In the novel, The Story Telling Animal, Jonathan Gottschal, the author, uses facts and his own life experiences, as seen through his daughters’ creative play to support his argument that the powerful nature of story-telling is what makes us human
The author opens his second chapter with the powerful imagination of his young daughters. The fairy tales told by his daughters show the reader how imaginative the youthful mind is in creating these fictional stories. Children get into character when playing and thus create art. Gottschall observed that when playing in a group environment, children act on instinct when creating stories and are able to act them out together. Even when playing the most dramatic role, they will “act it out, frequently …show more content…
The human hand has multiple functions, along with different parts. The hand is able to use its opposable thumbs to “pick up a pencil and manipulate it [along with] tying shoelaces” (Gottschall 24). The hands “nails are for scratching and picking and prying (Gotschall 25).” To keep on the topic of evolution, the author then begins to talk about evolutionists Charles Darwin and Brian Boyd to support his argument of the role of storytelling. He talks about these evolutionists to add logos into his argument by stating what each evolutionist believed in. Philosophers following Darwin argued “that the evolutionary source of story is sexual selection not natural selection” (Gottschall 27). Some philosophers argue that humans are not obsessed by having sex; they are obsessed about getting sex. Humans will create funny or intelligent stories to impress people of the opposite sex. By doing such a thing, people are showing that their mind has intellectual quality. The author further uses logos with an evolutionist named Brian Boyd that believes that “a work of art acts like a playground for the mind” (Gotschall 27). Gottschall uses these evolutionists to get the reader to think about his argument. He wants the reader to not …show more content…
The author uses the story Invaders written by John Kessel, to show that fiction is a drug. He uses Kessel’s point of view that “story is just a drug [people] use to escape boredom and brutality of real life” (Gottschall 29). He brings up Kessel to bring up the point that many evolutionary thinkers would agree with Kessel’s position. In order to further support his claim, the Gottschall uses an example about his personal life and his personal reaction when watching a movie. He brings up his emotions during the movie to bring pathos into his argument, in order to for the reader to make a personal connection with him and thus understand his argument.
The author opens his second chapter with the powerful imagination of his young daughters. The fairy tales told by his daughters show the reader how imaginative the youthful mind is in creating these fictional stories. Children get into character when playing and thus create art. Gottschall observed that when playing in a group environment, children act on instinct when creating stories and are able to act them out together. Even when playing the most dramatic role, they will “act it out, frequently …show more content…
The human hand has multiple functions, along with different parts. The hand is able to use its opposable thumbs to “pick up a pencil and manipulate it [along with] tying shoelaces” (Gottschall 24). The hands “nails are for scratching and picking and prying (Gotschall 25).” To keep on the topic of evolution, the author then begins to talk about evolutionists Charles Darwin and Brian Boyd to support his argument of the role of storytelling. He talks about these evolutionists to add logos into his argument by stating what each evolutionist believed in. Philosophers following Darwin argued “that the evolutionary source of story is sexual selection not natural selection” (Gottschall 27). Some philosophers argue that humans are not obsessed by having sex; they are obsessed about getting sex. Humans will create funny or intelligent stories to impress people of the opposite sex. By doing such a thing, people are showing that their mind has intellectual quality. The author further uses logos with an evolutionist named Brian Boyd that believes that “a work of art acts like a playground for the mind” (Gotschall 27). Gottschall uses these evolutionists to get the reader to think about his argument. He wants the reader to not …show more content…
The author uses the story Invaders written by John Kessel, to show that fiction is a drug. He uses Kessel’s point of view that “story is just a drug [people] use to escape boredom and brutality of real life” (Gottschall 29). He brings up Kessel to bring up the point that many evolutionary thinkers would agree with Kessel’s position. In order to further support his claim, the Gottschall uses an example about his personal life and his personal reaction when watching a movie. He brings up his emotions during the movie to bring pathos into his argument, in order to for the reader to make a personal connection with him and thus understand his argument.