Deanna Mascle Writing Evangelist

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What Stories Matter?

Have you ever considered how the stories that you love have shaped your identity and values? What do stories teach us about our world and how to survive it? What stories have shown you how to be human? How do stories connect humans across time and space?

My first year writing students and the Just Write Virtual Writing Group have shifted focus to an exploration of stories. In particular, considering the stories told via books, movies, and television shows that shape our identity and help form our personal values. This work continues our “What If” exploration of our personal values as part of the Morehead Writing Project‘s Building A More Perfect Union grant, Root Deep, Grow Tall and builds on our This I Believe American Creed work. Helping students discover the stories that matter to them is part of introducing our rhetorical analysis work, but also provided inspiration to both groups of writers.

Inspired by the question of “what stories matter,” this week our writing began with these sentence stems:

  1. When I was a child, my favorite movie was…
  2. When I was a child, my favorite TV show was…
  3. When I was a child, my favorite book was…
  4. When life is too much, I choose to watch…
  5. When my friends or family get together we watch…
  6. Stories I return to again and again…
  7. A story I need in my life is…
  8. Story idea(s) that fascinate me…
  9. The hero’s journey important to me is…
  10. The story I want to believe is…

We then considered what makes a Story (with a capital S):

  • Is the hero on a journey? Are multiple main characters on a journey?
  • Are the main characters grappling with important questions?
  • Does the story transcend its tagline?

Aw we considered these questions we also contemplated how stories given a genre label (science fiction, fantasy, western, superhero, etc.) can transcend those labels to become epic Stories exploring the themes that have always challenged humans (good vs. evil, coming of age, truth and justice, power and responsibility, etc.).

Finally, we drew inspiration from Quest by Carrie Williams Clifford and asked how one story in particular helped us to better know ourselves by:

  • Teaching us about our world and how to survive it
  • Showing us how to be human
  • Inspiring us to do and be more
  • Connecting us across time and space

What stories matter to you and why?

Artwork from Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 “Victory and Death” and features Ahsoka Tano.

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