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Telling the Story of America: Digital Storytelling Projects in American Literature
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Huff, Dana |
| Copyright Year | 2017 |
| Abstract | We all have stories. As our abilities ^kg to combine image and text become more sophisticated and ubiquitous, digital storytelling is a powerful means for sharing those stories. Storytelling has entered a renaissance in American popular culture with the popularity of radio shows and podcasts such as This American Life and Serial. These shows capture the stories of everyday Americans and continue America's long history of storytelling in the same way that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) captured the narratives of former slaves and the work of Studs Terkel captured the stories of everyday Americans and made us feel like a part of history. Organizations such as StoryCorps and StoryCenter (formerly the Center for Digital Storytelling) carry on their work by capturing these stories and encouraging all of us to tell our stories. StoryCenter founder Joe Lambert says that digital stories are how we are telling stories in the 21st century (Lazorchak). In addition, one of the ways in which we are creating art in the 21st century involves remixing: connecting different forms of media to tell a story. Digital storytelling is a perfect way to remix our stories.After my students complete their digital storytelling projects, I ask them to reflect on their work and also to give me feedback about the process. Helen, who came to America from Greece when she was eleven, said, "This project is a lot of fun to put together . . . even when you don't think you have a story to tell. It fits for everyone."In my experience, I found that students often seemed disconnected by the chronological approach to American literature. Earlier in my career, I was convinced that students would not understand the context of the literature or the influence of literary movements on American writing unless I taught chronologically. I realized over time that the stories my students found most relevant were often squeezed in late (and out of chronological sequence) at the end of the year. I shifted my framework from chronological grounding, looking instead to emphasize literature as both a mirror and a window through showing our stories and seeing the stories of others. My students, however, had difficulty seeing how they fit into this larger narrative fabric of American literature. They could see through the window but not into the mirror. While they could not always feel a personal connection to the American Transcendentalists or the Southern Regionalists, storytelling and the desire to be heard connected them firmly to the writers they studied. Now, though, instead of being presented in anthologies, my students' stories were being told on Twitter and Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube-media that are given little attention in either curricular guides or teacher instruction.Designing a Multimodal American Literature CurriculumTo present American literature as relevant to their lives, I rewrote my curriculum using backwards design and created essential questions centered around three main themes: defining what an American is; exploring the concept of the American Dream and its accessibly (or lack thereof) to all; and considering how American literature reflects Americans and differs from the literature of other countries. Using these themes as a framework, I constructed essential questions: What is an American? What is the American Dream, and how has it influenced America? How does American literature reflect America and Americans? And what makes American literature uniquely "American"?Many of my students are international students studying abroad and living on campus. They often have little experience with American culture, history, or literature before they arrive at our school. Though immigrants come to America from all over the world, early American literature often does not reflect the diversity in our society today. I wanted my students to see themselves in the literature we read. I also wanted them to see the ways in which they continue and extend the stories of the writers they studied: they had their own stories of America and Americans. … |
| Starting Page | 32 |
| Ending Page | 32 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 106 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/EJ/1063-jan2017/EJ1063Telling.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
