narrating unforgettable moments

Narrating Unforgettable Moments

Sharing personal and amusing stories is one way people connect with each other.

The ability to share stories is an important component in developing and maintaining relationships.

Telling stories about unforgettable moments is sure to make others laugh, wince or sigh in relief and is a good spring board for strengthen connections with each others.


•Role shift is one of several narratives for you to develop essential skills needed to tell a story successfully.

•Role shift is an essential tool used in telling anecdotes, stories, or even jokes.

•Role shift allows you to tell what happened in a vivid way, and allows you the rich opportunity to describe the person’s thought, behavior or reaction simultaneously.

•Additionally you will learn to maintain spatial agreement between the location of people; sequence classifiers; time reactions to coincide with the action and to elaborate on a story by giving descriptions, sharing, thoughts and giving reasons.


Basic Role Shift Sequence

1. Tell where you and the other person located.

2. Tell what the person is doing.3. (Transition) Tell how the liquid is

passed between the people.4. Describe the result and the person’s

reaction.


Exercise: Oops

Follow the Basic Role Shift Sequence to develop the situations. For each situation, decide the other person’s position and distance from you and visualize the action sequence and the reactions before, during, and after the situation occurs.

Oops….Situations

1. As you’re holding an infant, he throws up on you.

2. A bird flying above make a deposit on your head.

3. Someone throw a cup of water on you.

4. A dog urinate on your shoe.

5. You are eating a grapefruit. You stick the spoon in and out comes a squirt of grapefruit juice into another persons’ eye.


Exercise: Tripping and Falling

1. Describe kind of barrier/surface.

2. (Transition) Describe the fall (CL:V + reaction)

3. Describe the result of the fall and/or comment on the incident.


Exercise: Tripping and Falling

Examples of barriers or surfaces people often trip over, slip on or bump into.

On the ground

Low objects

Objects above head

Slick surfaces


Exercise: How Did It Happens?

Break-out in groups with 3 – 4 students

Follow the narrative sequence in your handout and practice signing each incident.

For each incident, visualize the action sequence and consider the reactions before, during, and after the incident.

Final Review – Unforgettable Moments

Prepare to tell the stories by doing the following:

- organize the information in the story by visualizing the setting, location of the people and the sequence of events.

- act out the story with your group to help you develop a fully elaborated story

- analyze the grammar elements needed, concentrating on the part of the story that is in bold face

- elaborate on the story with descriptions, explanations, thoughts and reactions

- add an introduction and conclusion to your story

narrating unforgettable moments

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