An interesting article appeared in the Science section of the UK Daily Mail over the weekend.
Most of us who spend a disturbing amount of time in the literary arts have probably heard of the various styles of plot and how many there may be. Georges Polti and Carlo Gozzi once believed there were 36 types of stories, Ronald Tobias narrowed that list down to 20, and most recently, Christopher Booker defined just seven basic plots in literature.
But now, researchers at the University of Vermont have used data mining to analyze sentiment and structure in 1,700 famous works of literature, and they have found that stories tend to be characterized by only six fundamental arcs.
Most of us who spend a disturbing amount of time in the literary arts have probably heard of the various styles of plot and how many there may be. Georges Polti and Carlo Gozzi once believed there were 36 types of stories, Ronald Tobias narrowed that list down to 20, and most recently, Christopher Booker defined just seven basic plots in literature.
But now, researchers at the University of Vermont have used data mining to analyze sentiment and structure in 1,700 famous works of literature, and they have found that stories tend to be characterized by only six fundamental arcs.
The images above may look like some weird EKG reading, but these are actually the six basic plot arcs according to computational analysis: "Fall-rise-fall, like Oedipus Rex; Rise and then a fall, such as stories from Hans Andersen; Fall and then a rise, like The Magic of Oz; Steady fall, like in Romeo and Juliet; Steady rise, like in a rags-to-riches story such as Alice's Adventures Underground; Rise-fall-rise, like that of Cinderella." And nearly every story ever told fits one of these forms.
I'm sure someone out there will write a response article claiming that literature cannot be reduced to squiggly lines on a graph. But it's all fun and informative, I say, and I always enjoy when arts and sciences come together. Take a look at the article, and consider what mathematical patterns some of your favorite books and films employ.
I'm sure someone out there will write a response article claiming that literature cannot be reduced to squiggly lines on a graph. But it's all fun and informative, I say, and I always enjoy when arts and sciences come together. Take a look at the article, and consider what mathematical patterns some of your favorite books and films employ.