ASL Literature Explanations by Genre and Sub-Genre
ASL Storytelling
Original Fiction: A short story with an opening and closing, a problem and solution, a clear
lesson or moral, and usually has three major events, a main character and other minor
characters, and scenery.
Example: Zander Symansky “Football Technology” (6:30), Zander Symansky “Lost on
an Island” (5:03), Tanner Wedel “Stuck on an Island” (8:21)
Narrative of Personal Experience: These stories are real-life accounts of various events,
including those that are humorous or tragic and those of struggles to overcome various odds.
Often these stories feature the oppression of Deaf people and how they succeed in the
end…or not.
Example: Jayman Washington “The Journey of the Ape” (5:10)
Cinematographic Story: These stories involve cinematographic techniques that are film-like,
such as close-ups, panning, zoom-in, zoom-out, medium shots, far shots, angled shots, slow
and fast motion, and morphing of objects. Sometimes it is a way to retell or re-create scenes
from movies.
Example: Ethan Bettes “Life, Past, Present, Future” (3:43), Tiffany McCallum “I Love
You Island” (5:26), Trenton Morse “Journey of the Chip Bag” (5:57)
Folk Tale: According to Rutherford (1993), there are various types: legends, tall tales, and
traditions. Bodies of work whose origin is lost but that have been shared in the community
for a long time; whose origins may have begun as narratives of personal experience and
subsequently have been passed around. Sometimes they involve real historical events with
fictional characters, or real characters placed in a fictional time. Some stories are a copy of
well-known stories with an interesting twist or with replacements.
Example: Jamaika Jones “Little Yellow Riding Hood” (4:04), Aryzona Marsh “Man VS
Deaf Community” (4:45)
