Syllabus - Summer, 09

Syllabus STOR 5230-050: Advanced Storytelling
July 13 - 30, MTWTh, 1:00pm-4:30pm

Instructor: David Novak
Office: GA Cubicles
Phone: (828) 280-2718
E-Mail: novateller@aol.com
Office Hours: by appointment

Catalog Description: An in-depth study of specific, advanced techniques of storytelling in both delivery and use.

Overall Objective: To develop and improve the public performance skills and the critical thinking and compositional skills necessary for the student to pursue a storytelling career.

Course Narrative: We will work with a variety of performance exercises, group and individual projects and direct coaching to address specific opportunities for growth with each student. Each student will be required to participate in all class discussions and web log journaling. We will do voice and movement warm-ups and exercises. Please dress accordingly. If necessary, bring a change of clothes for movement and exercise during class.

Required Text:
Tell Me A Story: Narrative and Intelligence
by Roger Schank
Paperback: 253 pages
Publisher: Northwestern University Press; Reprint edition (December 20, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN: 0810113139

Assignments:

1. Day 1: Share a story from your standing repertory.
2. Day 3: Select and read aloud a Dr. Seuss book.
3. Day 5: Present a memorized sonnet.
4. Day 8: Present a personal story.
5. Day 9: Present a "ghost" story.
6. Day 12: Ensemble Performance
7. TBD: My Finest Hour

Re: Required Text. Although we will discuss the text briefly during class, our main forum for review and discussion will be on our class blog:

Discussion of Assignments:
▪ Day 1, you will share a story that you have already developed and are comfortable with. This is an opportunity for us to get acquainted.
▪ Day 3, read aloud a selected book by Dr. Seuss. This is an exercise with text. The book you select need not be long, but should be one you enjoy!
▪ Day 5, you will present a sonnet by William Shakespeare. Have your selection to me by Day 4, Thursday, July 16. Again, this is an exercise with text. Select a sonnet that interests you. The sonnet must be memorized. We will work in class on skills for memorization.
▪ Day 8, you will share a story from personal experience. This story can be funny, dramatic, or intimate. We will do an activity in class to help you identify and develop a personal story for this assignment.
▪ Day 9, you will present a "ghost" story. By "ghost" story, I mean a story that creates a sense of awe, wonder, fear, strangeness about the nature of the world we live in. "Ghost" in this sense, refers to the realm of the spirit or the supernatural. One objective in this exercise is to explore the telling experience. We will discuss this in more detail in class.
▪ Day 12, we will present a final performance incorporating stories we have worked as well as new stories using an improvisational, conversational approach. This ensemble performance explores storytelling combinatorics.
▪ Finest Hour: the class schedule does not allow for the performance of "My Finest Hour." A final performance must be arranged by you to take place before the end of August, 2009. If at all possible, the performance should take place at a time and in a place that allows for the instructor and class to attend. In any event, a final video recording of the performance must be submitted to complete the assignment.

Teller-In-Residence. Each Wednesday we will attend the 2pm performance of the storyteller in residence at the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough. Following each performance we will have opportunity for Q&A with the storyteller. Attendance is mandatory.

Class Schedule:

Day
1 Mon July 13 Story Swap
2 Tue July 14
3 Wed July 15 Teller in Residence: Tejumola Ologboni
4 Thur July 16 Dr. Seuss Read-Aloud (sonnet selection is due)
5 Mon July 20 Sonnets
6 Tue July 21
7 Wed July 22 Teller in Residence: Kim Weitkamp
8 Thur July 23 Personal Stories
9 Mon July 27 "Ghost" Stories
10 Tue July 28
11 Wed July 29 Teller in Residence: Tim Tingle
12 Thur July 30 Final Performances


Suggested Bibliography:

Art & Fear
by David Bayles and Ted Orland
Paperback: 122 pages
Publisher: Image Continuum Press; 1 edition (April 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN: 0961454733

The Call Of Stories: Teaching and The Moral Imagination
by Robert Coles
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Mariner Books (January 5, 1990)
Language: English
ISBN: 039552815

Creative Storytelling; Building Community, Changing Lives
by Jack Zipes
Hardcover: 280 pages
Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (September 19, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN: 0415912725

Metaphors We Live By
by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 2nd edition (April 15, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN: 0226468011

The Need For Words: Voice and Text
by Patsy Rodenburg
Paperback
Publisher: Theatre Arts Books (August 1, 1993)
Language: English
ISBN: 0878300511

The Right To Speak: Working With The Voice
by Patsy Rodenburg
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Routledge; Reissue edition (June 14, 1993)
Language: English
ISBN: 0878300554

Suddenly They Heard Footsteps: Storytelling for the Twenty-First Century
by Dan Yashinsky
Paperback: 317 pages
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi (October 6, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1578069270

The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence and Persuasion Through The Art of Storytelling
By Annette Simmons
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Perseus Books Group; 1st edition (June 1, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN: 0738206717

The Way of The Storyteller
by Ruth Sawyer
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (January 27, 1977)
Language: English
ISBN: 0140044361