Kinds of Death: Using Life-Or-Death Scenarios to Create Drama

Description

A story is a series of events that place the protagonist in a life-or-death situation. If the stakes are not life-or-death, the audience will lose interest. This is true in theater and film, fiction and video games, and especially in oratory. A “story” has no power unless it is about life, and life is placed in imminent threat.

This curriculum will help you evaluate character identity and motivation, learning to discern what would make them “die”; evaluate presentations/stories with an ear to how the stakes might be elevated; and employ the various “deaths” in storytelling in order to craft compelling narratives.