2. Bellringer!
What stories do we share as a culture? How could a writer use these shared stories to their advantage?

3. Allusion
- a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or a representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication
A writer is wise to make allusions to things that s/he believes his audience will have some exposure to
Some allusions are overt while others are much more subtle

4. But Why?
Allusion allows a writer to import large amounts of meaning into a work in a small amount of time.
A writer could tell us in a sentence, paragraph or multiple pages about how a character is suffering or he could make an allusion to the biblical Job. What would be the advantage of the latter?

5. Allusions
Allusions can come from anywhere, but there are a few major sources in Western Literature
Shakespeare
The Bible
Fairy Tales
Greek and Roman Mythology

6. Allusions (Shakespeare)
Shakespeare’s influence on literature cannot be understated
He is probably the most famous writer to ever live and people who study literature have read at least a handful of his plays
Sometimes writers simply allude to Shakespeare and other times they’ll completely rework his plays for more modern purposes
Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

7. Allusions (Shakespeare)
[Life’s] a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury / Signifying nothing
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers
By the pricking of my thumbs, / Something wicked this way comes
O brave new world, / That has such people in’t
To be, or not to be, that is the question.

8. Allusions (The Bible)
Christianity is the largest religious force in our culture and for this reason it makes for easy allusion
If you were reading Indian literature you might run into more from The Bhagavad Gita; in Middle Eastern literature you’d see allusions to The Koran

9. Allusions (The Bible) Creation of the Universe
Expulsion from Eden (Paradise) Felix Culpa – the fortunate fall
Noah and the Flood
The Gospel story
Revelation (end times)
The list goes on and on and on and on…

10. Allusions (The Bible)
A biblical allusion need not necessarily be religious
“Even the Devil can quote scripture”
Rather the Bible is usually used to show universal struggles that have plagued many throughout time
After all, isn’t the Bible meant to be a guide on how man deals with these struggles?

11. Allusions (Fairy Tales)
Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rapunzel
Ever heard of these?
That’s why writers like using them!
Consider the central message of each of these tales. They (like the Bible) tend to be about timeless human struggles AND most of us already know them

12. Disney vs. The Grimm Brothers
In our culture we’ve become accustomed to the kid friendly versions of these stories often used in Disney movies
Sometimes writers will find reason to allude to these versions of the stories
The Grimm Brothers (as their name seems to suggest) wrote the tales originally and they were filled with violence, sex, and debauchery (not the stuff you’d read to a kid today!)

13. Disney vs. The Grimm Brothers
Disney created the versions that MOST modern readers are familiar with
However, historically the Grimm Brothers have had more enduring popularity
Considering the time and culture of the author could be helpful in determining which versions are being alluded to
Pretentious writers would often rather look to the source than the watered down Disney retellings

14. Allusion (Greek and Roman Myth)
Throughout much of Western civilization a Classical education meant a working knowledge of Greek and Roman Mythology
In some ways this is our original literature and much of what’s still written today is based off of it.
In the absence of advanced Science, ancient cultures often used myth to explain the seemingly inexplicable

15. Allusion (Greek and Roman Myth)
Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey
Virgil’s Aeneid
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex
Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Daedelus and Icarus
Demeter and Persephone

16. Poems for Project “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen
“Prometheus” by Lord Byron
“The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot
“Snow White” by Anne Sexton