Great write-up! Your use of BUT, THEREFORE, and EXCEPT is succinct and demonstrates largely how any multiple-act story "beyond 3" can really just be boiled down to these three things. Also, I love this sass: "Batman v. Superman attempted to use the Jacobean 5-act revenge structure that one sees in Hamlet. The end result was a Youtube video complaining how its 3-act structure was a mess."
I intend to read all of this, but because I don’t currently have time let me ask: do you think it’s possible to write a good story without having a solid understanding of this kind of structure? Even an abstract, intuitive one?
Structure serves to fill where we lack an intuitive understanding of story. If you understand story on a gut level, you might not need to study structure. I desperately needed it.
Thaddeus, I completely enjoyed your "Study." As Head of an Elementary School, I continued to also teach. I taught a literacy course to each class in the fourth grade. As part of that course, I taught them the parts of story structure. It was remarkable how fourth graders, who are not supposed to be abstract thinkers, got right into it and were amazing at analyzing the stories we read and how many problems there were and how many turning points there might be and whether one of them was more significant than the other. We read a slightly abridged version of "The Tempest," and I remember one child saying that the turning point of the play happened before the play began with Sycorax's death and Caliban's servitude to Prospero and explained WHY. I love the way your article dissected plays.Outstanding.
I taught sixth grade for a year and Jr high for a couple more... Tempest is strange and probably for the reasons your student identified.... My interest in The Tempest is founded in a fascination with the movie Prospero’s Books by Greenaway.
Great write-up! Your use of BUT, THEREFORE, and EXCEPT is succinct and demonstrates largely how any multiple-act story "beyond 3" can really just be boiled down to these three things. Also, I love this sass: "Batman v. Superman attempted to use the Jacobean 5-act revenge structure that one sees in Hamlet. The end result was a Youtube video complaining how its 3-act structure was a mess."
I have so much sass regarding that movie. So much sass.
It deserves the sass.
I intend to read all of this, but because I don’t currently have time let me ask: do you think it’s possible to write a good story without having a solid understanding of this kind of structure? Even an abstract, intuitive one?
Structure serves to fill where we lack an intuitive understanding of story. If you understand story on a gut level, you might not need to study structure. I desperately needed it.
Thaddeus, I completely enjoyed your "Study." As Head of an Elementary School, I continued to also teach. I taught a literacy course to each class in the fourth grade. As part of that course, I taught them the parts of story structure. It was remarkable how fourth graders, who are not supposed to be abstract thinkers, got right into it and were amazing at analyzing the stories we read and how many problems there were and how many turning points there might be and whether one of them was more significant than the other. We read a slightly abridged version of "The Tempest," and I remember one child saying that the turning point of the play happened before the play began with Sycorax's death and Caliban's servitude to Prospero and explained WHY. I love the way your article dissected plays.Outstanding.
What a brilliant student! I love The Tempest.
My kids all memorized "Full Fthom Five." We sang it in class.
I taught sixth grade for a year and Jr high for a couple more... Tempest is strange and probably for the reasons your student identified.... My interest in The Tempest is founded in a fascination with the movie Prospero’s Books by Greenaway.
Thaddeus, I'm putting "Prospero's Books" on my movies to watch list. Thank you, friend.
If you can find it. 😃
https://www.thaddeusthomas.com/p/prosperos-books-1991?r=3phx3h
Interesting take.