Shaped by Stories

The Ethical Power of Narratives

Marshall Gregory

• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
• Year: 1997
• Print ISBN:
  9780268029746
  9780268206871
• eBook ISBN:
  9780268161156
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism History & Theory
• Index: Literature

In his latest book, Marshall Gregory begins with the premise that our lives are saturated with stories, ranging from magazines, books, films, television, and blogs to the words spoken by politicians, pastors, and teachers. He then explores the ethical implication of this nearly universal human obsession with narratives. Through careful readings of Katherine Anne Porter's "The Grave," Thurber's "The Catbird Seat," as well as David Copperfield and Wuthering Heights, Gregory asks (and answers) the question: How do the stories we absorb in our daily lives influence the kinds of persons we turn out to be? Shaped by Stories is accessible to anyone interested in ethics, popular culture, and education. It will encourage students and teachers to become more thoughtful and perceptive readers of stories.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• Chapter One: Reading for Life
• Chapter Two: What Is Ethical Agency, Why Should You Care, and What Do Stories Have to Do with Your Ethical Agency?
• Chapter Three: For Good or Ill: Stories as Ethical Education
• Chapter Four: Stories and the Ethics of Experience
• Chapter Five: Judgment that Bites, Assent that Risks
• Chapter Six: Story as Companionship
• Chapter Seven: Ethics of Narrative in a Practical Vein: Ethical Invitations in Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Grave”
• Chapter Eight: Ethics of Narrative in a Practical Vein Once More: Invitations to Misogyny in James Thurber’s “The Catbird Seat”
• Chapter Nine: Ethical Engagements Over Time: Reading and Rereading David Copperfield and Wuthering Heights
• Chapter Ten: Postscript: Toward an Ethical Theory
• Notes
• Works Cited
• Index