Workshop: Discover
Words That Sing
“That old fossil,
those old bones, walk again, and sing and dance and speak with a new tongue.
The old stories bridge the centuries.” Jane Yolen
Typology
There are several opinions as to how many plot patterns
there are for stories and how they can be interpreted. However the very basic
two are considered to be 1) the hero or heroine leaves town, or 2) a stranger
comes to town. It is quite amazing to see how many stories and movies fit into
these types.
But just as these two plot structures can be repeated
several times, and in several ways, they are not a formula. Yet they can be
considered a typology in that every reader or viewer has an immediate
connection to the premise. The frame might be an old story but it has the
capacity to bridge the centuries regardless of genre.
The characters, phrases and patterns we internalize through
our personal histories, literature, scriptures, folk-tales, songs and culture
continue to add mythic depth in our reading and our writing. We make ‘copies’
of the original typology and pass them on through the generations. Some become
so familiar that they enter into everyday language as common metaphors or
references, both across languages and within ethnic cultures, giving us
shortcuts.
Terrible sea incidents become tied to Poseidon allusions or
flood. Rainbows are considered a sign of promise around the world. Black holes
immediately spell danger. So does Godzilla, regardless of the language being
spoken.
We use a modern version of typology when we give social
references. “They’re calling her the new Marilyn Monroe.” The allusion of
course is toward the actresses’ public personae and probably has no basis in
comparison to either personality.
Or one friend introduces another at her party. She confides,
“Watch out for that one—he’s a flirt. Stay away from that one—he’s a wolf.” In
a shorthand version the explanations are clear. With the flirt type no one gets
hurt if you play by his rules, however, with the wolf type there are no rules.
One gives an impression of harmless fun whereas the other is a predator. Little
Red Riding Hood stories have grown cute over the years but the early versions
are quite disturbing with strong undercurrents of sexual danger. Were medieval
mothers trying to protect their young daughters from men in powerful positions,
lord of the manor types, and so used the metaphor of familiar dangerous, hungry
wolves that prowled their forests in the winter as the warning?
Action Steps:
1. Choose two of your favorite
movies and keep track of all the familiar and unfamiliar types you identify
with—whether setting or character traits or story plot.
2. Compare in what way they copy
something in your own life or experience or imagination.
Share: Did any particular image or reflection surprise you?
Read deep, marcy
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