Week 14: “Story of Your Life”/Arrival

Overview

This week, we’re tackling a film adaptation head-on. You should read—in English (Chiang-story.pdf  ), or in translation (translation.pdf)  —Ted Chiang’s landmark short story titled “Story of Your Life,” and you should also watch the 2016 film Arrival. You should have checked out both before we meet. You can find the original English text, and the Korean translation of the story, at the bottom of this page.

Day 1

I’ll briefly talk about Ted Chiang’s career and the reception of his story “Story of Your Life,” both in English speaking societies and in South Korea specifically. Then, working in groups, you’re going to develop questions you’d like to discuss in relation to “Story of Your Life” and the film Arrival. Finally, you’ll submit one or two questions to the class for consideration in Day 2’s discussion.

Day 2

We’ll share the questions you came up with, and I’ll add my own questions and/or observations too, if there’s anything you haven’t covered. Then we’ll discuss them.   

Here is a handout containing all of the questions submitted by students in Spring 2026:

(Past Submissions)

Questions from Spring 2025:

• Do you agree that the misinterpretation of a word can be the starting point of a major conflict? Can you think of examples where the misinterpretation of a word began a conflict in your own life?
• I you learned more than three languages, what changes would you expect it would make in your own thinking? (Or do you think it would not affect how you think?)
• If you were Louise and knew your daughter’s future, do you think it would be right or wrong to tell her about it? Would you be willing to let your child learn the Hexapod language?
• If you became like Louise and could “remember” your own future, would you want to try to change future events in your life? Why or why not? If, like Louise, you discovered that you could not—that your free will is an illusion—would you humbly embrace it like Louise, or respond differently?
• If learning the aliens’ language changes how the protagonist thinks, then learning human languages should also change how the aliens think. If the aliens learn to perceive the world with a more human perception of time, how do you think they will react?
• What contemporary social problems does the failure of communication in the story/film remind you of? How does this story reflect real life?
• Would you like to communicate with alien beings who have arrived at/visited the Earth? What would you be afraid of?
• If humanity did get the opportunity to communicate with aliens, who do you think would represent the human side of the exchange? How do you think they ought to be chosen?
• In the title “Story of Your Life,” to whom does the “Your” refer? Do you think it refers to the mother or the daughter?
• Do you think other characters also experienced the change in time-perception that Louise experienced? If not, why not?
• What do you think would happen if Louise decided to change her fate? Especially what do you think would happen to her daughter?
• Why do you think Louise decided to give birth to her daughter even though she knew her daughter was going to die early? What might be her reason, and what would you do in that situation?
• What are the significant changes made to the story in its adaptation to a film? What was added and removed, and why do you think the filmmakers made those changes?
• Do you think it would be possible for all humans to eventually learn and adapt to the alien language Heptapod B? Would people be willing to learn this language?
• If you were in the main characters’ position, do you think that you could learn Heptapod B and communicate the aliens’ messages to the world? Or would the ability to know the future without being able to change it affect how you go about your life?
• Do you think that the way major countries react to the aliens’ visit similar to how they would react in real life to such a situation? If you were a world leader, would you be receptive or distrustful of alien visitors?
• Do you think humanity could really understand the mind of an intelligence that evolved in a completely different environment?
• What is the “purpose” of the aliens’ visit to Earth, as the main character understands it?
• Do you think it would be a blessing or a curse to know when someone you life is destined to die?
• Do you think that accepting an unchangeable future is an act of giving up, or an act of courage?
• Why do you think the author used language as one of the major themes of this story?
• How would you have depicted the aliens if you were the director of this film?

Here are some interesting questions submitted by students in past semesters:

1. Why is the retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears significant in the story? 
2. Are you someone who believes in unavoidable fate, or are you someone who believes life is made by our own choices? What does the story suggest about these ideas? 
3. The aliens come to the earth to teach their language to humans, but humans are not guaranteed to all think and do the same thing. How will aliens control the future after humans learn their language?
4. What role do the aliens play in this story? What does the aliens represent? 
5. This story draws on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which suggests that language can partly shape perception on a deep level. Do you think this is true? Do you have any experience of this? 
6. If you could “remember” your entire life, but not change it (like the narrator of this story/main character in the film), would you want this experience? Why or why not?

Journaling

For this week’s journal entry, write about your thoughts and feelings regarding “aliens”: do they frighten you? Do you think of them at all? If you could meet some, would you do it? What sacrifices would you be willing to make in order to communicate with them?

Story Texts