For me, the benefit of studying tropes is that it makes it easy to talk about the ways in which stories are story-like. In fact, to discuss what stories are like, this post used several links to tropes (specifically ones known to be wrong/misleading/inapplicable to reality).
I think a few deep binges on TVtropes for media I liked really helped me get a lot better at media analysis very, very quickly. (Along with a certain anime analysis blog that mixed in obvious and insightful cinematography commentary focusing on framing, color, and lighting, with more abstract analysis of mood, theme, character, and purpose—both illustrated with links to screenshots, using media that was familiar and interesting to me.)
And by putting word-handles on common story features, it makes it easy to spot them turning up in places they shouldn’t. Like in your thinking about real-life situations.
For me, the benefit of studying tropes is that it makes it easy to talk about the ways in which stories are story-like. In fact, to discuss what stories are like, this post used several links to tropes (specifically ones known to be wrong/misleading/inapplicable to reality).
I think a few deep binges on TVtropes for media I liked really helped me get a lot better at media analysis very, very quickly. (Along with a certain anime analysis blog that mixed in obvious and insightful cinematography commentary focusing on framing, color, and lighting, with more abstract analysis of mood, theme, character, and purpose—both illustrated with links to screenshots, using media that was familiar and interesting to me.)
And by putting word-handles on common story features, it makes it easy to spot them turning up in places they shouldn’t. Like in your thinking about real-life situations.