Stories in fact: narrative non-fiction
Usha Raman
When I think about what I remember from my school lessons, some of the information that stand out have to do with vivid word pictures that were painted by teachers of chemistry, history, and mathematics. I remember, for instance, that famous serpentine dream where Kekulé was inspired to posit the structure of Benzene, and Archimedes jumping out of the bath yelling “Eureka!” It’s another matter that these anecdotes were not substantiated with references and dates, but they certainly helped me remember C6H6 and something of hydraulic principles!
Once in a while, it may be a good idea for high school teachers to set aside the textbooks and share a story or two with the class, whatever the subject. We tend to relegate stories to junior school, and if they make an appearance at all in middle or high school, it is only in language classes, where the joy of telling and listening to stories is systematically destroyed by the focus on learning for the purpose of testing.
Suppose you tell your students, instead, to close their books, and just listen to you as you talk about the stories behind discoveries and concepts, the imaginative journeys that explorers and inventors undertook, the struggles to introduce legislative or social change? Suppose you allowed them to play these stories out in their heads as they listen to you, enhancing the facts you relay with their own mental images? And then follow these storytelling sessions with focused discussion about the concepts and ideas themselves? You’ll probably find that their interest in and their recall of the material is far better than if you had taught the lesson in a routine fashion, from text to Q&A to exercises and homework. Of course, this implies that you have to do a bit of homework yourself, to find out the stories behind the concepts. It’s homework that needs to be done only once, though, and just brushed up every now and then.
Understanding the broader context against and within which ideas emerge can help students fix the learning in a way that “decontextualized” facts do not allow. Stories are powerful tools that can help us remember things in a more holistic, natural way. For instance, to have heard the story of Pythogoras and his times would perhaps draw in even those who are not interested in theorems and their proofs.
Telling stories based on fact is a skill that we sometimes need to work at. Unlike fiction, narratives based on fact must be constructed without losing sight of the truth. There are no flights of fancy here, only careful and imaginative selection of details that can spark and retain interest. Not all lessons lend themselves to the storytelling style of course, but you’ll probably be surprised by how many do. In most subjects, you can build stories around issues that challenge, elaborate, or contextualize a concept. The wealth of information that is available on the Internet can be used to put together an interesting storyline. The same rules that apply to fiction also apply to non-fiction stories, or “narrative non-fiction” as it is called.
- The story must have a beginning, middle and end.
- It needs to have a central character, theme or event on which the storyline “hangs”. Is it about a person (or a group of people)? Is it about a series of incidents or one major event? Is there some central idea which can drive the plot (the search for a cure, the need to transport material over distances)?
- It needs to have sufficient detail to create and sustain interest. For instance, most stories, in their most basic form, are about people facing and overcoming challenges. But what makes each story interesting and different are the many little details – where did it happen and how? What were the people like and how did they interact with each other?
- The story must be built up over a series of “cliffhangers” that keep the audience (the students) guessing, pushing them to ask questions and wonder about the possible answers.
Asif Kukaswadia, a blogger, writes that stories as teaching tools in science, for instance, are not meant just to entertain and amuse, but to actually encourage the understanding of concepts*. So while literary devices are important, they should not overwhelm the purpose of teaching.
While teachers can gain a lot from acquiring storytelling skills, they can also transfer this skill to students. The ability to construct a convincing narrative, particularly in academic and scholarly work, is extremely valuable. When you try to tell a story that is tied to fact, you need to be able to rigorously vet the content, ensure that you are not overstating or misrepresenting anything, and write (or speak) in a way that keeps the reader’s attention. Just as tales of fiction follow a narrative logic (one thing leads to another, and the beginning and end are unmistakable even if they leave you with more questions than answers), narrative non-fiction also must follow a clear logic. When students are required to think through the logic of such a story, they also learn to think in a focused and disciplined manner.
The first step to bringing stories in a class could be through the use of documentaries. Audio documentaries (several are available on the Internet – BBC Radio has an excellent set of radio documentaries) are particularly good, as they must use traditional storytelling approaches that keep people listening. Ask the children to reconstruct the storylines in these documentaries – what makes them like stories rather than “lessons”?
In your own classes, no matter what subject you teach, try to introduce an element of storytelling. Once in a while, replace the usual homework of an essay or a problem list with a story – one that they can write at home, but come and present (or tell) in the class. In the process, they will probably find that there is as much romance in fact as there is in fiction!
BOX: Whodunit? Not so magical mysteries
Science is full of stories of discovery and invention. Concepts that we take as common sense today have a tangled history, with twists and turns and errors of judgment. Select a set of concepts appropriate to your class level and ask the students to find out as much as they can about them, including the people who played a role in their discovery/invention/development. Instead of writing an essay, ask them to create a short play or a dramatic narrative that can be read out in the class. The same story can also be turned into a graphic representation, or a short documentary video, if resources permit. Some stories have a humorous undertone (as
the Archimedes tale) while others might read like mysteries (Louis Pasteur’s discovery of microbial fermentation). The bottom line is, they have to construct it in a way that will keep their classmates listening!
