Story Structure Research Articles

The Hidden Scopophilia in Wild (2014) and Its Contribution to Feminist Road Film

Abstract: The power of movie in portraying feminist women are incredible, especially when movie are viewed as a low threshold art form. As early as 1965, Russ Meyer directed a feminist road movie called Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Since then, the protagonists of road movies have a second gender besides males. After Thelma and Louise achieving great success in 1991, feminist road movies instantly became a craze, and many directors began making films with similar themes, such as Leaving Normal (1992) and Boys on the Side (1995). The film Wild (2014), directed by Jean-Marc Valle and written by Nick Hornby, based on the 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, focuses on the personal growth of woman in hiking. However, like many other feminist road movies, although the director tries to tell womens stories, create strong female character and reimagine story structure, but still maintains the pleasure of looking. This article starts with camera language analysis to interpret scopophilia and the to-be-looked-at-ness of female character wrapped in the innovative feminist stories and intentions.

Bilingual Children Demonstrate Variation Within Shared Narrative Macrostructure.

We investigate the relationship between narrative macrostructure, current language exposure, and microstructure in second-grade Spanish-English bilingual children in the United States. Macrostructure knowledge has been claimed to be shared across languages in multilingual individuals. We examine the role of current language exposure and microstructure on macrostructure and how individual children organize their stories in English and Spanish. We use sociocultural theory to investigate differences in the macrostructural elements children choose to include in their stories by language. Using existing data, we used a two-sample t-test to compare average macrostructure and microstructure performance in English and Spanish in addition to performance on subcomponents of macrostructure. A correlational analysis was used to compare narrative performance in both languages. We used regression analysis to investigate to what extent current language exposure and microstructure influenced the macrostructure of 62 Spanish-English bilingual second graders' stories. Children used more words and a greater variety of words in Spanish compared to English. However, they demonstrated comparable use of overall macrostructure across languages, in addition to variation in what macrostructure subcomponents they use by language of story elicitation. No statistically significant relationship was found between current language exposure and macrostructure, except for Spanish story structure. Correlational analysis revealed a significant relationship between macrostructure performance in English and Spanish. A significant relationship was found within languages between microstructure and macrostructure and across languages between Spanish microstructure and English internal state terms. Findings are consistent with extant literature that claims macrostructure is shared across languages. Children require lexical diversity across languages to express their ideas organized within macrostructural elements. Although bilingual children tell comparably complex stories, they may be making culturally and linguistically specific decisions about what macrostructure components to include in their stories.

Picture perfect science communication: How public audiences respond toinformational labels in cinematic-style 3D data visualization.

Visualizing research data can be an important science communication tool. In recent decades, 3D data visualization has emerged as a key tool for engaging public audiences. Such visualizations are often embedded in scientific documentaries screened on giant domes in planetariums or delivered through video streaming services such as Amazon Prime. 3D data visualization has been shown to be an effective way to communicate complex scientific concepts to the public. With its ability to convey information in a scientifically accurate and visually engaging way, cinematic-style 3D data visualization has the potential to benefit millions of viewers by making scientific information more understandable and interesting. Maximizing the effectiveness of 3D data visualization can benefit millions of viewers. To support a wider shift in this professional field towards more evidence-based practice in 3D data visualization to enhance science communication impact, we have conducted a survey experiment comparing audience responses to two versions of 3D data visualizations from a scientific documentary film on the theme of 'solar superstorms' (n = 577). This study was conducted using a single (with two levels: labeled and unlabeled), between-subjects, factorial design. It reveals key strengths and weaknesses of communicating science using 3D data visualization. It also shows the limited power of strategically deployed informational labels to affect audience perceptions of the documentary film and its content. The major difference identified between experimental and control groups was that the quality ratings of the documentary film clip were significantly higher for the 'labeled' version. Other outcomes showed no statistically significant differences. The limited effects of informational labels point to the idea that other aspects, such as the story structure, voiceover narration and audio-visual content, are more important determinants of outcomes. This study concludes with a discussion of how this new research evidence informs our understanding of 'what works and why' with cinematic-style 3D data visualizations for the public.

Characteristics of Each Story Structure Stage of Makoto Shinkai’s Films

Characteristics of Each Story Structure Stage of Makoto Shinkai’s Films

How do speech language pathologists use the Schwarz et al. (2015) rubric for read-aloud storybook selection?

ABSTRACT Reading storybooks aloud to prereaders helps them develop oral language skills; but educators struggle to select appropriate storybooks for read alouds. To better understand this selection process, we evaluated how experienced speech language pathologists (SLPs) apply the storybook selection rubric in Schwarz et al.'s (2015). A read-aloud storybook selection system for prereaders at the preschool language level: A pilot study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 58(4), 1273-1291. doi:10.1044/2015_JSLHR-L-15-0056. That rubric includes: eight book characteristics, one four-level difficulty scale, and exemplar storybooks for each scale level. Using this rubric, 38 SLPs—who had served children at the preschool language level—rated 63 storybooks based on how difficult they thought the storybooks would be for children at the preschool language level to understand when the storybooks were read aloud to them. A principal component analysis identified-among the original eight characteristics a subset of five highly correlated characteristics related to overall text difficulty: vocabulary, story structure, sentence length, book length, and density. We revised the original rubric to include only four storybook characteristics: (a) text difficulty, (b) amount of inferencing, problem-solving, and abstract concepts, (c) familiarity of activities/experiences, and (d) level of support provided by the illustrations. Using quartile values of the text difficulty characteristic, we derived a four-level difficulty scale for the 63 storybooks. The revised storybook selection rubric simplifies the process of selecting appropriate storybooks for read alouds. The revised rubric and SLPs' difficulty ratings of 63 storybooks provide clinicians with a resource ready-made for clinical practice.

Analyzing the Efficacy of Digital Tools in Enhancing Imaginative Writing Abilities

Several facets of learning, include imaginative writing transformed from digital technologies. Writing creatively fosters students' creativity and critical thinking abilities, an essential part of literacy education. The long-term effects of digital technologies on imaginative writing skills (IWS), despite the increasing usage. The potential of digital tools diversions might constitute the intended benefits and the application of these technologies utilized in educational institutions. The study aims to investigate how digital tool improve writing skills and develop innovative writing abilities by fostering creativity. The research intends to identify which digital tools offer the most significant benefits and how integrated into educational practices to support imaginative writing development. This study included a total of 60 participants, including males (28) and females (32) for imaginative writing skills. Utilizing SPSS software, a statistical analysis of the data was carried out. The data was analyzed using a t-test, ANOVA, and regression analyses. These analyses demonstrated imaginative writing skills. The research findings demonstrated that digital tools greatly enhanced participant’s creative writing skills, vocabulary growth and story structure. The use of digital tools could significantly improve participant’s capacity for imaginative writing skill development.

Modeling contextual goals and detecting context conflicts from BDD-based user stories

Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) user stories are widely used in agile methods for capturing user requirements and acceptance criteria due to their simplicity and clarity. However, the concise structure of BDD-based user stories prevents capturing contextual information and connections between them, which help stakeholders understand requirements and uncover potential issues. The contextual goal models (CGMs) can provide explicit relationships between goals and contexts, but manually constructing models is effort-intensive. This paper proposes an automated approach called BUS2C to model contextual goals and detect context conflicts from BDD-based user stories. The aim is to improve requirements analysis by systematically eliciting goals and dependencies. BUS2C approach involves: (1) mapping BDD-based user story elements to CGMs, and (2) merging related models based on similarity. The context conflict detection algorithm checks if contexts associated with different goals are compatible using natural language metrics. We evaluated BUS2C approach through three experiments. First, we showed the effectiveness in merging scattered CGMs with common features. Second, we demonstrated the capability to construct CGMs from BDD-based user stories quickly, assisting modelers. Our merging method also produced models closer to manually built ones versus without merging. Third, we validated that the context conflict detection can successfully identify inconsistencies in small datasets, enhancing requirements quality. Further validation on larger datasets is needed. In conclusion, this work contributes automated techniques to systematically model and analyze contextual goals from BDD-based user stories. By providing unified goal understanding and detecting issues like conflicts, BUS2C approach aims to improve requirements analysis and support adaptive systems development.

Narrative production and executive functions in post-stroke agrammatic aphasia

ABSTRACT Background Narrative production has been widely characterized as providing an ecologically valid way to assess language skills in post-stroke aphasia. Although narrative tasks have been instrumental in delineating patterns of lexical and syntactic production in individuals with agrammatic aphasia, our knowledge of how narrative skills are affected in agrammatic aphasia is still limited. Aims The study’s aims were to (a) compare narrative performance between individuals with agrammatic aphasia and a language-unimpaired group, (b) investigate the contribution of lexical and syntactic skills in each group’s narrative organizational skills, and (c) explore the effects of executive functions on each group’s narrative performance. Methods & Procedures The study included 14 individuals with agrammatic aphasia and 14 age- and education-matched language unimpaired individuals as the control group. Both groups told the Cinderella story, and their narrative production was analyzed in terms of microstructure (lexical diversity, syntactic complexity, clause length) and macrostructure (story grammar, story structure complexity). Each group’s executive functions were evaluated through the One-Touch Stockings of Cambridge test that assesses working memory, and the Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift test that assesses cognitive flexibility. Outcomes & Results Regarding narrative microstructure, the individuals with agrammatism scored significantly lower than controls in syntactic complexity and clause length, but not in lexical diversity, but they performed lower than controls in both narrative macrostructural measurements. Also, the agrammatic group scored lower than controls in both executive function tasks. A series of linear regression models showed that microstructural skills significantly affected narrative macrostructural abilities in the cohort with agrammatic aphasia, while controls’ macrostructure was affected by both narrative microstructure and executive function skills. Conclusions The individuals with agrammatic aphasia exhibited impairment in both low-level language features of narrative production, such as syntactic complexity and narrative length, and global measures of narrative organization. Their macrostructural performance critically relied on their language resources, while controls’ narrative macrostructure seemed to also draw on domain-general cognitive skills. These findings suggest that both low-level language and high-level discourse organizational skills are vulnerable in narrative production in agrammatic aphasia, and that macrostructural skills are mainly related to the individuals’ microstructural skills.

Efforts to Increase Motivation to Read Recount Text Through Playing Games for Elementary School Children at SDN Koli

Background. Traditional methods of teaching recount texts often struggle to engage students effectively. Educational games offer a potential solution to increase motivation and comprehension in language learning, particularly for primary school students. Purpose. This research aims to investigate the effectiveness of educational games in increasing motivation to read recount texts among students at SDN Koli. Method. The study employs a qualitative approach, utilizing QDA Miner software for data analysis. Data collection methods include in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis of classroom teaching and learning activities. The research focuses on exploring students' and teachers' experiences, perceptions, and motivations regarding the use of games in learning. Results. The findings indicate that educational games significantly increase student motivation and engagement in learning recount texts. These games make the learning process more exciting and interactive, helping students better understand story structure and event sequences. In the affective domain, games foster reflection and humility, creating a positive learning environment. Cognitively, the games prove highly effective in improving writing skills and contribute significantly to reading and speaking abilities. While the psychomotor impact is smaller, the games still help students manage emotions and maintain focus. Conclusion. The integration of educational games in teaching recount texts not only enhances cognitive skills but also positively impacts students' affective and psychomotor aspects. This research underscores the importance of innovative learning methods in meeting students' needs in the digital era. By adopting such approaches, educators can nurture a generation of students who are more motivated, skilled, and prepared for future challenges in language learning and beyond.

Linguopoetic analysis of V. M. Shukshin’s short story "The Visitant" (to the 95th anniversary of the birth)

The article studies the poetics of V. M. Shukshin’s short prose. The research aims to present a holistic linguopoetic analysis of a particular work and to describe the author’s image in it. The material for the study was the short story "The Visitant" dating back to the period of V. M. Shukshin’s later writings. The text was examined on the basis of a linguopoetic approach in conjunction with functional-immanent and retrospective-projective methods. The paper characterises the short story genre, analyses its formal and content organisation, compositional and speech structure, as well as the level of the linguistic means representing the narrator’s and the characters’ speech parts. The study has established that, from the standpoint of the genre characteristics, "The Visitant" is a novella. It is characterised by a succinct plot, laconic narrative, retrospective episodes that form the existential chronotope, a paradoxical situation, theatricality, controversial plot dynamics, an unexpected ending, and instantaneous insight into life. The analysis reveals that in the compositional and speech structure of the short story the dominant speech layer is the speech part of the character. It is represented by dialogue or internal dialogised monologue. The dialogue shapes the severity of the conflict between the characters, i. e. the bearers of different chronotopes. The narrator’s speech performs the function of a dramatic commentary remark. The article identifies the peculiarity of the manifestation of the author’s "I" in the story "The Visitant". The author’s image is characterised by dynamism, which is determined, on the one hand, by dialogue as the main form of speech, and on the other hand, by the narrator’s shifting across the spatiotemporal perspective of the text.

Event Modification in EFL Learners’ Narration: A Case Study on Retelling Alibaba Story

Experiences of events of both direct and vicarious ones are perceived, organized, sequenced and represented in narrative text in coherent structure. An event consist of character, action and setting. The representation of the events in narration is realized in narrative discourse. The coherent text structure is used to narrate sequence of events in various discourse strategies. This structure is also used to understand a narrative texts. Narratives comprises of constituents and supplementary events. The constituent events are causal in the sense that earlier event contributes to the occurrence of the next event that keep the story moving forward. The supplementary events are not causal; they can be removed without disturbing continuance of the story. Supplementary events are responsible for the meaning and impact of the story. If the supplementary events are removed, the meaning and impact of the story decreases. This background leads the research to investigate event modification and find out narrative discourse used to convey the story. To collect the data, the students were assigned to listen to the story of Alibaba with forty thieves, having listened to the story, they are assigned to modify the story, and retold the modified story in written form. The data were analyzed by comparing the original and the modified story based on every aspect of story structure. The results show that the students’ story modification is limited to the modification of characters and supplementary events; constituent events and narrative discourse are retained; no modification was done to the two aspects. This leads to the conclusion that sequences of events are organized, understood and produced in a coherent structure.

A soil base model of adjacent various story structures

In modern geotechnical engineering, owing to the development of information technology and availability of powerful packages for the calculation of the entire base - foundation - structure system, one of the main research areas is to develop, improve and investigate soil base models to ensure the adequate interaction between the components of the system during the construction and operation of buildings and structures (hereinafter referred to as the “structures”). The paper proposes an improved soil base model in the form of a continuous layer of finite distribution capability to simulate and calculate adjacent multistory structures in the base - foundations - structures system using powerful calculation packages such as SOFiSTiK, ABAQUS, PLAXIS, SCAD, Lira and others. The improved model considers the parameters of the stress-strain properties of the soils of the bases, the geometric profile taking account of the distribution capability of the base and different boundary conditions, but differs from the existing models in that it has a stepped geometric profile at the lower boundary of the model because of different compressible layer depths under each foundation of the structures. The use of this model improves the accuracy of simulating a soil base for large-sized foundations of adjacent structures to obtain reliable results of the stress-strain state of the base - foundations - structures system. An example demonstrates how to simulate and calculate raft foundations of a two-section multistory building in the base - foundations - structures system that interacts with an improved soil base model (linear strains of soils under loads are considered here) with reference to different numbers of stories of the sections. The numerical study results show on a specific calculation example that considering different compressible layers depths in the model under differently loaded foundations results in an increase in moment forces of up to 65% as compared with simulating the whole compressible layer, which may lead to the disruption of large-sized raft foundations.

Mekepung Jembrana Tradition As a Source of Creation of Documentary Film

The Mekepung tradition in Jembrana, Bali, particularly in the form of buffalo racing, is a deeply rooted cultural spectacle representing joy and celebration for agrarian communities. This research aims to explore this tradition and create a documentary film to preserve and promote its significance. Employing a qualitative descriptive method and utilizing the documentary film structure approach, the study incorporates observation, interviews, and documentation to gather authentic data. The documentary follows a three-part story structure, capturing the essence of Mekepung through genuine visual presentations and a well-structured narrative flow. Embracing a performative documentary style, the film emphasizes captivating packaging and meticulous craftsmanship. The creation process encompasses pre-production, production, and post-production stages. Ultimately, the Mekepung Jembrana documentary not only showcases buffalo racing but also serves as a vital tool for cultural preservation and awareness for future generations, ensuring the continuity of this cherished tradition.

The Role of Literature in Anticipating Future Trends

his paper explores the role of literature in shaping some tremendous inventions that came later. It shows the prophecy of some authors. The study analyzes literary works to demonstrate the importance of literature in forecasting future sociological, technical, and cultural changes via themes, motifs, and story structures. A multidisciplinary approach is used, in this study, to investigate how literature reflects and shapes the collective imagination, fostering analytical thinking and generating discussions about possible future situations. It displays scientific innovations that were predicted by writers in their literary works long before they were really developed. Key innovations in contemporary life include the spaceship, Moon landing, and submarine as depicted in Jules Verne's books, “From the Earth to the Moon” and “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”. This study tries to show the role of science fiction literature in predicting future routes and how it acts as a prophetic medium, offering insights into the potential paths of humanity.

A Parametric Analysis of Wind-Loaded High-Rise Constructions in Various Terrain Types with Bracing

Abstract: This study tries to provide a hypothetical structural design for a tall building in a city. It is very important for civil engineering students to think about how structural systems can enhance the architectural expression of a building. Wind is the governing load when building high-rise structures in the city. A building can be structurally improved to resist wind pressure by making changes to the basic design, which gives it a unique architectural expression. In this study, G+10 and G+20 storey structures is designed and compared in two terrain categories and subjected to wind load. The ruggedness of the environment where the fabric structure is located is measured by the Terrain category. Wind speed, wind direction, and exposure to the elements are examples of such variables. Earthquake and wind loads are applied to the ETABS model according to the given National Standards. Finally, it is determined how strong and flexible the structure is under these stresses. The output of the calculation program and additional calculated products are compared to the Indian limit for structural serviceability.

The Face of the Future: An Affective Mental Time Traveler in Saul Bellow’s “A Father-to-Be”

ABSTRACT This article focuses on a future-oriented Janus face portrayed in Saul Bellow’s short story “A Father-to-Be,” arguing that it builds an exceptional prospective fictional mind in Bellow’s writing with a great emphasis on emotion. Drawing on the “Janus hypothesis,” the article examines how the protagonist’s emotional and imaginative mind interprets the past and processes the present based on a gloomy anticipation of the future, while some previous literary studies on the memory-imagination cognition emphasize the imaginativeness of memory. Affective narratology is largely involved as the supportive explanatory framework in the analysis of the narrative style. The authors approach the structure of the entire story by regarding it as an emotion story and attempt to reveal the aesthetic value of its core narrative by taking emotion both as the force of character forming and as rhetoric.

Indices of oral and written narratives differentiating Mandarin-speaking school-age children with and without developmental language disorder

Little evidence has been reported for narrative-related difficulties for Chinese Mandarin-speaking school-age children with developmental language disorder (DLD). This study aimed to capture the indices from narratives that can differentiate Chinese children with and without DLD. Oral narrative and written narrative samples were collected from children with DLD ( Mage = 8.37, SD = 1.25; N = 26) and typically developing (TD) children ( Mage = 8.46, SD = 1.28; N = 26). The narrative samples were compared on a series of indices of narratives in both oral and written narratives. Results showed that at the macrostructure, Mandarin Chinese-speaking school-age children with DLD lagged behind TD children in story structures; at the microstructure, children with DLD had weaker performance in story productivity, lexical diversity, and syntax diversity. Moreover, less group difference was found in the written modality relative to the oral modality. The results suggest indices of story productivity, lexical diversity, and syntactic complexity could be potential linguistic markers in the assessment of school-age Mandarin-speaking children with DLD. The present findings advance our understanding of deficits in narratives for Mandarin-speaking children.

Miyazaki's Hybrid Worlds and Their Riddle-Stories

<p>“Fairy tales begin with conflict because we all begin our lives with conflict,” famously states Jack Zipes. And yet, this statement does not always seem to apply to non-Western story structures, such as the Asian kishōtenketsu, which implies a story development that does not necessarily revolve around conflicts. In many of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies (e.g., My Neighbor Totoro; Spirited Away, The Secret World of Arietty), it is possible to detect, on the one hand, the kishōtenketsu-based plot, and,on the other hand, the widespread presence of Western fairy-tale tropes. Conflicts in traditional Western fairy tales may sometimes manifest in the form of riddles to solve. Although Miyazaki’s stories do not shun away from riddles, how do these riddles relate to conflicts? How are Western and Asian story structures bound together in Miyazaki’s narratives, and what effects does this hybridization generate in their audiences? This article argues that: 1.) Riddles based on Western fairy tales in Miyazaki’s work do not necessarily involve conflicts, and are recast and re-elaborated in highly unusual ways; and 2.) The employment of these unusual patterns, mixing up together Oriental and Occidental frames of reference, gives rise to stories that puzzle the mind of spectators, working as complex narrative riddles.</p>

Malang Mask Puppet Aesthetic Revitalization Entitled "Sodo Lanang Competition"

This research aims to revitalize the mask puppet show titled “Sayembara Sada Lanang” performed by the Malang mask puppet artist group at the Asmorobangun hermitage. The traditional Malang mask puppet show has been staged for quite a long time, 2 - 3 hours. During performances, puppeteers rely on memory skills and perform verbally or directly without using a written script, thus the length of the performance depends on the puppeteer. This research follows a qualitative approach, utilizing observation, interviews, and document analysis as research methods. The research findings reveal that the revitalization of the “Sayembara Sada Lanang” mask puppet performance involved reducing its duration from 2 to 3 hours to just 7 minutes. The revitalization carried out is a revitalization of local wisdom which seeks to reintroduce traditional culture to the general public, especially children. So that children get to know traditional cultures that are almost extinct. The duration of the show is 7 minutes by reconstructing the structure of the show, without changing the essence of the story. The The play’s story structure unfolds in stages, beginning with exposition, followed by complication, climax, and resolution. Additionally, the title features three types of characters: protagonist, antagonist, and tritagonist. Keywords: revitalization, aesthetics, wayang mask

Ancient Indian Stories in the Oirat Collection “The Tale of the Nectar Teaching

Questions about the similarity of the plots of Oirat written monuments with ancient Indian ones still remain insufficiently studied. Most of the Oirat works have not yet been introduced into scientific circulation or translated into Russian and other European languages. The article examines the origin of the plots of 17th and 18th century Oirat religious and didactic collection. “Aršān nomiyin tuuǰi” (“The Tale of the Nectar Teaching”), dating back to the literary monuments of Ancient India. The collection consists of sixty-four short Buddhist stories. It is framed by a diagram of the Tibetan Buddhist treatise “Lamrim,” presented in thesis form. The main provisions of the treatise are revealed in the collection with the help of artistic examples from various Indian and Tibetian sources. The collection is distinguished by a strict functional purpose; it introduces the laity to the course of Buddhist teachings and instructs them on the path of virtue. It was used by Buddhist monks as a guide in his preaching practice until the beginning of the 20th century. The article examines the structure and content of Oirat and ancient Indian stories in their narrative presentation, identifying similarities and local differences. As a result of the study, it was established that genetically similar plots help to better understand the content of short stories in the Oirat collection, which have lost their essential structural components due to various reasons. The stories of “The Tale of the Nectar Teaching” differ from the source texts by the extreme conciseness of their plots: they lack any descriptions or comparisons, the main focus is exclusively on heroes’ actions, the action unfolds abruptly and dynamically. We noted a significant similarity between the plots of “The Tale of the Nectar Teaching” and ancient Indian works both at the plot-compositional and at content levels. This fact indicates their genetic relationship. The identification of the local differences in the Oirat collection demonstrates the genesis of the plots of ancient Indian monuments and their fate outside India.