“What If Laboratory”: creative storytelling in Si Wan Joy of Reading Project
2022-02-15
(Provided by Department of Chinese Literature) The Si Wan Joy of Reading Project has already become a tradition at the Department of Chinese Literature at National Sun Yat-sen University. The cross-class exchange themed “What If Laboratory” at the end of the semester of the course "Critical Thinking and Expression in Chinese”, took hypothesizing as a premise for a thought experiment. Creating a story very distant from reality allowed conveying a reflection on certain issues or phenomena in life.
Each class performed their representative work on spot using the body, voice and text. Students then voted for the best works based on the presentation production, story content, and presentation style. Assistant Professor Pei-Hsuan Lai of the Department of Chinese Literature, who conceived the idea of “What If Laboratory”, mentioned that the activity was designed to encourage students to integrate and extend what they have learned in class, further develop their imagination and creativity, as well as integrate their interests and expertise in the process of story conception, presentation production and live performance, and develop communication and teamwork skills.
Through hypothesizing, the students showed off their skills, crossing the limits of reality, and creating unique stories. One of the teams put forward a hypothesis "If I lost my memory of taste" to explore sweet and bitter memories; another group composed the story "If I were transformed into a monkey", highlighting the importance of empathy and animal care, while another group combined historical dramas and modern TV shows in their story "If I could appear in a TV drama" through voice interpretation to point out that everyone should be treated with equal respect regardless of gender roles. The poetically written story "If I meet you again” by another group exuded the bittersweet taste of love and leads the audience through the dating spots in the hearts of NSYSU students. Another group built a whole world view, discussing whether the distribution of resources according to everyone's efforts would eliminate injustice in the world. This profound issue aroused the interest of the audience and stimulated reflection.
Many students felt that the course in "Critical Thinking and Expression in Chinese” had greatly changed their perspective on Chinese language learning: monotonous reading of texts can be extended to interesting activities to deepen students’ understanding of module themes. One of the students mentioned that this was the first time that their writing was not for the purpose of exam, was new and exciting, and found conceiving the story together with the team particularly creative and stimulating.
The Coordinator of the Si Wan Joy of Reading Project, Assistant Professor Meng-Chien Wu of the Department of Chinese Literature said that reflecting on the issues presented through storytelling can train students' thinking and expression. The works in this competition were unique and fully demonstrated the creativity of the students of each class, letting them learn while having fun. Professor Wu revealed his plans to organize similar activities in the future.
(Edited by Public Affairs Division)
(Provided by Department of Chinese Literature) The Si Wan Joy of Reading Project has already become a tradition at the Department of Chinese Literature at National Sun Yat-sen University. The cross-class exchange themed “What If Laboratory” at the end of the semester of the course "Critical Thinking and Expression in Chinese”, took hypothesizing as a premise for a thought experiment. Creating a story very distant from reality allowed conveying a reflection on certain issues or phenomena in life.
Each class performed their representative work on spot using the body, voice and text. Students then voted for the best works based on the presentation production, story content, and presentation style. Assistant Professor Pei-Hsuan Lai of the Department of Chinese Literature, who conceived the idea of “What If Laboratory”, mentioned that the activity was designed to encourage students to integrate and extend what they have learned in class, further develop their imagination and creativity, as well as integrate their interests and expertise in the process of story conception, presentation production and live performance, and develop communication and teamwork skills.
Through hypothesizing, the students showed off their skills, crossing the limits of reality, and creating unique stories. One of the teams put forward a hypothesis "If I lost my memory of taste" to explore sweet and bitter memories; another group composed the story "If I were transformed into a monkey", highlighting the importance of empathy and animal care, while another group combined historical dramas and modern TV shows in their story "If I could appear in a TV drama" through voice interpretation to point out that everyone should be treated with equal respect regardless of gender roles. The poetically written story "If I meet you again” by another group exuded the bittersweet taste of love and leads the audience through the dating spots in the hearts of NSYSU students. Another group built a whole world view, discussing whether the distribution of resources according to everyone's efforts would eliminate injustice in the world. This profound issue aroused the interest of the audience and stimulated reflection.
Many students felt that the course in "Critical Thinking and Expression in Chinese” had greatly changed their perspective on Chinese language learning: monotonous reading of texts can be extended to interesting activities to deepen students’ understanding of module themes. One of the students mentioned that this was the first time that their writing was not for the purpose of exam, was new and exciting, and found conceiving the story together with the team particularly creative and stimulating.
The Coordinator of the Si Wan Joy of Reading Project, Assistant Professor Meng-Chien Wu of the Department of Chinese Literature said that reflecting on the issues presented through storytelling can train students' thinking and expression. The works in this competition were unique and fully demonstrated the creativity of the students of each class, letting them learn while having fun. Professor Wu revealed his plans to organize similar activities in the future.
(Edited by Public Affairs Division)
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