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ENG 374 - Storytelling

Department: English

Description: The art of storytelling based on knowledge of folklore heritage with experiences in oral transmission of literature in a variety of settings.

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisites: A minimum of 45 hours completed

Current Offerings

For the most up-to-date course information, please check the registration system through your MyIllinoisState portal.

Fall 2025

  • 001 - Lecture (Hybrid): Multiple Meetings, Mary Jeanette Moran - 3.00 hour(s)

Meeting Times:

Instructor: Mary Jeanette Moran

Class Notes: This course will explore storytelling from a variety of different perspectives, including theories about narrative and storytelling practices across diverse communities in the U.S. and the world. Our primary texts will be books written for children and young adults that enact and/or comment on thought-provoking forms of storytelling, including Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart, Tae Keller’s When You Trap a Tiger, Jacqueline Woodson’s Show Way, and The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton and Leo and Diane Dillon. The process of storytelling necessarily involves an author or narrator and an audience, and we’ll pay particular attention to the structure of the author-audience relationship of adult and child, with help from theoretical texts such as Marshall Gregory’s Shaped by Stories: The Ethical Power of Narratives. Much of our work together will be devoted to discussion about the readings, though we will also engage in informal writing and peer workshopping; students should expect to be actively engaged in their learning throughout the semester. In addition to thoughtful and interactive participation, student responsibilities will include a day of leading discussion, two papers, and informal writing reflections on the concept of story; there will be opportunities for you to create and/or perform your own stories as well.

Textbooks have not been finalized for section.