revelations 2nd draft

Bonnie Black
Revelation Trope First Draft

One often complains that we lack anything original when it comes to movies or books. We find ourselves watching or reading the same story lines over and over again. The same cliches that appear in almost everything these days. A trope is an element in a story that tends to get repeated. A very common trope is that of the revelation trope. Elements of a revelation trope are the following; ignorant masses, an unnacceptable situation, a prophet or revealer trying to share a message that presents things in a new way and that offers a new redeemed world, opposition to the messenger, drama occurs. A trope can be seen within movies, television, and literature.
In the movie Foxfire, Legs, arrives at the lead character, Maddy’s school. When the girls are in the bathroom and it comes out that their science teacher has been sexually abusing some of them, Legs encourages the girls to stand up together. In this revelation, Legs is playing the role of the messanger/revealer. The unacceptable situation is the fact that the teacher has been taking advantage of the girls. The opposition during this revelation came from the cheerleaders at the school who were also in the bathroom, in on the conversation. They doubted the girls’ stories, and refused to believe that the teacher was doing such things. The drama that then occured was the way the girls chose to solve the situation; by catching the teacher during the act and beating him up.
Revelations occur all throughout The Gospel of Mark. The most obvious being that of when Jesus learns that he is the son of God. “10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’” Such a dramatic revelation is a typical trope. The heavens tear open and deliver a message. Through Jesus’ journey of delivering the message of God, he comes across the obstacle of the ignorant masses, who often doubt his ability to heal and help others.
[ADD ARGUMENT ON IGNORANT MASSES- MAYBE THE PEOPLE WERE JUST AMPING JESUS' POWER UP, HE WAS SIMPLY DELIVERING A MESSAGE OF LOVE AND A WAY OF LIFE THAT NO ONE HAD THOUGHT OF AND WERE JUST SO AMAZED- ANYONE CAN BE THE PROPHET- ANYONE CAN BE NEO, ETC.]
As Jesus is dealing with his own new found power, the people he comes in contact with also experiance similar revelations, as they now realize they are in the presence of God’s literal Son. Many revelations such as this occur during the course of the story. When Jesus has now just forgiven all the signs of a paralyzed man, thinkers who have watched the miracle doubt the possibility of Jesus being powerful enough to do this.
"6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 'Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?'
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, 'Why are you thinkingthese things? 9 Which is easier: to sayy to this paralyzed man, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take you mat and walk'? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.' So he said to the man, 11 'I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go home.' 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying 'We have never seen anything like this!'"
During this, the people have witnessed a true miracle by Jesus. This is a small revelation, had by those who doubted Jesus' powers and ability, however they came to their revelation as they saw Jesus heal the paralyzed man, as he got up and walked home.