Youtube Exercise » English Grammar Homework

How to Narrate Your Life Story

The School of Life

820K views 9 years ago

Warm-up Questions

When you hear the title “How to Narrate Your Life Story,” what do you think “narrate” means?
Do you usually tell yourself a positive or negative story about your life? Why?
What do you think makes a life story feel meaningful?

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Start With: Word Definition

Order: Alphabetical Random

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How to Narrate Your Life Story

Despair vs. meaning: who tells the story? (00:00 – 01:23)

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1. In moments of sorrow and exhaustion, what is “only too easy” to do?

To look back and feel life has been meaningless
To forget the past completely
To stop thinking about mistakes
To feel proud of past achievements

2. According to Macbeth’s quote, life can seem like a tale that is full of “sound and fury” but what?

Signifies nothing
Ends in success
Is told by heroes
Teaches clear moral lessons

3. What does the speaker suggest can make the same life story feel more meaningful?

Never thinking about the past
Having no failures at all
Sufficient compassion and insight in the telling
Changing the facts of what happened

How to Narrate Your Life Story

Harsh inner narrators and kinder interpretations (01:23 – 03:37)

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1. What does the speaker say we are doing every day, even if we don’t publish an autobiography?

We are copying other people’s opinions
We are forgetting why events happened
We are weaving a story in our minds about our lives
We are studying history professionally

2. When are people especially likely to narrate their lives in a harsh way?

Early in the morning
During celebrations with friends
Only when they are at work
Late at night, when optimism runs dry

3. What is one reason the speaker gives for why mistakes can be understandable rather than absurd?

They guarantee future success
They prove we are evil
They show how little information we had for consequential decisions
They are always caused by other people

How to Narrate Your Life Story

Not the sole author + a kinder ending (03:37 – 05:08)

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1. What does the speaker say about responsibility for what happens to us?

We are never responsible for anything
We are always responsible for every calamity and triumph
Other people are always to blame
We are never the sole authors of anything that happens to us

2. What is one example the speaker gives of factors outside the individual that can affect life events?

A lucky charm
A perfect plan
A secret talent
The economy

3. How does the speaker describe the life story that can “signify rather a lot”?

A flawless hero’s journey with constant success
A mysterious story that cannot be understood
A short story with no challenges
A tale of a well-intentioned, flawed person struggling against enormous odds

How to Narrate Your Life Story

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1. What is the main idea of the video?

We should avoid thinking about our past
Meaning comes only from success and achievement
A life’s meaning can change depending on how we narrate it
Only famous people have meaningful life stories

2. What kind of narrator does the speaker recommend we become for our own lives?

A neutral narrator who never judges anything
A kind, fair-minded, judicious narrator
A harsh, self-flagellating narrator
A narrator who focuses only on disasters

3. How does the speaker frame failures and difficult experiences?

As events that must be erased from memory
As proof that life is meaningless
As experiences that can contribute to development and maturity
As things that only happen to unlucky people

Discussion Questions

Discuss the ideas from this video

How to Narrate Your Life Story

Do you agree that “the difference between despair and hope is just a different way of telling stories from the same set of facts”? Why or why not?
Think of a mistake you made. How could you narrate it in a more “fair-minded and judicious” way?
What outside factors (family, economy, culture, timing) have influenced your life story? How should they change the way you judge yourself?
What practical habits could help someone become a kinder narrator of their own life?