Lisbel Saez
March 5th 2023
English 410
Paper #1 Draft
The “Inner Novel” and The “Outer Novel”
The form and context of the book “Ship of Theseus” by authors J.J Abrams and Doug Dorst elevates the storytelling happening in this novel because of its layers and material, providing its readers with a distinctive experience. The story takes the readers on a historical journey and adventure while articulating the fictional readers’ different challenges. Using the text and marginal notations, readers are taken through a different experience in the storytelling of this book. The ability to see the point of view of two readers as they share their experiences through the notations and what they wanted the audience to draw from the story is a critical part of storytelling. This essay will focus on the marginal notes the reader encounters between two fictional characters, Jen and Eric, to analyze how the form of storytelling makes the characters more relatable and overall, enhances the experience of reading because we, the readers, are given a glimpse into their lives, thoughts, and feelings. We see them as real people with their own struggles and desires.
To begin, at the beginning of the book, we’re introduced by marginal notations made by Jen, an undergrad student, and Eric, a student working on his Ph.D., who come across “Ship of Theseus” in a library at Pollard State University and start leaving each other comments in the book as they take turns reading. Jen and Eric continue to do this and form a relationship, allowing them to get to know each other. In their conversations Jen and Eric often discuss and debate the meaning behind the story, offering different perspectives and interpretations. They also link different parts of the novel to other literature and historical events. In contrast, the form and content of the actual story is a traditional narrative structure, following the adventures of the main character, S., a sailor who wakes up on a ship with no memory of his past and sets out on a quest to find his true identity. Before the story begins we get a translators note and foreword about who was V.M. Straka? “An author of provocative fictions, novels that toppled governments, shamed ruthless industrialists and foresaw the horrifying sweep of totalitarianism that has a particular plague in these last few decades” (Caldeira v). However, Straka is a man the world has never seen and someone Eric is obsessed with. Eric’s obsession with Straka could be seen as a form of escapism or a way for him to cope with his own problems and insecurities. Eric tells Jen that he got left out of his yearbook picture in high school and then say’s to her “No, I was there,it just never occurred to anybody to record my presence. I existed only administratively. Ok, I’m in the background of one photo, back turned, a spiky-haired blur, very VMS” (Jen and Eric 43). Eric seems to see himself in Straka, not wanting for anyone to know who and what he looks like so by becoming fixated on Straka, he can distance himself from his own life and immerse himself in a fictional world. Hence his obsession with trying to find out who Straka really is. As for Jen who is running away from having to figure out her life after graduating college. The two help the readers truly go on the same path of fully understanding the novel and who is Straka.
Moreover, Jen and Eric delve deeper into the mysteries of the novel and its author, they discover a web of conspiracies, secret societies, and hidden meanings that lead them on a quest for the truth. According to Mikko Keskinen in “Narrating selves amid library shelves: literary mediation and remediation in S. by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst,” who analyzes Ship of Theseus explain how the complex interplay between the book’s physical and narrative forms, which can be seen as both a medium of remediation and a way to mediate the characters’ inner worlds (Keskinen, 153). The article argues that the narrative provides a unique form of literary mediation, allowing readers to experience the characters’ lives more deeply than a traditional novel might. The annotations offer insights into reading and comprehension. The “outer novel” being Jen and Eric’s annotations encourages audience members to reflect on how their own values shape their perceptions of the stories they consume. Jen and Eric’s annotations help enrich and help with the development of the plot in the novel as it adds multiple layers of storytelling. The handwritten annotations in the page’s margins book create a second layer of storytelling that is intertwined with the novel’s primary narrative. For example, in the “inner novel” it says, “they might assume that he is waiting for something or someone but is not sure what, or who, that might be” (Abrams and Dorst 17). Jen’s commentary to this is “I totally read this as Straka talking about himself, waiting for someone (in a romantic way), and Eric responds to her by saying “careful re: linking everything in a book to the author personally, sometimes fiction is just fiction” (Jen and Eric 17). This creates a sense of depth and complexity to the story, as readers must navigate multiple levels of meaning and interpretation. It helps readers engage actively with the text after reading what they’re thinking in the novel. The readers now become active participants in the reading experience, as they must decipher the meaning behind the notes and the ways in which they relate to the inner novel. It engenders a feeling of suspense and interest while following along Jen and Eric’s attempt to unravel the secrets behind the book’s enigmatic author and the hidden meanings within the text, building a sense of tension and suspense that drives the plot forward and keeps readers engaged.
In the article “Digital Humanities and the Future of the Book” (2016) Marilyn Deegan and Matthew Hayler’s establish how Ship of Theseus is an example of how digital humanities can be used to create a book that is more than just physical text. The combination of physical and digital aspects of the book allows readers to explore and interact with the story in an engaging and immersive way. This approach is aligns with the concept of social reading, which is a growing trend in digital humanities where readers can engage with each other and in text. An example of this can be found in page 5 where Jen tells Eric “Dear Mr. not-Chadwick, see p.10 for my response”. We can see how the approach to storytelling encourages collaboration and interaction between readers, as Jen and Eric make you interact with them by going from page 5 to page 10 in looking for Jen’s response to Eric. Furthermore, Jen and Eric’s use of different colored pens to distinguish their comments and what each color of their pen means as their relationship grows throughout the novel. The blue pen is Jen and the black is Eric, this is when they first started leaving each other annotations. The green is Eric and the orange is Jen, this is the second pass of comments as their relationship has deepened. The purple is Jen and the red is Eric and this is after the two meet. Lastly, the two use a black pen for their last set of notes and after they moved to Prague. This can be seen as a way of digital humanities because it highlights the role of visual representation and encoding in the process of annotation and interpretation between Jen and Eric.
To conclude, the marginal notes written by Jen and Eric in “Ship of Theseus”, play a significant role in shaping the plot of their story within the novel. Through their annotations, Jen and Eric engage in a process of close reading and interpretation of the text, which leads them to uncover hidden meanings and connections. As they interpret the novel Ship of Theseus, they draw parallels to their own struggles and challenges, and the annotations become a space for them to process their emotions and thoughts. This reflection ultimately leads to personal growth and transformation for both of them. In summary, the marginal notes between Jen and Eric are not only a key element of the novel’s metafictional structure but also a crucial plot device that drives the story forward and enhances the storytelling in the novel.
Works Cited
Deegan, Marilyn, and Matthew Hayler. “Digital Humanities and the Future of the Book.” Futures for English studies: Teaching language, literature and creative writing in higher education (2016): 161-178.
Keskinen, Mikko. “Narrating selves amid library shelves: literary mediation and remediation in S. by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst.” Partial answers: journal of literature and the history of ideas 17.1 (2019): 141-158.
Abrams Jeffrey, and Doug Dorst. Ship of Theseus. Canongate, 2013.
This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
Argument:
This paper has a clear, argumentative thesis; “This essay will focus on the marginal notes the reader encounters between two fictional characters, Jen and Eric, to analyze how the form of storytelling makes the characters more relatable and overall, enhances the experience of reading because we, the readers, are given a glimpse into their lives, thoughts, and feelings. We see them as real people with their own struggles and desires.” To support this thesis, you cited, “An author of provocative fictions, novels that toppled governments, shamed ruthless industrialists and foresaw the horrifying sweep of totalitarianism that has a particular plague in these last few decades” (Caldeira v), to make a point about Eric’s obsession with Straka, which all the more makes it seems like Eric is a real person with a certain personality (being obsessive) showcased through his hobby (reading Straka’s literary works).
The paper does sustain your thesis. Each paragraph is consistent, relevant, and argues how the marginal notes make the two fictional characters, Jen and Eric, seem real to the readers. What particular stands out was the second paragraph, in terms of being stronger to the argument, because of your in-depth analysis of the evidence that you provided and how that correlated to your thesis. For example, when you said, “Jen’s commentary to this is “I totally read this as Straka talking about himself, waiting for someone (in a romantic way), and Eric responds to her by saying “careful re: linking everything in a book to the author personally, sometimes fiction is just fiction” (Jen and Eric 17).”, you then stated how that keeps the reader engaged because “It engenders a feeling of suspense and interest while following along Jen and Eric’s attempt to unravel the secrets behind the book’s enigmatic author and the hidden meanings within the text.” At the end of this, I would recommend you saying something along the lines of “by keeping the reader engaged and in suspense, it deepens the connection between the reader and the fictional characters, making it seem like Jen and Eric are real people.” Your analysis needs to go back and address the thesis of how the marginal notes help the fictional characters seem real.
The fourth paragraph needs more attention especially when you talked about the different colored pens that Eric and Jen used. Although you provided a reason; “This can be seen as a way of digital humanities because it highlights the role of visual representation and encoding in the process of annotation and interpretation between Jen and Eric.”, how does the colored pens still relate to your thesis? In other words, how do they help make it seem like Jen and Eric are real people? Discuss that more in detail.
Textual evidence:
The paper makes appropriate use of direct quotes, using the correct MLA in-text citation. It also made appropriate use of paraphrasing, such is the example of when you said, “According to Mikko Keskinen in “Narrating selves amid library shelves: literary mediation and remediation in S. by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst,” who analyzes Ship of Theseus explain how the complex interplay between the book’s physical and narrative forms, which can be seen as both a medium of remediation and a way to mediate the characters’ inner worlds (Keskinen, 153).”
External sources:
I believe the two external sources are relevant to your argument, especially Keskinen’s “Narrating selves amid library shelves: literary mediation and remediation in S. by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst” since it particularly analyzes the book itself (therefore it is already relevant). I can see the potential in Deegan and Hayler’s “Digital Humanities and the Future of the Book” in terms of how it supports your argument, however I want to see a stronger analysis of this source; how does Digital Humanities help make the fictional characters (and the “outer novel” storyline overall) seem more real (which is your thesis argument)?
The external sources are well integrated into your own ideas, such is the example of when you said, “In the article “Digital Humanities and the Future of the Book” (2016) Marilyn Deegan and Matthew Hayler establish how Ship of Theseus is an example of how digital humanities can be used to create a book that is more than just physical text. The combination of physical and digital aspects of the book allows readers to explore and interact with the story in an engaging and immersive way.” You then connected that to “An example of this can be found in page 5 where Jen tells Eric “Dear Mr. not-Chadwick, see p.10 for my response”. We can see how the approach to storytelling encourages collaboration and interaction between readers, as Jen and Eric make you interact with them by going from page 5 to page 10 in looking for Jen’s response to Eric.”
The external sources are sufficiently summarized that even I could tell what they were arguing for. For example, you said, “According to Mikko Keskinen in “Narrating selves amid library shelves: literary mediation and remediation in S. by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst,” who analyzes Ship of Theseus explain how the complex interplay between the book’s physical and narrative forms, which can be seen as both a medium of remediation and a way to mediate the characters’ inner worlds (Keskinen, 153).
Feedback:
Overall, I thought your paper was a great start. I would like to see more stronger connections to the thesis, especially the colored pens aspect.
1 Argument:
The thesis is somewhat clear here, “This essay will focus on the marginal notes…to analyze how the form…enhances the experience…”
The body paragraphs relate well to each other and your thesis is supported throughout the paper.
Paragraph 2 is the strongest because there is a clear correlation between Straka and Eric, and by extension, between the text and the marginalia.
I think paragraph 4 could have benefited from the addition of a topic sentence.
2 Textual Evidence:
I liked your use of textual evidence a lot. The quote in paragraph 3 is especially relevant to your main idea, showing that the notes between Jen and Eric enhance reader interaction and the overall experience.
The quote from Caldeira in paragraph 2 doesn’t seem to fit with the overall theme of the paragraph. It doesn’t relate to the following line, “However, Straka is a man..”.
3 External Sources:
The Keskinen source is very relevant to the paper and helps to expand on your focus of the interplay between the two storylines. I don’t see any evidence from the second source.
You did a great job integrating the first source into your paper. The second source could have benefitted from more of an introduction.
You did an excellent job summarizing both sources. The reader gets a clear sense of what the articles are saying.
4 Feedback: This is a strong paper overall. You might want to consider the following 2 things:
Consider emphasizing the interplay between the novel and the marginal notes in your thesis. A lot of your paper is discussing this dynamic, but it is not clear in the thesis.
Consider adding a topic sentence to begin paragraph 4 to lead in your 2nd external source. Also, there doesn’t seem to be an actual quote from the source here, or maybe the quotation marks were left out?
Lisbel, I think your peers make excellent points here. I think the paper is off to a great start but you need to think more about the thesis as it relates to each paragraph. Specifically:
P2. You could say more about the ways in which identity and conflict are established through the notations, and why
“The annotations offer insights into reading and comprehension. The “outer novel” being Jen and Eric’s annotations encourages audience members to reflect on how their own values shape their perceptions of the stories they consume” — is this your own argument? If so, this needs to be foregrounded more either through the thesis at the top of a paragraph, so you can discuss and analyze examples.
Parag. 4, as others say above, needs more attention to detail. I’m not entirely sure how the text represents or mimics the digital space or why this is significant to your argument. As Elvis says, “Your analysis needs to go back and address the thesis of how the marginal notes help the fictional characters seem real.”
The conclusion needs to circle back to readers, empathy, and reader engagement, which are ideas established in the thesis.
Finally, read work out loud for sentence structure and clarity .