[Teacher's comments, etc., followed by exam as submitted]

Dear [Student],

This is an excellent exam especially in its uses of the course texts. Throughout you demonstrate that you have read and capitalized on much more than I have selected in class. I’m particularly struck by your use of the introductory materials and the Comic Theory handout—and you don’t parade your learning but apply it helpfully to the primary texts at hand.

Regarding the unity of the essay, some sections succeed more than others, but I appreciated your efforts to bridge and connect your ideas from paragraph to paragraph. The few lapses may have resulted from the exam’s tendency to drop into listing at several points. In any case, continue to develop this aspect of your writing, as you have a good base of skills on which to build.

Grade: A

 [student name]

Professor White

LITR 4533

15 June 2000

Midterm Exam

Question #1: Time log       Start time                  End time       Time Spent

                                                7:50 a.m.                    8:05                15 + 23 = 38 minutes

                                                8:15                            8:38

            Genre denotes a systematic way to categorize literature. The term might be considered academic jargon; however, it produces up a set of expectations that allow us to judge literature. These expectations or criteria also allow us to compare with other literature in the same as well as different genres. In spite of these expectations, genre does not dictate a set of rigid rules; in fact, genre is more descriptive than prescriptive.

Problems in defining genre often arise because there are frequently sub-genres: romantic comedy might be considered a sub-genre of comedy, revenge tragedy of tragedy and gothic horror of horror. It becomes increasingly difficult to see where one sub-genre ends and another begins. Also these categories are seldom pure. For example, Hamlet, a revenge tragedy, includes aspects of romance and even a comic scene or two. Our popular culture makes defining genre challenging because what is vital one day might disappear the next. An example of this is the current insistence upon a happy ending. Since tragedy is often characterized by an unhappy or "right" ending, according to Aristotle, popular culture no longer welcomes the tragedy with the relish it did at other times in history.

            Representational genre allows us to examine the voice of a piece of literature, both by type and number. The narrator or single voice is characterized by one voice that speaks directly to the reader, the audience or another character. Few stage plays use this, with Our Town being the exception that comes to mind, as well as the one-man shows. Poetry makes frequent use of this voice. In Daddy by Sylvia Plath, the author address "Daddy" throughout the poem. Shannon Chamberlain’s use of Aesop’s fable The Parrot and his Cage was another example of this single voice narrative. A second voice option is the drama or dialogue that involves talking between two characters with no narration. All of the plays we are reading in class fit this category as well as Stacy Burleson’s example of Merlin as a legend in film. Finally, the combination of the narrator plus dialogue is just as it seems, a narrator talks to the audience (or reader) but the characters talk to each other. The TV shows The Fugitive, Dragnet, and Twilight Zone come to mind as examples of this.

            Narrative genre, by contrast, focuses on the storyline or plot. Tragedy frequently introduces a problem, there is struggle for control, finally a realistic and often unhappy ending that resolves the problem. Examples of this include: Romeo and Juliet (Sylvia Duncan’s presentation), the recent Academy Award winner American Beauty and Moby Dick (Doris Herrmann’s presentation). Comedy is another plot or storyline that usually deals with a less significant problem, there is an attempt to solve it, but the ending often brings people together. Examples of comedy are: Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest, A Marriage Proposal by Anton Chekhov, and the movie Sixteen Candles shown in class by Laura Peterson. Romance may center on a transcendence where the problem often includes separation, a journey or adventure might be included. Characters are more predictable and are frequently good or bad with very little complexity. The excerpt of Sleepy Hollow shown by Cara Skinner is an example of this. [true] Pygmalion and Shakespeare in Love might fit her; however, these characters do show considerably more depth than the norm. Satire pokes fun at a social situation or institution and assumes the audience is familiar with what is being satirized. There is usually a less serious tone than with the original. Examples are seen in the play within a play in MidSummer Night’s Dream. Political cartoons and Moliere’s The Misanthrope also display elements of a satire.

            Studying literature by way of genre allows for a large sample of many different pieces of literature. It also gives the tools to assist us in judging literature as it allows for comparison and contrast. It opens the door for pieces of literature to talk to each other.

However, since so many different pieces are introduced, there isn’t the time for an in- depth look at the historical setting as there might be in a historical survey class. In the same way the author’s background and writing style aren’t examined as thoroughly as might be the case in a great author’s course. Finally, when considering younger students, the lack of purity of the genres might make it more challenging for the students to grasp. I definitely prefer a genre study for myself, but wonder about it for my students.

Question #2             Start time                  End time                   Total Time Spent   

                                    9:00                            9:47                            47 minutes

            In a comparison of comedy and tragedy, I will begin by looking at narrative. The narration in a comedy often involves union and togetherness as we see in the marriage scene at the end of Midsummer’s Night Dream. William Hazlitt tells us that one can also expect incongruities, misunderstandings, and contradictions. I am reminded of the play The Importance of Being Ernest and the humor by way of mistaken identity. Sigmund Freud tells us to expect excess and exaggeration in comedy. Chekhov’s Marriage Proposal displays this excess both in language and in movements. Charles Darwin insists that in a comedy "circumstances must not be of a momentous nature;" whereas, Northop Frye identifies comedy as having a happy ending and using repetition that goes nowhere.

            On the other hand, narration in tragedy often goes from high to low. Oedipus is a clear example of this. At the beginning he is in a high position and held in high esteem by the people. By the end he has fallen to the depths of despair. Aristotle tells us that plot is the "soul of tragedy," and he points out that we see this through an imitation of life through realistic actions. Taking risks and thinking big characterize narration in tragedy. Hamlet exemplifies these characteristics throughout the storyline. Aristotle insists that tragedy should have the right ending, which generally means that it will have an unhappy ending. We see this in Desire Under the Elms when Eben and Abbie are taken away to jail for the crime.

            Characters in comedy and tragedy are generally quite different. Comic characters are (or used to be) lower class individuals (Aristotle, Goldsmith). Indeed this is the case with the players in Midsummer Night’s Dream. Aristotle also points out that regarding characters there is often ugliness or defect but not pain. Comic characters are often likable and sweet as Jack and Algeron in The Importance of Being Ernest. Oliver Goldsmith characterizes comic characters as being "good and exceedingly generous" as well as having an "abundance of sentiment and feeling."  Tragic characters, however, are usually of a higher class, even nobility Aristotle tells us. This seems to be more the case the further back in history we go. Oedipus fits this description far better than the characters in Desire Under the Elms. Characters in tragedy may be heroic and seem larger than life as does Hamlet. A quality of greatness is usually seen through characters in a tragedy.

            Comedies and tragedies also differ in their audience appeal. Hazlitt tells us when watching comedy "we laugh at what disappoints our expectations in trifles." But Henri Bergson warns us to expect laughter without feeling. Bergson also believes that a group is necessary for comedy to work. George Meredith says that comedy is dependent on a society where there is social freedom and common sense. This may be why Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard is seen by some as a comedy but not by others. Since it comments on social change, the humor would be a strain for Russian audiences who lack the social freedom necessary to laugh at such ideas. Tragedy, on the other hand, evokes fear and pity according to Aristotle. We see this clearly in Oedipus when we fear for Oedipus as we see his eventual fall and even pity him as he makes his decline. Aristotle also emphasizes the need for tragedy to assist the audience in purging their emotions. Audience members frequently find tragedy to be edifying; they leave feeling they have learned something or gain from the experience. Confidence on the part of the audience is considered necessary for tragedy to be effective. This may be why many shun the genre today.

            Several comic elements can be seen in tragedy. We notice the gravedigger in Hamlet that seems to offer some comic relief for the audience. There is romance between Hamlet and Ophelia as well as between Eben and Abbie, although it is not the light, carefree romance one might expect from a romantic comedy. The characters in Desire Under the Elms are of a lower class; this a characteristic usually associated with comedy. There are also references to food and drink, body or physical humor, and wild animal comparisons in Desire. All of these characteristics are usually associated with comedy…even low comedy.

            Low comedy may involve a single gender as in Midsummer Night’s Dream where all the players are male. In addition to the characteristics mentioned previously we see Bottom using malapropisms. This is also associated with low comedy; whereas, high comedy is considered more intellectual. It may include wit that adds another layer to an already comic scene. This is seen during both plays within a play as the audience makes witty remarks about the play. High comedy may become dated sooner because it frequently centers on current events.

            Both the comedy and the tragedies we have read alluded to or used the elements of the unnatural. Poison or a love potion was central to both Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet. Complicated romance was seen in MND, Hamlet, and Desire. Fate had a strong role in several of the plays as well. In Oedipus the oracle was at the very heart of the play, and in Desire Cabot and even the play itself seemed driven by the will of God.

Question #3             Start time                  End time                   Total Time Spent   

                                    10:10                          11:00                          50 minutes

            Tragedy is considered by many to be the greatest of the genres. Often something goes wrong and exposes something great. Characters generally have more depth as evidenced by Hamlet. Tragedy shows up in the great periods of history: Classical Greece, Renaissance, and the early 20^th century. It is a far more complex genre than comedy or romance. It teaches people to think since the storylines never have a simple answer or resolution. We see this in Desire Under the Elms. Family relationships and inheritances are complicated and even when Abbie kills the baby, Eben decides to join her in her guilty plea when he is clearly not a participant in the murder. Unlike comedy, there is less spectacle onstage. Iokaste hangs herself offstage, King Hamlet’s murder is only reenacted but not seen directly, and the audience doesn’t see Abbie murder her baby. This forces or allows the audience members to use their imaginations to envision these crucial scenes, adding a layer of complexity to the play. <In tragedy, we are also driven to consider the complex question, "Do we control our own destinies?" In Oedipus, we see the main character attempting to exercise his free will over the fate of the oracle, but fail in the attempt. In Hamlet we are reminded of fate by the line, "There’s a divinity that shapes our ends." Then in Desire, Cabot consistently looked to God for direction. These situations don’t allow us to remain passive and simply be entertained when we view tragedy. We must grapple with the tough issues of life.

            Plot is considered significant in tragedy for many reasons. . Plot examines the limits of human greatness. It is the most examined area in the study of literature probably because it is unique to humans. It can be both edifying for an audience and, at the same time, allow for a catharsis. Plot allows characters to play out their fate. Freud believes that through plot we examine issues in our lives that have been psychologically repressed. His prime example of this is the Oedipal complex.

            The Oedipal complex occurs, Freud believed, with most young boys. The father is seen as a rival for the mother’s affections. Young boys soon realize that this idea has a vale of silence surrounding it and, as a result, they suppress these instincts. Playwrights use their plots sometimes for a psychological revealing of these taboo issues. The Oedipal Complex is at the center of the play Oedipus Rex and was, obviously, named for the title character. The oracle said that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. In Hamlet, a closeness can be felt (and seen in the movie) between Hamlet and Gertrude. Shakespeare seems to have been pointing to the issue when he wrote the bedroom confrontation scene between Hamlet and his mother and even had King Hamlet’s ghost appear in a nightshirt. In Desire Under the Elms, Eben and his brothers voice their wish that their father were dead. They all had their first sexual experience with the same prostitute, but the complex really becomes clear in the parlor scene between Abbie and Eben and Eben’s mothers ghost. Abbie offers to replace his mother and they make love for the first time in "her" room.

            In considering why the Oedipal Complex consistently appears in tragedy we must remember that tragedies frequently focus on people who are close to each other, often families. Families are a strong sexual construction. Also playwrights often focus their writing on issues that cause us to examine and reveal psychologically repressed wishes or issues. This is evidence also in the large number of plays that now deal with the homosexuality issue. The public may prefer to ignore these taboo topics, but the complexity and greatness of tragedy wont allow it. We must grapple where there are no easy answers.

            The hero in tragedy has evolved through the years. In Classical Greek plays the hero was nobility and often a king, as with Oedipus. In Renaissance literature, or at least the sample we read, the hero is still noble but is now the prince rather than the king. However, in the modern tragedy, Desire Under the Elms, democratization is occurring and not only is the hero of a much lower class, but it is difficult to identify a hero at all. As we strive for equality and to become less class conscious, the need for high status of one man disappears. In Desire the hero(es) were farmers.

            Another way that tragedy has evolved is through more comedy being added to the tragedy. Oedipus has no real comic scenes. Hamlet had a few, but Desire had evidence of comedy sprinkled throughout by way of the brothers, the dance, food and drink, and animal references. Tragedy also had evolved to the point of having more romance. Again romance was missing from Oedipus, we saw a bit more in Hamlet between Claudius and Gertrude and Hamlet and Ophelia. But then in the modern tragedy romance is at the center of the play, albeit an uncomfortable, complicated romance. Some example in the play Desire include: the sexual advances, the kiss and walk away together, the reuniting at the end, stage directions that describe the physical appearance. <And finally there is a change in tragic tone as we progress historically. In Oedipus the tone was serious and heavy, a little less so in Hamlet, and a very noticeable change in the tone of Desire Under the Elms. Instead of being horrified by the baby’s death, the sheriff seemed merely embarrassed. The town folk laughed at the incestuous relationship between Eben and Abbie rather than the scorn displayed by Hamlet at his mother and uncle’s incest.