eSCAping Type 1

The more you know about something, the more you appreciate it.

For example, you might like basketball. You’ve gone to a few games, it’s fun to watch. But I bet if you knew the teams and players, if you understood the rules and plays, you’d know what to watch for and would realize there’s a lot more going on than you initially saw.

Basketball has always been entertaining, but knowing more about it makes it better.

So, don’t you think the same goes for reading?

Not the plot, but the actual act of reading. The way I see it, books can be entertaining, but knowing how to analyze them – knowing the rules and plays – makes the whole experience better.

Since it’s fall and I miss my old job like crazy (and I need to get my mind off Ataxia for like, 5 minutes), I’m going to prove this by teaching you how to EASILY analyze, well, everything.

And I’m going to write this in reference to books, but even if you “don’t read” (Dana.) these skills work just as well with TV shows, movies, songs, plays… whatever your heart desires.

Really though, I have a tendency of shouting during TV shows  (“Of course she’s wearing white this episode!” “His lunch was interrupted, so he’ll probably die today…” “OMG! It’s raining!!!”) to the point where I’m forced to watch in my room, alone.

I used to start each school year by apologizing to my AP Literature students for taking away the “relaxing” aspect of movie watching.

So, you’ve been warned:

Stop reading now if you don’t want to automatically analyze everything you come across.

On the other hand, if you love this and want more of it I highly recommend Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor (click the link for a probably illegal free pdf version). I cannot praise that book enough. Most of this information comes from there.

Starting with the idea of intertextuality; the fact that “there is no wholly original work of literature.”

Every single thing you read draws upon something else; usually a fairy tale, or mythology, or Shakespeare, or the Bible.

For example, The Black Panther is basically The Lion King which is Hamlet, every referral to forbidden star-crossed lovers is Romeo & Juliet, rags to riches is always somewhat Cinderella…

Why?

Well, you’re more likely to accept an idea you’re already familiar with. Authors would rather just jump right into their version, rather than teaching you something new. It’s a concept that has already been proven popular. Writers are lazy. Take your pick.

A whole new world right within the one we live in might seem far-fetched, but Alice in Wonderland, The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe, and The Matrix all prove it’s not.

Or the whole monomyth/Hero’s Journey plotline – where an unwilling character goes on a quest, encounters a few very specific others and events, and then successfully returns as a “new” person – can be seen with Star Wars, Happy Gilmore, The Hobbit, Indiana Jones, Wizard of Oz…

[Click the picture below to watch a fantastically funny 5-minute video explaining the Hero’s Journey.]

Good writing often stems from other good writing.

Which leads us to my personal favorite, the oh-so-popular Christ Figure – a character-type you should definitely learn to recognize because they’re in A LOT (always two words; you wouldn’t write “alittle” or “afew”) of books.

You do not need an ounce of religion in your body to know who Jesus Christ is. Even if you view him as a purely fictional character, you’re aware that Jesus was (more or less) the good guy who sacrificed himself for the benefit of others, rose from the dead, walked on water, and all that jazz.

Does it help to also know he was a 33-year-old man who had a knack for fishing and carpentry? Who had disciples and was good with children? Who enjoyed spending time alone walking barefoot in the forest and was eventually tempted by the Devil?

Of course! Knowledge is power!

And authors take full advantage of many people knowing this.

If they want readers to like a character, to root for them despite their flaws, to subconsciously see them as superior and able to accomplish greatness, it’s easy to just give them a few “Christ Figure Qualities” and hope you pick up on them.

Want some examples? Sure!

Clark Kent (Superman), John Snow (Game of Thrones), Aslan (Chronicles of Narnia), Simon (Lord of the Flies), Stargirl (Stargirl), John Coffey (The Green Mile), Santiago (The Old Man & the Sea)…

[Again, click the picture below to watch a 4-minute video explaining Biblical allusions in pop culture.]

I always loved unpacking Hester Prynn from The Scarlet Letter in this manner. Sure, she had an illegitimate baby from a secret affair with a priest BUT she also spent time alone in the forest, sacrificed her reputation while silently standing on a public scaffold, helped others through work with her hands as a seamstress…

So, was she a Christ Figure?

She committed a pretty evil sin, but we’re supposed to like her. She’s not going to display every characteristic otherwise she’d literally be Jesus, not literarily.

I’ll always remember when the Hunger Games: Catching Fire movie came out in 2013, students telling me how they knew Katniss was a Christ Figure because she sacrificed herself for others, spent time in the wilderness, has prominent moments with bread (Peeta) and wine (Haymitch, Snow), blah blah blah.

But they audibly shouted in the theater when this scene occurred:

“We knew that even if she died, she’d come back to life because she LOOKS like a Christ Figure here! Ugh it was so OBVIOUS!”

Yup.

Being able to recognize these things help to involve and invest you, turning you into a knowledgable and appreciative audience member. You’re going to be able to pick up on so much more, which makes the whole experience more enjoyable and fun.

There are so many more analytical tools (the weather, colors, eating, injuries…) that you can learn about by clicking HERE to read Part II.

But for now, go read/watch the Harry Potter series and let me know how that goes.