Narrative video (3 minutes 51 seconds)

Girl – [rushes into shot, holding a hand to her head] Help! It's drawn blood!

Man – What has?

Girl – [points to the sky] Out there!

Man – Where?

Girl – It flew down.

Man – What flew down? You're not making any sense.

Girl – Why not?

Man – Because you haven't told me what's happened in a way that I can understand. Your thoughts aren't organized and I can't make sense of them.

Girl – How can I make you understand?

Man – Why don't you tell me what's happened in a narrative form.

Girl – Er, what's a narrative?

Man – Narrative is the way we organize thoughts and make sense of things that happen to us or to other people.

Girl – Can you help me turn this into a narrative?

Man – Sure. Why don't you tell me where you were when this happened?

Girl – I was in the park.

Man – Okay, so the narrative takes place in the park. Got it. What were you doing in the park?

Girl – I was skipping with a skipping rope under the big gum tree.

Man – Okay, what happened next?

Girl – Something hit me on the head, I was bleeding. It really hurt.

Man – And how did you feel?

Girl – I freaked out, I was in such a shock. I didn't know what hit me.

Man – And did you hear anything before you were hit?

Girl – I heard a swooshing, whooshing, flapping sound. Then a squawk and a smack. Something hit my skull!

Man – Interesting. So you were in the park skipping with a rope under the big gum tree. Then you heard a swooshing, whooshing, flapping sound. And smack! Something hit you on the head, but we don't know what.

Girl – That's right!

Man – It hurt so much that you clutched your head and you felt shocked because you didn't know what had hit you. I wonder what it was. When did this happen?

Girl – At lunchtime.

Man – Today at lunch. What's special about today? Well, it's spring. You were under a tree when you heard a flapping sound. Oh, I know! You must have been pecked by a magpie. It's spring which means it's nesting season for magpies. They often swoop unsuspecting humans who they think are a threat to their babies. There must be a magpie nest in the tree you were skipping underneath.

Girl – Wow, it all makes sense now.

Man – Because you've organized your thoughts in a narrative form. You've made a story! If it's spring, someone else might get swooped by a magpie. We should put this narrative in the school magazine.

Girl – But don't narratives usually have a meaning or a moral?

Man – Yes.

Girl – So I guess the moral of my narrative is, don't forget to wear your zip tie hat during magpie season.

Man – Excellent. This is good inspiration for my next comic. If it hadn't been a magpie that hit you, I wonder what it could've been?

Man – Hmm...

End of transcript