(2016 final exam assignment) Sample Student Final Exam Essays 2016 Essay 1. Define "genre" + examples

LITR 4370 Tragedy  Model Assignments

Cassandra Parke

Genre as an Analytical Tool: Gaining Insight Into the Minds of Dystopian Novelists

          Genres create expectations for audience members and allow artists to make statements about the nature and intended purpose of their work. However, genre is not only valuable to consumers of art, but is also crucial to artists themselves in the composition of a creative work. Genres are fluid and dynamic. According to the course website’s “Introduction to Genres” page, “Genre is not a box in which to put a work of art, but a yardstick to measure it by”. Genre is a tool for analysis, and genre classification in no way constrains or summarizes a work as a whole. Genres are also non-exclusive; that is, a work of art will often fit into numerous genre categories. Relatedly, there are no “pure” genres, meaning that every work is a hybrid comprised of seemingly disparate elements. ( “Introduction to Genres”). Understanding the characteristics of different genres allows one to identify elements that lend themselves to one genre or the other, appreciate how those elements work together to synthesize a unified whole, and gain insight into what the author hopes to accomplish through the work by combining those specific elements in that particular manner. 

There are three types of genre categories: subject/audience identification, which focuses on the content of the work and/or which demographic or group a work appeals to; formal genre, which examines the number and types of voices in a work; and narrative genre, which categorizes artistic works based on their resemblance to archetypal or model plots ( “Introduction to Genres”). For the author, subject-related identification answers the question: What do I want to write about? And relatedly: What is my message? This is often the starting point in the creative process. Additionally, audience-related identification allows the author to determine whom their message is intended for, and tailor their work accordingly. Next, when considering formal genre, the author asks: What form will best communicate my message? And finally, when considering narrative genre, the author asks: What combination of tragic, comedic, romantic and satirical elements will elicit the desired response from the reader? The analytical audience member can reverse-engineer this thought process by picking apart a unified work and tracing elements back to their archetypal or genre-related sources, ultimately coming closer to understanding the author’s intended purpose for a work and their creative process.

Subject/audience identification genres are often apparent and are frequently used in casual conversation. This type of classification focuses on either the content or subject of a work, the audience that the work appeals to, or a combination of the two. An example of a subject-related classification is the dystopian novel. Dystopian novels are characterized by their content which involves a special setting: a so-called perfect society that in fact is riddled with corruption and misery, or dystopia. Dystopian novels have become quite popular amongst young adults, and certain types of dystopian novels are termed young adult dystopias. This categorization incorporates both the subject and the audience and offers more insight into the nature of the works it encompasses. 

An example of a young adult dystopia is The Hunger Games trilogy. Like The Maze Runner series, The Hunger Games trilogy is tailored to young adults. It’s heroes and heroines are young adults themselves striving to combat corruption and evil brought about by older figures such as President Snow, President Coin and Ava, the head of WCKD. The Hunger Games trilogy also features a great deal of “action” and spectacle in the form of violence and extravagance (Course website’s “Spectacle” page”), which appeals more to younger audience members of both genders. In contrast, the protagonist of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is Offred, a mature woman who struggles with issues like sexual exploitation, hegemony and the loss of a child, which resonate more with an older audience, specifically mature women like Offred herself. Despite the difference in intended audience, both of these works fit nicely into the dystopian genre: They commence in a utopia gone wrong (Course website’s “Utopia, Dystopia & Ecotopia” page). Both Gilead and Panem are far from what they profess to be.

These works are also similar in terms of formal genre or the number and types of voices present: As fiction, both The Handmaid’s Tale and The Hunger Games trilogy incorporate both narration and dialogue. There is dialogue between characters, such as that between Offred and Serena, or that between Katniss and Peeta, and the remainder of the text constitutes narration; the author describing setting, action, tone, or the characters’ thought processes. In terms of setting and form these works are quite similar, and the analytical audience member can appreciate their consistencies. It is evident that both Suzanne Collins and Margaret Atwood are using a fictional dystopia to comment on contemporary society. They have a very defined sense of the target audience for their message: Young adults for Collins and mature adults / women for Atwood. For both of these authors, crafting a fictional world through narration, and fictional characters through dialogue best suits their purpose. One can glean further information about the intent and style of these authors by examining disparities amongst their works.

Analyzing these works in terms of narrative genre highlights some of their differences. There are four major narrative genres: Tragedy, comedy, romance and satire ( “Introduction to Genres”). Masterful writers are craftspeople who weave together strands derived from the four great narratives, intermingling them in a continuous whole in such a way that the untrained eye cannot distinguish them. The ability to recognize these different elements and understand the ways in which they interact provides powerful insight into the mind of the author.

Of the four archetypal narratives, dystopian novels most closely resemble tragedy. However, while tragedy tends to feature the revelation or awakening of human virtue through suffering, dystopian works often feature the erosion of humanity through derision or misery. At the beginning of The Hunger Games, inhabitants of the twelve districts are deprived of resources like food and medicine and forced into hard labor, while inhabitants of the capital are consumed by luxury and frivolity. This is evidenced by the fact that Katniss is willing to risk severe punishment in order to hunt and feed her family, and by her mother’s sparing use of medicine. In contrast, when Katniss goes to the Capitol, she attends party in President Snow’s mansion at which guests binge eat, purge through the aid of a drug, and then binge again.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, handmaids like Offred are torn from their families, stripped of their identities and reduced to reproductive tools, forced to participate in a sickening sexual ritual. Their survival depends on their ability to conceive a child with men who are most likely sterile. In both of these texts, humans are treated like animals or worse in a society that claims to be ideal. They suffer profoundly, and as with tragedy, with suffering comes the potential for learning.

However, beyond this point, the direction of the plot in the two works diverges. Unlike tragic works in which romantic, comedic, or satirical elements contribute to a definite lesson, the relevance of the lessons that Offred and Katniss learn is compromised by influences from other genres. The Hunger Games quickly morphs into romance, as Katniss becomes an albeit cynical heroine who can do no wrong and is often physically marred, but then miraculously healed. At the conclusion of The Hunger Games trilogy, the corruption of President Coin has been eliminated and the protagonists escape the world they have created in a distinctly romantic fashion (Course “Romance” page). This neat ending departs from mimesis (Course “Mimesis” page). Conversely, at the closure of The Handmaid’s Tale, the fate of the main character, Offred, whose plight the reader has followed, is unknown, and the validity of the supposed “progress” that has been made by society through the dissolution of Gilead is questioned. There is no safe haven. There is no certainty. There are no answers. This inconclusiveness parallels reality, and so is consistent with mimesis (“Mimesis”). In this respect, The Handmaid’s Tale resembles tragedy to a greater extent than The Hunger Games does. But again, there is no clear lesson, only cautionary commentary that is reminiscent of satire.

By presenting Katniss as an unambitious romantic heroine who does not set out to start a rebellion, but to protect her loved ones, and who ultimately executes corruption incarnate, Collins demonstrates that youthful idealism and ingenuity can overturn wickedness and usher in a better world. What Atwood does with the ending of Offred’s story is even more telling of her intentions for The Handmaid’s Tale. This character, this woman who has suffered so much is objectified through the bemusedly inquisitive Professor Pieixoto who counsels the reader to avoid judging Gilead harshly for its treatment of women, arguing that the society was dealing with difficult issues. At this point, the reader discovers that The Handmaid’s Tale isn’t about Offred at all, but about those who would objectify her, and others who have suffered. Offred’s strife allows Atwood to satirize individuals who overlook, underappreciate or rationalize misery and ill-treatment.

In order to demonstrate Offred’s agony, The Handmaid’s Tale focuses a great deal on Offred’s internal struggles consistent with the pattern of psychological novels (Course “list of genres” page). Through this internal dialogue, the reader is able to understand the impact that her circumstances have on her state of mind. For example, she frequently struggles with thoughts of suicide. Through hegemony and mental illness, the pervasive evils of the Gileadean system wind their way into the minds of women like The Aunts and Offred, causing them to become their own enemies. In this respect, they are flawed, tragic characters. This psychological insight allows Atwood to demonstrate the fact that corrupt systems rely on the oppressed oppressing themselves and also inspires greater pity for women in Gilead. 

Conversely, the external danger, violence and horror of the arena in The Hunger Games more closely resembles a “thriller”. Again, this resembles romance; most of Katniss’ battles are with people or things outside of herself. Collins creates an absolute villain in President Snow who represents the cruelty of Panem, and another in President Coin who represents corruption. Meanwhile, Katniss remains untainted and noble, an embodiment of youthful idealism which triumphs and transcends.

In conclusion, genre-identification not only creates guidelines for consumer/reader selection, but is also inherently embedded in the creative process. Genre can be used by an author as a framework upon which to construct a work. It can also be used as an analytical tool that allows the reader to evaluate the composition of a work. One can then use the results of this analysis to extrapolate the intentions of the author.