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About this quote

What does it mean?
Fiction requires social context to be interesting; isolated human acts lack narrative depth.
In plain terms
Stories need society to make sex or other acts meaningful.
What can you take from it?
Context makes personal acts narratively significant.

Where it applies

  • writing fiction
  • analyzing literature
  • discussing themes

Putting it to work

  • crafting stories
  • critiquing plots
  • studying literature

Questions to consider

  • What makes a human act interesting in story?
  • Can isolation ever be compelling fiction?

Another view

Some experimental fiction focuses precisely on isolated acts to challenge norms.

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