Skip to main content

Week 4 Story Lab

Personally, I am a huge fan of Ted Talks and find myself falling into the endless loop of midnight binges when I probably should be asleep. So for this assignment, I was very excited to have the opportunity to watch these Ted Talks related directly to storytelling. This first one I watched by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie I had actually seen previously on one of these midnight session it begins with her giving a detailed anecdote about her bringing and the way that reading and storytelling began to impact her life at an incredibly young age. This impact was not always positive, however. I see myself a lot in this Ted Talk. As a young black kid, I remember opening up books and reading about little girls and boys who looked nothing like me. At the time I didn't realize how impactful this would be for me. I though it was normal. In the public eye, it is the white child that is recognized as important, tal;ended, smart. Those children who look like me are meant to fade into the background. You didn't see them often on television or in storybooks. The danger of a single story rand true all throughout my childhood and Chimamanda's as well. Equal representation is a vital part of human value. It took me a long time to realize that the reason I thought only white people were doctor's when I was a young child was because that was all I had seen. I had never met a black doctor, never seen one on television, never read about one in a book. What you see is what you believe nd that is Adichie explains so well in her speech.

The second Ted Talk is incredibly interesting. Jennifer Barnes is not only a psychology professor but a young adult novelist...quite a duo, right? She studies characters and how people relate to the ins and outs of lives that are clearly fictional and make believe. It is extremely intriguing. At one point in the speech, Barnes says that viewing one's favorite character in media can increase cognitive ability and awareness. I found it interesting how her empirical data relates to Chimamanda's real world experiences. Growing up, if Chimamanda were to have seen more characters that looked like her and her family, how would that have changed her life and her perception of the world today? These are questions that cannot be answered without significant in the world: a concept I believe both speakers were aiming for. How will the way one see's others in media affect the way they see themselves in the mirror?

(Mother Nature Network)


Links:
The danger of a single story
Imaginary friends and real-world consequences: parasocial relationships




Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 8, 2019 at 11:36 AM

    Hi Lauryn,

    I am so glad that I came across your story lab post. You pointed out some Ted Talks that I would have otherwise not been aware of. They were definitely super interesting. I especially found the talk by Barnes to be interesting and you hit on some very great ideas in your post. I think studying how people relate to characters is often overlooked but very important.

    -Andy

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 14 Story Lab

This week for my story lab I decided to do some additional research for my last Storybook entry. My story is a take on The Jungle Book and focuses primarily on Mowgli's point of view as he navigates the ins and outs of life in the jungle. I decided to base my story on the first Chapter of the Jungle Book, Mowgli's Brothers. I briefly read the story before writing my piece but decided to go back and do some additional more in-depth research of the story before making my corrections and adding additional details. Here are some of the things I was able to find: 1. The story starts the evening prior to the morning in my story. I can either stick with this idea or keep it the way I have it. If I wanted to elongate the story, I could always start it the evening before as well. 2. There are ALOT of details and ALOT of imagery used in the first sentence alone. Maybe I can try and add more details to grab the attention of the reader. 3. Just like my story, there are brief instances ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 13 Story (Nursery Rhyme Remix)

Babes In The Wood: My love, did you hear, How in a land so near, Two poor little kids, Whose names don't appear, Were stolen away on a brisk autumn's day, And left in a wood, near the church where we pray. And when it was cold , And there hearts grew less bold, The sun it went down, And the stars came around. They shivered and they shook, and they hugged in a nook, And the poor little ones, the'r short life was done. And when they were gone, The world was so wrong Brought strawberry-leaves And sang a sad song, And all the day long They sung all along: "Poor babes in the wood! The babes were so good! And don't you remember the babes in the wood?" (Babes In The Wood) Chaucer's Little Hugh: Old Mother Duck, when She wanted to roam, Would ride through the sea On a very fine stone. Mother Duck had a home, But was never alone, With an owl at the door A job he stood for. This is her son Matt, A plain-looking boy, And yet very fat, Though filled wi...
3 comments
Read more

Week 2 Reading Overview

Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4. Week 3: Adam and Eve Week 4: Noah Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6. Week 5: Life of the Buddha Week 6: Arabian Nights Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.] Week 7: West Africa Week 9: Jamaica Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11. Week 10: Cherokee Week 11: Marriage Tales Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13. Week 12: Robin Hood Week 13: Alice in Wonderland Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15. Week 14: Italian Week 15: Hans Christian Andersen I love that we have the opportunity to choose our own path of learning. I am very excited for week 7 and 9. Since we were very little my uncle would tell us tales of the Spider Anansi. It has been a while since I have heard these tales told again and I am so excited to dive into those lessons. Additionally, I think it will be very interesting to look i...
Post a Comment
Read more