Tracy Chevalier: Finding the Story Inside the Painting Directions: Listen from the beginning of the video through 7:36. 1. Explain the method Tracy Chevalier uses when entering an art gallery and why she does this.
2. According to the speaker, why do we tell stories? Explain why you think we tell stories.
3. What is the story the speaker has created about the painting titled, "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Johannes Vermeer?
4. Now, create and retell your own story about Johannes Vermeer’s "Girl with a Pearl Earring.

1. She goes through the art gallery fast, and pinpoints the particular pieces that catch her attention. Once she finds one that catches her eye, she ignores all the other paintings and focuses solely on the one. Then she stands in front of the painting and tells herself a story about it. She mentions that when going through art galleries she tends to get distracted by all the paintings, so she uses this method to find a painting that catches her full attention, rather than spending all her energy on a painting that doesn't speak to her.

2. To try to make sense of the world. I agree with this, however stories are told for many different reasons whether it be for entertainment purposes or informational purposes. There are certainly stories out there that try to make sense of the world, but not every story has that same goal in mind.

3. She says the girl in the painting is a servant of Johannes Vermeer. The girl is painted in Vermeer's studio. He has her wear plain clothes and his wife's pearl earrings.

4. The girl in the painting is a servant woman. She is in love with a man that she wants to impress with her beauty, knowing he will be in town today, she steals her masters wife's expensive pearl earring. Upon seeing him, she makes sure to give him a innocent glance that allows the expensive earring to be in full view.

Explanation: