Analyse the similarities and differences between the Mortal Instruments (City of Bones) series by Cassandra Clare, the movie directed by Harald Zwart, and the new FreeForm TV series Shadowhunters. Discuss the casting roles compared to the character's descriptions in the novels and how true the plot lines have stayed to the book.
This is a great topic! I think it will be interesting to see how the TV show continues now, especially after the season finale, and whether it will follow the plot line of the novel or delve into a different side of the characters – LilyaRider8 years ago
Some might find the adjective "stereotypical" I chose to use in the subject line interesting since it appears that the whole point of heroines in chic-lit (let's say, Hunger Games, Divergent, etc…) is to avert the traditional female character profiles in literature. However, as far as contemporary chic-lit books go, the heroines actually seem more stereotypical than ever. They go through battle combats, or training processes that used to be considered only for man. They break gender roles usually at the cost of the abandon of their own characteristics as a female: sexuality, physical beauty, obedience (or, rather, the willingness of submitting to others' decisions without perpetual argument), etc… For me, such characters do not contribute to a solid, independent interpretation of contemporary female identity.
Hear hear. Critical feminist interpretations open now. Agreed 100%. We are exchanging one stereotype for another. One TV show that deals with this is Drop Dead Diva. I find TV offers more character development. Movies though have wholeheartedly embraced the new badass stereotype of womanhood. While I do appreciate the change in some ways, in others ways I would prefer to see more variety among female movie roles. – Munjeera8 years ago
A big problem with the stereotyping of women is that if they're not the feminine ideal, they're often portrayed as a masculine ideal: unemotional, strong, good at fighting, etc. I think it's a reason why a lot of people like Harley Quinn (I know this isn't literature exactly, but it's the first reference I could think of). She's definitely very capable at what she does, but she's still flawed: she's goofy, she's madly in love but in an abusive relationship, she's violent, and no one of those things defines her entirely. Because she's not supposed to represent an ideal or be a role model, she's allowed a lot of space to make mistakes, whereas the clearly heroic Wonder Woman feels kind of like a standard or optimal type of womanhood that could never be achieved. – chrischan8 years ago
Agree with chrischan. The contemporary female literature is greatly affected by latest feminism waves that believe being equal means the abandon of one's own feminist characteriatics. Not only are people encouraged to devalue or neglect the physical beauty of a female, many are also stigmatized by radic "feminists" when if they put focus on the female body. From movie auditions to literature characters, we often hear how it is the inner that matter and those who look for physical beauty are superficial sexists – are they? Recommended reading, Mina Loy on feminism – Chiharu8 years ago
I agree wholeheartedly. It might be interesting to look at why these female characters are extremely unlikable too (such as Katniss from the Hunger Games; most people I talk to either hate her, or just like her because she's the protagonist). I would also suggest that you look at characters that break the stereotype in order to draw attention to the frequency of the stereotype (a character that comes to mind is the protagonist from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landeau-Banks-- which is also debatable) – ainjelwings8 years ago
to ainjelwings. It is almost impossible for me to think about any exceptions in American productions except for maybe the girls in RWBY. But for Asian especially Japanese animes there are tons. KANAME MADOKA in Magika Madoka, for example,would be an interesting character to look into. – Chiharu8 years ago
Legally Blonde is another examples that does fit either female stereotype. – Munjeera8 years ago
I love and embrace the idea that a heroine going through combat has become stereotypical. I have found myself discouraged as a woman, especially as a single thirty-something, because of a narrative that says, "Men want women who can do anything they can, but do it better." Where did all the feminine heroines go? It's discouraging that more authors are not attempting to create feminine heroines who are not also simpering damsels. As a woman crying out for a happy medium, I would love to see this topic written (and may explore it myself, although I'm pretty new here). – Stephanie M.8 years ago
Analyze Ned's role as Nancy's "special friend" and his relationship with Nancy. Was he included in the series only to be her escort and muscle or do they have a real relationship?
This is such a cool topic! I think it would be good to consider Bess and George as well. I think looking at how the three of them affect Nancy and how they are portrayed in comparison to Nancy would be important to add! That way we can see what they represent, and how they bring out those qualities in her – LilyaRider8 years ago
Never thought about it. I only read a handful of Nancy Drews as a kid, and of course I thought Ned was cool because, "Nancy is older and has a boyfriend; that's a cool, grown-up thing to do." As a grown woman now, I'd argue that Ned is there primarily to show amateur sleuth Nancy does "normal" things like having a boyfriend. Carolyn Keene uses Ned to try to make Nancy more human, but from what I remember, he was basically her arm candy. – Stephanie M.8 years ago
Movie adaptations of books is nothing new, but in this upcoming wave of entertainment we're seeing behemoth projects being applied to development. Patrick Rothfuss's "Kingkiller Chronicles" isn't the first, but may be one of the largest undertakings of the new trend of multi-platform/cross-platform development.
In a statement from Lionsgate, who just won the rights to development: The deal sets up the simultaneous development of movies, television series and video games with the goal to adapt the many stories across the mediums at the same time.
Is this beneficial as it enables fans and audiences to explore the story in ways that film alone could not? Is it a cash grab? What are the benefits and drawbacks of this new trend of development?
Usually we talk about who Shakespeare influenced, but never the other way around. I recently learned that the story of Romeo and Juliet was borrowed from the old Greco-Roman myth of Pyramus and Thisbe, the tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers (likewise a rather shallow depiction of romance). Who and what else influenced Shakespeare, the greatest writer of the English language?
i really like this topic! it will be interesting to see what pops up (shakespeare being my favorite playwright) I like that you leave it to the writer to choose the plays instead of being tightknit on certain ones so they can do some research as well – scole9 years ago
I think this will make a great topic to approach. Since there was no actual law of copyrights, there are numerous and familiar literature pieces that have borrowed from ancient stories. – Arazoo Ferozan9 years ago
As You Like It's influence is incredibly interesting, for anyone who decides to tackle this beast of a topic. – chandlerwp8 years ago
It's actually not true that we never talk about who influenced Shakespeare. By reading his plays and poems we can see clear influences from Homer, Plato, Virgil, Ovid (who was his source for the Pyramus and Thisbe legend), Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Plutarch, Holinshed, Montaigne (particularly from the 1603 translation by John Florio), Spenser, Marlowe, and countless others. His works also illustrate that he had an extensive knowledge of a wide array of non-literary subjects, including (but not limited to) medicine, law, court politics, geography, sailing, witchcraft, falconry, and fencing, which surely necessitated a lot of reading. In the appendix to her book Sweet Swan of Avon, american scholar Robin P. Williams (no relation to the late comic) compiled a list of nearly every literary source which the poet must have read - as evidenced by references to them in some capacity throughout his body of work, thereby not counting anything that he may have read for pleasure without making any allusions to - and it wound up being eight times more than the total traceable sources of Ben Jonson, who is considered by many to be the second smartest playwright of the age. – ProtoCanon8 years ago
Many of the plays were not original ideas, but rather based on several source materials. Troilus and Cressida is a great example for instance as an Italian writer expanded of of Homer and the story got rewritten a couple of times--even by Chaucer!--before the Shakespeare even wrote his version. Focusing on a couple plays might help narrow the focus – ckmwriter8 years ago
Another thing to consider is that many of Shakespeare's plays were "work shopped" in the Globe Theater. He would write the greater chunk of the script, pulling from Classic sources, but he would revise them with both cast a crew. Also, as ProtoCanon mentioned earlier, many of his plays were directly influenced by classics and to put it lightly, many of them could be considered adaptations or "fan ficitons" (to put it bluntly). I think a better question would be, although greatly influential and a master of language in his own right, how much of Shakespeare's material was directly his own? Considering the work shopping, the borrowing from other sources, etc. how much did Shakespeare actually create? Perhaps this needs to be better worded (I'm struggling myself to plot this question out correctly) but I still think these things should be considered when writing for this topic. – Mela8 years ago
Even a small dose of coincidence is needed in a work as lengthy and comprehensive as the novel, but Victorian novels seem more comfortable using it than many modern writers. Some consider that a defect, or put up with it as the artifact of a bygone era: but it might it be more than that? First, examine what "coincidence" actually entails, is it really a bad thing? Second, consider specific cases, such as Dickens, Dracula and Dostoevsky, whose brilliantly constructed novels sometimes make liberal use of coincidence. Might coincidence be an integral component in the success of these novels?
This sounds like an intriguing topic and I like the idea of using specific cases of literature to prove your thesis. For whoever chooses to write this topic, it might also be useful to examine how exactly coincidence is seen as a detriment in literature and what made it appear to be undesirable to use for modern writers. – MAG958 years ago
Perhaps the Victorians were big on fate. There's so much coincidence in Dickens thwt I can picture people,rolling their eyes at a retell ins of one of his stories, but his stories are wonderful and believable. – Tigey8 years ago
You might also examine whether modern writers or genres still use coincidence and if so, how. I'm a published writer for the inspirational market, and in that circle there is a bit of the attitude, "You can pull off anything as long as you explain God was behind it." I tried that in college Creative Writing, and my very understanding professor introduced me to the term deus ex machina. Now I avoid coincidence like the proverbial snake in the garden, but have seen it used successfully. It might be an angle worth exploring. – Stephanie M.8 years ago
William Langland is not a well-known writer due to having spent the entirety of his life working on a single work–Piers Plowman. He did write three versions: A text, B text, and the C text. There were revisions made to each text, but the one text with the most revisions is the C text, in which the political language is toned down.
Many scholars have speculated that C text, written in 1390, was toned done in political language due to the Peasant Rebellion that occurred in 1381. This is due to the rebels actually calling out the name of Piers Plowman while rioting. Piers is a fictional character in Langland's visionary poem who undergoes numerous tasks in attempting to find the road to salvation, alongside Will. The poem, broken up into 20 passus ("steps") highlights and personifies vices as all powerful, and the virtues are strong, at moments, yet quickly overcome by the battle between the vices.
The poem appears to end on a triumphant note in which Will, the character attempting to find the road to truth and knowledge, learns that caritas (charity) is man's salvation. Yet, the poem ends with an apocalyptic tone with the vices building in strength and the virtues giving up the fight.
The end of the world in which Piers exists seems doomed…and then the poem ends. Though this is a visionary poem, was Langland more concerned with the sanctity of religion, or with the unsettling state of England? This was at the time when famines and plagues were rampant, and parliament became increasingly greedy and cruel with taxation and land seizure. Or, was Langland simply connecting these two facets to show how the vices of Parliament would eventually lead to the destruction of man as one is left with nothing…there is nothing to lose?
While the quality of its prose is generally considered substandard, E.L. James's Fifty Shades of Grey has topped bestseller lists around the world. The book is also the subject of controversy when it comes to its portrayal of relationships and BDSM, but that doesn't seem to have impeded its popularity. What does the popularity of the book say about society and its views of BDSM? Does everyone secretly harbour a repressed desire for sexual domination? Is that the cause of its popularity?
It would also be helpful for anyone who writes this to see responses from the BDSM community regarding 50 Shades. – Emily Deibler8 years ago
