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(2016
final exam assignment) Sample Student Final Exam Essays 2016 Essay 1. Define "genre" + examples |
LITR 4370 Tragedy
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Tyanna Beverly
7/8/2016
Horror-Scoping
Human
beings are known for categorizing what they see to better explain their world.
We label animals, rocks, trees, and even people in order to better understand
the unknown. With this seemingly inherent need to judge and make names for
concepts, works of art have been subjected to the same fate of being
categorized. Genre, at its core, says little to nothing about the importance of
a work of art; it is used to spare people unwelcome surprises but it can still
lead to disappointment. An enjoyable story will incorporate more than its genre
can describe; it will lead to turned pages and extended watching or it will not
and, in a sense, every story that is unfinished out of monotony is a sort of
tragedy.
In the case of
Frankenstein or the majority of
Stephen King novels, the mind of the Audience will automatically turn to the
term “Horror” at the mention of both, despite the other multiple elements they
contain. The Subject Genre of Stephen King’s novel
The Shining, while an obvious Horror
story, is mixed with elements of the supernatural as well as a psychological
thriller; however it is mainly relatable to a “ghost story” or a kind of modern
“gothic novel.” A family, stranded in the Colorado Mountains in an extremely
haunted hotel, must face horror in the form of unnatural spooks and the
realistic mental breakdown of the father. Unlike much of Tragedy, spectacle is
vividly expressed in King’s novel, to the decomposition of ghost bodies to the
sight of broken bones and gore; however, spectacle is still at time suppressed,
in the psychological struggle of Jack Torrence, who is haunted by his abusive
past behavior to his son and fears becoming like his own offensive father.
The
Formal Genre of the novel The Shining
is Narration and Dialogue, often allowing the Audience more knowledge than the
characters and revealing the possibilities of their fates early. While the
characters interact with each other, the narrator explains more of the story,
including Danny’s gift, as “He understood a great many things about his parents,
and he knew that many times they didn't like his understandings and many other
times refused to believe them. But someday they would have to believe” (Chapter
4): the narrator gives part of the backstory along with a foreshadowing of
events to come. The characters are easily relatable: those of a struggling young
family; a man who is overcoming his alcohol and anger problems, a wife who is
trying to forgive him, and a son who could never truly hate him. However,
without the help of a narrator, the inner workings of the characters are often
lacking. Jack Torrence is a sympathetic character throughout the majority of the
novel, as a victim of supernatural circumstances, but the instances that incite
pity for his character are often linked to the backstory of his rough childhood,
given through the voice of the narrator.
The
Narrative Genre of The Shining is a
Romance mixed with Tragedy. There are concrete examples of evil in the form of
ruthless ghosts, and examples of good in the innocent child, the struggling
mother, and the virtuous stranger who rescues them, Dick Halloran, who survives
in the novel but is killed in the movie version. There may not be a strong
“happily ever after” feeling at the end of the book that is comparable to most
Romances, but it is still there in the form of safety as the struggle for life
is resolved, with the only death being the father. Unlike the movie version, the
novel appears to be a Tragic Romance due to the transformation of the main
character, Jack Torrence, who is taken over by the evil inside the hotel but
manages to come back into himself before he murders his son:
But
suddenly his daddy was there, looking at him in mortal agony, and a sorrow so
great that Danny's heart flamed within his chest. The mouth drew down in a
quivering bow.
"Doc," Jack Torrance said. "Run away. Quick. And remember how much I love you."
(Chapter 55)
The character of the novel attempts to redeem himself before he is
destroyed along with the haunted hotel due to a faulty boiler, causing a bit of
pity to remain in the midst of the fear. This last human endeavor of Jack
Torrence slightly coincides with Aristotle’s notion of Tragedy being “an action
that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude . . . ; in the form of
action, not of narrative, through pity and fear” (Aristotle
Poetics), for although it uses the
narrative voice, it is made complete through the dialogue of the character.
Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein is similarly
filled with unusual and yet sympathetic characters. After losing his mother,
Victor Frankenstein wishes to overcome death by creating life on his own.
Ironically, despite using only the most beautiful parts he can find for his
creation, he is horrified of the outcome. Frankenstein’s creature appears to be
the very definition of the Sublime, “beauty mixed with terror, danger,
threat—usually on a grand or elevated scale” (Sublime term page), who incites
both pity and fear in the Audience. The creature, unable to find love in the
very person who created him, searches elsewhere for acceptance in vain,
eventually leading to his decision to seek revenge on his creator, along with
the innocents associated with him.
Like
The Shining, the Formal Genre of
Frankenstein is also Narration plus
Dialogue, an epistolary novel that relies on the correspondence through letters
that include discussions between characters. The first-person narration shifts
between the characters, allowing the audience to experience the turmoil and
inner emotions of the creature, the creator and the main narrator of the story,
Robert Walton. Walton discovers the creature after he fulfills his murder of
Frankenstein, relating that “He paused, looking on me with wonder; and, again
turning towards the lifeless form of his creator, he seemed to forget my
presence, and every feature and gesture seemed instigated by the wildest rage of
some uncontrollable passion” (Shelley 158), highlighting the narrator’s ability
to read the emotions of the other characters. The Subject Genre could be
considered “science fiction,” a “monster story”, or a “gothic novel,” with
displays of Horror spread throughout.
The
Narrative Genre of Frankenstein also
seems to have characteristics of a Tragic Romance, for Victor Frankenstein’s
pride tempts him into creating “A new species [that] would bless [him] as its
creator and source” in the hopes that it “would owe their being to [him]”
(Shelley 33), however his gift of creating life from the dead turns into a form
of Tragic Flaw. Like Oedipus, whose cunning endeavor to escape the prophecy of
his fate ends up leading him directly towards it, Frankenstein’s creation
becomes the cause of death for him and his loved ones, producing the opposite
effect of an adoring companion. However, his fate is still considerably his own
doing and has little to do with fate; he alone subjected his creature to become
the monster that he believed him to be. The creature would then primarily be
viewed as the true Tragic Hero, his attempts of acceptance are foiled by the
appearance his “god” has given him; he is fated by his creator to strike fear
into all that witness him, despite his ability to learn and love.
