An upper-division graduate level course at a Northwestern university teaches storytelling by using a rhetorical approach. Students submit three story summaries in assigned format at each class session. Each summary includes a statement of the point or moral of the story, a complete bibliography, and a listing of the story's source. The assignment supplies the beginnings of a bibliography which, if continued, will provide good background for future story-telling. It also focuses attention on plot lines, offering a coherent view of the story itself, independent of character and scene. Repetition at this fairly intensive level establishes a habit pattern, and continuing the repetition with less intensity helps to cement the habits over time. Another popular assignment is an actual storytelling performance; in preparation, students submit tellers' outlines (comparable to the kinds of outlines used in public speaking courses) which include: (1) audience analysis--for whom is the story intended? (2) purpose; (3) bibliography; (4) introduction--the means by which the audience will receive a story and perceive its meaning; and (5) summary, including some reference to character development and scenic elements. Grading of all these elements emphasizes rhetorical factors such as audience adaptation, coherence of the planned presentation, and evidence of systematic thought. (Fifty references are appended.) (AEW)