We started class on Tuesday right where we left off on Thursday, in small assigned groups discussing either Professor’s or Maddie’s thesis on how Hazel values literature in TFIOS, then finding quotes within the book to support either thesis. My group defended Maddie’s thesis, being that Hazel values literature for the stories that benefit her and will give her happiness in the moment. We said Maddie’s thesis was exemplified with Hazel and An Imperial Affliction, and how she was so invested into the actual story itself, as she become emotionally attached to it, the characters, and even the non-existent ending, rather than it having to do with its social connectivity. Others in the class argued that Hazel valued the book so much because it was able to connect her and Augustus socially, but she was already invested into the book and talking about how many times she read it over and over again way because she loved the story so much, way before Augustus came into the picture.
The discussion then moved from being about the two theses and how Hazel values literature, to how TFIOS values literature, and we as a class led that discussion and tackled the question from different angles. Jack looked at the social aspect of it, saying how Gus introducing the Prince of Dawn series to Hazel connected the two of them socially, and how Hazel only read it to have something in common with Gus and something to socialize over. One girl took what Jack said and looked at it differently, asking if Hazel read the book for the social aspect with Gus or if she genuinely liked it and related to it? She supported her statement with the fact that Hazel read the sequel which she chose on her own. Stew took the discussion in an interesting direction when he posed the idea that TFIOS placed emphasis on both the social and literary aspect of literature, as seen with how Gus and Hazel bond over AIA in a social sense because they both talk about it a lot, but they bond over it in a literary sense as well because the bond was created over the actual literary itself. It was agreed that TFIOS values both the social and literary aspect of literature.
Professor then asked everyone what we thought of the relationship between what happens on the page, to what happens off the page of the book. It was a general consensus that we thought what happens on the page is what the author wants us to read and what is directly related to the story, whereas somethings were left off the page in order for we as the readers to use our imagination. We were then asked to explore events that happen off the page of this book, either something thats mentioned and not explored, or something explored but not mentioned. An example I chose was how Hazel said that she heard her mom cry to her dad that she’s not going to be a mother anymore and they talked while Hazel was in ICU, the night before she was expected to die. On the page it mentions a little snippet amongst the parents conversation, a very dramatic and scary one at that, but it was only mentioned for a little due to its emotionality and sadness. This led to wanting to know what the parents talked about, but that is off the page, where I imagined it in my head and created an image of the conversation. Professor gave an example of the part where Gus tells Hazel he loves her on the plane, but Hazel doesn’t say anything back, the scene just kind of disappears and she sits there awkwardly before Gus falls asleep. This was a big hole in the narrative, but what Hazel said and the conversation they had was left off the page for the reader to imagine the awkwardness of just not saying “I love you” back and then just sitting there for 5 hours on a plane next to Gus.
Our focus turned to the difference between a story, and a plot. The way we summarized it was that a story might be what you tell a toddler, but a plot is the way a narrative arranges those elements of the story. For example, a plot may give you a big chunk of a story, then bits and pieces of it, or move scenes around of the story in order to structure the story to the way the author chooses. It’s a matter of what gets included in the book and what does not, tying into the above discussion described. We found some examples of scenes that are a part of the plot but don’t advance the story at all, one of them being when Isaac and Hazel are just playing that TV video game. We thought why is this scene included, it doesn’t advance the story? Then we realized that the scene was put in to serve as a structural purpose to keep Isaac in the book and for the reader to not forget about him as Gus and Hazel go to Amsterdam. It also put the reader in a position to feel what it’s like to be blind, it put the reader in Isaac’s position instead of having everything be narrated for us.
Afterwards, we thought about how this book is read and interpreted from different perspective’s. Maeve said how when her mom read it, she saw it through Hazel’s mothers perspective and was hurting for the mother the whole time. Whereas if a teenager read it, they would see it through Gus and Hazel’s perspective. A little conversation was brought up regarding whats the purpose of reading and general and whether or not its different between adults and young adults. We found that depending on what you’re reading and what you’re reading for (i.e. emotional pleasure) it can be a good or bad thing. We also touched a little on how its different for young adults because were told to read to actually attain information and knowledge, where as adults read it leisurely.
Lastly, we talked about the politics of storytelling: who gets to tell stories, and who doesn’t: what counts and what doesn’t count as part of the story. We looked into the way Gus tells Hazel about Caroline, and how he frames the story by not saying nice things about Caroline, feeling guilty for making fun of her, and making it seem like he’s stuck in a bad situation.