“There’s only one story,” in literature because all stories take pieces from other stories so nothing is completely original which is what Thomas C. Foster explains in, “How to Read Literature like a Professor.” Foster talks about an, “Egyptian papyrus complaining that all the stories have been told and that therefore nothing remains for the contemporary writer but to retell them,” (Foster 195). This is partly true because people who write have read other stories and often incorporate pieces of those stories in their own work. Also the basic layouts of all stories are quite similar which makes every story similar. Foster explains that with good writers it, “is usually no that the work seems derivative or trivial but just the opposite: the work actually acquires depth and resonance from the echoes and chimes it sets up with prior texts, weight from the accumulated use of certain basic patterns and tendencies” (Foster 195). Here he portrays how writers using pieces from other text in their own is not boring, but interesting because they have to include it in a way that benefits and enhances their writing. This type of writing requires great skill to be done well enough that the novel or play is insightful and interesting to those who read it with out copying the older work to much. Also, “works are actually more comforting because we recognize elements in them from our prior reading” (Foster 195). When readers recognize those elements it benefits them because they remember the emotion or feeling they received from that prior text and now feel that way about the newer text. Writers know this and use it to create certain moods and themes in their writing. While there is only one story in literature, because prior texts are used to create newer texts, that one story is interesting every time it is rewritten.
“There’s only one story,” Thomas Foster explains in detail for the second time in “How to Read Literature like a Professor.” Foster elaborates on this as he states there is “One story. Everywhere. Always. Whenever anyone puts pen to paper or hands to keyboard or fingers to lute string or quill to papyrus. They all take from and in return give to the same story” (Foster 194). Foster is describing our overall story as humans, how each story comes from humans, tends to include humans, and basically just relate to what it’s like to be humans. One overall story that we’re constantly parts of, no matter how many literary works may be produced. Foster puts this aspect into more understandable terms, as he states that “Think of it this way; can you use a word no one else has ever used? Only if you’re Shakespeare or Joyce and coin words, but even they mostly use the same ones as the rest of us. Can you put together a combination of words that is absolutely unique? Maybe, occasionally, but you can’t be sure. So too with stories” (Foster 195). Writers have more than just pen and paper as tools at their disposal; they have letters, words, entire languages and alphabets. However, as one author has these tools, so did authors before him, and before that author, and so on. More than likely, concepts or ideas produced in a literary work today can be linked to similar or identical events or ideas in works that are many years old. Lastly, Foster describes how we can use this to our advantage; “Those stories – myth, archetype, religious narrative, the great body of literature – are always with us. Always in us. We can draw upon them, tap into them, add to them whenever we want (Foster 200). Although there is only one story, as he has stated, we are all a part of that story. Aspiring writers can look to old memories or pieces of that said story for guidance and inspiration, as well as different ideas for their own works. Everyone who was and ever will exist are all part of the same story; however, it’s what they choose to do with their part of that story that brings their true character to life.
"There's only one story," Thomas C. Foster explains in "How to Read Literature Like a Professor." He states how the one story is "not about anything" and that "it's about everything" (Foster 194). Foster describes how the story is not specifically about any one idea but it is about all things in life. He said that the one story is about "ourselves, about what it means to be human" (Foster 194). Foster tells how authors write about human's interactions with the world. Intertextuality plays a big role as well because writers have read other works and it subconsciously shows in their work. Foster said that writers have to acquire a type of "amnesia" (Foster 195). When they sit down to write, their previous knowledge is still in their brain so for their work to "come in", they have to try and forget past stories so they will not be identical (Foster 196). Although there is only one story, when writers can forget what they have read, then their stories come out as original to them.
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ReplyDelete“There’s only one story,” in literature because all stories take pieces from other stories so nothing is completely original which is what Thomas C. Foster explains in, “How to Read Literature like a Professor.” Foster talks about an, “Egyptian papyrus complaining that all the stories have been told and that therefore nothing remains for the contemporary writer but to retell them,” (Foster 195). This is partly true because people who write have read other stories and often incorporate pieces of those stories in their own work. Also the basic layouts of all stories are quite similar which makes every story similar. Foster explains that with good writers it, “is usually no that the work seems derivative or trivial but just the opposite: the work actually acquires depth and resonance from the echoes and chimes it sets up with prior texts, weight from the accumulated use of certain basic patterns and tendencies” (Foster 195). Here he portrays how writers using pieces from other text in their own is not boring, but interesting because they have to include it in a way that benefits and enhances their writing. This type of writing requires great skill to be done well enough that the novel or play is insightful and interesting to those who read it with out copying the older work to much. Also, “works are actually more comforting because we recognize elements in them from our prior reading” (Foster 195). When readers recognize those elements it benefits them because they remember the emotion or feeling they received from that prior text and now feel that way about the newer text. Writers know this and use it to create certain moods and themes in their writing. While there is only one story in literature, because prior texts are used to create newer texts, that one story is interesting every time it is rewritten.
ReplyDeleteSpot on!
ReplyDelete“There’s only one story,” Thomas Foster explains in detail for the second time in “How to Read Literature like a Professor.” Foster elaborates on this as he states there is “One story. Everywhere. Always. Whenever anyone puts pen to paper or hands to keyboard or fingers to lute string or quill to papyrus. They all take from and in return give to the same story” (Foster 194). Foster is describing our overall story as humans, how each story comes from humans, tends to include humans, and basically just relate to what it’s like to be humans. One overall story that we’re constantly parts of, no matter how many literary works may be produced. Foster puts this aspect into more understandable terms, as he states that “Think of it this way; can you use a word no one else has ever used? Only if you’re Shakespeare or Joyce and coin words, but even they mostly use the same ones as the rest of us. Can you put together a combination of words that is absolutely unique? Maybe, occasionally, but you can’t be sure. So too with stories” (Foster 195). Writers have more than just pen and paper as tools at their disposal; they have letters, words, entire languages and alphabets. However, as one author has these tools, so did authors before him, and before that author, and so on. More than likely, concepts or ideas produced in a literary work today can be linked to similar or identical events or ideas in works that are many years old. Lastly, Foster describes how we can use this to our advantage; “Those stories – myth, archetype, religious narrative, the great body of literature – are always with us. Always in us. We can draw upon them, tap into them, add to them whenever we want (Foster 200). Although there is only one story, as he has stated, we are all a part of that story. Aspiring writers can look to old memories or pieces of that said story for guidance and inspiration, as well as different ideas for their own works. Everyone who was and ever will exist are all part of the same story; however, it’s what they choose to do with their part of that story that brings their true character to life.
ReplyDeleteLove it!
Delete"There's only one story," Thomas C. Foster explains in "How to Read Literature Like a Professor." He states how the one story is "not about anything" and that "it's about everything" (Foster 194). Foster describes how the story is not specifically about any one idea but it is about all things in life. He said that the one story is about "ourselves, about what it means to be human" (Foster 194). Foster tells how authors write about human's interactions with the world. Intertextuality plays a big role as well because writers have read other works and it subconsciously shows in their work. Foster said that writers have to acquire a type of "amnesia" (Foster 195). When they sit down to write, their previous knowledge is still in their brain so for their work to "come in", they have to try and forget past stories so they will not be identical (Foster 196). Although there is only one story, when writers can forget what they have read, then their stories come out as original to them.
ReplyDelete1) Remember, 2 commentary per concrete detail.
ReplyDelete2) Don't use the word "thing" - always be more specific
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