Professor Barnhurst lecture on storytelling involves all of the elements of communication we have studied so far. In order for someone to tell a story in a way that will keep attention and get their point understood by the audience, all elements of communication must be used effectively.
In the abstract, depending on a person's use of kinesics and paralanguage, you can begin to determine what kind of story they are about to tell. Kinesics can and are often used in the other steps of storytelling in order to place emphasis on certain points and give imagery.
Setting is the stage of giving who, what, when, where, why, and how. This process uses verbal communication and non-verbal communication. When the story is being told between friends, it can involve shared meanings and symbols.
The complicating action is where you begin to see most of the communication elements. This is where the storyteller presents their ethics in relation to the complicating action, and explains their perception of the situation.
The response/resolution stage is where agreement or disagreement between the storyteller and the audience surfaces. This must happen because each side may or may not have the same ethics and/or perception depending on the complicating action and certain details involved.
The interpretation stage really begins at the abstract. People will begin to have an interpretation on what kind of story it will be based on the storyteller's use of kinesics and/or paralanguage.
The judgement stage is the final stage where both sides finally decide what they are going to take away from the story. This portion of the lecture was cut off but it can be understood that all elements of communication are summed up by the audience, and depending on how they were used by the storyteller are used by the audience to form their judgement.
What was most important about this lecture to me was how the brain functions during storytelling. Our ability to narrate and pick out specific details using our senses is interesting. We take the event, and categorize stimuli by importance almost instantly when its time to tell a story. The audience also uses stimuli to determine what they hear and categorize what they heard by importance. This is then used to form their judgement as well.
Calvin Nichols
I didn't watch the lecture by Barnhurst, but I was interested by how you brought up how the brain functions during storytelling. I connected this to psychology and the ways in which individuals organize information cognitively. In fact, I find that many topics covered in communication can be related to topics in psychology.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how the brain thinks based on others' communication habits/skills. It's very true how we use paralanguage and other types of communication to figure out which direction the story is going. The animation and tone of the storyteller makes all the difference.
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