Module -Storytelling
Generating interest through the structure
There are several possibilities for a storyteller to generate interest – one is to change the perspective. Let´s have a look at the different perspectives of the story.The story as a course of events
A narrator tells a story step by step, like in Little Red Riding Hood. “Little Red Riding Hood one day wanted to visit her grandmother. She walked through the forest when suddenly a wolf appeared.”
The story as an experience of the main characters
The story is told from the point of view of the hero. In Little Red Riding Hood it could be: “One day I planned to visit grandma. I walked through the forest. Suddenly a wolf was standing in front of me. First I was scared but then… “
The story as an experience of the storyteller and/or the listener
There are several possible elements or interventions by storytellers but also listeners to influence the story, e.g.
- Switching between different character’s perspectives (one moment we are hearing the story from the point of view of Little Red Riding Hood, the next we get inside the head of the Wolf) – this is a direct change by the storyteller
- Adding uncertainty – the teller asks the audience what happens next / gives them two options (“should Riding Hood enter her Grandma’s house or should she turn and run?”) and changes the story based on listener’s response
- Adding body language / voices / props (a red coat) to once again alter the experience of the listener
Let´s do an exercise.
Use again your story skeleton from the last exercise but tell the story now from a different perspective, e.g. as experience of the man.
How does this change of perspective change the story? What remains? What can be shaped in a completely new way and told differently?
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