Freshmen: Today our focus was on signing up for our online vocabulary program, Membean, and our online writing assessment program, www.turnitin.com. You need to go to Membean.com and turnitin.com to do this and enter the correct information. You can find the necessary information on the blog at http://bairdenglish.blogspot.com/2015/08/turnitincom-information-2015.html and http://bairdenglish.blogspot.com/2015/08/membean-information-2015-2016.html. After registering for Membean, you should calibrate to obtain a level. This is due for Monday.
Sophomores: Today we finished reading the introduction to the Tao te Ching and took a quiz. We then talked about the semester-long honors project revolving around Thomas Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor. This weekend, you are supposed to read the "Introduction" and "Interlude: One Story." By the way, if you don't have the book, you can find it here: http://hhs.d300.org/sites/hhs.d300.org/files/documents/howtoreadliteraturelikeaprofessor_0.pdf
After you complete the reading from Foster, please respond to the following prompt on the block. Again, click on comment and sign in, and sign your response with first name, last initial, and period. Please read other students' entries and respond to them as is appropriate. Your response is due by midnight on Sunday, August 23. Prompt: Analyze how Foster's theory of "one story" applies to the three summer reading books. Reference specific examples and cite specific passages from the texts that prove your argument.
CNF: Today we focused on the idea of disparities and the questions they elicit, and how to form those questions. We read Barry Lopez's "The Blue Mound People" by way of introduction this technique, as well as an introduction to Socratic Seminar.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
65 comments:
The theory of "One Story" claims that all written, spoken, or pictorial stories are all interlinked with one another. We cannot read one story that has not been influenced by another. An example of the interconnectedness of "One Story" thorough out our summer reading is that at least one of the main protagonists ran or was banished from their homes. Edgar Sawtelle ran away after the dead of Page (Pg. 325, Paragraph 8), Lancelot, after he killed Gareth and Gaheris(Pg. 585), ran to his castle, and Antonio José Bolívar was banished after he had murdered a man with a gun, instead of a blow dart(Pg. 45-47). All three books followed a similar line of the protagonist running away, either by choice, necessity, or banishment after the death of some person.
Raymond Y., Sophomore, Period 1
In the book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor", author Thomas C. Foster describes his theory of "one story" perfectly on page xiv: "Stories and novels have a very large set of conventions: types of characters, plot rhythms, chapter structures, point-of-view limitations." What this means is that all stories and novels have a certain number of things, such as characters, plot rhythms, etc. Raymond really nailed an example of this theory: in each of the three books, there was an almost underlying theme, which was the idea of something happening that makes the story's protagonist have to run away. Just as Raymond said, Edgar ran away after supposedly killing Page Papineau (pg 325), Lancelot fled after killing Gareth and Gaheris (pg 585), and Antonio Jose Bolivar had to leave after killing a man with a gun as opposed to a blowdart so his friend was stuck on earth forever (pg 45). As Foster said, each of the three novels also had characters, plot rhythms, chapter structures, point-of-view limitations, and all of the other conventions contained in novels and stories. This fulfills the idea of "one story."
Zach S., Sophomore, Period 1
In "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" by Thomas Foster, the author gives the "One Story" theory in which he states that all stories "take from and in return give to the same story" (pg 194) because "pure originality is impossible" (pg 195). This is displayed in the three books read over the summer. As Zach and Raymond stated, all three books prove Foster's theory with all three protagonist characters killing someone and fleeing, either by choice, or punishment. Also, all three protagonists have a friend: Edgar has Almondine, Lancelot has Arthur, and Antonio has Dr. Loachamin. In turn, these characters play a huge role in helping the protagonist with whatever the story line is portraying in each story. Almondine is Edgar's childhood pet who has grown up with Edgar. Almondine has helped Edgar with training the other dogs, she acts as a service dog and knows Edgar's language, and she helped him cope with his father dying. Arthur took Lancelot into his home and pretty much raised and trained him to be the knight he was. Dr. Loachamin gave Antonio dentures and his beloved love stories. I could go on and on with the list of examples of "One Story" because the theory can be seen in every comparison of any book. And these three books really fulfill the idea of "One Story".
Sophie B., Sophomore, Period 3
In author Thomas C. Foster's book, "How to Read Literature Like a Professor", there is a significant idea, which echoes throughout our society today, and can be found in many different works of literature. Foster's idea of "intertextuality" is a repetitional thought, which is displayed throughout the novels: "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories", "The Once and Future King", and "Edgar Sawtelle". Intertextuality is the idea that in any work of art, whether it be, literary, musical,etc.; the main idea is that "Everything's connected"(Page 197). For example, in the books stated above, there has been an apparent power struggle. First, in David Wroblewski's book, "Edgar Sawtelle", Claude portrays feelings of jealousy towards Gar, that is evident his entire life, which is then "overcome" through Gar's death. Second, in T. H. White's novel, "The Once and Future King", Lancelot and Meliagrance fight for Guenever's love, and the rivalry is ultimately put to sleep with the battle between the two, which results in Lancelot cutting "his helm and head in two pieces"(Book3, Chapter 44, page 508). In Luis Sepulveda's book, "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories", Antonio overcomes his old age and feeble body to kill a female cat, and ultimately save his village. In conclusion, all these stories have "intertextuality" in common, by portraying thoughts of a power conflict.
Hailey M., Sophomore, Period 2
In his book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor", Foster introduces his theory of "One Story" which, in my opinion, truly hits the nail on the head when it comes to storytelling. On page 187, Foster says, "...the work actually acquires depth and resonance from the accumulated use of certain basic patterns and tendencies." All three of our summer reading books had a similar underlying theme as Raymond and Zach pointed out above. In "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle", Edgar runs away after the death of Page Papineau (pg. 325-328). Antonio Jose Bolivar is banished by the Shuar after shooting a man with a gun instead of a blowdart in "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" (pg. 45-47). Lancelot flees after killing Gareth and Gaheris in "The Once and Future King" (pg. 585).
All three of these stories' authors were probably influenced by other stories whose protagonist was forced to run away. Foster's theory is greatly threaded through these books. They are all different variants of the same story told by three different people. On page 187, Foster points out that "everyone who writes anything knows that pure originality is impossible. Everywhere you look, the ground is already camped on. So you sigh and pitch your tent where you can, knowing someone else has been there before." This is exactly what Wroblewski, Sepúlveda, and White did. They just happened to be the ones who camped together.
Zoe G. Sophomore Period 3
Fosters theory on "One story" asserts that all stories and plots are all influenced by one another. Whether it be in a book or a movie or a play, every story has been affected by one that came before it. The title, "One story" can declare that every story or idea is all apart of one center or core of ideas in one way or another. For example in our summer reading books, each main character was forced to escape their homes because they were accused of murder. Antonio Jose Bolivar was banished after shooting and killing a man with his gun (pg.45) Edgar fled after he was accused of killing Page Papineau (pg.325) and Lancelot fled back to his castle after killing Gareth (pg.585). Raymond really hit this one on the head with these examples. All books contained at least two or three similar characters and plots. Foster really explains the theory of all books connected to one another in "One Story".
Myles B., Sophomore, period 1
The author Thomas C. Foster's book, "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" explains intertextuality and how it is actually very simple. On page 189 Foster explains, "...everything's connected" and "...anything you write is connected to other written things." As Hailey explained, this idea of intertextuality is shown throughout the three summer reading books by power conflict. In the book "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories", Antonio defeats his age and beliefs to kill the female cat on his own, purposely to assist in saving his village. "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle", shows the affect on everyone after Gar's death. This brings Claude to a realization that although the two had their differences, it is time to take away these hostile feelings. Finally in "The Once and Future King", there is a battle between Lancelot and Meliagrance, which is ends in Meliagrance's head being cut in half(Chapter 44). Overall, in all of these stories the protagonist does something for a purpose, and learns from the situation in the end. Foster's way of describing intertextuality allows one to understand how similar and connected books can be.
Isabella D., Sophomore, Period 1
In the book "How to read Literature Like a Professor" written by Thomas Foster starts off in the Introduction stating his "One Story" theory .Basically saying that many books have the same plot line. To me I really understood the first chapter more than I understood the introduction. In the first chapter he starts off talking about Quests. In all three books they all go onto these quests. The "One Story" theory to me really plays in right about now. For the most part all three books have the same plot. In the first chapter Foster states the key essentials in a Quest. You need a Quest-er and a reason to go, the introduction and the first chapter really go hand and hand to me. All three books essentially have the same plot. Like Myles said they all flee. Fleeing is a quest in some sorts.
In Thomas C. Foster's "How to Read Literature Like a Professor", Foster tells us what his One Story Theory is by very bluntly telling us, on page 185, that "there's only one story." Every story is similar to another and "pure originality is impossible" (pg 187). This shows up in our books "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" and "The Once and Future King" by way of conflict to win somebody's love. Gar and Claude both loved Trudy and got in a fight about it, and Claude ended up killing Gar over it. Guenever and Elaine both compete for Lancelot's love, but when Guenever wins, it causes Elaine's death. On page 187, Foster states "Writers notice all the time that their characters resemble somebody... and they go with it." this holds true with our books "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" and "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" because both the Mayor and Claude display actions of self gain. The mayor thinks only of himself while blundering through the jungle with the other men, while Claude thinks only of himself while killing Gar and Edgar.
Tony R., Sophomore, Period 2
In "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" Foster has a "One Story" theory. This theory states that there is no such thing as an original piece of literature. And that all authors are influenced by other works. On page 189 Foster states that "Anything you write is connected to other written things." In all three summer reading books one of the main characters had an emotional connection with an animal. In "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" Edgar has his dog Almondine. Almondine stayed by Edgar's side ever since he was a child and understood all his sign language. In "The Once and Future King" Merlyn has his owl Archimedes. Through the book Merlyn is rarely seen without his owl. Finally in "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" Antonio has the female ocelot. While the ocelot is not a pet to Antonio it is a prominent point in his life until he kills it.
Maria W. Sophomore, Period 2
Foster's theory in "One Story" is one I've thought about many times. As I love writing, I love trying to find an original idea to blow readers out of their seats. But, as Foster so wonderfully said, it's impossible. There is originality, but there are no new stories. The stories are all interconnected and whatever I, or anyone else, write will be directly connected to something else. A great example is The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, especially the unique example of running away after murder. However, this is too loosely related to books like Gone Girl. In The Once and Future King, two man are fighting over a woman, which ultimately causes her death. However, this is found in many cheesy romantics, and even in Romeo and Juliet. Lastly, in The Old Man Who Read Love Stories, a fascination with well-known, well-liked, and well-experienced people seems to have erupted. However, this is also the case in books with characters who have left their homes and are gladly accepted into the arms of an unusual group.
Annie Trentman, Sophomore, Period 2
Foster's "One Story" theory is one that many other people including myself have speculated before. His theory states that, "pure originality is impossible" (Page 195), I believe that his theory holds some truth to it. All three summer reading books have a characteristic that connects the books together. In the book, "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" Edgar runs away after the death of Page fearing the consequences of accidentally murdering him (Page 325). This relates to "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" because Antonio Jose Bolivar is forced to leave the local tribe after he kills a man in a way that was not culturally permitted (Page 45-47), similar to the reason why Edgar left his home. This can be tied again to "The Once and Future King" when Lancelot is banished from Arthur's kingdom after being accused of having an affair with Arthur's wife Guinevere and the death of Gareth (Page 585). The connection between these books is why I believe that Foster may be on to something with his "One Story" theory.
Koji Nagata-Brown, Sophomore, Period 1
In "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" by Thomas Foster, the author says that there is only "One Story". He says that all stories "take from and in return give to the same story" (p.186). This is shown in the three books we read over the summer because someone is killed in every book and the killer has to leave for whatever reason. This helps prove the author's theory because all three book have something in common and can relate to other stories written throughout time. The author also talks about writers having "to practice a king of amnesia when the sit down" (p.187). He is saying that if a writer really wants to have a unique and unheard of story, they have to try and forget about anything they have ever read or written and just write. When you really think about it, everything is really "One Story".
In the book "How to Read Like a Professor" Foster writes about an interlude called one story. In this story he mentions about how every story, book, word, and movies are all related. He talks about creating new ideas is pretty much impossible and how all writers need help when writing. He used the example of Mark Twain claiming he never read a book, but his library has over 3000 books. The three summer reading books however refers to the 'one story' that Foster was talking about because they all mention how each one of the characters kill someone and how many people died. For example in the book " The once and future King " on page 571. Lancelot is caught sleeping with Guenever and as twelve guards including Agravine and Modred try to capture him and show him to the king, he kills all of them except for Modred. In the book "the story of Edgar Sawtelle" Edgar supposedly killed Doctor Papaineu by pushing him down the stairs and decides to run away. Lastly, in the book "the old man who reads love story" Antonio Jose Bolivar kills a catfish and later feels sad for what he has done and throws the gun in the water (P.130).
Chris J, Sophomore, Period 1
In the chapter, "One Story" by Thomas Foster claims that every book, story, song, or movie has somehow been influenced by another whether he knows it or not. He states on page 190. "If you've seen Indiana Jones being dragged behind a truck by his whip, then you've been touched by 'The Cisco Kid'..." I remember this part in the Indiana Jones movies but have never once heard of "The Cisco Kid". It shows that ideas can overlap, others favoring more then one. This chapter also reminded me of the book I read over the summer, "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" by Luis Sepulveda. Earlier this year in my human geography class we had watched a documentary on living in the jungle in South America in the 1900's. The film was meant to show how the people would live and survive by hunting and gathering. While reading, "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" this image kept coming to mind. When the author was explaining how the people and tribes would survive I could picture the film in my head. Fosters proposal can come across as offensive to some authors who feel they have created an original piece, but in the end there is no book with one hundred percent original content. When there are over a trillion different books, movies, and stories in the world today information is overlapped.
In Thomas Foster "One Story", he explains his One Story theory. This theory states that every book is connected in one way or another. Thomas also says that there is no such thing as originality, and that all authors are inspired to write by other authors. In the three summer reading books in all the book the characters have to deal with death in there life for the good or for the bad. In "The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle" Edgar has to deal with the tragic death of his father. Claude makes the situation by setting the hostile feelings aside between him and Edgar. In "The Man that Read Love Stories" Antonio kills the ocelot that improves the condition of his village. Antonio also deals with death when he kills a man with a gun instead of a blowdart, which impacts him negatively. Lastly in "The Once and Future King" Lancelot kills Meliagrance by cutting off his head. Death is a big part of every book from the summer reading.
Zachary Jerome, Sophomore, per. 3
In the interlude, "One Story," by Thomas Foster, he talks about how he believes that authors feed off of one another and that no story is truly original. He says, "...anything you write is connected to other written things." In all three of our summer reading books, at least one of the main characters has a strong connection with an animal. In "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle," Edgar and the rest of his family raise dogs, which the rest of the book revolves around. Also, Edgar's dog Almondine has been with him since he was young, and they even have a conversation near the end. In "The Once and Future King," Merlyn always has his owl Archimedes with him. And in "The Man that Read Love Stories," the author spends a lot of time talking about how Antonio's connection to and thoughts about the ocelot. The idea of a main character having a close connection to an animal is shown in all three books.
Andrew Cotter, Period 1, Sophmore
In the book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" Thomas Foster explains his "one Story" Theory. Basically the theory states that all work is alike in similarities whether it be in art, literature, music, or movies they will always piggy-back off one another. He also mentions this idea that "originality is impossible"(pg. 187) This really grabbed my attention because it made me realize that everyone is always looking for the big story to write about, or is trying to come up with some creative idea of their own but that is extremely hard when everyone is looking for that same opportunity. In each of the novels we read over the summer The main Character was having a problem within themselves, and was trying to discover who they were. In "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" Antonio had a problem within himself because many people wanted him to go out to kill the female cat but, but he felt within himself he was to old and worn down, he didn't feel he was up to do that stuff anymore. In "The Once and Future King" King Arthur, or the wart, had no idea who he was destined to become and he had to find that out himself, later in life he struggled with himself to accept what was going on between Lancelot and Genouver. King Arthur continuously lied to himself and denied it. Finally, in "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" Edgar struggles with his fathers death and he struggles to watch Claude as he 'takes his fathers' place.' However since Edgar felt he couldn't talk to his mom he kept it all inside himself. So Even with the common themes in each book that doesn't mean they're boring or un-origional because everybody puts their own spin on things, so there will always be something to write about.
Mason O. Sophomore Period 3
The theory of "One Story" states that everything written is based of each other and that complete originality is impossible. "The Once and Future King" by T.H. White, "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski, and "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" by Luis Sepulveda all have an evident theme of death and the human brutality that caused it. In "The Once and Future King," Lancelot and the other knights have to kill others to earn respect and power. "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" started in jealous-motivated murder and ended in massacre. In "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories," Antonio Bolivar has to kill the ocelots, which after he regrets and grieves what he did. All of these books have a theme of death and the cruelty of humans to each other and nature.
Sam S., Sophomore, Period 2
In the book "How to Read Like a Professor" Foster writes a interlude called "One Story". In this interlude Foster expresses his theory on how every story is influenced by some other. He states that there is no story that is fully original. Foster states in this interlude that all authors use connection in their stories. In Sepulveda's " The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" the author shows the connection between Antonio and nature, especially his connection with the ocelot. In "Once and Future King" there is a archetype for Merlyn putting the Wart through trials to try and teach him life lessons. In " The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" Edgar decided to run from his mistake of murder, in fear of the consequences that he will have to go through. This can relate to many different stories of people running away in fear of what may happen, for example in Gone Girl. You can find similarities in all three of these books to all other books and to our personal experiences.
Sakina Masud, sophomore, period 3
In "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" by Thomas Foster, Foster proposes the "One Story" idea, where he states that all stories and forms of art "take from and in return give to the same story" (pg 194) and ultimately that "pure originality is impossible" (page 195). This idea can be shown within the three books "The Once and Future King", "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories", and "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle",where all the protagonists learn important lessons of survival in the wilderness. King Arthur, known as the Wart when he was younger, learns from other animals that violence is not always the key to survival and living a peaceful life is better than a bloody one. Antonio, from "The Old Many Who Read Love Stories", comes to understand the wrath of human greed and laziness while in search of an ocelot, accompanied by a man who is completely unrighteous, ignorant, and is only interested in self gain. Edgar Sawtelle learns to be more cunning, stealing food and supplies from cabins for himself and his dogs. Over time he adapts to hunger and scavenging for food, while doing so - becomes more connected to the hearts of his dogs than ever before.
Cheryl W. Sophomore. Period 3
In "How to Read Literature Like a Professor," Foster talks about "one story" that every author/writer all write. "One story. Everywhere. Always. Wherever anyone puts pen to paper or hands to keyboard or fingers to lute string or quill to papyrus." Foster talks about how each author writes a story that resembles another. It was interesting for me to hear this true reality because I have always thought that each writer has their own ideas and original stories. I notice now that each story I've read has had similarities to classics such as Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and many other famous authors. Over the summer we were instructed to read 3 books, "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories," "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle," and "The Once and Future King." Each book relates to Foster's book because each author wrote "one story." They all talked about one man who was looking for himself and who they wanted to be. Each found it through many events that happened in each of their crazy lives.
Thomas Foster's "One Story" theory states that each author feeds off of another author or story in some way, making no story truly authentic. Foster explains that each story is similar or alike in some way. Each of the summer reading books prove this theory. In "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" there is an atmosphere of murder shown consistently after Edgar's father is killed. In "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" Antonio kills the ocelot, even though after he feels guilty. In "Once and future King" the power of the knights, especially Lancelot, is shown by who they kill. Each of these books has a reoccuring theme of death and mortality.
Veronica Start, Sophomore, Period 1
After reading "One Story" I realized that Foster was absolutely right. I tried to think of a movie or text that had nothing in common with another, and I failed. Every work has a character, a scene, or a theme that connects with a desperate work. This was also evident in our summer reading. "The Story of Edgar Saytelle" and "The Once and Future King" both have one theme that connects them. In each book, the head of the family (Gar and Arthur) is killed by a less prestigious family member (Claude and Mordred). "The Story of Edgar Saytelle" also has the popular theme of an accidental murder ( Edgar killing Dr. Papineau), and then flight into the wilderness. A theme in "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" is nature versus man. This them can be seen in many other works. The idea of every work have some idea pertaining to another did not seem all that plausible to me at first, but after comparing our summer reading books to other books, it is clear that all books, movies, plays and other works are built upon each other.
In the book, "How to Read Literature Like A Professor," the author, Thomas Foster writes a chapter that demonstrates the idea that everything is connected. On page 187, Foster says " On one level, everyone who writes anything knows that pure originality is impossible." This line couldn't be more true. Whether you are aware of it or not, your story isn't 100% original. This theory is demonstrated in all 3 of our summer reading books. They all have things that tie them together, like the fact that in each book, the main character killed or was accused of killing somebody and fleeing. In "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories," Antonio Bolivar killed the white man who shot his friend and ended up fleeing from the Shuar. In "Edgar Sawtelle," Edgar was accused of killing Page Papineau, the doctor, and ended up fleeing from his home with Almondine. In "The Once and Future King," Lancelot fled after killing Gareth and Gahreis (basically what Zach Shubella and Sophie Barajas said).
According to Thomas Fosters one story theory, there is only " One story. Everywhere. Always." Pg. 186. Not one of the stories we have read is truly authentic or original. Though they do contain unique characters and settings, each story follows the same course. When looking back on our three summer reading stories, I could see many similarities all the books. The basic plots of all three books seemed to follow the same course. Edgar runs away from his home, and flees to the wild. Arthur takes up the challenge of running England. Antonio accepts a quest that takes him in to the wild to kill an ocelot. All three plots take the main characters on a journey of some kind. The journies they are led on do not only change the corse of the story, but they change the characters themselves. Each character is different from when the started. The closeness of the stories plots reinforce the idea that " ... all take from and in return give to the same story..." Pg. 186.
Thomas Foster's theory of "One Story" basically says that all stories are connected somehow, and "originality is impossible"(pg. 187). He states that all stories are alike in a way, and that they all take things from each other and are inspired by one another. As hard as an author may try to come up with a new idea, they will not find one that has not already been used by someone else. This made me realize that no matter how different two books may seem, there is always a way to find a connection between them. For example, all three of our summer reading books revolved around the central idea of death and how it affects people. In "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle", Edgar has to deal with his father's death. This leads Edgar to be a bit mentally unstable and run off into the woods. In the end, Edgar and Claude die. In "The Once and Future King", all characters deal with death of both strangers and loved ones. The knights have to kill people, which leads to either guilt or pride. In "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories", Antonio kills the cat with a gun, which leads him to question himself as well as all of mankind. He is extremely guilty and can hardly live with himself after he does it. All three books tie together somehow, which proves Foster's theory that no matter how hard an author tries, there are only so many good ideas to work with.
In Thomas Fosters, "One Story", It explains how stories build from stories. All I saw when I read "The Once and Future King" was refrences from the book "Crispin". I thought about the book "Where The Red Fern Grows" when I read "The story of Edgar Sawtelle". It feels like there are always ideas on new books from pre existing books. As quoted from page 186 in, "How To Read Literatre Like A Professor". "They all take from and in return give to the same story". It reminds me of a study about dreams. It is proven that you cannot dream about someone that you have never seen before. I feel like the same applies. You cannot write a book without being influenced by a book or passage that you have previously seen/read. I totally agree with Mr. Foster on this belief.
Ryan McCoy, Sophmore, Period 2
In the first chapter of "How to Read Literature Like a Professor,"by Thomas Foster, readers are introduced to the "One Story Theory" stating that every plot or idea is some how shaped by other plots lines and ideas. Foster explains that most stories have the originality but not an original story line. Foster states,"...most other stories of someone going somewhere and doing something, especially if the going and the doing wasn’t his idea in the first place." is brought up regularly using counter examples of story lines that are comparable. I have to agree with many of my peers when they say that this theory connects to our summer books through death. "The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle," "The Man that Read Love Stories," and "The Once and Future King" all have characters that deal with the consequences of death. Each of the main characters are faced with making mature decisions throughout difficult situations surrounding death. Antonio from "The Man that Read Love Stories" is excluded from the tribe because of his decisions using a gun and keeping his friends spirit here on earth. He has to learn to deal with the consequences and move on. This also happens to Edgar in "The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle," due to the fact that his father dies and he is put in a mature situation revolving around his uncle and his mother. When he leaves home, he adapts to the state he is in and deals with the consequences of his decisions after his fathers death. In the book "The Once and Future King" death comes up quite a bit and each character is affected by the weight of others decisions due to the deaths. For example when Lancelot rescues Guenever from being burned at the stake, but he kills two of Gawaine’s brothers, Gareth and Gaheris.
Avery Y., Sophomore, Period 2
After reading "One Story", Fosters talks how is is almost impossible to get pure originality. (I think), When an author writes about death it makes the texts more original. All three of the summer reading talks about death in different ways, and how the characters deal with it. In "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" Antonio kills the white man. In "Edgar Sawtelle", he is accused of killing the doctor. In " The Once and Future King" Lancelot killed Gahreis and Gareth. All of the books are tied together with a death or an accusation of death.
Jessica M. Sophomore, Period 3
In Thomas C. Foster's, "How to Read Literature Like a Professor", one of his theories presents the idea of all pieces of literature being related to each other in some form, known as intertextuality. He describes the concept "in other words, anything you write is connected to other written things" (pg. 189). This demonstrates the idea that there is not one story in literature that contains an original plot. Nonetheless, there may be a variety of factors that make the story unique, but the plot was created through intertextuality with other pieces. Intertextuality is demonstrated in all three of our summer reading books. One example that was considered by other students and I was regularly the leading character in each novel either murdered another character, or was accused of murder, and was therefore forced to leave. First, in "The Once and Future King", Lancelot killed Gahreis and Gareth in the process of saving Guenever, and helping her escape. Next, in "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" Antonio Bolivar killed a murderous man in an inappropriate manner according to the Shuar, so he was sent way. Last, in "Edgar Sawtelle", Edgar is accused of killing Page Papineu, therefore he is forced to run away from home to keep himself safe.
Bella E. Sophomore, Period 2
In Thomas Foster's book, "How to Read Literature Like a Professor", he claims that all writers, "take from and in return, give to the same story." What he is saying is that all writing is connected somehow, whether the author intended it to be or not. After reading this, it became evident that my three summer reading books share a common theme. Relationships. In all three, the protagonist has a strong relationship that is broken somehow. In "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle", Edgar develops a close relationship to his dog, Almondine. However when Edgar runs away, the relationship is broken and Almondine dies a lonely dog, never seeing Edgar again. In "Once and Future King", King Arthur develops a strong bond with Lancelot. After Lancelot has an affair with Guenever, Arthur's wife, one thing leads to another, and Arthur is forced to besiege Lancelot's castle. In "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories", Antonio Bolivar develops a close friendship with Nushino. When Nushino is killed by a prospector, and Antonio seeks revenge, he kills the prospector with a gun, an act considered by the Shuar as disgraceful. In doing this, Antonio dooms Nushino to an afterlife of misery. The relationship was broken.
Isaac G. Sophomore, Period 2
In Thomas Foster's "One Story" idea featured in his handbook, "How to Read Literature Like a Professor", he makes it clear that in literature, writers are far beyond coming up with completely new ideas. All stories are connected in one way or another, drawing ideas, themes, and plots from each other. In our summer reading, the three books we read certainly maintained "the conventions of a quest tale," (page 6) among extremely diverse characters and settings. Each time, "someone [was] going somewhere and doing something," (page 6) making them all alike in a very noticeable way. For example, Antonio's quest in the novel "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" was to "track [the animal] down and kill her" (page 110). Edgar's venture occurred after he "stood and turned away from everything he knew" (page 328) in the novel "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle". Lancelot and King Arthur both made grand expeditions in battle and in leadership over the course of the novel "The Once and Future King". Although all of these variables of the books differ so much from one another, the quest remains the same: all of them are going somewhere and doing something.
Megan Aubry, Sophomore, Period 1
In Thomas Fosters chapter, "One Story", he explains how, "Everyone who writes anything knows that pure originality is impossible. Everywhere you look, the ground is already camped on." pg 187. No matter what the stories plot is, they all relate to each other in one way or another, the three summer reading books all relate to each other in a sense that in all three books, the characters went on a quest/adventure. The story line is different in the three books, but they all have that and many other similarities. Reading Foster's one story theory made me think in perspective to all the books I have read, what they have in common and how they tie into Foster's theory. I believe that Foster has thoroughly proven his theory to a point where no matter what other authors and writers say, nobody can doubt his theory.
Hailey Pierce, Sophomore, Period 3
Thomas Foster's idea of "one story" can essentially be used anywhere. It explains how every single novel or idea or story or poem is somehow taking - but not stealing - from other novels or ideas or stories or poems. No matter how original you believe your idea to be, it somehow gets cut out by someone else's ideas or thoughts on some kind of story that they've created. In "The Once and Future King", the main premise is of King Arthur, who was once a young peasant boy nicknamed "Wart". He starts with his roots alongside a noble young man known as "Kay", who was high-born and would inherit land and riches when we grew up. The originality in the story was this idea of "Wart". Though the rest of the story most closely follows legend, being that Wart was born to King Uther Pendragon, making him heir to the throne, the wizard Merlin advising him to be raised in some secret place, and the sword in the stone, White's "Wart" was a whole new story. He was raised differently than told by regular legend, but even then, the whole thing still very closely resembled what has been told for centuries. It even has some resemblances to the creation stories from the Bible. "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" encompasses a mute boy by the name of Edgar Sawtelle, who was born on a farm which breeds dogs and taken care of by (at least at first) his mother and father. When his father mysteriously dies, Edgar immediately attributes his death to his uncle Claude, who he believes is now intimate with his mother. Eventually, both Claude and Edgar die in the very same barn where Edgar's father, Gar, was poisoned. The story largely focuses on the dogs which accompany Edgar on his adventures. This story has many resemblances to books such as "Old Yeller" and "Where the Red Fern Grows", especially due to their important canine characters, and how each story suffers a loss in the form of death in important characters, human or otherwise. The final book, "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories", focuses on Antonio Jose Bolivar Proano (The Old Man) who is accompanied by a team of wilderness experts and his local mayor in the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador to hunt down and kill an ocelot that has been ravaging the town for several months. The old man eventually kills the cat and is faced with guilt and dread for having taken the life of a creature in such an unjust way. These feelings ultimately stemmed from his time spent with the Shuar tribe in the Amazonia, who very much valued the lives of each and every living thing. Cultural relations and sympathies like this are shown in many novels, including Paul Theroux's "The Old Patagonian Express", wherein Paul Theroux travels throughout the world and experiences many different cultures and offers his opinions on each of them and how they operate under their own "cultural hood".
Hunter C., Sophomore, Period 2
In Thomas C. Foster's novel, "How to Read English Like a Professor" he explains his theory of "one story". Which states that anyone who writes anything knows that "pure originality is impossible"(pg. 195). This thought has to do with the idea of intertextuality, meaning that "everything is connected" and it is our job as readers to pick up on these connections (pg. 197). In all of the summer reading books, there is a common theme of fleeing from a situation. In "The Old Man who Read Love Stories", Antonio Jose Bolivar flees from his predicament after shooting a man with a gun instead of a blow dart(pg. 46). We see this continuous fleeing theme in "The Once and Future King" when Lancelot leaves after killing Gareth and Gaheris (pg. 585) . Again we see this in "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" when Edgar ran away after the death of Page Papineau (pg. 325). All the stories have this idea of intertextuality, or connectedness. The theme of fleeing also goes along with the theme of death. In all of the novels there is a death that occurs, and all are caused at the hands of another human being. This example again backs up that all stories cannot be completely original and are all connected.
Ceceli R.D., Sophomore, Period 2
In the book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" when Thomas C. Foster brings forward his One Story theory which gave me a new look on all the books I have read that I thought were completely original. In this chapter Thomas C. Foster talks about how no matter what two books you think of there will always be a connection, " Your novel may contain echo or refutations of novels or poems you've never read."(pg. 189) This got me thinking about the summer reading books and their connections, in all three books somebody accuses another of killing someone. For example the beginning or "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" when the poacher was found dead and The Shuar were accused of killing him, the same situation in "The Once Future King" when Lancelot was accused of killing Gahreis and Gareth and the same in "Edgar Sawtelle" when Edgar is accused of killing the doctor, Page Papineau.
Kira L. Sophomore, Period 1
In "How to Read Literature Like a Professor', by Thomas C. Foster, the chapter "One Story" which basically refers to the idea that there is really only one story. This is called intertextuality, which simply means that everything is connected. As other students have pointed out our books all show the common theme of fleeing because of murder, or at least the accusation of being a murder. In "Edgar Sawtelle" Edgar is accused of murder so he runs away into the woods with his dogs. In "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories", Antonia murders a man with a gun, which was dishonorable among the Shuar. Because of this, Antonia left the tribe. (pg. 47-48)Lastly, "In the Once and Future King" after Gareth and Gahreis were killed Lancelot fled. Another connection between Edgar and Antonia was the fact that they both made uncommon friendships yet they had a lasting affect on the protagonist. Dogs play a large role in "Edgar Sawtelle" and Edgar's companionship with them seems unlikely. In "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories", Antonia Bolivar forms a strong relationship with the Shuar tribe. This was interesting because they both came from very different cultures and ways of living yet they still accepted each other.
Tess M. Sophomore, Period 1
IN Thomas Foster's "One Story it explains that all stories are connected and "originality is impossible: (pg.187). "In fact there is only one story" (pg.185). Foster is trying to say that you can be greatest author in the world but you story will be inspired by somebody else's. All stories are alike in some kind of way and writing is truly a give and take relationship because although you got an idea from one author another author will get one from you. After reading "One Story" i really started to look at the big pictures of all three books we had to read. I found that everybody in each book creates a bond with another character. In "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" Antonio forms a bond with Nushino and that bond becomes so strong that when Nushino is killed Antonio seeks Revenge. In " The Once and Future King" Arthur creates a bond with Lancelot. After going on many adventures together this bond becomes so strong that even after Lancelot had an affair with Arthur's wife Arthur forgives him and they remain friends. In the book "Edgar Swatell" Edgar forms a bond with Almondone his dog, but however the bond is broken when Edgar runs away from home. After reading "One Story" I have really thought about most of the books I have read and their correlation with each other and I can say that Foster's statement is true.
The main idea in "One Story" from "How To Read Literature Like a Professor" is intertextuality. This means "everything's connected (Page 197)." All plots, characters, themes, and ideas in books are related and every book can be associated with another. There is not one book that is completely original, because all writing comes from one myth. Our summer reading proves this idea of intertextuality like in "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" being correlated to"Hamlet." Hamlet's uncle kills his father and ends up in a relationship with Hamlet's mother. The exact story happens to Edgar. In "Once And Future King" Merlyn turns Wart into animals to tutor him and learn about the world. This is similar to Lois Lowry's "The Giver." The Giver shared his memories of the outside world with Jonas, the Receiver. Although Jonas is not turned into creatures, he learns by experiencing what their lives are like, just as Wart learns by becoming the creature. Finally, in "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" Antonio was banished from Shuar land after killing a white man with a gun. "Still weeping, they embraced him, gave him supplies, and told him he was no longer welcome (Page 47)." Another exile when a group banished another is when Nazis forced Jews out of Germany before World War II in 1945. I only gave three books as examples, but look at any piece of literature and it will share similar traits to many others, because like Thomas Foster said, "originality is impossible (Page 195)."
One story was something very interesting to read. All of the books tied together on how we need to work together and learn new things. How in comparison he used X and Y also this and that two of the easiest things you can learn. Quote from the Once and Future King " The best thing for being sad replied merlyn beginning to puff and blow is to learn something that is the only thing that never fails". Pushing to learn new things allows us to focus on more of the important things then the this and that. The X and Y are just the basic stuff in the process.
Kayden M period 1 sophomore
In the theory of "One Story", Thomas C. Foster explains how all different types of stories somehow in someway have a connection. Like all the summer reading books. Lancelot ran back to his castle after Gareth's death (p. 580). Or how Edgar left his home that was completely falling apart, after the death of the beloved Page (p.323). And how after Antonio killed a man, then lead to be outlawed (40). "Originality is impossible" he states; I completely agree with this. Because as you can see all of these stories have one of the characters leave what they call their home.
Mae J. Sophomore, per. 2
In Thomas Foster's " How to Read Literature like a Professor," he talked a lot about what separates professional readers from the rest of the crowd. The three things that separates them are Memory, Symbol, and Pattern. When an english professor is reading a book, he will focus a little bit on the level of the story or what it is about, but a lot of his attention is drawn to certain questions like where have I seen that before or what does this character have in common with the others. Once you read books like this, it becomes more rewarding and easier to read/ understand. In the chapter "One Story," Foster starts to talk about how no story is really original and how the authors are just talking elements from other books and putting it into their own. So in other words, there is only one story. This made me think of at least two of our books that had certain things in common. There were always something that the main character was associated with wether it be a person or a animal. In " The Story of Edgar Sawtelle," Edgar was associated with all the dogs in the kennel and with his mother after his father died. In"The Once and Future King," Merlin was associated with his owl and how Guenever loves Lancelot.
Peyton P., Sophmore, Period 3
In Thomas Foster's "One Story" idea in his book, "How to Read Literature Like a Professor", he makes it clear that writers do not come up with brand new ideas. On page 187, Foster says, " On one level, everyone who writes anything knows that pure originality is impossible."Stories and ideas are connected to others in one way or another. For example, a psychologist may be writing a book on a new theory he has, but in order to write this book he needs some sort of facts to back up his theory, which he need to get from other psychological theories and facts. Edgar Sawtelle ran away after the death of Page (pg. 325); Antonio José Bolívar was banished after he had murdered a man with the gun, instead of the blow dart (pg. 45-47); and Lancelot, after killing Gareth and Gaheris, ran to his castle (pg. 585). All of these books follow a similar order of a leading character running away after the death of somebody. I didn't really ever think about how all stories are connected with other stories until reading this interlude in Foster's book. It almost surprised me because I never really had ever put much thought into it.
Emma F, Sophomore, Period 3
In "How to Read Literature Like a Professor," Thomas C. Foster explains and interprets two concepts that ultimately lead to his theory of there being "only one story" (pg. 185); these two concepts are intertextuality and archetype. (pgs. 189-191) Foster describes intertextuality and archetype as associated with the originality of a story. No one story is entirely original. Generally, most stories have their corollaries; we soon recognize similar plot design, paragraph structures, types of characters, etc. Writers typically build upon each others' ideas, expand and amplify them in ways that make it their own. These two concepts coincide with the big picture: there's only one story, there's one pattern that everyone has come to follow in literature, most likely ingrained from prior associations from a bunch different stories. We may not even come to be aware that we are following this archetype, or this "mythical original pattern" (pg. 191).
So, how does Foster's "one story" theory correspond with our summer reading? In fact, it relates to this blog prompt, honestly. Each student who has submitted this prompt has in someway incorporated one another's ideas; one of which is that there is an unfortunate central theme of demise (sometimes ending in resilience). In "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle," after the death of Edgar's father and being practically forced to flee from his home after supposedly killing Page Papineau (pg. 325), he fights constantly to find inner peace and acceptance. In "The Once and Future King," Lancelot's power is measured in his ability to kill, this led to the demise of Gareth and Gahreis. Lastly, in "The Old Man Who Reads Love Stories,"after Antonia loses his wife, it becomes a constant battle for him to discover a newfound love, and he does. Thankfully, a story with a happy ending.
Kate K., Sophomore, Period 2
In the book How to Read Literature Like a Professor, the author, Thomas C. Foster explains the theory of "One Story" Which states that every Author feeds off of another Author's work and that every work is not all original. This surprised me because I always thought that every work had its own background and story, but once I started to think back to some other books I have read or movie I have seen, I noticed that writers do in fact take ideas from things they have seen before or have had some role in the society at some point. For example, the three summer reading books that we read had huge roles of going on quests or adventuring, and the other key role in all three of the stories was, of course, death.
Davit Harutyunyan
Sophomore
Period 1
Thomas Foster's book How to Read Literature Like a Professor gives insight into all books being "one story". What he means by this is all books, movies and tv shows have the same plots and all contain a peice of being human. To me this is shown in all three of the summer reading books, because all three of the main characters do something because of their own personal belief system. In The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Edgar continuously runs back into the barn to save the records because personally he believes that they are necessary and the most valuable thing he has left. In The Once and Future King, the Knights are constantly trying to earn each others respect because that is what they have placed value in. Finally, The Old Man Who Reads Love Stories showed that Antonio was not willing to kill because he felt that nothing the ocelot had done was worth her death because of the value he placed in the animal's life. All three books show his theory about "one story" and all fit into the theme of personal beliefs.
Simon C. Sophomore Period 2
Thomas Foster's idea in "one story" is that every story is interconnected in some way. In the summer reading books, this rule applies. In "The Old Man who Reads Love Stories", Antonio loses his wife not long after he moves into the amazon, and there was nothing he was able to do about it; and in "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle", Edgar finds his dying father, in a time where there was nobody around, so there was nothing Edgar could do to save him. Both of these books are interconnected due to them losing a close loved one, and couldn't do anything about it.
Kyle W., Sophomore, Period 1
In the book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" Thomas C. Foster explains the theory of "One Story" which states that "pure originality is impossible"(pg 187). That basically says, when coming to writing, authors feed of of each other work and add on the what their thoughts and feelings were on the subject. For example in "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" it is a modern day hamlet. The author, David Wroblewski, obviously like the idea of how Hamlet was written, and the story behind, so he put his own twist on the book. Also in all 3 of the summer reading books, a main character ran away, as soon as death occurred. It's weird that all 3 of the book this summer related in this way, and now thinking back on it, i had no idea that this even occurred. I think Foster brought a good message in my head, that even though we think a book is very well written, the author has probably used someone else's work, though, and messages.
Caleigh Knight
Sophmore
Period 3
In "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" Thomas C. Foster states his "One Story" therory in which all books, movies, and tv shows, have one common story. I can agree and disagree with this. While there are many of the same ideas in literature, not all the ideas are the same. With that said, the common idea I found in the books we read over the summer was betrayal. In "Edgar Sawtelle", Edgar's father is betrayed by Claude, his brother. Not only does Claude kill Gar, but he also sleeps with his wife. In " The Once and Future KIng", Author is betrayed by his best friend and his wife. That's harsh. Finally, in "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories", Antonio Jose Bolivar betrays the Shuar people by killing the man who killed Nushino with a gun instead of using their own weapons. Although the Shuar still liked Antonio Jose Bolivar, he betrayed their trust and was cast out from their society.
Cicely F. Sophmore Period 2
In the novel "How to Read Literature Like a Professor", Thomas Foster accentuates his idea of "One Story" which is essentially that everyone takes from the same source. His idea is supported by his quote stating "everyone who writes anything knows that pure originality is impossible" (pg.195) and in a way he is right. If you pay close attention to any book that you read you will see similar plots or literary devices being repeated. One example that fairly stood out to me as well as Raymond, Zach, and others in the summer literature was that each character was forced away from their homes because of some sort of crime. Antonio Bolivar was forced out of his because he killed a white man with a gun instead of a blow dart in "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" (pg. 45), and "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" explains that Edgar needed to leave because of the death of Page (pg. 325). Even in "The Once and Future King", Lancelot has to go after he kills Gareth (pg.585).
Billy R. Sophomore Period 1
In the book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor", Foster talks about how the greater truth behind the creation of novels, plays, poems, and other literature pieces is that there is only one story. He states this "They all take from and in return give to the same story..." and also "On one level, everyone who writes anything knows that pure originality is impossible." These two points are both very important to the basis of writing because without them then almost every story written would be some sort of plagiarism. Like "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" for example, has a very close relation to the story of hamlet, but no one has ever seen it as plagiarism, just a close resemblance.
Sara B. Sophmore, Period 3
In his book “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Thomas C. Foster explains the theory of “One Story”. This theory claims that whether the authors and readers realize it or not, all stories connect and interact with each other, giving no story the ability to be 100% original. On page 187, Foster writes, “Pure originality is impossible... All the stories have been told, therefore nothing remains for the contemporary writer but to retell them.” This theory appears throughout our three summer reading books, as Zach and Raymond explained, with the theme of something affecting the protagonist that causes them to run away. After killing Gareth and Gaheris, Lancelot fled (pg. 585), Edgar Sawtelle ran away after allegedly killing Page Papineau (pg. 325), and Antonio José Bolívar is forced to leave after shooting a man with a gun instead of a blowdart (pg. 45). Although I’m sure none of these authors met up and discussed how their novels would connect, all three of the stories resemble each other through this theme. Our summer reads are great examples of Foster’s description of the “One Story” theory on page 189, “Everything’s connected. Anything you write is connected to other written things.”
Beth L., Sophomore, Period 2
IN Thomas Foster's "One Story it explains that all stories are connected and "originality is impossible: (pg.187). "In fact there is only one story" (pg.185). Foster is trying to say that you can be greatest author in the world but you story will be inspired by somebody else's. All stories are alike in some kind of way and writing is truly a give and take relationship because although you got an idea from one author another author will get one from you. After reading "One Story" i really started to look at the big pictures of all three books we had to read. I found that everybody in each book creates a bond with another character. In "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" Antonio forms a bond with Nushino and that bond becomes so strong that when Nushino is killed Antonio seeks Revenge. In " The Once and Future King" Arthur creates a bond with Lancelot. After going on many adventures together this bond becomes so strong that even after Lancelot had an affair with Arthur's wife Arthur forgives him and they remain friends. In the book "Edgar Swatell" Edgar forms a bond with Almondone his dog, but however the bond is broken when Edgar runs away from home. After reading "One Story" I have really thought about most of the books I have read and their correlation with each other and I can say that Foster's statement is true.
Colin Hilton Sophmore period 1
The theory of "One Story", explained in "How To Read Literature Like a Professor" by Thomas C. Foster, in summation claims that it is impossible for any works of literature and arts to be completely original. All works are simply interconnected in one way or another. In "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski, "The Once and Future King" by T.H. White, and "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" by Luis Sepulveda all have recurring themes of death of varying significance. For example, in "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" Edgar's father passes away and there are occurrences of death in "The Once and Future King" and "The Old Man Who Read Love Stories" as well. Although death is a broad, common subject explored in countless works of poetry and prose alike, it exemplifies Thomas C. Foster's "One Story" theory by showing how all literature is connected, in this case by death.
Emma J., Sophomore, Period 2
The "One Story" theory by Thomas Foster shows that there is no way to write a story that is completely original. In our minds we have memories of other stories and this makes it nearly impossible to create a completely original plot, weather the writer is aware of what he is doing or not. In "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle," the protagonist follows the same story line as Hamlet, but the author changes the characters to adapt to a different setting. Unoriginality can be a good thing in some writing situations, because following an old story line can help a new piece of literature be great.
Lindsay H, p. 1 Sophomore
In the reading of "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" that was assigned, it opens up the idea of the "One Story Theory" which is when other stories' plots and plot lines are similar. They have the an original story but not an original story line. I have thought about this theory many times before but I see it in movies. I actually am not the biggest fan of movies for this reason. Movies are predictable because they are all based off of the same story line. It's all about the guy getting the girl, cliche type or the protagonist saving the day; it's all the same to me. As many other students have said, this theory is used in all of the summer reading books for this year. Each of the main characters in the books are all faced with hardships and they have to come up with a solution. They are given a conflict and it needs to be resolved.
Emily G., Sophomore, Period 1
In the book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor", Foster talks about how there is truth behind the creation of plays, poems, and other literature pieces is that there is only one story. One story that authors change or modify like the characters. Thomas Foster's idea in "one story" is that every story is interconnected in some way.
Anthony Trujillo Period 1
Post a Comment