DSCY10100 Storytelling

Academic Year 2022/2023

Storytelling is core to the human experience. We express ourselves and communicate through different kinds of stories, from novels and news bulletins to fairy tales and conversations with friends, and it is in ‘telling a good story’ that we are able to connect with other people. The formal study of storytelling is rooted in literature and the oral tradition but it also offers an analytical framework to understand the standard techniques utilized in other media such as advertising or film to develop and communicate an effective narrative. This module will introduce students to the traditional methods applied by scholars of folklore and literature to decode literary narratives from Classical antiquity into the Medieval period and more recent oral tradition material. The second half of the module will focus on the storytelling techniques of journalism, TV, film, and psychotherapy and finally how storytelling remains core in the age of social media and the internet.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

• Apply knowledge on the 'rules' of storytelling to support one’s own writing practice. .
• Gain knowledge of select stories from literature and oral tradition and an understanding of how a story relates to its audience.
• Articulate the universality in codes and structures between historical and contemporary stories.
• Engage with how people tell stories in order to understand the story’s function in understanding persuasion and communication in culture and society.

Indicative Module Content:

• The interdisciplinary approach to this module will allow the student to engage with the overarching concept of storytelling with a core focus on folklore perspectives.
Students will apply methods and principles of the story such as plot, hero and motifs through a structural lens as opposed to a literary approach.
• The material presented will appeal to students interested in effective communication, both oral and written. Storytelling is a key transferable skill of the arts & humanities, and also one of the core skills for the corporate and wider working world.
• It is essential to make connections between the arts and humanities and the wider world, and the theme of storytelling draws on an established base of interdisciplinary research within the College.
• Knowledge of how stories ‘work’ will contribute to our students achieving a greater level of employability.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12
Seminar (or Webinar)

12
Project Supervision

12
Autonomous Student Learning

40
Online Learning

24
Total

100
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Teaching is carried out in lectures and in seminar-style participatory classes. Archival and primary sources, journalism, television and film will be used in the module and students are also encouraged to make use of digital resources in their research and learning. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Portfolio: Digital Portfolio and Essay Week 12 n/a Graded No

50
Essay: 1200-word Essay Week 6 n/a Graded No

50

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Name Role
Dr Martin Brady Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Mr Daniel Carey Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Tiber Falzett Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Christopher Farrell Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Kelly Fitzgerald Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Ms Suzanne Lynch Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Barry O'Donnell Lecturer / Co-Lecturer