Instructional design/DS Map

Stories Need Roadmaps

If you’re going to create a story, you need to figure out ahead of time where it starts, where it ends and how it gets there. Because a story is a journey, you need to create a map to guide you. To create a map, you need to understand a story’s parts.

The Narrative Arc

Think back to our definition of a story: A sympathetic character encounters a challenge that he or she must confront and solve. That’s the narrative arc. Recall that Jed Clampett’s narrative arc is: a poor mountain man (character) accidentally strikes oil and becomes rich (challenge) and moves the family out of poverty to ritzy Beverly Hills (resolution.)

Or take another well-known, simple narrative: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Its arc is: Rudolph (character) has a nose that glows. It’s so bright that other reindeer tease and shun him (challenge). But he saves Christmas when Santa needs a guide through the fog; then everyone loves him (resolution). Yes, reindeer are vain and shallow, but it’s a narrative.

Finally, consider the classic moment from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, when Huck wrestles with whether to tell Miss Watson that her runaway slave Jim has been captured. Read it here (Ctrl+click or Command+click to open link in a new window). Then write out your own narrative arc. When you’re done, compare it with this example.

Story Mapping

A story map serves two purposes: Like a roadmap, it gives you a simple visual picture of the story’s beginning, middle and end, providing a shorthand guide for your digital storytelling project. It also adds depth to your analysis by allowing you to chart how the character is transformed by the challenge. This transformation is what makes the story worth listening to.

Here’s how Ohler (2004) depicts it (Ctrl+click or Command+click to open link in a new window). Notice how a story, in the end, is about learning.

Exercise

You should be ready to give this a try. Use the numbered model below to list the major plot points of at least one digital story from the list under Application. Review the Guided Practice example for additional instruction.

Guided Practice

Example: Huck Finn story map

1. Huck learns the escaped slave Jim has been captured.
2. Huck wonders whether to do the “right” and thing tell Jim’s owner. He writes Jim’s owner a note telling where to find him.
3. Huck wrestles with “right” in God’s eyes versus the “wrong” of being loyal to his travel companion and friend.
4. Huck decides that “wrong” is right for him, even if God thinks otherwise. ("All right, then, I'll GO to hell.")
5. Huck tears up the note and decides to help Jim escape.

Application

View the digital storytelling example, click edit for the chosen example and add your list of plot points below "Practice:" (Note: Please sign your name using the signature wikicode.)

When you're done, compare your story map with the answer key to see whether your map is complete.

---

1. Wichita firefighters rescue a dog from a swollen creek (Storify)

Practice:
Answer key

---

2. Autumn Leaves (YouTube)

Practice:
Answer key

---

3. The Princess and the Flightless Bird (YouTube)

Practice:
Answer key

---

Back: What is a Story? Home Next: Assessment Considerations