Friday, June 29, 2007

Harry Potter and narrative

Article from Michael Berube on how Harry Potter has helped his kid (who has Down's Syndrome) to understand narrative. (pdf) Some interesting reflections on the orphan/dead father factor, as well as on why we as people tell stories.

Could also assign this early on with Gilgamesh - some of the themes are similar: "we tell stories partially because we know we are going to die." (Reference here to Frank Kermode's The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction, 1967)

Another reference to check out: EM Forster's Aspects of the Novel (1927), which states something along the lines of: "'The King died and then the queen died.' is a story. 'The King died and then the Queen died of grief.' is a plot."

1 comment:

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