I believe that possibly one of the hardest things about telling our own stories and asking students to “tell their own stories” is that we are so inundated with media and other people’s stories that we can’t know where ours begin and theirs end (see David Bartholomae for more on this point). However, it is possible that this doesn’t matter at all because it is possible that we do not have a story except for where it intersects with the stories of others.
So, I want you to start your brainstorming for your narrative essay by choosing a composition (a song, a story, a video, a poem) that you relate to a lot (think the compositions that we chose on the first day of class–or one that relates to the story that you think you are going to tell about yourself, if you have gotten that far.
Next, I want you to interview each other about why you relate to this song and how the song is or isn’t telling your story. Ideally, record these interviews.
Using storify or wevideo or powtoon, edit together your interview with other pictures and music or videos to create your own story.
If you absolutely cannot find a way to do recordings, you may write it out in a word document, but it still needs to include pictures and video links from other sources.
This remix does not have to be perfect. Ideally I would not like you to spend more than an hour or two outside of class on it. I would like you to submit it by next class to be graded.
The grading criteria are as follows and will be graded on completion:
- should have at least 5 (15 second ish) clips of you speaking
- should include one outside composition
- should tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end (the story can be choppy, that’s okay)