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Importance of listening skills
Importance of good listening skills
Importance of good listening skills
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Recommended: Importance of listening skills
This has been the most exhilarating, challenging, and enlightening assignment I have ever undertaken. For this assignment, I chose to listen to two podcasts from Symphony Space's Selected Shorts that featured topics that intrigued me, "The private paradise" podcast from April 17, 2011 and the "Tale of terror" podcast from March 20, 2011. The stories in "The private paradise" podcast that I listened to included Sonia Manzano's performance of “My Backyard ” by Peter Lu, Rita Wolf's performance of “A Room of My Own” by Alanna Okun, David Rakoff's performance of “Your Mother and I” by Dave Eggers, and James Naughton's performance of “Visit” by Barry Yourgrau. The "Tale of terror" podcast only included one story, Boyd Gaines's performance of “The …show more content…
I never realized that there was a difference between hearing and listening before. Now that I understand this difference, I can begin working on improving my listening skills. I am currently a librarian assistant at the adult reference desk of a public library, and I have noticed that I tend to misunderstand patrons' information needs, even after a lengthy reference interview. By working on my listening skills, I will be able to assist library patrons much more effectively and efficiently since I will be able to focus better and be able to better understand their questions. This was a very important lesson for me to learn, because becoming a more effective listener will assist me with my current position, my future position as a librarian, and even my interpersonal …show more content…
The stories I listened to have a made a lasting impression on me, and I continue to reflect on these stories days later, something I have never done with books. The lessons I have learned from learning to appreciate the listening process will also stay with me. I believe that this is the first time I have truly listened, and doing so has allowed me to think and react in a manner that I never have before. This is one experience that I will never forget.
Works Cited
Kuyvenhoven, J. (2007). "What happens inside your head when you are listening to a story?" Children talk about their experience during a storytelling. Storytelling, Self, Society, 3(2), 95-114.
Public International Radio. (2011, April 17). The private paradise. Selected Shorts Podcast. Podcast retrieved from http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510202
Public International Radio. (2011, March 20). Tale of terror. Selected Shorts Podcast. Podcast retrieved from http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510202
Sturm, B. W. (1999). The enchanted imagination: Storytelling's power to entrance listeners. School Library Media Research,
terrorist acts of a more homegrown variety. Stern interviews American terrorists here in the United
The Storytelling Animal is an expository non-fiction book by Jonathan Gottschall analyzing the history of stories and human’s attraction to them. It was published in 2012 and thus contains many up-to-date references and comparisons. I believe Gottschall’s main objective in writing this book is to bring us all to the conclusion that he has reached in his research. Throughout the entirety of his book, Gottschall effectively pulls us back to main ideas he wants us to understand and accept, that we are innately storytelling animals, that are addicted to stories ourselves, have always been and will always be, by using topics that build upon one another, using relatable examples, and supporting arguments with research and studies.
Presenting the story from a third person perception and having the narration by the mother or “Mama” gives the story great relevance to real life situations that ha...
He relates how Irish storytellers would turn their backs to the audience, or speak from another room in order that the listeners would rely on their imaginations. These types of storytellers would not rely on gestures, or voice inflections, but instead chose to paint a mental picture for their audiences who created vivid imagery in their own minds. The story was paramount to the teller. Lindahl laments that current storytellers have become enamored with their own performances and become as important to the tale as the tale itself. The “quiet, shyer world of the lone, quiet voice figures too rarely in folkloric performance studies.” Lindahl compares the true märchen tellers to the quilters who are more intrigued in the stitches of their work, and not the beautiful patterns or to the skilled basket weavers who focus on the intended use of the basket and not the aesthetic beauty of the weaving patterns (McCarthy xix-xx). In today’s society, the figure of a great storyteller evokes an image of gestures, voice inflections, voice impersonations provided by a colorful character. Perhaps our sensory overload from high definition televisions, streaming video, IMAX theaters have dulled our appreciation for the story itself, which is created in our own imaginations by a teller with skilled
Schweitzer, Y., & Shay, S. (2003). The globalization of terror: The challenge of al-qaida and the response of the international community. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers.
Mueller expresses how stories allow children to achieve the impossible, such as flying when they are incapable and discovering the unknown. Stories give a life to the people who are unable to live, and that is one of the reasons why imagination is so essential to our world. The sharing of tales bring genuine joy to people without the need of materialistic items; it gives people the chance to relate to the author on a common ground. The sense of shared joy and mutual connection brings people closer together and expands on relationships. People begin to feel as if they are apart of an imagined community, which is a community in which people perceive themselves to be apart of, through common interests or relations from media or works of literature. Communities such as these allow people to connect with each other, despite never crossing paths. It allows the birth and the strengthening of relationships, for when people begin to converse with others, the first thing they do is find common experiences or interests that they share. In addition, a quote from Mueller, herself, adds to why we tell stories: “Because the story of our life becomes our life. Because each of us tell the same story but tell it differently, and none of us tells it the same way twice.” Tales are devised with the incorporation of the narrator’s imagination; it is a way to
Literature: Reading and Writing about the Human Experience. 7th ed. of the book. New York: St. Martin's, 1998.
O'Connor, Frank. "Guests of the Nation." Literature for Composition. 4th ed. Sylvan Barnet, et. al. New York: Harper Collins, 1996. 590-598.
ears of the listener and makes us want to hear what happens next. The amusing story makes us want to
Zarin, Cynthia. “The Storyteller.” New Yorker 4 Dec. 2014: n. pag. newyorker.com,n.d. Web.19 Feb. 2014.
Mingst, Karen A., and Jack L. Snyder. Andrew H. Kydd and Barbara F. Walter, The Strategies of Terrorism. Essential Readings in World Politics. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
Fantasy writer Philip Pullman says, “After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” Stories have been central to how human history has been shaped and remembered. On a grand scale, stories have been a way to pass down culture and remember history. On a smaller scales, they have been used to spend an entertaining evening or- often in many cultures, put a child to bed. While the power of a stories is one that has gone generally unnoticed, William Cronon urgently calls us to pay attention to stories. As Cronon argues in “A Place for Stories”, the manner in which a story is told influences what futures generations will both learn and recall on their own.
Herman, E. & Sullivan, G. O.1989. The Terrorism Industry: The Experts and Institutions That Shape Our View of Terror. New York: Pantheon.
Savu, Laura. “The Crooked Business of Storytelling”. Ariel. Summer 2005 36. 3-4 Gale Cengage Learning. Thomson Gale. Webster Schroeder Library, Webster, NY. 31 January 2014.
The continuing war on terror has lead to a renewed national awareness and heightened desire for peace. However, images of unrest, bloodshed, and horrific acts of terror flood the media, pulling at our hearts, causing outrage against the perpetrators. Yet, in spite of society’s collective repulsion to these atrocities, similar acts of terror occur every day and go unnoticed in the nam...