Multi-Culture Lesson Plan

OVERVIEW
In this lesson, students will look closely at the unrehearsed stories that
people tell each other every day ("natural narratives") and discover their
underlying organization. Using the model for natural narratives created by
linguist William Labov, students will break down a story told on film by a
Finnish man, as well as natural narratives of their own, in order to identify
the structure common to well-developed narratives. For more information
on sociolinguistics and narrative analysis, please see the Resources
section of this lesson.
The video clip used in this lesson is from the film Steam of Life, a
documentary that features a collection of stories told by men in Finland as
they meet in a traditional Finnish gathering place the sauna. Please
note that the film is in Finnish with English subtitles. Also, the filmmaker's
version of the documentary contains extensive nudity. If you would like to
use the entire film in the classroom, consider recording the broadcast
version or borrowing it from the POV lending library FOR FREE! Note:
POV documentaries can be recorded off-the-air and used for educational
purposes for up to one year from their initial broadcast. Get started by
joining our Community Network.
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OBJECTIVES
By the end of this lesson, students will:
Examine the sections that make up the common structure of welldeveloped natural narratives.
Break down two natural narratives into their component parts.
Infer how recognizing the underlying organization of everyday language
might be useful.
GRADE LEVELS
9-12, College
SUBJECT AREAS
Language Arts, Linguistics, Social Studies
MATERIALS
Internet access and equipment to show the class online video
Audio or video recording devices (cell phones, cameras, etc.)
Handout: "Natural Narrative Analysis" (PDF)
ESTIMATED TIME NEEDED
One 50-minute class period

FILM CLIPS
Clip 1: "An Elderly Man Tells of Love and Loss" (length 3:17)
Clip 2: "A Military Man Copes With His Mother's Death" (length 2:40)
Clip 3: "A Young Man Talks About His New Baby" (length 1:09)
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ACTIVITY
1. Display a set of personal narrative prompts and ask each student to
select one prompt (or come up with his or her own) and orally tell a partner
a story based on the chosen topic. Students should record the stories as
they are told.
2. Give each student a Natural Narrative Analysis handout and explain that
linguist William Labov closely studied the unrehearsed stories that people
tell each other every day called "natural narratives" and identified six
common elements that form the structures of well-developed narratives:
Abstract: An optional set-up for the story, such as, "I remember when
my family went on vacation to the beach."
Orientation: The who, when, where and/or why of the story, such as,
"My sister and I were walking along the shore and collecting shells."
Complicating Action: The plot of the story. "We saw a swimmer waving
his hands in the air and calling out for help. A rip current was pulling
him out to sea. We ran down the beach and alerted a lifeguard."
Resolution: What happened, in which the problem posed by the
complicating action comes to a conclusion. "The lifeguard paddled
out on his surfboard and rescued the swimmer."
Coda: Returns the listener back to the present. This is the storyteller
saying that the story is over. "And we all lived happily ever after!"
Evaluation: Optional comments, made at any point in the story, that
explain why the story is being told and why the events are notable,
for example, "It's a good thing we were there or who knows what
might have happened!"
3. Help students recognize these common elements of narratives by using
Labov's model to break down both a story told on film by a Finnish man
and one of the stories that students told their partners at the beginning of
the lesson. First, show the video clip "An Elderly Man Tells of Love and
Loss" (length 3:17). Focus student viewing by asking students to listen
carefully to see if they can recognize any parts of Labov's model in the
man's narrative.
4. After the class has watched the video, guide the class through Analysis
#1 on the handout. (Answers for Part A: Orientation, Complicating Action,

Resolution. For Part B: Orientation, Complicating Action, Resolution,

Coda.)
5. For Analysis #2, have students transcribe the stories they recorded
earlier and work with their partners to break down and label the parts of
their narratives as they did for the Finnish man's story in Analysis #1.
6. Invite a few pairs to share their analyses with the class. Then, conclude
the lesson by asking students to respond to the questions at the bottom of
the handout.