Many fairy tales are reflected in modern pieces of literature. The classic tales are used to add depth to a text. One such example of a modern text that contains aspects of a fairy tale is Harry Potter. While it may not seem like it at first, Harry Potter has many connection to the fairy tale Cinderella. In both cases, the protagonist is treated poorly by their step family, and is then rescued and taken away to a castle. The similarities between the two help form the connection, while the differences help create irony. For instance, Harry is definitely no "Cinderella," and he definitely doesn't find his "prince charming" and his happily ever after.
Many fairy tales are reflected in modern pieces of literature. The classic tales are used to add depth to a text. One such example of a modern text that contains aspects of a fairy tale is Harry Potter. While it may not seem like it at first, Harry Potter has many connection to the fairy tale Cinderella. In both cases, the protagonist is treated poorly by their step family, and is then rescued and taken away to a castle. The similarities between the two help form the connection, while the differences help create irony. For instance, Harry is definitely no "Cinderella," and he definitely doesn't find his "prince charming" and his happily ever after.
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There are many biblical allusion in James Joyce's Araby, due to the fact that Joyce had strong ties in religion. One of these allusions is quite obvious, and easy for almost anyone to pick up. It is the garden with the apple tree in the center. This is a pretty straightforward allusion to the Garden of Eden, which would make the narrator symbolic of Adam and Eve. Another allusion in Araby is directly stated by the narrator, when he says the bazaar was like "a church after a service."
Intertextuality is the ongoing interaction between poems or stories, or any form of text for that matter. It is the connections and references that can be seen linking one text to another. One such connection can be made in the books The Hunger Games and Divergent. In both novels, the protagonist is a female who is separated from her normal way of life, and physically pitted against stronger, and more prepared males. At the end of each story, the main character becomes an important part in something bigger, in resisting an oppressive force. Another example of intertextuality occurs between the popular television show Lost and the classic novel Lord of the Flies. The television show Lost greatly parallels Lord of the Flies in that it shows what happens to people when the rules of society are removed on a deserted island. A division into two groups occurs in both instances, and conflict between these two previously communal groups escalates. Intertextuality can also have to do with a character resembling another character from a previous literary work. In the 2010 feature film, The A-Team, Liam Neeson's character, Hannibal Smith, greatly resembles Edmond Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo. In the movie, Hannibal Smith was wrongly convicted for a crime he didn't commit, and was stripped of everything he cared about. Staying in line with Monte Cristo, Hannibal spends his time in prison planning his revenge, and when he escapes, he executes his plan. In the Inheritance series, there are many times at which Eragon arrives at a new place with new people. Whether it be humans, dwarfs, or elves, the first thing they do usually is to share a meal. Besides characterizing the customs of the group of people, the meal is an act of communion and a sign of support. By allowing Eragon to eat with them at an elaborate meal, the group that Eragon is meeting is saying "we are with you." The sharing of a meal is a way for them to say that they are comrades, and that they will fight with Eragon against the king.
The five aspects of a quest are: a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges and trials en route, and a real reason to go there. These aspects of a quest can be seen in the Lord of the Rings movies. In the movies, the quester is Frodo. The place that Frodo has to go is Mordor. The stated reason that he has to go there is that he is suppose to destroy the ring. Frodo encounters many challenges on his journey, from giant spiders to the sly Sméagol. In the end though, the reason that Frodo sacrifices his life to destroy the ring is to protect the ones he loves and the shire.
The three elements, memory, symbol, and pattern greatly enhance the understanding of complex literature because they allow us to make connections to works that are more familiar and easier to understand. Recognizing a pattern in a text and connecting it to another piece of literature can allow us to use our knowledge from a text that we have read, to help interpret and predict a text that we are currently reading. In a complicated form of literature, like Shakespeare, recognizing symbols can be the key to understanding what's going on. In the play Hamlet, Claudius can be seen on many occasions wearing the color black. This can help one to characterize Claudius as evil, using the common archetype in literature which associates evil with black and good with white.
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