University Mission: As a Sinsinawa Dominican sponsored institution. Dominican University prepares students to pursue truth, to give compassionate service and to participate in the creation of a more just and humane world. The University Motto, Caritas et Veritas, characterizes the essence of this mission.

“From the paintings on cave walls to the footprints on the moon, man has had a story to tell.”

M.R. Leonard

Dominican University/College of St. Catherine’s

Graduate School of Library and Information Science

LIS7180 GO1: Storytelling for Adults & Children

Spring 2008

February 9-10; March 15-16; April 12-13; April 26-27

Contact Info:

Michael R. Leonard

708.524-6861 Dominican office

312.927-3464 (emergency only please)

mleonard@dom.edu

There is no book on how to tell stories and what to tell. It is a call to go questing, an urge to follow the way of the storyteller as pilgrims followed the way of St. James in the Middle Ages, not for riches or knowledge or power, but that each might find something for which his soul had cried out. ~Ruth Sawyer, The Way of the Storyteller:

Course Description: The art of storytelling is perfected through presentation and self-evaluation. Students will develop their own styles and methods of presentation. Readings in folk literature as well as more contemporary and classical sources are required. Students will present stories regularly in class or elsewhere, plan storytelling programs and learn to evaluate and provide critiques of storytelling. Prerequisites or co-requisites: LIS 701, 704 Offered in spring and summer.

Required textbooks:

MacDonald, Margaret Read. The Storyteller's Start-Up Book. August House, 1993.

Greene, Ellin. Storytelling: Art and Technique. 3^rd. edition. Libraries Unlimited, 1996.

Sawyer, Ruth. The Way of the Storyteller. Viking, 1942. (Can be any edition.)

Learning Objectives:

1. Articulating and applying a philosophy of service that incorporates an awareness of the legacy of libraries and information centers within our culture;

2. Promoting the professional values of ethical responsibilities, intellectual freedom and universal access to information;

3. Identifying and analyzing information needs and opportunities of individuals and organizations, both within the traditional information service areas as well as the broader information sector;

4. Developing creative solutions to information problems by integrating relevant models, theories, research and practices;

5. Designing, implementing and evaluating systems, technologies, services and products that connect users with information;

6. Practicing a variety of management, communication and organizational skills to facilitate appropriate change within learning communities; and

7. Teaching others to identify, analyze, organize and use information.

Welcome to LIS7180 GO1. This course will examine the history and techniques of storytelling in the library oral tradition. The primary emphasis in this class will be on the telling of traditional folktales to a specified target audience. Three storytelling presentations will be required of each student; all stories must be approved by the instructor. Available folk materials for children, research tools, online resources, and texts on storytelling, folktales, and narrative will also be examined. This is a class on oral presentation; nearly all written work will also be presented in class.

During this course, each student will participate in discussions re:

· the history of storytelling for youth in public libraries

· available folk literature for youth and its application in school and public libraries

· the evaluation of folk literature for youth

· library storytelling as a reading motivational tool

· current research in education, librarianship, and storytelling

· other related issues.

There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories. ~ Ursula Le Guin

Assignments (See class schedule for due dates)

1. Select, prepare, and tell to the class three 7-12 minute stories for targeted age groups. No text or props may be used. Focus on stories found in collections of traditional folktales. The stories should preferably be those for which you have found variants for comparison. The storytelling grade is based on the amount of individual improvement shown over the course of the class. All stories must be approved by the instructor. (30%)

2. Class discussion and participation, including evaluation of in-class storytelling presentations and participation in workshop-style exercises. (20%)

3. Compile an annotated bibliography of 20 folktale collections. This bibliography must be submitted in three parts throughout the semester as indicated by the schedule below. (20%)

4. Read, abstract, & present to class a book on storytelling or folktales. All books must be approved by instructor. (10%)

5. Read, abstract, & present to class an essay on storytelling or folktales. All essays must be approved by instructor. (10%)

6. Observe and evaluate a storytelling event; write up and present to class. (10%)

Class Participation Reiterated: Come to every class prepared to participate in critiquing of stories told as well as discussions and group activities related to assigned readings and to any other assignments. Open discussion is the rule in my class; any question or comment is relevant and valid. Infrequent class participation will substantially lower your overall grade for this course. (20%)

Preferred Format for Written Assignments

Written work should be double-spaced with 1 or 1.5 inch margins, with no less than 12 point type.

No title page is required. Your name, the class number (LIS 7180 GO1), the name of the assignment, and the due date, single-spaced, should be on the upper left hand corner of your written work. Please include your name in 10 point type in the footer of all standard format assignments

Storytelling at its best is mutual creation. Through the stories themselves and through the interaction between teller and listener, traditional storytelling goes beyond the surface child to speak to the inner child, to recreate and nurture the human spirit.

~Augusta Baker, Storytelling: Art and Technique.

The term “narrative” is often confused with the term “plot,” but they're not the same thing. If I tell you that the king died, and then the queen died, that's not narrative; that's plot. But, if I tell you that the king died, and then the queen died of a broken heart, that's narrative.

~Vladimir Nabokov

Grading

• Class participation is worth 20% of your grade.

• Infrequent class participation will substantially lower your overall grade.

• All assignments must be turned in by the due date in order to receive full credit. Due dates are not flexible unless an agreement is made with the professor at least 24 hours in advance of class time on the due date. Emergencies will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

• Grades for written assignments are based on clarity of writing, comprehensive attention to both the topic and the assignment requirements, quality of work, and visible demonstration of effort.

• General oral presentations are graded on the speaker’s ability to connect with the audience, organization of information, use of language, fluency, volume, use of visual aids, and adherence to time limits.

• Storytelling is graded on the amount of improvement shown over the length of the course.

• Professional, grammatically correct writing is expected. To state this requirement plainly, spelling, punctuation, and grammar count. If this is a problem, find someone whose skills you trust to proofread your written work, or go to the Learning Center (651-690-8160) for assistance. Please remember that spell-check is fallible.

For a refresher course on grammar and punctuation, see William Strunk, Jr.’s The Elements of Style. FQ Classics, 2007. (The fourth edition will do.)

“Through storytelling, children attune their ears to the flow of language, the imagery of worrds, the rhythms of speech, and the patterns of reading, long before they are capable of meeting these through reading print for themselves.”

Academic Honesty and Integrity

"All students of the GSLIS are expected to observe high standards of academic honesty and integrity. Any student whose conduct violates such standards may be subject to disciplinary action as determined by due process." (GSLIS Bulletin, p. 48)

Plagiarism is unethical and unprofessional and will result in project failure. Each student is responsible for understanding what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. See Purdue University's "Avoiding Plagiarism," http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html or Indiana University's "How to Recognize Plagiarism", http://education.indiana.edu/~istd/test.html if you are unsure about what is and what is not considered acceptable behavior when using other people's words and ideas.

GSLIS GRADING POLICY (Effective 12/15/2004)

According to the GSLIS Grading Policy, the grade for “good, solid work” that “demonstrates strong comprehension of the course materials” is a B+, not an A. Please see the policy that follows for additional clarification. The faculty of GSLIS Dominican uses the following guidelines when grading.

Grade	Numeric Equivalent	Definition
A	4.0	Outstanding achievement. Student performance demonstrates full command of the course materials and evinces a high level of originality and/or creativity that far surpasses course expectations; nearly flawless work.
A-	3.67	Excellent achievement. Student performance demonstrates thorough knowledge of the course materials and exceeds course expectations by completing all requirements in a superior manner.
B+	3.33	Good solid work. Student demonstrates strong comprehension of the course materials and exceeds course expectations on all tasks as defined in the course syllabus.
B	3.0	Satisfactory acceptable work. Student performance meets designated course expectations, demonstrates understanding of the course materials and performs at an acceptable level.
B-	2.67	Marginal work. Student performance demonstrates incomplete, substandard understanding of course materials, or absence of required work; indicates danger of falling below acceptable grading standard.
C+	2.33	Unsatisfactory work. Student performance demonstrates unsatisfactory understanding of course materials and inability to meet course requirements.
C	2.0	Unacceptable work. Student performance demonstrates incomplete and inadequate understanding of course materials.
C-	1.67	Poor work.
F	0.0	Failing grade.

If you don’t know the trees you may be lost in the forest, but if you don’t know the stories you may be lost in life. ~Siberian Proverb

Class Schedule and Assignments

June 21 & 22

Introduction to class

Introduction to the folktale

Storytelling & Literature-Based Programming in Public Libraries

History of storytelling in libraries

History of the evolution of library criteria for evaluating folktales

Folktales: Sources, resources, and dilemmas; researching, selecting, and learning stories

Telling Stories to PreSchoolers/Primary Graders: Techniques and Resources

Discussion of readings

Demonstrations

Recording distribution

Assignments for June 21 & 22

• Read MacDonald’s The Storyteller’s Start-Up Book.
• Read pp. 114-137 in Greene’s Storytelling Art & Technique.
• Read pp. 23 – 39 in Sawyer’s The Way of the Storyteller
• Read “Cite the Source: Reducing Cultural Chaos in Picture Books, Part One”
• School Library Journal, July 1993; http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/~hearne/cite.html
• “Respect the Source: Reducing Cultural Chaos in Picture Books, Part Two”
• School Library Journal, August 1993; http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/~hearne/respect.html
• Bring one picture book folktale and one collection of folktales to class for examination. See attached bibliographies. Use any library that might have these titles.
• Prepare to recite from Memory a poem of at least two stanzas and an Aesop Fable for 6/21
• Story # 1. Prepare a story for preschoolers selected from The Folktale/Fairy Tale picture book and/or collections lists attached. (6/22). The story may come from the collection or picture book you select to bring to class. Use steps in McDonald for learning your story. Please do not worry about forgetting or gesturing etc. We will be working on and fine tuning these stories together on 6/22.

Narrative is a compulsion, the quickest bait on the sharpest hook. The first taste of it makes you desperate for the rest, the end, the place where the circle swallows its tail. ~Amanda Henry

July 12 & 13

Story # 2: Primary and Middle Schoolers

Story evaluations and discussion

Middle-schoolers, Young Adults/Adults and storytelling

In-class research activity

Presentation of essay abstracts

StoryCrafting Workshop Exercise (Telling Your Own Story) (Write Your Own Story)

Contemporary Storytelling in the United States; Storytelling Recordings: Audio and Video

Storytelling and Ethics

Discussion of readings and recordings

Assignments for July 12 & 13

• Prepare your second story for Elementary/Middle Schoolers

• Complete Greene’s Storytelling Art and Technique.
• Essay abstracts due July 13
• Listen and take notes on assigned recordings
• Bring books for abstract approval
• Annotations 1- 10 due July 13

“ No one has ever said ‘ I remember that great reference question you answered form,’ but they have often said, ‘ I remember that great story you told.’

Janice Harrington

August 9 & 10

Story # 3: Storytelling to young adults and adults

Discussion of readings

Presentation of book abstracts

Read or Tell your Personal Story

Presentation of Storytelling observation.

Assignments for August 9 & 10:

• Prepare your third story. (Young adults/Adults)
• Complete Sawyer’s Way of the Storyteller.
• Your Own story is due. You may read or tell your own story.
• Discussion and evaluations of personal stories.
• Annotations 11- 20 due August 9.
• Presentation and discussion of storytelling observation
• Discussion of readings

Say it, say it. The universe is made of stories, not of atoms. ~Muriel Rukeyser

Go forth and tell great stories

Author	Title	Call Number
Aardema, Verna	Bimwili and the Zimwi. Ill. by Susan Meddaugh. Dial, 1985. [African]
Aardema, Verna	Borreguita and the Coyote: A Tale from Ayutla, Mexico. Ill. by Petra Mathers. Knopf, 1991. [Mexican]
Aardema, Verna	How Ostrich Got Its Long Neck. Ill. by Marcie Brown. Scholastic, 1995. [African]
Aardema, Verna	Jackal’s Flying Lesson. Ill. by Dale Gottlieb. Knopf, 1995. [South African]	Spec. Coll. PZ8.1.A213 Jac 1995
Aardema, Verna	Traveling Tondo: A Tale of the Nkundo of Zaire. Ill. by Will Hillenbrand. Knopf, 1991.
Aardema, Verna	Who’s in Rabbit’s House? Ill. by Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon. Dial, 1979. [African]	PZ8.1.A213 Wf
Aardema, Verna	Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears. Ill. by Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon. Puffin, 1978. [African]	PZ 8.1 A213WH
Arnold, Katya, reteller	Baba Yaga. North-South, 1993. [Russian]
Asbjornsen, Peter C.	The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Ill. by Marcia Brown. Harcourt, 1991. [Norwegian]	PZ 8.1 AS1T2 (1973 ed.)
Bang, Molly Garret	Wiley and the Hairy Man. Macmillan, 1976. [African American]
Belpre, Pura, reteller	Perez and Martina: A Puerto Rican Folktale. Ill. by Carlos Sanchez. Viking, 1991. [Puerto Rican]
Birdseye, Tom, reteller	Soap! Soap! Don’t Forget the Soap! An Appalachian Folktale. Ill. by Andrew Glass. Holiday House, 1993. [North American/Appalachian]
Brett, Jan	Goldilocks and Three Bears. Dodd, Mead, 1987. [English]
Brett, Jan	The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale. Putnam, 1989. [Ukrainian]	PZ8.1.B755 Mi 1989
Brooke, L. Leslie	The Golden Goose Book. Houghton Mifflin, 1992.	Spec. Coll. PZ7 .G56G (1906)
Brown, Marcia, reteller	Once a Mouse. Simon and Schuster, 1972. [Indian]	PZ8.2.H5 On (1961)
Bruchac, Joseph, and Gayle Ross, retellers	The Story of the Milky Way: A Cherokee Tale. Ill. by Virginia A. Stroud. Dial, 1995. [Native American]
Bryan, Ashley, reteller	The Cat’s Purr. Simon & Schuster, 1985. [West Indian]	PZ8.1.B838 Cat 1985
Bryan, Ashley, reteller	The Dancing Granny. Simon & Schuster, 1987. [West Indian]