During my senior year of high school, in AP Lit, we read a book called How to Read Literature Like a Professor. It's a lovely book, for the most part, written by Thomas Foster, that is funny and relatable and helps you understand symbolism and context and all those weird things that appear when reading the old classics.
However, Chapter 5 stopped me dead in my tracks. Here, Foster writes that "there's no such thing as a wholly original work of literature." He goes on to say that "there is only one story. Ever. One." This broke my heart and fired me up. I understand and love text connections, and I appreciate inspiration, but going as far as to say every story ever is the same? Not okay with me.
The thing I love so much about art is the individuality of it. Each of us can do our own thing, whether it's drawing or dancing or writing or just living, and it becomes our art form. We get to decide, and I believe that's how we each write our own story. So you see why Foster's claim that there's only one story, ever, in the whole world, and that nothing is original, shook my bones. To me, that seems so pessimistic, and I think it disrespects each artist's story.
What shocked me the most was when we discussed this chapter in class. Everyone else agreed with him! Each person is certainly entitled to their own opinion, but I remember sitting in class, listening to everyone say how insightful and observant this idea was, and it just made me want to squirm. I wanted to stand up and shout, "NO!!! WRITE YOUR OWN STORY! IT'S ALL YOURS! IT'S AS SPECIAL AND UNIQUE AS YOU!" Obviously I didn't do this, though. I expressed my disappointment through a politely raised hand and some calmer words. No one seemed to agree with me though, at least not verbally.
Here's my opinion: don't let anyone tell you it's all the same story. Because it's not. You write your story, whether that's literal or figurative, and believe that it's unique. It's yours, and your perspective and thoughts and the guts you put into it make it special.
Whatever people tell you, there's always another story. There's millions and billions of stories, and each is as special as its writer. Please, for the sake of art and creativity and sanity, don't ever forget that.
However, Chapter 5 stopped me dead in my tracks. Here, Foster writes that "there's no such thing as a wholly original work of literature." He goes on to say that "there is only one story. Ever. One." This broke my heart and fired me up. I understand and love text connections, and I appreciate inspiration, but going as far as to say every story ever is the same? Not okay with me.
The thing I love so much about art is the individuality of it. Each of us can do our own thing, whether it's drawing or dancing or writing or just living, and it becomes our art form. We get to decide, and I believe that's how we each write our own story. So you see why Foster's claim that there's only one story, ever, in the whole world, and that nothing is original, shook my bones. To me, that seems so pessimistic, and I think it disrespects each artist's story.
What shocked me the most was when we discussed this chapter in class. Everyone else agreed with him! Each person is certainly entitled to their own opinion, but I remember sitting in class, listening to everyone say how insightful and observant this idea was, and it just made me want to squirm. I wanted to stand up and shout, "NO!!! WRITE YOUR OWN STORY! IT'S ALL YOURS! IT'S AS SPECIAL AND UNIQUE AS YOU!" Obviously I didn't do this, though. I expressed my disappointment through a politely raised hand and some calmer words. No one seemed to agree with me though, at least not verbally.
Here's my opinion: don't let anyone tell you it's all the same story. Because it's not. You write your story, whether that's literal or figurative, and believe that it's unique. It's yours, and your perspective and thoughts and the guts you put into it make it special.
Whatever people tell you, there's always another story. There's millions and billions of stories, and each is as special as its writer. Please, for the sake of art and creativity and sanity, don't ever forget that.