Journeyman Core Lessons in Storytelling

Welcome to the Journeyman Core Lessons in Storytelling! Here we will learn some of the history and basics of being able to develop a good story. Storytelling and oral traditions have been with humanity from time immemorial and are intimately connected with the study of myth. In the following lessons, share your thoughts or answer questions in your journal. We will also work through the Pixar Lessons on Storytelling at the Khan Academy website. If you haven't already created an account there from one of the other guilds, you will need to do so here. If you have any questions touch base with your mentor. On behalf of the Guild, good luck!

Read the following article from Storytellingday.net and share your thoughts in your journal.

Storytelling is the art of conveying a series of events in words, images and sounds, which are often supported by creative thinking or an exaggeration. Stories have always been an integral part of every culture as a means for entertaining, educating, besides preserving the culture.

The key elements of stories and storytelling include mainly the plot, characters, and narrative point of view. The original forms of storytelling are believed to be primarily oral, while combining gestures and expressions. The ancient cultures reveal the story telling art in their times as elementary drawings scratched onto the walls of caves. Read on to know more about storytelling.

Getting on with info on storytelling, the story, in the very early times was told using a mixture of oral narrative, music, rock art and dance. Sand, leaves and the carved trunks of living trees have also been used to document the stories in pictures or with writing. These were useful for the storyteller to remember the story.

Storytelling conserves the oral language from previous cultures, while introducing it to the language of the present generation. The benefits of storytelling are many and varied. Presenting ideas and thoughts in a pleasurable way, it helps in bringing people together, making them part of a warm and personal shared experience. It also institutes a positive attitude towards stories and books. Children and students get motivated to read on their own after having a good session of storytelling. The rich and varied language patterns presented to the listener in a satisfying format, gives the opportunity for people of all ages to interact on a personal level.

Storytelling encourages children to read. Opening the doors to the world of literature, it helps them to develop sequencing skills, oral language development and expanding language skills too. It also helps to increase attention spans and stimulates creativity and imagination among the listeners.

Traditionally, oral stories, persistent in memory, have been passed from generation to generation. However, recent times, with the advent of new technology, written and televised media has largely exceeded this method of communicating.


*This Lesson is derived from Storytellingday.net

Read the following article from Storytellingday.net and share your thoughts in your journal.


Today, stories are an intrinsic part of our societies and culture. Movies, books, music, news media, religions, architecture and painting, you name it, and the influence of storytelling is to be seen in all aspects of our life. Defining our values, desires, dreams and, as well as our prejudices and hatreds, don’t you want to know how it all began? Well, the history of Storytelling is the prime focus of this article. Traditionally, the oral stories have been handed over from generation to generation. Read on to know everything about the origins of storytelling.

The storytelling history is quite ancient, lost in the mist of time. Nobody knows when the first story was actually told. Did it happen in the gloomy recess of a cave around a flickering fire told by a primitive hunter? Well, we may never know. But it is believed that origin of storytelling may have come across as an excuse for failure. Perhaps stories were used long time ago to calm the fears or doubts of a family. As families grouped with other families and formed clans, the storyteller, who was good at telling heroic events or other important events of the tribe began to reach position of respect and power. People found them interesting and began to listen to them. The priest, the judge and the ruler were perhaps the earliest to use this art effectively in the history of storytelling. Storytelling days were considered important.

Before man learned to write, he had to rely on his memory to learn anything. For this he had to b a good listener. A good story teller was always respected. He could easily find an audience, eager to devour every exciting bit of information in their stories. These stories were also shared with others in far away lands, when people traveled. The stories traveled with them. And when they returned home, they brought with them exciting new tales of exotic places and people.

The oldest surviving tale in the storytelling history is the epic, Gilgamesh, relating to the deeds of a famous Sumerian king. The earliest known record in the origin of storytelling can be found in the Egypt, when the sons of Cheops entertained their father with stories.

The history of storytelling reveals that the stories came in all variety. Myths, legends of all kinds, fairy tales, trickster stories, fables, ghost tales, hero stories, and epic adventures, these stories were told, retold. Passing down from generations, these stories reflect the wisdom and knowledge of early people. There are stories often used to explain important but often confusing events and disasters in nature at those early times. For example - fire, storms, thunder, floods, tidal waves, lightening etc; It was common for people to believe in the stories of gods, which bound them to a common heritage and beliefs.

In fact, it is believed by most historians and psychologists that storytelling is one of the many things that define and bind our humanity. Humans are perhaps the only animals that create and tell stories.

*This lesson is derived from Storytellingday.net

Complete Part 1 of the Pixar in a Box Series called "We are all Storytellers" located at the Khan Academy's website. Watch the associated videos and complete the associated activities in your journal.

Complete Part 2 of the Pixar in a Box Series called "Character" located at the Khan Academy's website. Watch the associated videos and complete the associated activities in your journal.

Complete Part 3 of the Pixar in a Box Series called "Story Structure" located at the Khan Academy's website. Watch the associated videos and complete the associated activities in your journal.

There are a wide variety of ways to tell a story. On your own, explore these different ways and choose 5 of your favorites to share in your Guild Journal. What did you pick? Why are these your favorite? Do you have any personal experience with any of these?

Oral Storytelling is a time honored tradition that has past on the collective wisdom of humanity for millennia and at our core, we are all storytellers in our day to day lives. Read through "Introduction to Oral Storytelling" from the Art of Storytelling website and share your thoughts on it in your Guild Journal.

How do we bring our stories to life? Everyone has a different style, and how we choose to do this becomes our personal storytelling signature. Read "Bringing Stories to Life" from the Art of Storytelling website and share your thoughts on it in your Guild Journal. What tips do you think are important and how might you incorporate them into your own style.