Friday, March 14, 2014
Why Tell Stories?
In A Little Princess, Sara Crewe is always imagining something and often tells stories about what she imagines. She even sometimes seems to see the things she imagines as being real in a way. Although many of the other students are fascinated by her stories, many people also say that this tendency is strange. My question is what exactly is the good of fictional stories? Clearly there is a good to them. They help Sara survive her hardest times, and they help real people too. There are people who would say that a belief in impossible things can even be unhealthy. So, are stories, especially the truly unrealistic ones such as Sara’s fancy of rats being people or Alice’s trip down the rabbit hole, unhealthy or do they do a lot of good? Why?
I plan to circulate this mostly through Goodreads, but I may also give Facebook a try. I also have a couple of past English teachers that it might be good to contact.
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I asked the question of "why do you read?" to my friends and a majority of the answers were to get away, have an adventure and take a break from reality. I think stories give our mind a chance to stretch. It's a creative exercise that allows our minds to be able to return to reality more able to cope with the unexpected. Stories are a vacation, some TLC for our mind.
ReplyDelete... then again, all things in moderation right? When a book is finished, put it down. Reflect on it, but don't seek to live in it.
I like your question! It makes me think back to when I only read fantasy--nothing else. Now, I crave classics and other less fantastical books. But, fantasy is still where my heart lies. I wonder if I needed the magic during my childhood, and conversely, I wonder if I need the reality for my adulthood. Good luck with the rest of your analysis!
ReplyDeleteYour thesis sounds really good! I found a little reference that might beneficial. The library link for the book is http://search.lib.byu.edu/byu/id:byu1071527 and I think you could use it for your paper. It talks about childhood imagination and how it could develop into a long-term adult creativity. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteI think facebook would be a good idea to try, along with those other literary websites you were thinking. If you do post it on facebook, word the title in away to pose a question to those who read. Maybe parents who may see the post may wonder is it good for their kids to imagine fantasy worlds or for a teenager to ponder on is it good to focus on fictional stories.
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