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Finding literary allusions


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Ds is taking Journey Through Narnia. He is supposed to find one literary allusion in Chapters 4-9 of Magician's Nephew. He read and read and didn't know how to find one. I read the chapters, too. I am clueless. How do you find literary allusions if you don't know many books or authors? Any help will be appreciated. I will encourage ds to email his questions to the teacher.

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I would not expect anyone to recognize allusions if they are not familiar with the source. Many of Lewis's allusions are Biblical--has your son looked for those if he is familiar with the Bible?

 

This may help: https://books.google.com/books?id=eQmQFPErSKcC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=literary+allusions+the+magician%27s+nephew&source=bl&ots=t6pfLUUiUa&sig=HGYaQQ-uvlJxkL-4NZFpvNc2SrM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwicoeuY-M7PAhVp3IMKHWfJBlE4ChDoAQgaMAA#v=onepage&q=literary%20allusions%20the%20magician's%20nephew&f=false

 

 

Edited to fix link

Edited by maize
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Many of the allusions in the Magician's Nephew are to the first few chapters of Genesis in the Bible--the creation of the world and the entry of evil into the world. You can also look for allusions to Greek mythology and European fairy tales and fables which were also prominent throughout the series. Some of the creatures in Narnia are from mythology. Good luck!

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Allusions can be a brief mention of a place (like they mentioned Buckingham Palace) or a famous person (they mention Columbus). If they are looking for a connection to a literary work, chapter 9 is describing how Narnia began and where the lamppost came from in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (also is like the creation story in the Bible in Genesis although they don't mention it by name.)

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