Story Lab Week 4: Ted Talk activities

Story Lab

Ted Talks

For this story lab assignment, I decided to watch the Ted Talks "The danger of a single story" and "Imaginary friends and real world consequences" to gain a little more insight on storytelling.  Both videos provided me with realizations and perceptions that I hadn't noticed before when it came to storytelling just based on what is being told. It's one of the easiest ways to sway the mind of any human being based on the inspiration. Many people think that certain types of stories need to follow what they've been told about different cultures in order to be true or believable. There are many different translations or interpretations for the mind that require a more open outlook when it comes to cultural storytelling. When being told a story or reading one on your own, it can have such a strong effect on people where they build connections with all the members in the story. Everyone can be impressionable, regardless of age or gender or race. Writing a story has become a way to shift the mindset of a person want to believe in what they are following in a book over what’s actually happening around them in the real world.


Image: Silent Author (Pixabay)

Reading Notes: Ovid’s Metamorphoses Part B

Reading Notes

Part B of Ovid’s Metamorphoses

While reading the second half of Tony Kline’s translation, it was a much easier read than the earlier sections. The stories seemed to flow better based on the mannerisms of Roman Gods and mythological storytelling. I loved that they took the time in each story to have an introduction stage that leads to the main point of the story so that there isn’t any confusion. During the first half of the reading, I was all over the place trying to figure out how things were happening the way they were just because I felt like the intro didn’t have much dynamic. Like it was solely focused on the mortality or immortality of the focal character in question. I think that I’m just a reader that likes to have a much detail at the beginning as possible in order to avoid any future confusion or frustrations when new things get brought in. I love to know the ins and outs of the characters until I’m meant to follow along with the supporting cast in a story who are unaware of something. 

Something else I really enjoyed is how the dialogue was produced for each character based on their mortal status, situation, and time frame. There was a great expression of anguish and defeat but also lust and yearning coming from Narcissus in his story; there were shock and remorse but frustration and anger in Thisbe for her arc. These stories weren’t as long as the early half of the readings but they gave me more feeling than the others previous. How they managed to fit all of that into such short descriptions to continue to flesh out the actual story was phenomenal. I really appreciated the character writing this time around! So I think my main issue just has to be with the development of the story from the start and how the ending is produced. Which are both things that can be altered to provide more information and maybe even enhance the story or character feats within!

Image: Medusa Sculpture (Wikipedia)
Bibliography: Ovid's Metamorphoses translated by Tony Kline (Un-Textbook)

Reading Notes: Ovid’s Metamorphoses Part A

Ovid’s Metamorphoses Part A

My reading analysis

Upon reading this Roman mythological tale, I wasn’t as excited about it compared to the Cupid and Psyche story that I had read last week. Though the content for the story is very interesting and keeps the reader entertained, I feel as though the flow of the story from section to section is not very uniform. The only things that seemed to keep me moving forward were the notes that Professor Gibbs had left above each story before getting into the rest of the read. Aside from possibly me just not focusing enough while reading, I loved the imagery! Some of my favorite writing is when authors will personify objects so that their adjective usage connects to the setup in a complex way. The way that Kline would describe the water, the doors, the clouds, even the light was something that I thoroughly enjoyed. 

When it comes to character development, it doesn’t seem to be as great. There could be more moments in the story where Kline described more of what each character was feeling rather than everything around them or the bystander characters and their emotions so vividly. One example is during his “Io” story. She became meta-morphed into an animal and seemed to have lost raw emotion until left alone and given thought. How was it that she was so reluctant to graze like a cow and move as a cow but once her reflection was shown and her voice did not sound like it should is when she discovered her metamorphosis? Maybe they could have had her discover the fact that she had changed and then show her living her life out like the creature she had become. Overcome with depression in that state could be the push she uses to seek out her family and ultimately try and be saved and reverted back.

There were also issues with how quickly the change seemed to resolve itself. I thought there would be a more dramatic ending considering the wrath that Juno was written to have about the havoc being placed before her, yet everything went to be a more smooth process instead. It was hard to wrap my head around because I do like happy endings but at the moment it didn't seem like the right lead-in. Maybe in the future, there could be more dialogue as to how a resolve happened so seamlessly?

Bibliography: Ovid's Metamorphoses translated by Tony Kline (Un-Textbook)
Image: Crying Cattle (Picryl)