📘 Part 3: Stories and storytelling

This episode's vocabulary

All over the place (idiom) – disorganized, inconsistent, or lacking coherence. → His arguments were all over the place and didn't support his main point.

Taxing (adjective) – physically or mentally demanding and exhausting. → Preparing for multiple exams simultaneously can be quite taxing.

Up for debate (phrase) – open to discussion or not definitively decided. → Whether online education is better than traditional methods is still up for debate.

Horrendous (adjective) – extremely unpleasant, horrifying, or terrible. → The traffic conditions during rush hour are absolutely horrendous.

Self-evident (adjective) – obvious and not requiring proof or explanation. → It's self-evident that regular practice improves language skills.

Sunshine and rainbows (idiom) – unrealistically optimistic or positive. → Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows; we need to face challenges realistically.

Encapsulate (verb) – to express or summarize the essential features of something. → This proverb encapsulates an important cultural value in our society.

Govern (verb) – to control, influence, or regulate how something works. → Social norms govern how people behave in different situations.

Separation anxiety (noun) – distress caused by being apart from someone close. → Young children often experience separation anxiety when starting school.

Facilitate (verb) – to make an action or process easier or more efficient. → Technology can facilitate communication between people across the world.

Drift off to sleep (phrasal verb) – to gradually fall asleep. → I usually drift off to sleep while listening to relaxing music.

Dark tone (noun phrase) – a serious, gloomy, or pessimistic atmosphere or mood. → The novel has a dark tone that reflects the harsh realities of war.

Sheltered (adjective) – protected from unpleasant experiences or realities. → Growing up in a sheltered environment, she found university life challenging.

Airy-fairy (adjective) – impractical, unrealistic, or overly idealistic. → His business plan was too airy-fairy and lacked concrete details.

Determining factor (noun phrase) – a decisive element that influences an outcome. → Price is often the determining factor when choosing between similar products.

Formative years (noun phrase) – the early period of life that shapes character and development. → Our formative years have a lasting impact on our personality and values.

Resonate with (phrasal verb) – to evoke a feeling of shared emotion or understanding. → The speaker's message really resonated with the audience.

Nurture (verb) – to care for and encourage growth or development. → Parents play a crucial role in nurturing their children's creativity.

Captivating (adjective) – holding attention through being extremely interesting or charming. → The documentary was captivating from start to finish.

Impressionable (adjective) – easily influenced due to youth or inexperience. → Young children are very impressionable and absorb everything around them.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Is a good storyline important for a movie?

Rory: Well, it's probably essential when you think about it. I mean, can you imagine trying to follow a plot that's all over the place? That would be pretty taxing for, I mean, even the most attentive audience, although what a good storyline looks like is probably something that's up for debate.

Maria: Do all stories for children have happy endings?

Rory: Well, no, they don't. I mean, we've already talked about British stories that have horrible endings where old ladies die. But I mean, the original Grimm's fairy tales, which are massively popular, all have horrendous endings to them. And so I think that, I mean, it's just fairly self-evident that not all children's stories are sunshine and rainbows.

Maria: What can children learn from stories?

Rory: Well, I suppose the most obvious thing is they learn how to tell stories in varying ways, because there's not one way to tell a story. And the other thing is, it's a nice way to sort of encapsulate social rules and various concepts that govern how society works. So the story about the tortoise and the hare is a fun and entertaining way to say, don't let your confidence rule and ruin your life.

Maria: Why do most children like listening to stories before bedtime?

Rory: Well, I'm not so sure it's about the story, really. It might be more about the time with their parents before they go off to sleep, which can be a stressful time if they're afraid of the dark, or maybe they have some kind of separation anxiety. I mean, I suppose it might also facilitate parasympathetic nervous system activation, if it's a nice story and the atmosphere is relaxed. But that's about the content of the story and the atmosphere in the house, more than the actual story at bedtime itself.

Maria: And what are the benefits of listening to stories before bed?

Rory: What other than being close to your parents? Assuming that it does all the positive things I mentioned before, it would give you a good night's sleep. And I suppose it might influence the content of your dreams and what you imagine before you drift off to sleep. Maybe, because there are lots of things that are going on when we're sleeping and when we're dreaming that are not necessarily related to that.

Maria: What kind of stories do children usually like?

Rory: Surely that depends on the children and how they've been raised, doesn't it? I mean, if they've been raised in a very sort of dark way of seeing things, then they might appreciate stories that have a sort of dark tone to them. By contrast, if they've been raised in a very liberal and sheltered place, they might appreciate things which are more, I don't know, airy-fairy, more cosy perhaps. So I don't know. I don't think it's about children in general. I think it's about where they're from and the kind of people they are. And then even outside of the culture, how they are as individuals is also an important determining factor, I would imagine.