Thesis statement
In this essay am going to discuss how storytelling is used in different work. The comparison between storytelling and writing will also appear in the piece. I shall look at the ideas expressed by David Sedaris in the book ‘me talk pretty one day’ as well as the impression from ‘what writing is.’ I will also discuss the effects of the spoken words as expressed from the two writings.
To begin with, David Sedaris expresses difficulties experienced when trying to learn a foreign language. David Sedaris realized that it was difficult to learn a foreign language when attending a French class. From the story, we find out that pronouncing a word or an alphabet differs from one language to the other. David did not know how to pronounce the alphabet even if the alphabet is the same letters. David found it hard to answer the question of the alphabet. In this, we see that through storytelling one expresses oneself, (Roy, Brandon, et al. p 66). Difference between understanding and learning to speak a language is brought out. After sometime David could hear and understand the French language but still could not pronounce the word.
From the book, ’me talk pretty one day,’ we find the irritation which comes out of profound understanding. David is abused by the teacher due to the inability to pronounce French words and alphabets, (Karp, David .p 85). In writing one reads the words the way the words are written. Pronunciation does not matter much in reading as long as the person reading understands the printed piece. In writing it is essential to disconnect from the environment. Stephen king advices one to take a risk when writing. One should disconnect from the world to enable concentration on writing. In writing clear choice of the words to be used is crucial to a writer. Selection of the word differs in the literature and storytelling in that, while writing word chosen should express the feeling and the emotion of the writer at the time of writing.
In writing sentence structure should be considered as argued in Justin key’s blog. From the book ‘what is writing’ by Stephen King, sentence structure is well illustrated. From the begging on the writing to the end the idea connects from one to the other without mixing up the ideas. Another crucial aspect of writing according to Justin key is the description, (Herold and Christopher, p 71). The way Stephen key described the place Stephen was, and the surrounding environment helps the reader to understand the concepts of the writing. Another description on Stephen’s article is the table’s size, length, width as well as the items on the table. The description brings us to one of the core difference in reading a written work and listening to a story. In reading, you cannot see the material of the item described in the article, and as well one cannot verify that the availability of the report at the scene. In storytelling both the audience, the storyteller and items required in most cases share the stage. By dividing the scene, the audience identifies the material and confirms the availability of the elements described.
Another difference is that even though the chosen words in writing has an effect on the intended audience, the writer cannot see the impact of the words, (Herold and Christopher, p 75). From the blog of Justin, Justin depicts the need for a good choice of words. The writer should choose words that are clear and simple. The words chosen should as well affect the writer, (Plante, p 39). From David’s ‘me talk pretty one day,’ the effect of the word used by the teacher are expressed openly. David reveals the pain and frustration gone through as a result of poor pronunciation. The word the teacher uses also shows the pain due to the inability of the learners.
The interview by Colin marshal on better writing illustrates how to improve writing process. David categorizes the writing process into stages of reading the written article roundly, keeping a diary and carrying a notebook. Reading the article out will help the writer to confirm whether there is a rhyming theme as well as establishing the rhythm. In my thought diary acts as a reminder of the activities to be carried out at different times. The notebook is for writing on. An author writes at any place as long as one has the idea of what to write.
Spoken word is a situation where an individual or a group of individuals takes time to talk to the audience. The speaker may recite a poem, sing a song or tell a story while the audience listens. Spoken words have a variety of importance. One of the importance of the spoken word is teaching the audience. As seen from the story of David, ‘me talk pretty one day,’ after taking time to listen to the teacher David could understand everything in French. Through the spoken word, David and the rest of the students learned French, (Roy, Brandon, et al. p 65).
Another impression of the spoken word is that the word would be used to trigger the mind of the audience to think. When the David heard the teacher was exhausted from foolishness shown, David decided to work extra hard to ensure that there was something in return for the teacher’s attempt. Immediately, David’s mind opened and responded to the teacher. Those words from the teacher made David to trigger the mind to get a response. The spoken words teach the audience. The spoken words are also used to trigger the emotion of the intended audience. From the book what is writing, the fact that there was Christmas shopping would tell the emotion of the wife. The wife was frustrated by the fact that there was no shopping for the Christmas. Another emotion from this is the happiness from the visit of Stephen’s son.
Spoken word motivates the audience to work even hard to improve own situation. Immediately the teacher referred to David as lazy, David added additional time to time spent on homework. David increased the time used especially when the teacher required the student to work on an essay as well as an extra four hours at night for doing other usual homework. By doing so, David would create a positive self-identity and build up self-esteem as soon as David pronounced the French alphabet. On the other hand, spoken word can be used to demoralize the listener. After the students expressed themselves in class, the teacher saw no good thing in what the learner said. The teacher took time to criticize every speaker who gave out own views in class. By the end of the day, the learners went home feeling low and demoralized. The learners believed that there was nothing good that would come out of them.
In conclusion, trying to learn a foreign language can be a problem as expressed by David but with self-motivation, one can quickly learn the language. As long as one needs to familiarize with a different language one needs to accept the criticism that comes with the new environment. When learning one feels like a little child no matter how big a person seems to be. This situation appears immediately the teacher started teaching the alphabets in French, (Van, p. 125). David realized that French alphabets were not familiar and hence like a small kindergarten child. The entire class, therefore, had to spend weeks experiencing verbal abuse from the teacher for them to learn. The abuses used by the teacher made the student feel low and idiotic even though to some extent the injuries encouraged some of the clients to work extra hand to improve their pronunciation of the French alphabets. David explains how bad the experience was having forgotten the word ‘typewriter’ in French.
Works cited
Herold, J. Christopher. Mind of Napoleon: A selection of his written and spoken words. Pickle Partners Publishing, (2016): 70-76
Karp, David A. Speaking of sadness: Depression, disconnection, and the meanings of illness. Oxford University Press, (2016): 80-90
Plante, David. Difficult Women: A Memoir of Three. New York Review of Books, (2017); 35-45
Roy, Brandon C., et al. “Predicting the birth of a spoken word.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112.41 (2015): 63-68.
Van Manen, Max. Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-giving methods in phenomenological research and writing. Routledge, (2016): 115-130
