tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888438300076664400.post5035915725976264107..comments2014-12-09T17:25:07.561-08:00Comments on Words and Images: The Importance of StorytellingAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5888438300076664400.post-73765049088856657452014-09-13T07:56:08.338-07:002014-09-13T07:56:08.338-07:00Nitpick - Storyteller isn't a book of short st...Nitpick - Storyteller isn't a book of short stories, really. It includes many literary forms.<br /><br />Is "Storyteller" surrounded by photographs? It is followed by one, but there isn't one immediately before it. Setting aside the question of whether it is technically surrounded, you're making an awfully general claim: "Silko surrounds “Storyteller” with two portraits of herself and older relatives in order to emphasize the value of oral storytelling as insight into human nature and its relevance to present day." <br /><br />I'm not crazy about this as an argument because you're asserting that oral storytelling has relevance - but you don't tell us what that relevance is! The argument should be more direct and focused.<br /><br />Despite this problematic introduction, your discussion of what the intertwined stories of Storyteller means is smart. I'm not sure what you're doing with it yet, but it's an interesting reading.<br /><br />But then in the 4th paragraph you get frustratingly vague again. Having had the excellent insight that two stories in Storyteller are concerned with men who forget, to their parallel, who their real enemies are, you move back into generalizations about oral storytelling. Why not stay focused on the much more interesting topic of remembering and forgetting your true enemies? <br /><br />Overall: Your interpretation of the photographs and how they relate to the story is basically generic. It doesn't use the most interesting details of the photographs, and your process of reasoning isn't terribly clear. In the heart of your essay, you *do* rather hastily provide a provocative reading of important parts of Storyteller. The best version of this essay would have been the one that can make a connection between these two photographs and your argument about the meaning of Storyteller.<br /><br />I won't go through all the details, but if you read all of the material about Grandma a'mooh again, you'll find out the identity of the book, and you'll learn about her relationship with the Laguna language and culture - I think your interpretation of "Storyteller" can easily be applied to a more contextualized understanding of what the photograph depicts.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.com