Tell Me a Story

Stories have great power. This book attempts to harness that power to help students grow and develop as writers. It argues that stories and narratives can be utilized in the composition classroom, specifically first-year composition (FYC) to break down barriers. Throughout a given semester, stories and narratives can help students in composition courses to overcome academic, personal, and creative barriers, establishing a space for developing as writers and thinkers. Providing theoretical approaches, practical methods, and implications for using stories in FYC, this book explores the versatility of stories as teaching tools.

“Beyond 'What I Did on My Summer Vacation' -- finally, a text that makes a convincing case for integrating narrative writing with research and argumentation in English Composition. Fulton, MacBride, and Field firmly root their book in composition and rhetoric scholarship while offering practical, useful teaching tools for FYC instructors. A confessed skeptic on the uses of narrative in English Composition, by the time I finished reading I was coming up with my own ideas for how narrative might be repurposed for argumentative essays. Tell Me a Story is persuasive.”

Beyond ‘What I Did on My Summer Vacation’ -- finally, a text that makes a convincing case for integrating narrative writing with research and argumentation in English Composition. Fulton, MacBride, and Field firmly root their book in composition and rhetoric scholarship while offering practical, useful teaching tools for FYC instructors. A confessed skeptic on the uses of narrative in English Composition, by the time I finished reading I was coming up with my own ideas for how narrative might be repurposed for argumentative essays. Tell Me a Story is persuasive. -- Melinda G. Kramer, professor emerita and English department chair, Prince George’s Community College and author of The Prentice Hall Handbook for Writers
I tend to shy away from teaching forms of narrative in my first-year composition classes, mainly because the genre has potential for raw, intimate, and even uncomfortable story lines from students. This text dismantled my skepticism by offering practical pedagogy that validates the rich benefits that narratives can offer both teachers and students. Outlined in such a way that it reads like a ‘guide to the semester,’ this text offers activities from day one in the classroom, to the process of understanding and affirming the narrative genre, to writing narratives, and then to reflecting on the writing process and including the narrative in a writing portfolio. The authors have carefully constructed an activity-based text crafted from tensions, uncertainties, and learned lessons that are relatable and perfect for any instructor who wants or needs guidance through the narrative genre. -- Heidi Maria Williams, professor of Rhetoric and Composition, Tennessee State University

Anthony Fulton received his PhD in English from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, in 2015, specializing in Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC). He teaches composition and argumentation courses at Prince George’s Community College.Christopher B. Field received his PhD in English from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, in 2015, his MA in English from the University of Dayton in 2005, his BA in English from the University of Cincinnati in 2003, and his AA from Sinclair Community College in 2001. He has served as an Assistant Professor of English in the Languages, Literature, and Philosophy department at Tennessee State University since 2015.Michael MacBride received his PhD in English from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, in 2014, his MA in literature from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and his BS in creative writing from Eastern Michigan University. Since 2005, he has taught a variety of English, literature, and humanities courses at six different institutions.

Stories have great power. This book attempts to harness that power to help students grow and develop as writers. It argues that stories and narratives can be utilized in the composition classroom, specifically first-year composition (FYC) to break down barriers. Throughout a given semester, stories and narratives can help students in composition courses to overcome academic, personal, and creative barriers, establishing a space for developing as writers and thinkers. Providing theoretical approaches, practical methods, and implications for using stories in FYC, this book explores the versatility of stories as teaching tools.

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