Humans are naturally storytellers In the movie, Forrest Gump
does not pass any opportunity to tell a story. With each
conversation he has he finds away to relate that to an experience
he has had and this gives him the opportunity to tell one of his
many stories
Slide 4
Decisions about a storys worth are based on Good Reasons When
we hear a story, we choose the worth of the story. This choice is
more of a personal preference more than a logical decision. Many of
the stories Forrest tells could be seen of much worth just because
of the significance of the story. Some people though may put little
worth on the story because of their preference.
Slide 5
Continued Forrest tells many stories that are hard to believe.
Some of the people he talks to reject his stories while others
choose to believe them. https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=xuUIq0
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Slide 6
Good Reasons are determined by history, biography, culture, and
character. Good reason and choices based of of history, biography,
culture and character. It is through these that determine how well
somone will accept or reject a story.
Slide 7
Rationality is based on peoples judgment of a storys
consistency and truthfulness. Someone will reject or accept a story
based on its consistency and truthfulness. In the movie one man
completely rejects Forrests story of him being the owner of bubba
Gump shrimp. The man rejected the story because he could not
believe that he was sitting next to a multi-millionaire
Slide 8
We experience the world as filled with stories, and we must
choose among them. Stories are all around us and we choose which
ones we believe and this in turn effects our life.
Slide 9
Key concepts in the narrative approach
Slide 10
Narration Defined as any verbal account with a sequence of
events. All communication is a form of narration. Narrative
Rationality How we determine which narratives to believe and
reject.
Slide 11
Coherence This is how we determine if we will believe a story.
If a story is consistent and does not leave out key details then it
coheres and is more believable. Also when the story is consistent
with what we would believe to have happen this helps the story to
be more believable. Forrest though his stories were hard to believe
at first, his actions remained consistent with his character which
added coherence to the story.
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Types of Coherence Structural Coherence When the story flows
smoothly and each part leads to the next without confusion The
stories that Forrest told had a strong structural coherence,
because each story led to another and he was clear about how his
actions led to one thing and then another.
Slide 15
Material Coherence The similarities in one story to the other.
If two stories are told about something and they both match up and
do not conflict each other then they have strong material
coherence. In the movie, Forrest does a good job at showing the
material coherence in his stories. All of his stories mesh together
and do not conflict each other.
Slide 16
Fidelity This is basically the narrative ethos. Fidelity is the
rational used in order to determine the credibility of the story.
Because of Forrests simplistic nature, some found it hard to
believe his stories. Some did not see the credibility that Forrest
had to do the things he did. There were a few objects that he had
that showed his credibility with the stories he told..
Slide 17
To conclude. The narrative paradigm theory basically is the
explanation of why we tell stories and how we come to the
conclusion of which stories to reject or accept.
Slide 18
Slide 19
The End!
Slide 20
Works Cited "The Narrative Paradigm." Communication Theory RSS.
N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.. Turner, Lynn H. "Chapter 20."
Introducing Communication Theory Analysis and Application. By
Richard West. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.