Evaluation

Theory:ProppThe first theory I will be looking in to is the one created by Vladmir Propp about the different character types. The first and most common character type I will be looking at is the Hero. The audience always loves the hero and they want the hero to succeed in his quest or mission. Normally the hero will contrast from the villain, so if the villain is cowardly and week then the hero would be brave and strong. This is presented in my story as well because the mean race car resorts to cheating and tries to push Lauda of the track but Lauda doesn’t retaliated and wins the championship without cheating. In most stories the hero is the main character for example Shrek, he is the main character who goes on a quest and saves the princess and becomes the hero. This is the same with my story as my main character, Lauda, is the hero that everyone loves and wants to succeed in his quest (win the three race championship).

At the end of each story there is prize for the hero. It is also the satisfaction of wining without cheating. If those two things weren’t enough all his friends and family are really pound of him. There is an object that the hero receives in all his glory but he also gains self-satisfaction. This is the morel in the story as well; if you don’t stooped to the villains level and stay true to your self then it will pay of in the future. At the end in effect the trophy doesn’t matter as the hero is praised by his friends and family as well as gaining self-satisfaction.

The donor is the person or thing in the story that gives the hero something that helps them to complete his quest. In my story there was more then one donor. The donor is an important part of stories as they are needed to make sure hero succeeds in their quest. The two donors in my story are the Mechanical nurse, after Laudas has his crash as she gives him treatment so he can race again. The second is Laudas Mechanic who makes him feel better so he is in his best state when it comes to race day. Without these to donors Lauda would not be better after his crash and would not be fit enough to race in the final race. This would mean that I wouldn’t have a story after Lauda can’t race so the donors are key to the story line.

There are several helpers in my story, however they don’t physically help the hero or give him something to help him they do it in a different way. Laudas friends and family are the helpers in my story as if it where not for them he would not have speed up and over takes the other racecars to win the race. Again without the helper my story would have had no story line as Lauda would have lost the race and there would be no happy ending. Because of the morel support Lauda received from his family and friends he went on to win the race and championship as well as succeed in his quest. Although the helpers in my story are not the most original one found in stories they are the helpers that helped Lauda finish his quest.

The False hero is the person who steals the hero’s glory when he gets the chance. The false hero ads drama to the story as it is another problem the hero has to over come. In my story the false hero is also the villain. The mean racecar is the false hero in my story as he pushes Lauda of the track when he gets the chance and then steals his glory by winning the race. As in all story the hero beats the false hero and achieves his quest. The same happens in my story as Lauda beats the false hero (the mean racecar) and then wins the race and the championship.

The dispatcher is the person or thing that sends the hero on his quest in the first place. In my story there are several dispatchers one who you would not expect. The first dispatcher is Lauda himself as he is the one who signshimself up to the three race championship. The second is his mechanic as he is the one who fixes him and sends him back out on to the race track after the nurse saying he will not race. The third and final dispatcher is Laudas friends and family as they send him on his final quest to win the championship by over taking all the other racecars.

Todorov

Todorov’s theory was based on a new type of Start, Middle and End. Instead of this he suggested there was Equilibrium, Disequilibrium and New Equilibrium. This is a good theory that at has solid evidence to back it up as it applies to most stories including mine. At the start of my story Lauda enters a three day race championship, which is normal for a racecar. He then does the first race and

wins it, which is normal for a good racing car. This is equilibrium at the start of the story where everything is normal for Lauda the racing car.

Then in the second race the mean racecar pushes Lauda of the track so he crashes and badly hurts himself. He then has to go to the mechanical hospital where he is treated. This is Disequilibrium as there is a disturbance in his life. This is the middle of the story, where Lauda has to go to his mechanic and practice for the race and show up for the last race still not recovered properly.

Then at the end of the book Lauda has won the race and championship, this is where the new Equilibrium starts. In the end every thing is ok, there is a happy ending. This is now the equilibrium or the new equilibrium as it has changed from the equilibrium at the start of the book. The ending of a story is what the rest of the characters lives are going to by like. It shows what their average and regular days are going to be like. This is why it is called the new equilibrium.

Narrative Structure

There are eight individual pieces to this structure. Each one explains a different section shown in stories. They are simple explanations of how most stories are laid out.

The first one is the Opening. In the beginning of a story there is no happy ending and the story doesn’t reach a conclusion. The beginning of the story is setting the scene and introducing the characters. At the start of my story you meet Lauda the racecar and fined out that he enters in to a three-day race championship. He then races in the first race and over takes the other racecars and wins. In the beginning of my story I set the scene, the racetrack, and you meat the characters.

The second one is closed. This is the ending of a story where you reach the conclusion. The story should make sense by at the end and very thing is usually all right, your typical happy ending.

In my story at the end Lauda wins the races and the championship and has the typical happy ending as he is the hero and everything is now all right. Closed is the ending of a story that all makes sense now as everything has been explained and accomplished throughout the story. For example Lauda as to over come the mean racecar and his injuries to go a head and win the race. Without these

problems being accomplished there couldn’t be the happy ending needed to sum up the story.

Single strand is where this is one story line running through the book. This is how my story is laid out as it just focuses on Lauda all the way through the book. In the beginning I introduce Lauda and then he goes through the races and crashes and problems and then in the end wins the races. This is what a single strand story line is. It is a very traditional and simple way of creating a story, commonly used in children’s books like mine.

A multistrand story is where there are lots of different story lines about different characters. My story is not like this, as it would have become too difficult for a child to understand. There is a book written by Jon stock about different agents all in different situations and the book will move from agent to another and slowly works through all there situations. However these problems all interlock as the story begins to make sense. This is why multistrand story lines are not usually used in children’s books, as they are very difficult to understand.

Linear is where the story line starts then goes all the way through to the end. This is a really simple story line that I used in my book. Lauda is at the start of the book; he goes all the way through the story line and then is at the end of the book. This type of book has a vey simple structure and is very good to use in children’s books as this simple structure makes it easy for the child to follow the story line from start to finish.

Non-Linear is where the story line jumps around from the future to the past. There are many flash backs, which are usually done to help you understand the story line. This type of story line is also the sort of one that a young child would struggle to understand, which is why there aren’t many children book with this type of structure. I didn’t use this structure in my children’s book for the same reasons. There is a film called pulp fiction where it jumps around from one scene to another, as there are many different characters in it. It has many flash backs in it as well, the film start at the end and then jumps to the beginning to show what has happened.

Realist is where the story line reflects on real life events that could happen to any one. My story is based on an event that did actually happen to someone. Apart from the fact that my story is made up from talking cars the story line is real. There was an F1 racecar driver called Niki Lauda was the worlds best but in 1976 he had a life changing crash on the Nurburgring race track. It was raining and when he crashed his car set on fire and he was stuck in flames for close to one minute. He recovered luckily and went back to racing before the doctors told him to and then went on to win the F1 championship 3 times. This is

roughly the same as my story line when Lauda crashes and comes back from it to win the championship.

Anti Realist is where the story line is very unrealistic and is very very unlikely to happen to anyone. This usually involves space ships and aliens or talking cars. Although the story line of my book is realistic you are very unlikely to ever meet a talking racecar. The characters in my story are very unrealistic and the whole story is a carton which makes it even more unrealistic.