Rule #30*: The Intersection Between Narrative/Story and Epic
November 16, 2016 How To Read Lit 1 comment ctibbetts17
Narrative/Story Rules
- Story is what is being told- used to get effect
- Narrative is how is it told- use techniques like comic epic
- A tale will change based on who is narrating it
- Examples: Wuthering Heights
Epic Rules
- Epic- long, heroic, nationalistic, poetic
- An epic includes a long narrative
- Includes a hero and a journey
- Examples: Beowulf, The Odyssey, Aeneid, Wuthering Heights
*from How Literature Works Chapters 7 & 8
An example of epic and narrative- “The Lord of the Rings” is a modern example of an epic because it is a long narrative, heroic, and nationalistic. First of all, “The Lord of the Rings is very long. There are three movies to cover the full adventure of Frodo Baggins and his fellowship. The movies follow the central narrative of the books and the quest for Frodo to take the ring to Mount Doom and destroy it. In the book, the narrator is omniscient meaning it is 3rd person and they know all the thoughts and feelings of the characters. There are things like Gollum and Sauron, that hinder Frodo’s quest to destroy the ring but Frodo continues with his quest. “The Lord of the Rings” is heroic and nationalistic too because Frodo saves the day and saves his friends and family. Frodo succeeds in destroying the ring and returns to the Shire as a hero. Along with saving the Shire, Frodo also saves Middle Earth from Sauron by destroying the powerful ring. The hero finally completes his quest and save the day.
1 Comment
Great coverage of the rules that pertain to narrative/story and what makes an epic what it is.
Example of epic/narrative: “Forrest Gump”. “Forrest Gump” is narrated by Forrest himself and is a story of his life in tandem with the story of the United States at that time through his eyes. “Forrest Gump” is a long story in the sense that it covers a pretty large period of time. It tells the story of the States during that time period but it is narrated by Gump so it has a different kind of presentation.