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LITR 4231 Early American Literature 2012 Student Midterm Samples 2. Short essay (4-6 paragraphs) on 1 of 2 options (or combinations as inspired) :
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Jill Norris
You Don't Have
to be Bold to Be Beautiful
My favorite concept that we have talked about in
class is Baroque vs. Plain Style in terms of both art and literature. These are
two very distinct styles of artistic expression that can be seen in either form
and I really enjoyed analyzing the text in order to figure out which style they
best represented. They both demonstrate certain characteristics that make them
unique and are usually pretty easy to identify. I am going to discuss each term
and its characteristics and then discuss how they can be applied to the
literature that we have read in class.
The Baroque Style is almost immediately
identifiable because of its tendency to be very over the top and dramatic. In
class we reviewed architectural structures such as St. Basil's and Capilla del
Rosario. These are very much Baroque style buildings due to the extravagantly
dramatic arches and the high amount of intricate detail adorning the walls and
columns. Other classic trademarks of the Baroque Style is the extreme contrast
between light and dark, which is perfectly illustrated in Rubens,
Elevation of the Cross. You can see
the light figure of Jesus Christ on the cross being pulled up into the darkness
by very strong men. There are two forms of this characteristic at work here: it
is most obvious in the coloring of the piece, but it could also be seen in terms
of the characters in which Jesus Christ is the light (good) and the men who have
crucified him are the darkness (evil). For me, this is the easiest
characteristic to spot in literature. For example, I think that the Salem Witch
Trials is a perfect example of Baroque writing. It dramatically demonstrates
light vs. dark (Puritan colonists vs. the "witches") and tends to be very
extreme and over the top when discussing the fits that these "possessed" girls
would have (flailing and shrieking). It is also an early example of American
"gothic" literature because of its dark nature.
On the other hand, Plain Style is different in
every possible way. It is in no way grand or extravagant, but is very plain and
basic. This would be especially apparent if you were to compare Puritan church
to a Roman Catholic church. The difference between these two styles of
architecture is astounding. You would see that the Roman Catholic church would
be very grand with high arching ceilings and adorned dramatic artwork and
sculptures on the walls and columns, whereas the Puritan church would have very
little decoration at all with plain white walls and they usually have no statues
at all. This type of style is also fairly easy to spot in literature because
some people might say that it is very dry and "to the point" with very little
embellishment or drama. John Bradford's
Of Plymouth Plantation is a good example of Plain Style literature because
it is very sober writing with very little use of metaphor or imagination. It
gives you the facts of what occurred, nothing more. In some ways, this is a good
thing because it leaves no room for misinterpretation on the reader's part, but
it can also be very difficult reading for some.
Another text that comes to mind when discussing
Plain Style is Benjamin Franklins
Autobiography. When I was reading it, it definitely felt very plain and as
if it were written with the sole purpose to inform rather than entertain.
My understanding of the Baroque and Plain Styles
has grown exponentially since we began talking about them in class. Although
that is mostly due to the fact that I had not ever heard of them before we
talked about them. When we began our discussion on these very different styles I
was immediately swept up in them. I was awed that these two very different
styles of artistic expression could both be carried out so beautifully in a
variety of forms. Learning about these concepts has caused me to look at
architecture, art, and literature in an entirely new way and I really enjoyed
exploring them.
