The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence. In Foster's book, quests are described as being a very popular device used frequently in literature. Foster says that a quest has five parts; a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges and trials, and the real reason to go (Foster 3). In “Pulp Fiction”, many quests are present as each character has their own voyage. These separate voyages all revolve around one main quest, Marsellus Wallace's quest to get his briefcase back. One of the mini stories revolving around the main quest is the story of Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega. Vincent Vega has been asked by Marsellus Wallace to take his wife, Mia out on the town while he is away. Vincent has heard a story about a man who gave Mia a foot-rub and was afterward thrown out of a window by Marsellus, so he is rightfully paranoid about his quest. Vincent is the quester in this m... ... middle of paper ... ...icance of spirituality in the film. In conclusion, many other devices mentioned in Foster's book were employed throughout the film “Pulp Fiction”. However, the most prominent devices were quests, archetypes, food, and violence. These devices were used to make the story more interesting, easier for the audience to relate to, and to make the film a little deeper than most. Any great film or literary work is bound to include the devices mentioned in Foster's book. In fact, it would be almost impossible to make a movie or story without them. Works Cited Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature like a Professor: a Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading between the Lines. New York: Quill, 2003. Print. Pulp Fiction. Dir. Tarantino Quentin. Perf. John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer. Miramax / Buena Vista Home Video, 1994. DVD.
Danny Kaye, famous actor and comedian, once said, "To travel is to take a journey into yourself". He is suggesting that by seeing a new part of the world, one is inevitably confronted with deeper realizations about one’s self. Thomas C. Foster, author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, would likely agree. In his book, he argues that every trip in literature is actually a quest. The word "quest" conjures images of knights in shining armor, princesses, and dragons, but Foster uses the word in a more archetypal sense. A journey, Foster says, needs only to fit five relatively simple criteria to be considered a quest (1-3). Quoyle, the protagonist of Annie Proulx's novel, The Shipping News, undergoes a life-changing journey that clearly meets all necessary criteria set forth by Foster to be regarded as a quest.
Thomas C. Foster’s novel How to Read Literature Like a Professor, helps the reader understand the beginnings of a quest by breaking down the task into five steps. A quest will always consist of 1) a quester, 2) a place to go, 3) a stated reason to go there, 4) challenges and trials en route, and 5) a real reason to go there. A quester, the protagonist, typically is not aware that they are partaking in a quest. Step two and three are thought of together usually because the protagonist is told to go somewhere to do something. However, the stated reason to go to their destination is not the real reason they go there. As Foster explains, “In fact, more often than not, the quester fails at
In conclusion, the brilliant novel “How To Read Literature Like A Professor” by Thomas C. Foster is a fantastic novel that helps grasp the basic ideas and structure that makes up a work of literature. Foster’s laid-back attitude made a major contribution to the great tone of the novel, and made it easier to understand. Many connections were included in the novel, along with some great quotes. After reading this novel, I have a better idea of what to look for when reading a novel.
Being one of the world’s most popular art forms, it was inevitable that these archetypes would find their way into film as well. In this essay I will argue that the films Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver, Watership Down, and Trainspotting are all versions of The Hero’s Journey, consequently demonstrating just how prevalent these archetypes have become in modern cinema. And that mythology and storytelling are important parts of each culture because they prevent the darkness in our hearts from spreading.
Pulp Fiction is a film that is structured around three story-lines. Vincent Vega is the lead in the first story. In the second storyline, Butch Coolidge is the lead, and Jules Winnfield, is the lead of the third. Each storyline targets a different series of incidents but they connect and intersect in numerous ways. “The film starts out with a diner hold-up staged by "Pumpkin" and "Honey Bunny," then picks up the stories of Vincent, Jules, Butch, and several other important characters. It finally returns to where it began, in the diner: Vincent and Jules, who have stopped in for a bite, find themselves embroiled in the hold-up”(Tarantino). There are seven narrative sequences:
Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999.
The plot segmentation of Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film, “Pulp Fiction,” reveals how the pieces in the nonlinear narrative structures are put together. In order for the audience to remind them when these events take place, the movie uses title cards to specify each segments’ main plot. Some of the characters would even reference events that have already occurred, such as when Mia, in the boxing match building, thanks Vincent for the dinner. The movie does not just allow the audience to really pay attention to how the story is being told, but also show how similar each of the main stories’ structures is, despite being in a nonlinear form. For example, all of them feature acts of “heroism” by resolving the issues when caught in very unexpected
Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is one of the most daring, puzzling, and ultimately exciting pieces of cinema to hit the screen in years. As wholly original as it is a copy of hundreds of films before it about tales of hit-men and criminals, it dares you to step out of the dull and enter a colorful, exhilarating world that could only be Los Angeles. The intensity level of the movie is off the scale. People are laughing like crazy in the theater to the intelligent dialog and other scenes that have the audience gasping for air in shock over what just happened. Although one might say that Pulp Fiction is overly violent and disturbing, it is in fact, one of the greatest movies ever produced. Quentin Tarantino’s incredible screenplay, the intensity of the actors, and music to set the mood, created movie worthy five stars.
Meyer, M. (2013). Bedford introduction to literature: Reading, thinking, writing. Boston: Bedford Bks St Martin’s.
Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.
Schwiebert, John E. Reading and Writing from Literature. (2nd ed.) Boston New York: Houghton Mifflin. 2001
Pulp Fiction is a show that is debated on its true meaning, though one of the most debated and accepted theories is that it is the journey of Marcellus Wallace’s soul. It is thought that he has sold his soul to the devil and has sent his men to retrieve it. As the movie jumps across the timeline with his wife, Mia, who becomes a main character. She is instinctual and anxious. Her emotions take over constantly and create bad situations.
DiYanni, R. (2007). Literature, Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama (6th ed). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2013. Print.