (Ohler, 2013). Personifying the elements of a story in this fashion is a useful technique and does present many different paths in storytelling generation. -Matthew

Ohler, Jason, B. (2013). Digital Storytelling in the classroom second edition: Kindle Edition

"The emotional power underneath the words can ooze out of us. Our most important stories tap into the profound, and sometimes our bodies know this better than our conscious mind" (Lambert, 2013, ch. 5).

rosie_ojeda — 2015-06-07 19:52:40 UTC

I used to be in a writer's group and I witnessed this happening. Many of the writers in our group were working on memoirs. I remember one evening when a woman was reading, she started crying and she was surprised that she was crying. As a group, we talked about that. We talked about how she wasn't necessarily upset, but she was touched, yet she hadn't expected to be. Many of my students are immigrants to the US and have had traumatic experiences. I want their storytelling to be a form of catharsis, but I also don't want students to be too embarrassed to share a story from the heart.

-Rosie

References:

Lambert, J. Digital storytelling capturing lives, creating community. New York: Routledge, 2013. Kindle file.

Image from: http://www.alicefranklinstudio.com

The chemistry of our tears changes based on the reason why we are crying - isn't that interesting?

"I like to think of it as Campbell's quest in concentrated form that focuses on primarily one thing: how people change, learn, and grow because of the challenges and opportunities in their lives” (Ohler, 2013, p. 96).

rosie_ojeda — 2015-06-07 19:58:07 UTC

This stood out to me because I was thinking about my story, and when I read this quote, I began to reconsider my story. I have a story in mind that is entertaining, but it is not about a change in me. I think it is good that I am having the experience of going through the story process because I am sure that my students have entertaining stories to tell, but I want them to tell a story about how they changed. Therefore, I must also reconsider my story and focus on how I have changed.

-Rosie

Reference:

Ohler, J. B. (2013). Digital storytelling in the classroom: New media pathways to literacy, learning and creativity (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.