Page Turning Tropes: Your Favorite Narrative Themes, Cliches, & Achetypes
A trope is a common theme, pattern, or motif used in stories. Some popular examples of tropes are enemies-to-lovers in romance, a character who is “the chosen one”, and time travel in sci-fi. The Page Turning Tropes collection includes books that feature a variety of different and perhaps less common literary tropes including reluctant heroes, found family, morally gray protagonists, horror, unreliable narrators, strong female characters, among others. We hope the variety within this collection will appeal to people with many different interests and maybe introduce people to a new trope that they enjoy!
Found Family
The found family trope has become increasingly popular over the years, and features characters who meet and form deep personal relationships with others, who become like a family to the main character(s).
The House in the Cerulean Sea by Publication Date: 2020-12-29Features Linus Baker, a case worker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, lives a simple and solitary life until he is sent on a highly classified case at Marsyas Island Orphanage, where he meets a diverse group of 6 reportedly dangerous children, the island sprite Zoe, and their caretaker Arthur. The story shows Linus’s month spent on his assignment, during which he bonds with the island’s residents and learns how others can give your life new meaning.
Howl's Moving Castle by Publication Date: 1986-04-14Takes place in the kingdom of Ingary, in which many typical fairy tale cliches are commonplace. Sophie, who, as the oldest of three sisters, is destined to a life of little success. However, when she is turned into an old woman by the Witch of the Waste, she sets out from her home and work at a hat shop and finds the infamous wizard Howl. She makes a bargain with Howl’s fire demon Calcifer and works as a cleaning lady in his moving castle, where she makes her place in the lives of the castle’s inhabitants.
Dystopia Disguised as Utopia
Never Let Me Go by
Horror
The horror trope is one that evokes strong emotions like terror, fear, paranoia, and even dread and asks us what it means to be (or not to be) human. Horror tropes continuously evolve as they often reflect cultural and worldly issues, and societal fears.
Uzumaki by Spiral into this modern horror from Japan by the newly popular horror manga writer Junji-Ito. The story of Uzumaki (the Japanese word for spiral), a fictional small town in Japan begins to be plagued by spiral patterns. These patterns lead the townspeople to act in strange ways and eventually spiral into horrific physical and psychological madness, expressing the societal horrors of the inhuman and obsession.
Frankenstein by Considered to be the first horror novel ever written, this classic novel is the basis for understanding classic horror tropes in the West. Shelley's use of the Gothic horror tropes depicting fears of the inhuman, "Playing God", and scientific advancement; reflecting societal fears of queerness/otherness, creating/controlling life, and the rapid industrialization of the early 19th century.
Sci Fi
Science Fiction tropes deal with the impact of technology on humanity, our interactions and relationships with each other, and our relationship with the environment. Whether imagined or real, sci-fi tropes depict a world in which the presence of technology mirrors the society it exists in, asking us to question our own humanity and our condition in the end.
Jurassic Park by A quintessential Sci-Fi novel, dealing with the consequences of what happens when man plays god. The wealthy John Hammond decides to create a theme park centered around real living dinosaurs. Inevitably, something goes wrong, and Hammond, along with his staff and the researchers he invited must deal with the consequences.
Morally Gray Protagonist
The morally gray protagonist trope involves a main character(s) who would typically not be considered an especially upstanding member of society or fit into the traditional role of a hero. These characters blur the line between “hero” and “villain” and add nuance to the story they are in and are often more relatable to the audience.
The Secret History by
Strong Female Character
The strong female character trope deals with powerful women who stand up for what they believe in, have autonomy, and are pivotal to the plot.
Much Ado about Nothing by Very much a play about female agency. It takes place in a town rooted in misogyny, but Beatrice does not let that stop her from fighting for what she believes in. Throughout the play, we see Beatrice take action and stand up for what is right.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Takes place in a Parisian hôtel particulier, and focuses on Renée, the concierge and Paloma, a young resident. The two feel isolated from society, and throughout the book they begin to find community and acceptance, especially in each other.
Reluctant Heroes
The reluctant heroes trope features leading characters who are not seeking adventure or change, rather quite the opposite. They are forced or obligated to undertake some objective despite their objections.
The Hobbit by A classic example of a reluctant hero is Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, in which he is taken from his peaceful life and swept up in an adventure through Middle Earth. He is perfectly content living in the Shire, but his life is soon turned around when Gandalf the wizard along with a group of dwarves bring him along on their journey to recover the dwarves’ home and treasure, which were taken by the dragon Smaug.
Guards! Guards! by First book in the Discworld series to feature Sam Vimes, the apathetic leader of the Night Watch of Ankh-Morpork. His attitude is not a problem, as no one has much respect for the Night Watch, including the guards themselves. However, the arrival of an eager new recruit and the threat of a dragon force Vimes to take his job a bit more seriously.
Unreliable Narrator
The unreliable narrator trope breaks away from typical storytelling conventions in that they may not always tell the events in an objective way or clear way. They may want to purposefully mislead their audience or perhaps the narrator themselves does not understand how the story unfolds and can therefore not tell the story clearly.
Fleishman Is in Trouble by
Nonfiction/Narrative Nonfiction:
The non-fiction and narrative non-fiction tropes involve not only literature that is non-fiction, but it also takes form in narrative nonfiction a combination of real life "concepts, subjects, and events" and illuminating those through the literary/genre fiction forms. This trope highlights specific real-world events and expands on the effects of these events through their stories and narratives to show the importance of those events.
The Hungry Tide by This book explores the real world effects of neocolonialism, the globalization of the west, and tourism upon the environment, culture, lineage and family, and the socio-political conflicts in India and Bangladesh through the story of a tourist and marine biologist Piya and long-standing resident and translator Kanai. Ghosh beautifully explores the intersections of these real-world effects through the literary trope and theme of the relationship between humans and nature.
The Round House by Erdrich's novel illuminates the issues, experiences, and impact of missing Indigenous women in the U.S.; specifically the experiences of the Chippewa/Ojibwe people in North Dakota. We follow a young Ojibwe boy, Joe Coutts, on the path to finding justice for his mother and the struggle between reservation and U.S. territories in the pursuit of justice. Erdrich utilizes the narrative non-fiction form to represent the real-world intricacies and difficulties facing Indigenous populations and land.
Student Curators
Margaret Baechle:
My name is Margaret Baechle and I am a senior undergraduate student studying English and Communications. I am very proud of the work we put into this project and excited for everyone to interact with it!
Allison Bell:
Hi! My name is Allison Bell and I am a 4th year undergraduate student in Linguistics and German Studies. I am eager to be part of this project and to spotlight books and other media that I love, and that I believe others in the KU community will be excited about.
Ali Madden:
Hello! My name is Ali Madden and I am a 4th year undergraduate student majoring in English with a minor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. I am excited to get this chance to share our voices and perspectives as students through this project.
Sarah Patti:
Hello! My name is Sarah Patti and I am a sophomore studying Linguistics and Music Theory. I am very excited to share this project we’ve been working on with the greater community!
Libby List, Streaming Films & Other Media
This is an additional list of books from the curated collection in Libby, KU Libraries e-book leisure reading collection.
- 1984Dystopia Disguised: Film adaption of George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society in which a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.
- Anna Karenina: the MusicalStrong Female Character: Beautiful Anna Karenina lives with her husband and loving son. She meets the dashing Count Vronsky among Moscow's high society and their attraction for each other forever changes the landscape of Anna's perfect world.
- BelovedHorror: A woman who was formerly enslaved is haunted by her experiences in this adaptation of Toni Morrison's novel, which blends tragedy and adventure with the supernatural.
- The GiverDystopia disguised as utopia: A young man living in a totalitarian society learns the true history of his community from a mysterious yet seemingly benevolent figure known as the Giver. In time, the youth finds the burden of the truth too great to bear and plots to escape.
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta LacksNon-Fiction: Tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line, known as HeLa.
- Jurassic ParkSci-Fi: Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok on a remote island. It's up to a paleontologist, a paleobotanist and a mathematician to outmaneuver the deadly beasts and find their way back to civilization.
- Lord of the FliesHorror: Updated remake of William Golding's fable about schoolboys stranded on a desert isle descending into savagery.
- Much Ado About NothingStrong Female Character: In Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Benedick are adamant in their mutual dislike, while Claudio and Hero are deep in love, and the two stories take an unexpected course. Starring David Tennant as Benedick and Catherine Tate as Beatrice.
- NosferatuHorror: This silent vampire film, a landmark of German Expressionism, is known for its fidelity to its source, Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. It is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential horror movies ever made.
- OthelloStrong Female Character: Bartlett Sher’s production probes the psychological underpinnings of Verdi’s dynamic setting of Shakespeare’s tragedy. Aleksandrs Antonenko is Otello, triumphant general of the Venetian army who is ultimately brought down by his friend Iago. Sonya Yoncheva is Otello’s faithful and long-suffering wife.
- SolarisSci-Fi: A meditative psychological drama occurring mostly aboard a space station orbiting the fictional planet Solaris. The scientific mission has stalled because the crew of three scientists have fallen into separate emotional crises. A psychologist travels to the space station to evaluate the situation only to encounter the same mysterious phenomenon as the others.
- Wuthering HeightsStrong Female Character: In Emily Brontë’s classic and haunting tale Heathcliff is tormented by his love for Cathy. Will Cathy choose a life of comfort and wealth with Edgar Linton or will she succumb to her love for Heathcliff? Starring Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley.
