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Page 75
The story itself.--The story must not be too long, or interest will
weaken and attention will flag. It must have an interesting beginning,
so that attention and anticipation are aroused from the very first
sentence. "Once upon a time..." "A long time ago when the fairies..."
"There once lived a king who..."--these all contain a hint of mystery
or of interesting possibilities certain to invite response from
children. The commonplace beginning is illustrated in a story in a
primary leaflet which starts, "There was once a mother, who loved her
child as all mothers do." There is no invitation here to imagination or
anticipation, and the evident attempt to enforce a moral truth in the
opening sentence detracts from its effectiveness.
The major characters of the story should be introduced in the opening
sentences. The story should possess a close-knit unity, and not admit
incidental or supplemental characters or events that play no direct part
in the sequel. It must be so planned as to proceed to a _climax_, and
this climax should be reached without unnecessary deviations and
wanderings. We all know that type of story in which the main point is
all but lost in a multiplicity of unnecessary details. On the other
hand, points necessary to the climax must not be omitted. The climax may
be the end of the story, or an ending may be provided following the
climax. In either case the ending should leave the mind of the listener
at rest as to the outcome. That is to say, there should remain no
mystery or uncertainty or unpleasant feeling of incompleteness. The
ending of a story should be as carefully phrased as its beginning. Even
if the story has a sad ending, which is usually not best in children's
stories, it should have some element in it which makes such a conclusion
inevitable, and so leaves the mind in a sense satisfied.
Guiding principles.--The rules to guide in planning the story itself
may, then, be stated as follows:
1. Decide on the _truth to be conveyed_, and make the story lead up to
this.
2. Use great care to compel interest and anticipation through an
_effective beginning_.
3. Plan to have the body of the story reasonably brief, and to make the
main truth _stand out in a climax_. Eliminate all complications or
irrelevant matter that does not aid in leading up to the climax.
Elaborate and stress all features that help in making the impression to
be attained in the climax.
4. Make the ending such as to leave in the mind a feeling that the story
was _satisfactory and complete_.
Telling the story.--The effective story must be _told_. It cannot be
read without losing something of spontaneity and attractiveness. It
cannot even be committed to memory and repeated; for here also is
lacking something of the living glow and appeal that come from having
the words spring fresh and warm from the mind that is actually thinking
and feeling them. Most story-tellers find that it pays to work out
carefully and commit to memory the opening and closing sentences of a
story; the phrasing is so important here that it should not be left to
chance. But the body of the story is better given extemporaneously even
if the wording is not as perfect as it could be made by reading or
reciting the matter.
Before trying to tell a story before his class, the teacher should
rehearse it several times. Nothing but practice will give the ease,
certainty, and spontaneity necessary to good story-telling. Even
professional story-tellers realize that they do not tell a new story
well until they have told it a number of times. Perhaps this is in part
because one never enjoys telling a story until he is sure he can tell it
well, and so get a response from his listeners. And one never tells a
story really well unless he himself enjoys both the story and its
telling. One never brings the full effectiveness of a story to bear on
his hearers unless he himself enters fully into its appreciation, and
moves himself while stirring the emotions of those who listen.
The right atmosphere required.--Second in importance only to preparing
himself for the telling of the story is the preparing of the class to
listen. The right atmosphere of thought, attitude and feeling should be
created for the story before it is begun. A primary teacher was about to
begin a story whose purpose was to show how God cares for the birds by
giving them feathers to keep them warm, wings for swift flying, and cozy
nests for their homes, when suddenly a little bird flew in through the
classroom window and was killed before the class by dashing against the
wall. Of course the right atmosphere for her story was then impossible,
and she wisely left it for another time.
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