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Image-ination; the heart and true art of Storytelling (audio cassette) by Carol Birch. Frostfire, 1991. 37 mins

Character and setting are two key elements of a story. In order to really know a story '"by heart 'in the truest sense of that phrase, the teller must know the characters and setting in an intimate way. When we learn a story, we start, of course, with the words and the images they can to mind. But getting inside the story calls fur more work. These visualization exercises help tellers to examine character (side one) and setting (side two). Birch's calm and quiet voice suggests ways to see a character/setting, then 10 seconds of silence on the tape allows the listener to visualize before another suggestion is made. The suggestions are carefully chosen to allow for broadest use and response. They pave the way for the te;;er to take the next step of drawing conclusions, and applying those to interpretation of the story. At the end of the tape, Birch likens the universality of story to the broth in the stewpot. The details, she says, provide the flavour. It is our job as tellers to discover those details so that we can better paint word pictures. Those pictures allow our listeners to visualize what is happening and enter into the story. Actors and writers, as well as tllers, could make use of Image-ination in learning how to visualize and develop character and setting. A useful tape which will go handily from personal use to student use in the classroom. Order Image-ination from Birch at Frostfire, P.O. Box 32, Southbury CT 06488.

The Second Story Review, Vol 1, No. 2, Sep 1996