
Storytelling. Keys to Understanding Fictional Narrative / Loojutustus. Võtmed väljamõeldud narratiivi mõistmiseks
School of Educational Sciences
Training and Conference Center
From oral literature to written forms, from fairy tales to horror stories, fictional narrative is a fundamental literary mode, present in all cultures and eras. What makes a story fascinating? How is it possible for reading to thrill our senses, awaken our imagination and nourish our intellect? In this course you will get familiar with the essential elements of storytelling from a literary theoretical approach, learning to 'decode' a written story while reading a variety of genres.
- 18:00 - 19:30
Target group: High school students and vocational school students, young people taking a gap year.
English at least level B2.
Course schedule:
TIME | TOPIC | TRAINER | ROOM | |
---|---|---|---|---|
02.10.2024 | 18:00-19:30 | The Poetic Function. What makes literary language different from ‘common’ language? | Clara del Rey | Zoom |
09.10.2024 | 18:00-19:30 | Theme, Story & Discourse. What is the distinction between what is told and the way of telling it? (And why does it matter?) | Clara del Rey | Zoom |
16.10.2024 | 18:00-19:30 | Narrative Structure. How do authors organize narrative discourse to captivate the readers? | Clara del Rey | Zoom |
30.10.2024 | 18:00-19:30 | Narrative Space. How can space be relevant to the plot? In which ways can it be meaningful? | Clara del Rey | Zoom |
06.11.2024 | 18:00-19:30 | Narrative Time. When does altering the timeline of events make it easier to understand a story? | Clara del Rey | Zoom |
13.11.2024 | 18:00-19:30 | Character & Action. What makes a character interesting? | Clara del Rey | Zoom |
20.11.2024 | 18:00-19:30 | Narrator & Narratee. How different point of views influence the representation of a story? | Clara del Rey | Zoom |
27.11.2024 | 18:00-19:30 | Telling vs Showing. When is an author being too explicit in their narration? When too obscure? | Clara del Rey | Zoom |
04.12.2024 | 18:00-19:30 | The Literary Code. What does it mean to ‘decode’ a literary text? What is that thing called ‘style’? | Clara del Rey | Zoom |
11.12.2024 | 18:00-19:30 | The Literary Review. Final projects submission and presentations. | Clara del Rey | Zoom |
Course coordinator: Merje Olm, merje.olm@tlu.ee, 640 9316
Course trainer:
Course participants have thought about this course:
- All topics were terribly exciting and well chosen, the teacher was wonderful!
- The teacher went to great lengths to prepare for the lessons. From the slides to the materials she was excellent! All the information was new to me and Clara made it her duty to explain everything clearly and in great detail.
- Discussing literature and analyzing it with people who are really interested in it and who share my thoughts. This is very rare in a regular school lesson, and therefore I am incredibly grateful for the training.
- I learned to look at fiction texts with an analytical eye.
- New knowledge that I can further research and apply in my own readings.
Learning outcomes, the student:
- is able to identify the main elements and themes of a literary text (as well as the author’s intention);

- can take on a variety of narration’s subgenera (horror, romantic, fantasy, etc.) and identify their characteristics;

- is able to criticize a text applying aesthetic reasoning;

- can produce a text with clear literary intent.