{"id":4735,"date":"2016-01-21T12:17:22","date_gmt":"2016-01-21T12:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teach.alimomeni.net\/2016spring1\/?p=4735"},"modified":"2016-01-21T15:52:57","modified_gmt":"2016-01-21T15:52:57","slug":"r1-bensnell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teach.alimomeni.net\/2016spring1\/r1-bensnell\/","title":{"rendered":"R1 – Response to Readings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cStorytelling for Oppositionists and Others: A Plea for Narrative\u201d by Richard Delgado (1989)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I was particularly taken the way in which this article manipulated the way I felt about the situation every time it presented a different point of view. I couldn\u2019t help be swayed by the storyteller, absorbed by their arguments and sucked into their reality. It makes me wonder just how easily \u201ctruth\u201d can be manipulated and if there even is such thing as \u201ctruth.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

What is a story without emotional content? Can a story be told my a non-human entity, yet hold the same reverence we have for the tales of adventure our parents told us when we were young? Can you tell a story about nothing, with no content at all? To me, the story seems to be a distinctly human creation\u2014a man-made artifact that cannot not be related to. Whether the effect of relating a story is that of neutrality, positivity, or negativity, the act of reception and of communication is in itself a significant act. This makes me curious about the role of the teller and the listener in shaping the story: Relating it to the familiar postulation, if someone tells a story in a forest, but no one is around to hear it, is it still a story? In other words, does it take an audience to make a story?<\/span><\/p>\n

Delgado says \u201cWe participate in creating what we see in the very act of describing it\u201d (2416). This act of formation through observation and perception makes me wonder to what extent stories are formed by the context in which they are told. For example, can the same story be told in two different languages and still maintain its integrity. How does language shape its delivery, reception and interpretation? Furthermore, is the act of relating experience inherently constructive? Or, in other words, does the act of matching words to thoughts create a reinterpretation, as if through the transfer of emotion between mediums, some is lost and some is found along the way?<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the role of exaggeration in storytelling? Does it signify a good story or strong emotions? It is a form of personalization or a source of empowerment? Is it necessarily a \u201cbad\u201d thing? This begs the question be asked: What is more powerful: the story or stories about the story? This reminds me of the game of telephone in which one person relates in secret a phrase to another person. Here, the accumulation of small changes results in fantastic, seemingly unbelievable modifications to a communal \u201ctruth.\u201d If this modification were not expected, would be continue to play the game?<\/span><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\u201cHow to Tell a Story with Data\u201d by Jim Stikelather (2013)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

This article presents an interesting overview of good practices of data visualization, but doesn\u2019t delve deep into how to actually accomplish them. Some of the questions I have are: <\/span><\/p>\n