Storytelling and Literacy by Wanda J. Franklin and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy.

Storytelling by definition means the art of conveying events in words, images, and sounds often by improvising or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation or ways in order to instill moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters, and narrative point of view. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storytelling)

The purpose of a story is to describe how people make sense of the events of their lives, experiences, and actions. The constructs involved in the division of stories are culture, social interaction, race, and class. Every story that we tell or hear has a purpose and helps keep our lives knitted together. "Stories show how humans actors do things in the world, how their actions shape events and instigate in other actors, thus changing the world and often the actors themselves in some way. Stories also reveal the way events and other actors act upon others, shaping possibilities and the way we view ourselves and our world." (Franklin and Dowdy, 123)

In Storytelling, the authors begin the essay with a section entitled The Timeless Nature of Stories. In this section a story called Tongue Brought Me Here is told, first from the perspective of Franklin’s father and then from her childhood pastor’s perspective. Tongue Brought Me Here allows the reader to see one reason why storytelling is used. But most importantly it gives comparison to different perspectives of the same story and what moral value is held in not talking to excessively. “The theme was a cautionary tale about the consequences of talking too much” (Franklin and Dowdy pg. 120). This story made me wonder if any of the stories that we have been told have subconsciously affected us in some way similar to the way that the “mother tongue” (Elaine Richardson pg.677) shapes a child’s perspective. If so, in what ways?

 In conclusion, we can see that whether it serves as means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation storytelling is an art form that is important to every culture and race. But especially for the African American culture to which it helps reflects the varied experiences of our culture and race.