Advance, retreat, advance, retreat

That was a ridiculous first post. Let's try again, shall we?

Advanced Storytellling--I feel silly even saying it. It is strange, though, isn't it? I am making an academic study of something that people do without thinking. We tell stories at parties, at the dinner table, and to our children to put them to bed. We tell stories to market products (Cynthia was unhappy. Then one day she tried this yogurt. Her whole life improved!) We tell stories to get elected, to get out of trouble, to get into trouble, to get along with other people, and for so many other reasons, too numerous to list. We tell, and tell, and tell, and yet somehow I trip on the notion that I actually get to study this, to pursue a degree in this practice.

So here I am, studying something that people do all the time. In that respect, I suppose it's not so different from biology or sociology. People make an academic study of cellular respiration and cultural relativism. So why not storytelling?

I guess the hitch arises when I apply the term "Advanced" to the practice instead of the study. In other fields, when you get into advanced coursework, the titles get longer and frequently involve colons (Diversity of Life: Animals, Plants and Microbes or Odyssey of Cultres: Individual and Society in Spanish-American Literature.) These mechanisms signal that we are more specific, deeper into the topic. But when I say "Advanced Storytelling," it feels silly to imply that I'll be getting more specific about bedtime stories, deeper into cocktail conversation. But a way, that's exactly what I'm doing.