Final answer:
Joan Didion's assertion that 'We tell ourselves stories in order to live' highlights the essential role of storytelling in shaping our identities and ordering our experiences. Storytelling allows us to handle complex aspects of life, connect with others, and is integral across various forms of human expression, from personal narratives to broader cultural myths.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement "We tell ourselves stories in order to live" by Joan Didion points to the fundamental human need to construct narratives to make sense of our experiences and forge our identities. Storytelling serves to process and integrate our past, present, and future, providing us with a coherent sense of self and social continuity. Through the act of telling stories, we can articulate our place in the world and handle the complexities and contradictions within our lives. Whether in a personal anecdote, historical record, or creative nonfiction, stories enable us to order our reality, connect with others on a deeper level, and preserve our diverse cultural heritage. Through narrative frameworks, we seek to achieve a desired impact and provoke specific reactions in our audience, while simultaneously expressing our identity and shared humanity.
Indeed, as long as humans have existed, we have been telling stories to learn, to instill values, to entertain, and to create a shared understanding of the world. Different forms of storytelling, from myths to creative nonfiction, have the power to not only convey factual information but also evoke emotions and foster empathy. Such narrative tools include descriptive imagery, characters, plot, conflict, metaphors, and other literary devices to craft compelling tales that resonate on a personal level. This storytelling tradition, evolving across cultures, continues to shape our individual and collective identities, reinforcing the idea that stories truly are part and parcel of the human experience.