final exam assignment

LITR 4533 TRAGEDY  Final Exam Samples 2012 Essays & Excerpts on Part A: Overall Learning Experience

Brandy Dornelly

Literature as a Second Language

Sign me up for an algebra class, that’s more my speed. Literature on the other hand, it’s like learning a new language. Signing up for this course was definitely kind of bittersweet for me. While this is the last course I need to complete my bachelor’s degree and graduate this summer, I was not looking forward to it being Literature and especially Tragedy. I’m not sure why I did not want to take tragedy, I mean I knew absolutely nothing about it besides something tragic would happen to someone. But I signed up anyways and here I am.

From reading the model assignments, unlike the past students I do not have any experience with Tragedy. I cannot recall reading any tragic literature. Through taking this course and having a supportive professor, I can now recognize Tragedy, Romance, Comedy and Satire, as well as explain to you more about genre than I’ve ever expected. One I have learned spectacle which is something you do not always think about while reading or watching a play or movie, the sublime, and the Ancient Greek Theatre which I would have never found to be interesting if I had to research it on my own.

Before this course, if I were asked to tell someone about genre I might be at a loss for words. Today, after completing the course I can talk about genre with confidence. Genre is what you say when you ask “what kind of book is that?” or what type of movie would you like to see?” Genre can be classified into three types of broad categories: subject, form and the one we studied the most, narrative which refers to the story line or plot. (Introduction to Genre) Genres are often mixed, allowing more than one genre to take over the entire story. For example you can have Romance, Comedy or a romantic comedy. You can have some romance in a comedy and some comedy in a romance but that does not necessarily make it a romantic comedy. Narrative genre refers to the kind of narrative, story or plot, which is how you can tell the difference.   

Tragedy usually begins with a problem significant to the entire community not just one person in particular. The Characters, as I stated earlier, are not specifically good or bad but are more humanized and relatable to the audience. In tragedy the attempts to discover the truth about the problem, the cost of oneself or a loved one just to restore justice, or the act to gain or regain control of a situation is very common and where you will get the most action. The conclusion of a tragedy ends with a resolution to the problem but accompanied by the death of a character(s), or quieting if the tragic hero. (Narrative Genre)     

I must admit this class has not been so bad. Yes, it still feels as though everyone is speaking a different language than me, but I am getting the gist of Tragedy slowly but surely. My favorite reading up to this point in the semester has been “Mourning Becomes Electra: The Homecoming”. It was an interesting and an easier read than the others. Like all tragedy readings, The Homecoming was more realistic, meaning so many women can relate to Christine and her situation. Although it was wrong that she wanted to kill her husband at the same time it was very easy to sympathize with her because it was a real life issue. This is one of the many traits of tragedy we learned about in the class; the characters are never completely good or bad. Most characters have qualities of a hero and a villain. The indecisiveness of the characters state of mind makes the story more relatable to the audience but can also cause confusion when trying to decide if you agree or disagree with a certain character. You will find that these complications can make a situations right or wrong depending on the audience vantage point.

In the story of the Oresteia is where we witnessed this issue for the first time. Agamemnon was seen as both a hero and a villain from one outcome. He was faced with the extremely tough decision to kill hundreds of men that he had sent off to war or sacrifice his daughter. Heroically he chose to save the hundreds of men that are risking their lives over the life of his own daughter. But who would sacrifice their own daughter, and be okay with it? This choice probably would not have been easy for many people because the outcome in both situations would impose hurting those around him whom he holds dear to his heart.         

One thing I have realized from taking this course is how unprepared I was coming into this class as opposed to all the other students. Other Students in my class have prior knowledge about different characters from these plays whereas I am just hearing about them for the first time. On many occasions I have heard students say they remember covering some of our reading in other classes and even in high school. Although I struggled in this course and it is definitely not my cup of tea, I enjoyed it and looked forward to learning something new every day I went to class.