So the story I’m going to be sharing it was one of my travels a few years ago my backpacked through about 50 countries by land in Europe and Asia and one of the memories is when I was in the chicken public and what is now called check yeah and I was in Prague and I had met a friend when I was in Spain she keeps name is an anonymous but I met her when I was in Caddy we met again Madrid and she’s like Hey whenever you get to check Republic Day of me to the parenting Republic so she was able to have the whole house in and out twenties so then when I go to Prague about how many months later four months after I’m out there in Spain so she live in the suburbs It’s a Wonderful home and she told me around town and her family was we went out one day we went off course to the last night Park so all the views had food by the Charles bridge but in the evening when I went to the club when we left it was about 5:00 a.m. I like you when we saw Charles bridge during the day it was crowded as could be there was hundreds of tourists even like it was off today winter like fall winter ish there’s a lot of Tears still but when we went at 5:00 a.m. to Charles bridge there was no more tourists at all and it was completely empty this it was almost almost ended up by the water just near the bridge would blow it and over there II have never seen beavers in Europe and there was beavers everywhere and there was swans they were sleeping waking up getting ready to go out to do to deliver this around we ended up going up with the tram to a Park overlook the whole city and see the sunrise well the next day we slept they like 7:00 a.m. woke up next day by like two from her Subway we could have walked to the city and you can see broadcast overlooking entire city right there as you guys walking to work and from that moment I was like I I Adore the history and architecture in Europe and everyone honestly everywhere and I was just stunned by the beauty and since then I’ve been trying to find a way to move somewhere a bit more historical cultural than Vancouver because there was restaurants and like street signs where we’re traveling and released in Europe that were older than our entire nation and it’s just surprising how little culture and history we have in Canada and identity as well even in the house they have the American culture in that it is rock music Gene’s baseball apple pie football they have these culturally significant effects I don’t expect for the country but in Canada it seems there’s no besides poutine like and what else do we have poutineas it’s not much like history besides from Quebec and the East Coast which is the same yeah so hopefully that one day I’ll be able to go to the public I will never know maybe Canada I will one day join the EU even though the European Union there’s been talk apparently of the potential would be pretty cool and I have allow for free travel and work in Europe which is pretty doable as a teacher move over there or maybe even Asia anywhere with a bit more historical and cultural heritage 

Text was created by google document’s voice typing feature.

Reflection

How does the text deviate from conventions of written English?

Well my text was completely illegible, I have always had trouble with voice to text due to my accent and the task has shown that this continues to be true even with modern technology, Siri and Alexa continue to be my downfall. The legible parts of my story differed from conventional written English in that a lot of colloquialism and run-on sentences were demonstrated, filler words were common and tangents and changes of ideas were frequent. In written English there is usually a structure and organization to produce a flow, but sharing an anecdotal story and having technology write it for you means it is unable to capture the human component of speech, the pauses, cadence, spirit. As Haas (2013) explained Plato’s thoughts emphasizing that  written language is missing the “living and animated speech” (p. 6)  of the human spirit so do I believe that text cannot capture storytelling in the same form as verbal communication. 

What is “wrong” in the text? What is “right”? What are the most common “mistakes” in the text and why do you consider them “mistakes”?

Most of the text was incorrect, I was describing a story of my fondest memory when I visited the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague, during my backpacking trip through Europe and how I stayed with a friend I’d met in Spain. I was attempting to describe the fondest memories of Letna Park, Charles Bridge, and Prague Castle, however the aspects of technology that were most incorrect were nearly all of these foreign names. The technology was unable to understand the Czech Republic instead using the word chicken nor was it able to understand its new name of Czechia, Letna became last night park and Cadiz became Caddy. The most accurate part of the text was when I stopped using specific names and nouns and instead shared my general thoughts on cultural identity of the world versus the identity we lack in Canada. The errors once more reared their head when I tried to describe the cultural identity of the Americans with their jeans becoming Gene’s but for the most part it was accurate from this point onward. I consider them mistakes because they make the story impossible to understand, without the place of a story, the story exists in the void. Humanity’s connection to place is a key part of storytelling, creating a setting for the listener and reader to visualize is what separates excellent written word from simple or poor written language. 

What if you had “scripted” the story? What difference might that have made?

If I had scripted the story there would have been a bit more cohesion in the storyline and a more uniform timeline. I would have begun with when I met my friend and how our chance encounter led to us re-meeting in Czechia and her hosting me for several weeks in her home. Explaining in detail some aspects of Charles Bridge to create stronger imagery and connection to place while explaining the relationship between all the places in Prague and their relation to one another in space. Before shifting to explaining my fascination with history and culture of all cultures and the lack of history in Vancouver relative to the rest of the world. If I had scripted the story the same errors would remain due to technology’s limitations in being able to transcribe foreign names and places and the cadence and enthusiasm would still be absent from the written word.

In what ways does oral storytelling differ from written storytelling? 

Oral storytelling has always been a large part of Persian culture, from the Shahnameh all families share the stories known by heart with our younger relatives. Always with enthusiasm, grandeur, and expression. These are the elements that bring stories to life, these are the pieces that make Marc Anthony’s speech so memorable. The performance in 1938 by the Orson Welles Mercury Theatre company gave me nostalgic memories back to my childhood when I first read his speech and inspired my love of the classical era of history.  Although we cannot see the performance, the cadence, the imagery, the twinge of subtle irony whenever he says the words “honourable men”, it still brings goosebumps and stirs one to action. Oral storytelling has its place in the transference of knowledge to new generations, yet it requires a talent in oration that needs to be taught and refined to reach the listeners. 

References:

Haas, C. (2013). The technology question. In Writing technology: Studies on the materiality of literacy (pp. 3-23). Routledge.