Transformative Learning

Stories give a better understanding of people's experiences in the world. Through these texts, people learn about others lives and develop a connection with them. People empathize with others through their stories as well as learn how other people live and see the world differently. In fictional stories like “Charles” by Shirley Jackson, we see how a child who is unsure about his identity lives. In “The Human Experience” we see true stories about people living in difficult situations. In both these stories, the authors tackle issues of identity, poverty, and sickness to help make more sense of the world.

As a derivative of language, stories help to combine key aspects of wisdom so we can continue to improve greatly as a species. The third group discussed how our stories are a reflection of who we are, whether personal or general as explored in Thomas King`s essay `The Truth About Stories`. In particular, they are used to define our identity as we attach ourselves to characters that are exhibited in similar circumstances. Furthermore, personal stories render us in a state of vulnerability so we can question cryptic thoughts that are not recognized often. As said by group 3, “Stories help to escape, comfort and answer questions”. General stories such as the theory of creation help establish societies and environments by providing meaning to our existence. King highlights the importance of strategic storytelling by informing the reader to “not confuse strategy with sophistication” as the significance of the truth can be

In the American society, storytelling continues to play a critical role. Each story, storytellers tells, serves a deep meaning towards their life and provides a medium, allowing the storytellers to keep the information they hold as a remembrance. Indeed, storytelling would bring meanings into one’s life as well. Storytelling offers a pathway that allows ones to stimulate continuous learning, development, connection and to look ahead to their future. Storytelling is an expression of power providing pathways to spiritual knowledge.

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.

I found that through sharing a bit of my story on what someone wouldn’t know from seeing me I deeper understood myself and learnt that there are other aspects of my person that I do not know completely. That there are aspects I don’t think of often and aspects of my person that I perhaps don’t understand completely or am still learning about and that this is normal because despite the fact we have lived our whole lives being ourselves a lot of us still have parts of our being, our psyche, our history,

Dostoevsky’s presents the argument against religion through Ivan, the most intellectual of the three brothers in The Brothers Karamazov. Ivan, a professed atheist, is terribly afflicted by the problem of evil and by what he

You’re always told to appeal to all audiences when writing. Sometimes that means limiting your opinion, in other words your personal views. As writers you want to draw as much attention possible to your novels. Personal stories are simply pathways authors use to relate towards readers, or to change their minds on a specified subject. Sometimes, these personal stories reach out to their own kind of people. Or it criticizes everyone for holding a blind eye towards an issue. Personal stories / views are in fact an essential way for authors to relate/ influence readers. Through class readings this semester, we’ve learned how empowering personal stories can be. In this writers philosophy I plan to analyze these authors’ writings and examine how “valid” or essential their personal views and stories have influence/ relate their readers.

Shankman’s essay elaborates on Dostoevsky and Vasily Grossmans views of Gods existence and the ethical responsibility in relation to those views. The essay details how both authors attempt to “think God” (2). Yet, they remain unwilling to accept Gods existence as a being. Shankman’s essay begins with an explanation about novels that were written in the eighteenth century. He informs readers that most novel genres were of social context.

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

I feel that there are many things one can learn from other’s stories, reason being, we as human beings are constantly curious of the unknown or unexperienced. This curiosity often causes us to imagine ourselves in similar situations to those stories and in doing so we make mental connections to our own stories. I believe we as a species have a yearning to connect with individuals and the things around us. That being said, most of our lives are molded from stories of others, whether it be our parents, a close friend or even someone whom we’ve never met. Whom I am and the person I continually evolve into being is constantly being influenced by the world around me and those individuals whom I feel the most connection with. This

The Brothers Karamazov, authored by Fyodor Dostoevsky examines the relationship between one’s faith and their connection to the natural world while exploring the plotline of a few select characters such as Fyodor Pavlovich and his three sons: Ivan, Dmitri, and Alyosha. The novel itself is separated into twelve ‘books’ (in addition with an epilogue) each comprised of several chapters. From the introductory chapters of ‘book one’, it is apparent that Fyodor Pavlovich is not nor does he plan to be a father figure for his sons, as in the first twenty-five pages alone it is revealed that he: sent his eldest son packing the exact moment he became ‘of age’, left his two youngest children to fend for themselves following the untimely death of their

In “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky made a famous claim that establishes the link between the existence of God and morality. Apart from the controversy related to the scope of the quotation, the discussion on the proper translation and interpretation of the words of Ivan Karamazov. For instance, in his article “Dostoevsky did not say it” D.Cortesi claims that Dostoevsky did not make such claim (Cortesi 1). However, the research by Russian-speaking authors shows that the original text of “The Brothers Karamazov” contains the statement under study (Volkov 1). Coming to the scope of the claim, one should concentrate on the reasons for making such claim, as well as the relation between the moral beliefs of secular humanists and

Everyone should read The Grand Inquisitor. This Dostoyevsky novel warps your mind, and makes you think about all the suffering in the world. Dostoevsky creates an ambiguity of freedom and human nature; both topics we as Americans feel like we should know rather well. But, do we really understand human nature? Is freedom what we truly think it is? The use of characters in The Grand Inquisitor gives you a three point perspective on dealing with suffering in the world.

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

Our autobiographical narratives also support the construction of identity, by using cultural models of self narration as well as drawing on our own experiences, who we associate with, when and where, all have an impact on how we tell our stories (Hewitt, 2007). This serves in understanding how identities are fluid and are always changing from situation to situation, an aspect which anyone from the psychosocial school of thought