Foster says there is only one story,that pure originality is impossible. The doesn't mean that a work ends up derivative or trivial; instead it can acquire depth through intertexuality. These similarities can be comforting and add weight to the work. Even avoidance of sounding like another work is a sort of interaction.
In this chapter, Foster discusses intertexuality, the way that different works speak to each other. This can happen dozens of times in one book. The teacher might point out some of these references, but you should also look for text-text connections and what they add to your understanding of the current text.
Why is this allusion or reference used? What does it add to the text's meaning?
Jane Eyre
Matilda
This is a reference to Matilda because Matilda was the disliked child of the family. She was not an immediate member of the family either. Matilda was treated badly and went to school where she had a horrible principle named Ms. Trenchbull. The principle treated all the kids badly and set them up for embarrassment especially Matilda by sending her to the nailed closet. Matilda had a great teacher named Miss Honey who she loved very much because she was there to help her get through anything. Jane Eyre was again not part of the immediate family. Her aunt forced her to go to school where her headmaster Mr. Brocklehurst where he made Jane stand on a box embarrassed in front of the rest of her classmates. Jane also enjoyed one teacher in particular named Ms. Temple who also was there for Jane. In the novel, they discussed things over tea just as in Matilda.
In this chapter, Foster discusses intertexuality, the way that different works speak to each other. This can happen dozens of times in one book. The teacher might point out some of these references, but you should also look for text-text connections and what they add to your understanding of the current text.
Foster also discusses archetype: a pattern or mythic original on which a pattern is based.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell is a great book that explains this concept in detail (not everyone buys into Campbell's ideas, though). Here are some helpful websites about heroes through history and the patterns of historic heroes:
http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00212/monomyth.html
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/smc/journey/ref/summary.html