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ELA 4: Analyzing Anecdotes 218 Views


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Description:

If you came here with a snake bite, you're sorely mistaken. This video is about anecdotes, which are short stories. Unfortunately, they do not cure poison. You should really get that looked at.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

[Coop and Dino singing]

00:13

Stories are a really great way for people to connect to each other. We all love stories [Teacher telling a story to kids]

00:18

– listening to them and telling them.

00:20

But, well… Okay, sometimes, your grandma’s stories can get a little long. They drag on

00:24

and on and you sort of stop listening and start daydreaming about cotton candy. [Girl daydreaming and cotton candy appears on a bed]

00:28

…What? Just us?

00:29

Well, what if we told you that there’s a type of story that never does that? A type

00:34

of story that’s supposed to be short?

00:36

Well, guess what? There totally is. It's called an anecdote, and it's the solution to long-winded

00:41

granny stories everywhere. An anecdote is a short, vivid report of an [Coop discussing anecdotes]

00:45

amusing or otherwise memorable incident in a real person's life, or even about a fictional

00:50

situation.

00:51

It isn't so much a story with a beginning, middle, and end as it is just a brief recollection [Book flicking through pages]

00:56

of a memory or experience. It has the makings of a story, but it cuts out all the fluff.

01:00

Hopefully not the cotton candy though. We love that kind of fluff.

01:03

So how do we go about coming up with an anecdote?

01:06

Well first, we'd need to make sure we have the Five Ws of the situation all figured out. [W letters dropped into a pot]

01:11

That means that for whatever memory or experience the anecdote is about, we need to know the

01:15

who, what, where, when and why of it.

01:18

Who was involved? What happened? Where did it happen? When did it happen? And why did [Arrow points to the five W's]

01:23

it happen?

01:24

Just because some people like to tell stories without knowing all the details first *coughGRANNYcough*

01:29

doesn’t mean you have to do the same. The next step is to gather the sensory information

01:33

regarding the anecdote. Things like smell, touch, taste, and sound are all useful when [Examples of sensory information]

01:37

you want to tell an anecdote, because connecting to people's senses allows them to better picture

01:42

themselves in the situation. Let's look at an example of an anecdote from [Girl taking a sip of soup]

01:45

writer Jerry Spinelli.

01:46

“When I was growing up, the first thing I wanted to be was a cowboy. That lasted till

01:51

I was about ten. Then I wanted to be a baseball player. Preferably shortstop for the New York

01:56

Yankees. I played Little League in junior high and

01:58

high school. I only hit two home runs in my career, but I had no equal when it came to

02:02

standing at shortstop and chattering to my pitcher: “C'mon, baby, hum the pea.” Unfortunately,

02:07

when I stood at the plate, so many peas were hummed past me for strikes that I decided

02:11

to let somebody else become shortstop for the Yankees.”

02:13

As we can see, this isn't a full story because it doesn't have a real beginning, middle, [Page with beginning, middle and end]

02:17

or end. It does, however, recall a memory from Jerry’s childhood, making it a great

02:22

example of an anecdote.

02:23

So step one – we gather the five Ws of the anecdote.

02:26

Who is it about? Jerry Spinelli. What is it about? Jerry playing Little League

02:30

Baseball in high school. When does it take place? When he was in high

02:34

school. Duh. Where? In his home town, naturally.

02:37

And why did what happen actually happen? Well, because he wasn't too great at playing baseball.

02:42

Which is okay, because it turns out that he is great at writing.

02:45

Then we move on to step two. Do we see any sensory information here? [Sensory information examples]

02:49

Sure! He tells us about how he would chirp and yell at the pitcher, which definitely

02:53

gives us some insight into what it sounded like out on that field – even if it wasn't

02:56

too pleasant. So now you know everything you need to know

02:59

about anecdotes.

02:59

We don't want to tell you how to live your life, but now may be a perfect time to tell

03:03

your grandma what you learned in school today. [

03:05

Though we're sure she has some long-winded story about anecdotes, too. Good ol' granny. [Little Red Riding Hood walks to Grandma's room and a wolf is in the bed]

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