the power of a story

It has occured to me as we listen to many students in our class tell stories from Ovid. While the tales themselves are quite entertaining, I find it even more facinating that an individual is telling it, and it is a true STORY, in the sense that we listen to it for entertainment, and the class part of it is set away from our mind for a brief period of time. There have been numerous studies(heres where i found some information) showing the power of story telling in school, as well as learning, basically it shows that students retain better because they can at times relate better to emotions and some situations than if they had just read it out of a text book. Now obviously this is meant for younger kids, but I still think it has relevance for us. Who is not captivated by a good story, whether it starts out "man, i was so wasted last night" or "so there was this guy" to us they are just as captivating as "Once upon a time." When we hear a tale that begins this way, it is almost as though it sucks us in, and we begin to memorize every detail with the hopes that we can entertain someone else in much the same way we were. A driving force for many people is the ability to make another laugh, (especially when it is not directed at you but at your story). I believe there has to be an endorphine release that runs through our body and makes everything feel better. Story telling was also passed down for many many many generations, it is so ingrained in us, is it not a wonder why we learn better when things are placed in a story setting? Stories facinate us and they allow us to share much of ourselves in the process. Without a story to tell I believe we would be empty people, because without a tale to tell,( for one we wouldnt be english majors) and we would not be living life to its full potential, by learning from stories, sharing them, and helping others with them along the way.