It should go without saying that the best writers are the best readers. The trick, however, is to encourage students to read, especially in an era of instant entertainment via movies, television, and the internet, where actual books are considered time-consuming and archaic. While I've met some professors who look down on such media, preferring the “classics,” I've found that, when the goal is effective storytelling, our students are a lot more in touch with the classics than many of us (or even themselves) give them credit for. The first step, as I have done many times in the past, is to make them aware of it.
“I'm going to tell you a story,” I usually begin with my students, “and I want you to figure out what story it is.” The students listen carefully; they love a good game. “Let's start with a boy – in fact, let's make him an orphan: parents are dead; he lives with his aunt and uncle; very unhappy childhood. One day, an old man shows up at his home and tells this boy that he's a hero – or at least he's going to be one. There's a villain threatening the world, and only the boy can stop him – but not yet; he needs to be trained. So the old man takes the boy away to a special place, unlike anything he's ever imagined. Here, he makes some new friends, makes a few enemies, learns the rules of this new and special world as well as the skills to be the hero everyone says he's going to be. So, armed with this new knowledge, as well as a few magical items to help him along the way, the boy defeats the villain and saves the world!
“Now... what's the story?”
If the students are at all familiar with pop culture (and let's face it, they all are), they've probably started blurting out “Harry Potter!” by the time I mentioned the old man at the door. And yes, I assure them, Harry Potter is the right answer.
So is Star Wars.
So is (if you change the boy to a girl) The Wizard of Oz.
So is (if my Nintendo-playing students are to be trusted) The Legend of Zelda.
I never get tired of the wide variety of answers I get to this question – it's a cross-section of popular culture as I get answers from Lord of the Rings to Batman Begins. The story may deviate in a few details, but in the end, it's the same story, and it's one that the students already know.
What I've just demonstrated here is two things: First, what I cal Shamburg's First law of Literature: There is no such thing as an original story. I often accentuate this point by giving my students a second, simpler story to identify: “Boy meets girl. They're not supposed to fall in live, but they do anyway. It ends badly, and in the end, a lot of people end up dead.” Even someone who's never read or seen Romeo and Juliet can spot this one a mile off – because they've seen this story done and redone in so many different ways – put it to music, and it's West Side Story. Put it on a boat, and it's Titanic. Put it on another planet, and it's Avatar. James Cameron has shown himself to be a master of dressing up the simplest and most well-known of stories, as long as you write him a blank check for special effects. (Then again, he's making billions of dollars on these films and I'm not, so who am I to begrudge him?)
Second, what's being displayed here is mythologist Joseph Campbell's image of what he called “The Hero's Journey.” It is a pattern that exists in heroic myths and stories from just about every culture in human history, and for those not familiar with Campbell or mythology, The Hero With a Thousand Faces is a good read.
Campbell has had such an effect on modern storytelling, that Christopher Vogler took Campbell's Hero's Journey and applied it to his own profession – screenwriting. Vogler has worked on a number of Hollywood films, including several Disney animated films, and has applied Campbell's pattern to the storytelling. His book, The Writer's Journey, is a how-to guide for modern-day storytellers to write in such a way that resonates with their audience.
I've taken ideas from both Campbell and Vogler and applied them – in a stripped-down and simplified form – to my own lessons about literature. The key, I believe, to making students active and engaged readers is to reassure them that they are not treading into uncharted waters, but rather, exploring themes, ideas, even stories and characters, that they've already seen many times before. Making connections, I tell them, is the key to being a good reader. As you read a story, watch a movie, or even play a video game, the question you should always ask yourself is, “Where have I seen this before?”
My students have made some surprising connections. I'll never forget an Honors American Literature class, as we were discussing an image in the opening chapter of The Scarlet Letter of a rosebush growing outside the prison door, when one of my students commented, “It's just like Tupac's 'Rose That Grew F.rom Concrete'!” I wasn't familiar with Mr. Shakur's poetry at the time, but after a quick summary from my student (followed up by a weekend trip to Barnes & Noble) I had a new respect for my students' ability to make connections between literature and their own lives and world, which is the best reason to read.
And I still have that book of Tupac Shakur's poetry on my shelf. He's not half bad.
References:
Campbell, J. (2008). The Hero With a Thousand Faces (3rd ed.). Novato: New World Library.
Shakur, T.(1999). The Rose That Grew From Concrete. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Vogler, C. (2007). The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers (3rd ed.). Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions.
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