How significant is the prologue in a game of of thrones. How significant is it that the others come before everything else in the series?
I would say the most important reason for the prologue is simply this: it tells the reader there are supernatural forces in the story, that's it. If the book started with Bran's chapter, the first time we even learn this is not realistic series is... after 3/4 of the book when Jon is attacked by a zombie? :D It's righteous of the author to let it known in the beginning that this is indeed a fantasy series even if almost the whole 1st book suggests it's more close to medieval realism - and any reader can do whatever they feel like with this knowledge ;)Obviously once the prologue is here, it also aligns well with the fact that the most important threat is what the book starts with etc and GRRM was surely aware of this advantages too, but I'd guess the first and main reason of the prologue was a mundane reason to let the reader know what kind of the book the author offers them in the first place.
What is the purpose of the prologue in The Turn of the Screw?
I had to go back and re-read the start of this book, but I have some thoughts to add.For one, I agree that the prologue sets up the title of the text.Also, the prologue puts the reader directly into the text by paralleling our experience with the characters' experience: we, too, feel impatient at the delays in the telling of the story ... we want to hear Douglas's tale. James quickly gets us to empathize with the characters.Last but not least, on a related note, the prologue generates suspense. I don't remember particularly liking this book, but I have to admit that just re-reading the opening made me want to keep going. James generates curiosity, and he does so effectively, in my opinion. Whether the ghost story is worth the initial curiosity is up to the individual reader.Just my two cents ...
Is it OK to start a novel with an introduction/background of the main character and her companions?
Yes. It's okay.But an okay start to a novel isn't good enough. You have to start great. Your first few pages have to make a promise to the reader.That promise is about the kind of reading experience that the reader will get from the book. So the first few pages have to be some of your best, most compelling writing.That does not mean you have to start with an action sequence. I'm constantly telling people not to.But it does mean that you have to start where the story starts, and begin telling the story immediately.You can, and many do, use your first chapter to both begin the story and introduce the characters. But as soon as you mention “background” you raise red flags. If, on the first chapter, you do any more than hint at background, many readers are going to feel like their time is being wasted, expect you to continue to waste their time, and as a result, give up on your book.
How early should a supernatural element be shown in a novel?
I would suggest that depends on your story, and structure.To create a sense of instant fear, the element could be shown in the first page.For example:Chapter 1Jason raced down the long hallway, past flickering torches, chest heaving from exhaustion. His long, muscular legs had been running around the asylum for hours.The spiralling, dark entity hot on his tail, he rushed through an inconspicuous break in the wall and found himself in what seemed like a torture room, the chair in the centre with leather straps and stainless bench adorning the tools of hurt.What was that? He worried. The dark shape had followed him from the main entrance where his videographer had disappeared in it’s whispy tendrils.********Okay, so it’s cheesy, but hey, I just wrote that in the car as my wife drove us home from the shops.You could enter your element into the story immediately, or you could use subtlety and wait til the very end. In fact, as long as you work your way around it nicely, you can structure your story however you want.Try watching a few supernatural movies or reading a few more books and deciding which structure you like best.Start the entire TV series Supernatural from the start, wont help with your novel really, but the show is A++
Doing a project on Romeo and Juliet... any good ideas?
if you are able to get one more person to help you - - - you could do what my friend and I did for final project in Shakespeare class in college. We learned and performed the famous Balcony Scene. We did it on campus, in a natural setting that matched the scene perfectly -- we did it at noon, so there were lots of people watching. And it isn't really all that hard to learn. (you are allowed to edit it down if you are doing it for a high school project.) But soft -- what light through yonder window breaks? 'Tis in the East -- 'tis Juliet the Sun!
Moral of the Turn of the Screw?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn_of_the_Screw The dispute over the reality of the ghosts has taken an actual toll on some critics, most notably Edmund Wilson. He was one of the first proponents of the insane-governess theory. But he was eventually forced to recant this view under fire from opposing critics who harped on the governess' point-by-point description of Quint. Then John Silver ("A Note on the Freudian Reading of 'The Turn of the Screw'" American Literature, 1957) pointed out hints in the story that the governess might have gained previous knowledge of Quint's appearance in non-supernatural ways. This induced Wilson to recant his recantation and go back to his original view that the governess was unbalanced and the ghosts existed only in her imagination. William Veeder sees Miles's eventual death as induced by the governess. But he traces the governess's motive back through two larger strands: English imperialism (based on the oblique reference in the introduction to India, where the parents of Miles and Flora died) and the way patriarchy raises its daughters. By a complex psychoanalytic reading, Veeder concludes that the governess takes out her repressed rage toward her father and the master of Bly on Miles. Other critics, however, have defended the governess strongly. They point out that James' letters, his New York Edition preface, and his Notebooks contain no definite evidence that The Turn of the Screw was intended as anything except a bona fide ghost story. James' Notebooks entry indicates that he got the initial idea for the tale from Edward White Benson, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This interesting origin, like almost everything else about the story, has generated critical commentary. Besides the dispute over the reality of the ghosts, critics have also tried to trace possible sources for characters in the tale. For instance, some critics have suggested that Quint, given his very Irish description, was inspired at least partly by George Bernard Shaw. Again, there's no evidence in James' letters or his other comments on the story to support or refute such speculation. One thing is clear: The Turn of the Screw continues to be the subject of extensive critical comment. The tale has also remained one of James' most popular works with the general reader. In odd testimony to the story's appeal, a glimpse of the book was included at a key moment in ABC's television show Lost.