Exceptional Storycorp

By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You make up others. You start sometimes with an incident that truly happened, like the night in the shit field, and you carry it forward by inventing incidents that did not in fact occur but that nonetheless help to clarify and explain. (O’Brien 152)

Well, maybe this one will. Imagine this is your child, grandchild, or bestfriend. “Where u at” – These were the simple last words that a senior in high school who was one day away from graduation, saw in this world. On that pivotal spring night, she was texting her friend on the way to the baseball game she was planning to attend. As she looked down at her phone to read the new text message, she lost control of her car. She slid across the median, hit a bridge, and was immediately killed. An Officer was one of the first to arrive on the scene. He later described the horrific scene to reporters saying, “When I got to the scene, her face was disfigured from sliding down the roadway. Lying in the roadway in a large pool of blood I noticed her shoes and I thought this is a young child. That’s the first thing I thought when I saw this. And at that point was when I noticed their cap and gown was still in her car. They were going to graduate the next day. It was just a really horrific scene all because of a senseless text message” (“Stories”). This is a sad story and the crazy thing is, there are so many more stories and testimonies of the harmful effects of texting and driving.

resident of the Alpha company and the storyteller tells story consisting of myths to the

The effectiveness of sharing stories was demonstrated when Tim O’Brien was able to transition from the war life to real life with free

Storytelling is something we all do naturally. It is an innate ability that has been practiced since the dawn of civilization. Stories can be told through literature, visuals, performances, or word of mouth. As time elapses, the way in which we tell stories involves. Although, the way in which we tell stories change, the essence of them remain by incorporating the basic elements of good storytelling.

Narratives have massive importance in the driving of big ideas about how we view our world. They use many different techniques, to either subtly or plainly plant ideas into our minds. The author can point out big problems in our world, and by making it relevant to the consumer, lead them to think more about what is going on around them. They can turn something that doesn’t make sense to someone and by changing something very simple, make it more relevant.

In many instances, the person who is texting while driving walks away from the incident without a scratch to be found while the victims, who were committing no wrong-doing, are left injured, or even worse, dead. On Fox 41 News, a high school student named Wil Craig shares his story of the day he almost lost his life. The telling of this story occurs at Louisville High School one morning in hope to bring awareness to fellow students about the dangers that come along with using a cell phone while operating a vehicle. He was only 19-years old when the crash happened. The crash that almost took his life away. The crash that almost left his family breathless. As Wil tells his story, it is evident of the issues and dangers that are present while texting and driving. He begins by stating that his girlfriend was the one driving. She had been the one who was texting and driving (Jennifer Baileys, Fox 41 News). Just like any other day, Wil does not expect for anything to go wrong until the unpredictable happens. They crash. “I was dead at the scene of the accident,” Craig explains as the students listen intently. He explains the severity of the crash telling them, “I had to be cut out of the windshield”. He goes on explaining that his girlfriend had walked away from the scene “without even a scratch” (Jennifer Baileys, Fox 41

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of teen fatalities. Teens, mainly, don’t always see the risk of being distracted while driving, but can you imagine your world changing in a complete second due to someone being on their phone while driving? SummerBreak, a channel on YouTube sponsored by AT&T, brought in people to interview with the intent of talking about texting and driving, or distracted driving in general. Throughout the interview titled “Wait for it… this could save your life” the goal is to have the audience change the way they think about distracted driving, with the hope that it would prevent it from happening. The use of emotions, shift of the mood, as well as the

Stories are surrounding us. Whether you're in school or at work or simply listening to somebody let you know about their day. We learn through stories. As humans we all share experiences through stories. We learn from ones experiences while they tell us the story of what happen to them. We learn about a 12 year old girl named Lisa Chavez. She tells us her story about the first time she has experienced racism. We also learn about a woman named Chimamanda Adiche's and she tells us about the dangers of a single story. While Chimamanda Adiche's tells us her story she explains to us why people have racist thoughts and it’s because of storytelling. Then we learn about Hampl’s piece about memoirs. He tells us what he thinks a memoir is and how true can a memoir be. Stories affect our everyday life, they affect how we see people and how we learn about things.

In the essay “Arguing on the Internet” the author tells of his inexperience in political debate, and how it shaped his future. (Poza, 2005) His story starts out by telling the readers, about the first time he posted a comment on the internet about gun control. Poza, was simply sharing his personal thoughts on the subject and what he got in return was profanity, disgust and the desire to persuade others by debating effectively. Poza shares some of his thoughts on learning to debate with others.

Some people become injured, or in some severe cases, there are deaths. In Becker, Minnesota, a seventeen year old is facing serious punishment due to texting and driving. Carlee Rose Bollig ran a red light in her pick-up truck. It ended up striking Charles Mauer and his 10-year-old daughter, Cassy, who were on their way home from the library. One of Minnesota’s state patrol officers stated that is was a selfish behavior that took two innocent lives. Bollig was charged with criminal vehicular homicide, using a phone while in motion and driving without a valid license. Some of Carlee Bollig’s friends told of times they told her to stop using her phone while behind the wheel, but she always argued and continued. Seconds before this deadly accident occurred, Bollig’s friends yelled, “Red Light!”, but she still flew through. Initially, her boyfriend hopped behind the wheel because she didn’t have a license. (Minn. Teen charged

AT&T partnered with filmmaker Werner Herzdog to develop a documentary and videos featuring real life stories of people who have lost loved ones or even had their own lives change dramatically due to texting and driving (AT&T - It Can Wait). One particular video called “Close To Home” really emphasizes the impact that texting and driving can have on not only the individuals involved but society as a whole. Although the video was only four minutes long, it took the time at the beginning to allow the viewer to understand the characters and their roles in society. They used people of a variety of demographics so that the video would hit close to home with everyone.

Stories are told through various forms of literature, and the overall point of telling a story is to convey a message, a meaning that the author wants the reader to interpret and understand. The author does

It is also assumed that the act of telling a story can provide insight into past, present and future events (Espinoza, 1997). By going through this process, individuals can find the importance of certain events and assign roles to people who are a part of their story. This act can allow a client to find new meaning and understanding to their reality (Espinoza, 1997). Not only is a

They way stories are told may morph, but never will storytelling cease. From their people skills to their memories, there is no argument that storytellers possess boundless talent and intelligence. They were the first educators. And now, storytelling is a large part of everyday life. The news in the morning, the gossip throughout the day, the casual response to the casual “What’s up?” – It’s all a form of storytelling. Our lives are steeped in it. In almost every conversation a story is told. At every turn a story is born. So we all are storytellers, and the world is our audience, just waiting to hear the gospel leave our