Why MIT writing prof and author Junot Diaz makes his students watch ‘Star Wars’

[Disir]

If you don’t know who Junot Diaz is, you should learn now. Not only is he a badass author, who’s won the Pulitzer Prize, he teaches writing at MIT.

And, apparently, he makes his incoming students watch Star Wars.

In this interview on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, Diaz tells Meyers why the iconic film is required material for his creative-writing class. He makes his students watch Star Wars and read The Lord of the Rings before class even starts.

Meyers thinks it’s a dream curriculum come true, but Diaz has a different outlook:
Why MIT writing prof and author Junot Diaz makes his students watch 'Star Wars' - GeekWire

I don't read much fiction anymore or at all. I am pretty much non-fiction only. I will read Junot Diaz. He is one of my favorite authors. I would have loved to have gone to MIT.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

"Star Wars" was heavily influenced by, and written like a ancient Greek play. Was a really great documentary about it.

Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[midcan5]

I have to wonder why? I tried to read the 'lord of the rings' a few times, but it just seemed so childish. Issac Asimov is so much better if you are into that kind of stuff. There are lots of 'foundational' myths around pick one, and how about Orwell or Huxley for a bit of depth. I guess I'm old school, glad we read literature that challenged you a bit.

"I hope you don’t have friends who recommend Ayn Rand to you. The fiction of Ayn Rand is as low as you can get re fiction. I hope you picked it up off the floor of the subway and threw it in the nearest garbage pail. She makes Mickey Spillane look like Dostoevsky." Flannery O’Connor

 

[Two Thumbs]

considering SW was ahead of it's time and the first movie I heard people brag about how long they stood in line to see it the 25th time, I'd study it and read the books about it.

LTR was one of the original fantasy stories that most, if not all, fantasy writers get inspiration.

I can assure you that AD&D practicality ripped it off. They change 'hobbits' to 'halflings'.

so yea, study what was really big.

 

[gtopa1]

If you don’t know who Junot Diaz is, you should learn now. Not only is he a badass author, who’s won the Pulitzer Prize, he teaches writing at MIT.

And, apparently, he makes his incoming students watch Star Wars.

In this interview on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, Diaz tells Meyers why the iconic film is required material for his creative-writing class. He makes his students watch Star Wars and read The Lord of the Rings before class even starts.

Meyers thinks it’s a dream curriculum come true, but Diaz has a different outlook:
Why MIT writing prof and author Junot Diaz makes his students watch 'Star Wars' - GeekWire

I don't read much fiction anymore or at all. I am pretty much non-fiction only. I will read Junot Diaz. He is one of my favorite authors. I would have loved to have gone to MIT.

There's very little fiction I will read now that is post "Lord of the Rings"......probably none. I've not read "Star Wars" but enjoyed the movies.....as I did the Tolkien movies. But the authors like Tolstoy, Thackeray, Trollope, Dumas and Erckman/Chatrian are more than enough to fill my spare time. OK: De La Roche was quite good as was the Dune Series and Lord Foul's Bane but nothing post the 1900s normally.

Greg

 

[Kosh]

If you don’t know who Junot Diaz is, you should learn now. Not only is he a badass author, who’s won the Pulitzer Prize, he teaches writing at MIT.

And, apparently, he makes his incoming students watch Star Wars.

In this interview on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, Diaz tells Meyers why the iconic film is required material for his creative-writing class. He makes his students watch Star Wars and read The Lord of the Rings before class even starts.

Meyers thinks it’s a dream curriculum come true, but Diaz has a different outlook:
Why MIT writing prof and author Junot Diaz makes his students watch 'Star Wars' - GeekWire

I don't read much fiction anymore or at all. I am pretty much non-fiction only. I will read Junot Diaz. He is one of my favorite authors. I would have loved to have gone to MIT.

If you read far left blog sites you are reading fiction..

Also why did he really choose Star Wars, I mean George Lucas destroyed his own storyline.

If he did that to teach people how to make sure you have real and true story continuity, then I understand..

 

[Moonglow]

I put Lord of the Rings and the Bible on the same book shelf, the boring and mundane shelf....I would just have to CLEP out of his class.....

 

[Disir]

I have to wonder why? I tried to read the 'lord of the rings' a few times, but it just seemed so childish. Issac Asimov is so much better if you are into that kind of stuff. There are lots of 'foundational' myths around pick one, and how about Orwell or Huxley for a bit of depth. I guess I'm old school, glad we read literature that challenged you a bit.

"I hope you don’t have friends who recommend Ayn Rand to you. The fiction of Ayn Rand is as low as you can get re fiction. I hope you picked it up off the floor of the subway and threw it in the nearest garbage pail. She makes Mickey Spillane look like Dostoevsky." Flannery O’Connor

That's when most of us read J.R.R. Tolkien---as children. There are many similarities made between Tolkien and Rowling. In fact, Rowling has been accused of plagiarism. So, if you are looking at a group of kids that see only Rowling and she was the fo' shizzle nitz and have never read Tolkien then you take them back to the original ideas. That's why.

 

[Disir]

If you don’t know who Junot Diaz is, you should learn now. Not only is he a badass author, who’s won the Pulitzer Prize, he teaches writing at MIT.

And, apparently, he makes his incoming students watch Star Wars.

In this interview on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, Diaz tells Meyers why the iconic film is required material for his creative-writing class. He makes his students watch Star Wars and read The Lord of the Rings before class even starts.

Meyers thinks it’s a dream curriculum come true, but Diaz has a different outlook:
Why MIT writing prof and author Junot Diaz makes his students watch 'Star Wars' - GeekWire

I don't read much fiction anymore or at all. I am pretty much non-fiction only. I will read Junot Diaz. He is one of my favorite authors. I would have loved to have gone to MIT.

If you read far left blog sites you are reading fiction..

Also why did he really choose Star Wars, I mean George Lucas destroyed his own storyline.

If he did that to teach people how to make sure you have real and true story continuity, then I understand..

Most of the kids would have seen the recent Star Wars movies but, according to Diaz, not the 1977 A New Hope. Authenticity would seem to be key.

 

[psikeyhackr]

Did Robert Heinlein write anything as bad as Star Wars? I read SW before the movie was out. It was a lesson in the different mediums. It was a terrible book.

I asked myself why I read LotR after I finished it. At least now I know that people who say it is great have vastly different priorities from mine.

psik

 

[TheOldSchool]

If you don’t know who Junot Diaz is, you should learn now. Not only is he a badass author, who’s won the Pulitzer Prize, he teaches writing at MIT.

And, apparently, he makes his incoming students watch Star Wars.

In this interview on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, Diaz tells Meyers why the iconic film is required material for his creative-writing class. He makes his students watch Star Wars and read The Lord of the Rings before class even starts.

Meyers thinks it’s a dream curriculum come true, but Diaz has a different outlook:
Why MIT writing prof and author Junot Diaz makes his students watch 'Star Wars' - GeekWire

I don't read much fiction anymore or at all. I am pretty much non-fiction only. I will read Junot Diaz. He is one of my favorite authors. I would have loved to have gone to MIT.

If you read far left blog sites you are reading fiction..

Also why did he really choose Star Wars, I mean George Lucas destroyed his own storyline.

If he did that to teach people how to make sure you have real and true story continuity, then I understand..

Wow I didn't think you could suck any worse but here you go.