Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
kids to tell and hear stories about various social problems like bullying [see, for
example, www.bullying.org.].
In cultures where storytelling holds a significant place, storytellers choose
talestoaddresstheneedsorcontextoftheirlisteners.Nativeloreofallsortsfalls
in this category. The performance is live and responsive. Stories told by films
or TV shows or even topics do not possess the same quality of responsiveness
or personal connection. Again, movies, TV, and books provide many excel-
lent stories for children (and many damaging ones). But the stories and media
of popular culture cannot be substituted for the storytelling relationships that
children also need. One way I propose to analyze our genres of stories, then, is
along the axis of relationships.
Other criteria for evaluating stories
During our research for Purple Moon, a company that I co-founded in 1996
to create interactive CD-ROMs and web materials for girls, we learned that
personal relevance was an important key to creating stories that engage young
people (Laurel 2001). As a mother of three teen girls, I have heard over and over
again that they find no personal relevance in history, science, or math. Nowhere
in the curriculum is it specified that a teacher has the responsibility of helping
young people see why the subject matter is important or how it connects with
their lives. This is the axis of personal relevance.
Many kinds of stories are told for strategic reasons. The desired outcomes
are changes of opinion or belief, or action on the part of the hearer. Ancient
and contemporary generals tell stories to motivate troops. Mothers Against
Drunk Driving have stories that galvanize opposition to drunk driving. Polit-
ical commercials tell stories that attempt to persuade voters to elect particular
candidates. This is the axis of strategy and outcomes.
A fourth axis may be thought of as epistemological - that is, the truth value
of a story and the way that we determine that value. I would like to look at sev-
eral genres of stories present in our culture and to evaluate them along these
four axes. Through this exercise we may think about the effects of existing kinds
of stories and identify some kinds of stories that seem to be missing. Please
remember that my evaluations are subjective, based primarily on my own ob-
servations as a student of culture, and not on any body of research. I would
propose that such research might be very valuable in our ongoing efforts to
tune our narrative universe.
