LITR 4370 TRAGEDY Midterm2 Samples 2015 (midterm2 assignment) Model Answers to Part 1. Genre Definition 2.

Part 1. Continue genre definition and example(s) from Midterm1: Using the Introduction to Genres page, redevelop / revise and extend your "working definition" of genre in all three categories (Subject / Audience, Formal, Narrative) and use them to analyze the genre of your choice you began in Midterm1. Cite, explain, and analyze two or more examples of your genre from your reading, viewing, or listening experience and  and 2 research sources from course website or beyond. (total length: 6-8 paragraphs, 3+ double-spaced page equivalent)

Alejandra Ayala

The “Happily Ever After” Genre

             Throughout the years, the meaning of genre has evolved. According to Dr. White,  “genre is a very flexible, adaptable term or concept” (Genres). Genre helps categorize things, such as, movies, music, and novels. By categorizing a work of art like those previously mentioned, it gives the audience an idea of what the work is about. Jorge Lozoya stated, “knowing the type of genre a piece of work happens to be can often offer a synopsis of what the audience can expect to happen”. However, this can get confusing when one looks at genres such as, romantic comedy or romantic tragedy, like the play Mourning Becomes Electra, because these genres contain more than one genre. Having various genres in a movie or book can sometimes dissatisfy the audience because the audience may be expecting the work to have more of one genre than another; for example, one might go watch a Romantic Comedy movie and expect the movie to have more romance than comedy, when in fact the movie actually has more comedy than romance.

            Genre is divided into three different parts, which are subject/audience identification, formal genre, and narrative genre. Subject/audience, as stated in Dr. White’s website, can be defined as “the content, subject, ‘special interest’ or ‘audience appeal’ of a text” (Genres). This part simple identifies the piece of work, it tells the audience what the novel, show, or movie is about. A few examples of subject/audience genre include historical fiction, science fiction, gothic stories, and so on. The second form of genre is formal genre, which refers to the voices in the piece of work. Tamara Valencia stated, “form suggests a particular shape or order of words”. There are three types of formal genre, which include narrator or single voice, drama or dialogue, and lastly both, narrator and dialogue. The plays we have focused on in class mainly contain both narrator and dialogue; the narrator being the chorus which lets the reader know what is happening throughout the play and the dialogue being the characters, in each play, that talk to each other as the audience “hears”. Lastly, as identified in Dr. White’s website, “the narrative genre refers to the kind of narrative, story, or plot that a work of literature tells or enacts” (Genres). The narrative genre is the most common genre people use to categorize a book, movie, play, and music.

            Romance is one of the most misinterpreted genres. The romance genre is typically seen as being a love story, however, romance is or can be much more than that. According to Dr. White, “in literary studies romance means a broader, more inclusive type of story or narrative that usually features a hero's journey or quest through tests and trials (often involving a villain) in order to reach a transcendent goal, whether love, salvation, justice (usu. revenge), or rescue” (Romance). Romance narrative novels and movies are not always centered in a love story, but a love story is usually still included in the story or plot. For example, one could see the movie Abduction directed by John Singleton as a type of romance movie. Most people associate this movie as a thriller movie, which is the subject/ audience genre, rather than a romance, which would be the narrative genre. However, the main character, Nathan, goes through a quest to find out who he really is after he learns that his parents, the ones who had raised him, were not his actual parents. As mentioned in Dr. White’s website, romance consists of, “a physical journey or adventure… and may involve trials, tests, or ordeal in which desire or vision or protagonist is tested” (Narrative Genres). This is shown when Nathan goes on a journey to find out who he is and he is faced with obstacles along the way. This movie also portrays a love story that develops throughout the film. The audience knows right away Nathan is interested in a girl, Karen, but he has not told her how he feels. Nonetheless, as they search for answers together, they begin to form a relationship and eventually become a couple. Another element in romance is that in the end, as mentioned by Dr. White “the characters ‘live happily ever after’…” (Genres). This also occurs in the end of Abduction, the main characters, Nathan and Karen, kiss and walk off as the sun sets in the background. All is fixed and resolved in the end. 

Going further into how a piece of work can have more than one genre, or as Allison Evans stated, “two genres [or more] are intertwined with one another or used interchangeably”, one can picture romantic comedy as an example of genres intertwining.  The movie Bride Wars is a great example of a romantic comedy. This movie is another strong example of romantic narrative that is much more than just a love story; it involves a friendship and journey as well. The main characters are two women, Emma and Liv, who have been best friends since childhood. Everything seems fine in the beginning, but then a problem starts when both women end up getting engaged. Both women want to get married in the same venue but a mix up occurs with the dates and they end up reserving their wedding on the same day. A war starts between the two friends, causing a separation, and they soon start sabotaging each other’s wedding plans, hence the comedy aspect. Each woman has her own love story, but as the wedding approaches and wedding plans are set, Liv’s relationship blossoms and strengthens while Emma’s relationships deteriorates and comes to an end. Each woman faces a “personal transformation” by the end of the movie (Genres). On the day of their weddings, Emma cancels her wedding and breaks up with her fiancé because she realizes they aren’t meant to be and that she deserves better. In the end, both women reconcile and they “rise above it all” (Genres). I think this is a perfect example of romance narrative because it has both a love story and a journey/quest.

Most of the plays we have read and talked about in class have narrative romance aspects to them. For example, looking at a play we read early on in the semester, such as, Agamemnon, right before Agamemnon is killed, Cassandra prophesized to the chorus leader that Clytemnestra will kill Agamemnon and her (1443-1498) and that Orestes, Agamemnon’s son will avenge his death by killing Clytemnestra (1513-1520). The chorus leader does not believe her and she goes inside the palace to face her inevitable death. Throughout this passage Cassandra is seen as heroic because she prophesizes what is about to happen to her and Agamemnon. As mentioned by Mr. White, “[Cassadra’s] ‘transcendent’ passage to death somewhat resembles the conclusion of the romance narrative” (Agamemnon). Cassandra’s prophecy is a transcendent goal because Cassandra and Agamemnon’s deaths will be due to Clytemnestra getting revenge. However, their deaths will be avenged by Orestes, which ends the passage with another transcendent goal of justice for their deaths.

A more recent example of narrative romance we have read and discussed in this course is Oedipus at Colonus. The romantic narrative in the play is seen in the character, Theseus. Creon takes Oedipus’ daughters, Ismene and Antigone, and Theseus ends up rescuing them. After Theseus rescues them, Antigone tells Oedipus, “O father, father, / Would that some god might grant thee eyes to see /
This best of men who brings us back again” (1250-1252). Antigone praises Theseus for rescuing them and sees him as a hero; she calls him “our savior” (1270). The rescue is not illustrated, it is only mentioned; however, this passage is still a romantic narrative because Theseus is seen as the protagonist (hero) and Creon is seen as the antagonist (villain).

Overall, the romance genre is a complex genre that tends to intertwine with other types of genres, such as comedy or suspense. Although this may be confusing for others, I have learned to distinguish the romance genre into the three types of genres mentioned above. Most people think the romance genre only involves a love story, myself included, but now I know it involves more. My comprehension of the romance genre as changed immensely because of this course.

Works Cited

Evans, Allison. "It's Not Just Romance." LITR 4533 Tragedy UHCL 2010 Midterm Samples. N.p., 20 June 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

Lozoya, Jorge. "Genre: Comme Ci Comme ça (like This and like That)." LITR 4533 Tragedy UHCL 2014 Midterm Samples. N.p., 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

Sophocles. "Antigone." Texts for Craig White's Literature Courses. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.

Sophocles. "Oedipus at Colonus." Texts for Craig White's Literature Courses. Web. 3 Apr.

Valencia, Tamara. "Genre “Offerings of Romance”." LITR 4370 Tragedy UHCL 2015 Midterm Samples. 1 Mar. 2015. Web. 3 Apr. 2015.

White, Craig, Dr. "Genres as Subject, Form, & Narrative." Critical Sources. N.p., 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

White, Craig, Dr. "Narrative Genre." Terms & Themes. N.p., 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

White, Craig. "Romance as Narrative, Plot, or Story." Http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/terms/. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.