Description

This newsletter, #9 in the orality series by Janet Stahl asks how close to a written text a teller stays when telling a written sacred story, verbatim or not.
Janet states,
"There are some general characteristics of a well-told story that contrast with a well-written story. Tellers tend to use shorter sentences and more repetition. They use direct speech more than indirect speech. And they use their voice, facial expression, gestures and movement to support the message. This means that many storytellers' notion of verbatim allows for wiggle room to include these characteristics."