ENG 6283: Narrative Theory

The current stance of the alt-right says that abortion is immoral and the obvious choice is adoption. They’ve made an entire slogan out of it:  Adoption not Abortion.  And this slogan encapsulates a demonization of the birthmothers who give their children up and paints the adoptive parents as saviors. I mean, check out the last  presidential proclamation  for National Adoption Month this past November: “Adoption affirms the inherent value of human life and signals that every child ‑‑ born or unborn ‑‑ is wanted and loved.” Unborn? Good job, Prezzo, we already knew your stance on abortion. Personally, I think God is getting in the way of reproductive legislation. Because if adoption is so much more preferable, why don’t they fund more empathic legislation for adoptees and birth parents? And why won’t they fund the overflowing orphanages and foster care homes? They say they do, but they don’t. And worse, why is adoption (domestic AND international) such a lucrativ...

I swear I’m not obsessed with Harry Potter. Okay, maybe just a little. That's only proven by the fact that the "Potterverse" was the first thing to pop in my head when I read this prompt. Let’s be honest, there’s A LOT of rule-breaking that happens in Harry’s world, especially after the seventh book when J.K. Rowling goes back and tries to change the entire narrative by providing us with “new” information that she suggests was there the whole time. Looking at Dumbeldore’s supposed queerness here. Between The Cursed Child and Newt Scamander’s movies, I’m not really sure what is canon anymore. However, for this blog post specifically, I want to chat about Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald. Let’s list some of the ways this movie violates the canon of probability: Minvera McGonagall shows up as a professor in the movie, which is set in 1927, eight years before she was born. Dumbledore, canonically a Transfiguration professor before becoming Headmas...

I decided to take this in a slightly different direction, mostly because of an amazing article I found but also, comic-books have more plot holes than any Stephen King novel so they felt like the very best subject to use when it comes to continuity and plot holes. Let me start by saying that I am not now, nor have I ever been, a comic nerd, at least, not on the level of my beloved older brother. I did, however, spend the better part of the 80s and 90s hearing "Lizzy!" (only he can call me that) "Lizzy! Check this out!" at which point a recently released comic would be shoved under my nose so that I could appreciate the amazing artwork while Jason explained to me the in and outs of that week's particular narrative. Because of this early and very heavy indoctrination I gained a deep appreciation for superheroes, though I've always preferred to take them in through movies and TV, animated or live action.  It took me some time to begin noticing the inconsis...

With most CW shows, the canon of probability is a disaster. Supernatural for one, despite early season attempts otherwise, seems to have replaced the concept of “narrative rules” with “the rules do not exist until the Winchesters are breaking them.” The Arrowverse is also a semi-frequent violator, but these instances are sometimes explained. Often it is due to the Villain of the Week causing problems, which our heroes must set right. Occasionally, the Flash has been running around in the timeline and broke something. Due to the amount of the fantastic present in the shows’ universe, it comes as little surprise that the incident I am discussing comes from the series with the least amount of happenings that would handwave any questions away: Arrow . Oliver Queen has gone by many names in his show, but the man currently known as Green Arrow has a fairly consistent (and obvious) choice of weapon. Though he practices various martial arts and can use a multitude of weapons, he is most oft...

Let's all take a moment of silence for Veronica Roth's film adaptation of  the  Divergent trilogy. So. Many. Plot. Holes. I loved the books in high school. It was right after I had finished The Hunger Games and ya girl was on a YA dystopian high. Thus enter Roth's works. I really enjoyed them. They had depth and a strong female lead, which is all 16 year-old Allyson really wanted to read. Tris, the protagonist, was an incredible narrator, and in the movie she is played by Shailene Woodley (swoon). I'm not going to give a play by play of the plot, but basically you're drafted into different factions based on traits, characteristics, and personality and then you live your life with people in the same faction you chose. Tris chose Dauntless, one that valued bravery, courage, and overall kick-assness. She came from Abnegation, which valued selflessness and living as simply as possible. Sounds simple, right? Easy enough to adapt? YOU WOULD THINK, BUT THEY DONE MESSED UP....

I tried to take a more literary approach towards something that disrupts its canon, but I came up short. I thought about a lot of crossover episodes that seemed violating like when they did the whole Scandal/How to Get Away With Murder thing for the fans. Granted it worked, and now I’ve watched Scandal . Also, the “Uncle Grandpa” episode from Steven Universe was super annoying to me, but it is a children’s show and I probably shouldn’t complain about it. What I realized, instead, is that there are a lot of shows that break their canon of probability in ways that work- you may have already guessed which one I’m going with. The Living Handbook of Narratology explores the foundation of possible worlds: “The foundation of PW theory is the idea that reality—conceived as the sum of the imaginable rather than as the sum of what exists physically—is a universe composed of a plurality of distinct worlds. This universe is hierarchically structured by the opposition of one element, ...

I racked my brain for days trying to think of novels I’ve read that have violated their own canon of probability. I know I have put plenty of books down out of frustration, but no specifics came to mind. I could feel the aggravation but could not remember the book or scene that caused it. I could think of authors who purposefully violated their own canon of probability, such as Hunger Games (winners of the games weren’t supposed to go back but Katniss and Peeta did) and Twilight (a vampire who's been dead for nearly 80 years could get a human pregnant). But these weren’t accidental violations. These were all so that the author could extend the narrative and make more money off of book and movie deals.   I decided to take a brain break and watch a movie. I inserted Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's En d into the DVD player. (I know there’s controversy around Jonny Depp, but I’m here for Orlando Bloom and Kierra Knightly, swear.) And, then, it hit me.   The cap...