most important function when it comes to narrative teaching, Communications Assignment Homework help

[Claim] I believe Our Place in the World is the most important function when it comes to narrative teaching.

[Definition] In this book, Hall states that “a narrative in it’s most basic sense refers to a recounting of a sequence of events that is told from a particular point of view. (Hall, 2005, pg. 73)” According to Hall, there are four narrative teaching functions. They are, The Way the World Works, Our Place in the World, How to Act in the World, and How to Evaluate what Goes on in the World. 
 In her TED Talk discussion, Chimamanda defines a single story as “show of people as one thing. As only one thing. Over and over again, and that is what they become. She also talks about the danger of a single story. She says, “the consequence of a single story is this, it robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different, rather than similar.”

[Example] A narrative that we experienced, which relates to my teaching function (our place in the world) is visual. I am going to relate this to the TED Talk video and Chimamanda’s discussion. The reason why I am choosing visual is because for me, I am a visual learner. I take in knowledge better when I am visually seeing an example happen or watching the person who is talking to me or a group. I look at faces and body language to understand the aspect of the situation that the person is trying to express to me. I found that watching Chimamanda’s video helped put my imagination on a joyride and I was able to put myself in the settings of her stories. I was able to picture her in her room reading an American story, her college roommate being amazed when she played her tribal music of Mariah Carrey, and see the look on the woman’s face when Chimamanda made her comment about all younger men being “American psychos.” I have a much harder time visualizing like that if I am reading from a book or article. Her stories related to my teaching function because, our place in the world means “we are primarily learning information related to our personal and social identities. (Hall, 2005, pg. 77) In her TED Talk video, Chimamanda talks a lot about her personal life and she explains how the stories she read growing up and going to college helped her build her identity and realize who she is as a person.

[Explanation] When I am doing my interview, I am going to try my hardest to not make it a single story. By doing this I am going to be doing at least two things. The first thing I am going to do is make sure I use the suggested interview questions and any other interview questions I find appropriate. The second thing I am going to do is do research on the country my interviewee’s culture is based from. I think it’s important to do some background research to try to not make a single story.

  I would like to add that I really liked watching the TED Talk with Chimamanda. I think she’s awesome and the way she told her stories was fabulous. I sometimes have a hard time focusing on people when they tell personal stories and experiences the way she did, but the way she communicated her stories really drew me in. I also loved her response to the person who expressed their concern for African men being unfair to their women after they read Chimamanda’s book, and Chimamanda responded by being concerned about all young American men being an “American psycho.” It was the best response she could have said. That person was experiencing a single story and didn’t take into account that just because one person is one way, doesn’t mean that everyone who is similar by gender/age is the same. I also enjoyed her acceptance of critic from the woman who was upset with the way Chimamanda’s book ended and how her next one needs to be written. Most authors would be offended that someone was trying to tell them how to write their work, but Chimamanda listened to what the woman had to say and was just happy that someone was so involved in her work, that she felt like she needed to add her voice to it. 

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