genre criticism

GENRE CRITICISM

• Genre criticism is a method within rhetorical criticism for analyzing speeches and writing according to the symbolic artifacts they contain. In rhetoric, the theory of genre provides a means to classify and compare artifacts of communication and to assess their effectiveness and/or contribution to a community. By grouping artifacts with others of similar formal features or rhetorical exigencies, rhetorical critics can shed light on how authors use or flout conventions in order to meet their needs. Genre criticism has thus become one of the main methodologies within rhetorical criticism.
• involves form and structure

THE FARMER - Carol Boston Weatherford

A plot of weeds,
An old grey mule,
Hot sun and sweat,
On a bright Southern day,
Strong stern papa
Under a Straw hat,
Plowing and planting
His Whole life away.
His back bone is forged
Of African iron
And red Georgia Day


CRITICISM:

In poetry, it uses symbolism also.
In this poem "THE FARMER", we can use the phrase "The farmer" as a symbol of the proud African culture and the south.
While the Last two lines describe the farmer but link him to his African ancestors in Africa in his fellow southerners.
What we did is an example of a genre criticism because we focus on the form and the structure, in this case we use the poem as our criticism. we found out that it is really a poem in a sense that it somehow use a symbol.
And it has a pattern of lines 4-4-4-6-5-5-5-5-5-6-5. is this a pattern? :)











 

darwinism theory

DARWINISM THEORY

• Literary Darwinists use concepts from evolutionary biology and the evolutionary human sciences to formulate principles of literary theory and interpret literary texts. They investigate interactions between human nature and the forms of cultural imagination, including literature and its oral antecedents. By “human nature,” they mean a pan-human, genetically transmitted set of dispositions: motives, emotions, features of personality, and forms of cognition. Because the Darwinists concentrate on relations between genetically transmitted dispositions and specific cultural configurations, they often describe their work as "biocultural critique".

THE ART INSTINCT - Denis Dutton

 

The Art Instinct combines two of the most fascinating and contentious disciplines, art and evolutionary science, in a provocative new work that will revolutionize the way art itself is perceived. Aesthetic taste, argues Denis Dutton, is an evolutionary trait, and is shaped by natural selection. It's not, as almost all contemporary art criticism and academic theory would have it, "socially constructed." The human appreciation for art is innate, and certain artistic values are universal across cultures, such as a preference for landscapes that, like the ancient savannah, feature water and distant trees. If people from Africa to Alaska prefer images that would have appealed to our hominid ancestors, what does that mean for the entire discipline of art history? Dutton argues, with forceful logic and hard evidence, that art criticism needs to be premised on an understanding of evolution, not on abstract "theory." Sure to provoke discussion in scientific circles and an uproar in the art world, The Art Instinct offers radical new insights into both the nature of art and the workings of the human mind.

CRITICISM:

The title of book is already directly telling that it is about Human pleasure, beauty and evolution.
And for a literary piece to be a Darwinism theory it should have these aspects. Discussing all about human minds and how it works. There's really no point explaining this how this literature become Darwinism theory.

narratology criticism

NARRATOLOGY CRITICISM

• Designating work as narratological is to some extent dependent more on the academic discipline in which it takes place than any theoretical position advanced. The approach is applicable to any narrative, and in its classic studies, vis-a-vis Propp, non-literary narratives were commonly taken up. Still the term "narratology" is most typically applied to literary theory and literary criticism, as well as film theory and (to a lesser extent) film criticism. Atypical applications of narratological methodologies would include sociolinguistic studies of oral storytelling (William Labov) and in conversation analysis or discourse analysis that deal with narratives arising in the course of spontaneous verbal interaction. However, constituent analysis of a type where narremes are considered to be the basic units of narrative structure could fall within the areas of linguistics, semiotics, or literary theory. 

JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN - 2011 movie



Eight years after the events of the first film, Sir Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) is learning martial arts in Tibet as penance for an earlier failed mission in Mozambique. However, he is contacted by MI7, requesting he returns to service.
Johnny returns to MI7's London headquarters (now Toshiba British Intelligence) and assigned by new boss "Pegasus" (Gillian Anderson) to stop a plot to assassinate the Chinese Premier during scheduled talks with the Prime Minister. Johnny also meets with fellow agent Simon Ambrose (Dominic West) and MI7's resident inventor, Patch Quartermain (Tim McInnerny). He is also assigned a junior agent, Colin Tucker (Daniel Kaluuya).
In Hong Kong, English discovers an address that leads him to ex-CIA agent Titus Fisher (Richard Schiff). Fisher reveals that he is a member of a group of assassins called 'Vortex', who sabotaged English's mission in Mozambique. Vortex holds a secret weapon, which requires three metal keys to unlock, and Fisher reveals one. Fisher is killed by an assassin (Pik-Sen Lim) dressed as a cleaner, and the key falls into Vortex's hands. English is humiliated in front of the Foreign Secretary and Pegasus by the loss of the key, and assaults Pegasus's mother, mistaking her for the killer cleaner.
Kate Sumner (Rosamund Pike), MI7's behavioural psychologist, prompts English to recall the events of his mission in Mozambique, and the identity of the second Vortex operative, Karlenko (Mark Ivanir), a Russian spy. A golf match between Karlenko and English leads to multiple attempts on English's life. However, Karlenko is critically injured by the assassin, and English attempts to fly him to hospital. Before they arrive, Karlenko reveals that Vortex's last agent is a member of MI7, and dies.
In a meeting at MI7, it is revealed that talks between Britain and China will continue in a heavily guarded Swiss fortress called 'Le Bastion'. Over dinner, English informs Ambrose that he knows of a mole in MI7. Ambrose prepares to kill English, until it becomes clear that the traitor's identity is unknown. Tucker confronts Ambrose in the bathroom, knowing he is the mole, but English orders him to leave. Ambrose convinces English that Quartermain is the traitor. English entrusts the key to Ambrose, who tells Pegasus that English is the traitor.
English confronts Quartermain, and realises that he has been framed. He escapes in a modified wheelchair. English goes to Kate's house, and convinces her that he is not the traitor. Kate, scrutinising footage of the Mozambique mission, realises that the assassin behaved abnormally. They learn that Vortex owns a drug called timoxeline barbebutenol that allows them to control a person for a brief time before they die of heart failure. Ambrose, the only surviving member of Vortex, plans to use the drug to kill the Premier in exchange for 500 million USD.
English confronts Tucker and convinces him to help break into 'Le Bastion'. English warns Pegasus of the threat, and drinks the drug instead, rendering him vulnerable to Ambrose's commands. Ambrose orders English to kill the Premier using a pistol disguised as a tube of lipstick. English tries to resist the effects of the drug, and engages in a fight with himself while Tucker attempts to interrupt communication between Ambrose and English. Tucker disrupts the frequency, replacing it with radio station, resulting in English beginning to dance. Ambrose reasserts his command, revealing himself in the process. English resists, shooting at Ambrose, who escapes.
The effects of the drug wear off and English seemingly dies of heart-failure, before being revived by Kate, who kisses him on the lips, making his heart rate boost. English pursues Ambrose, parachuting from the building and hijacking a snow-mobile. English reaches Ambrose, who is in a gondola lift. The two fight, with English falling out of the car. Ambrose tries to shoot English, who shoots a rocket at the cable-car, killing Ambrose.
English is knighted by the killer cleaner disguised as the Queen. He chases and attacks her with a tray, before the cleaner is arrested and he realises he has mistakenly targeted the real Queen.
A post-credits scene, influenced by the barber scene in The Great Dictator, sees English making a meal for Kate to the tune of "In the Hall of the Mountain King"

<sup>CRITICISM:

Well this movie is all about crime or rather solving of a crime. Though it is somewhat comedic, this movie can be a narratology criticism. This comes when English failed the mission assigned to him and got it worse. Characters debate leading into longer conversations and debates.
So as above mentioned, a literary piece could be a narratology if it has a discourse analysis leading into a longer verbal interactions which the movie have.</sup>
























 

archetypal criticism

ARCHETYPAL/MYTHOLOGICAL CRITICISM

• focuses on the image and structure
• it doesn't focus on what you read but what the text want to tell you.
• focuses more on the origin of world, things. Uses God or nature as foundation.  

 HERCULES ( DISNEY'S MOVIE ) 
 

On Mt Olympus, Zeus and his wife are celebrating the birth of their son, Hercules. The Lord of the Underworld, Hades, is also invited, though is not at all pleased with the birth of Hercules.

Returning to the Underworld, Hades meets up with the 3 Fates, who tell Hades that in 18 years, when the planets align, if he unleashes the Titans (who were imprisoned by Zeus), he will defeat Zeus and rule over all. However, there is a possibility that Hercules could stop him.

Hades assigns his minions, Pain and Panic, to turn hercules mortal, and kill him. Armed with a potion, the two kidnap Hercules, and take him to Earth. Hercules drinks almost every drop except one, when a childless couple disturbs the two minions' plan. The two decide to tell Hades that they killed Hercules, but figure leaving him on Earth as a mortal will keep him from interfering in Hades' eventual plot.

As Hercules is almost completely mortal, he cannot return to Mt Olympus. However, the childless couple have taken him in, and raise him as their own. However, not being completely mortal, Hercules is ostracized from the rest of society by his immense strength. As he approaches his teenage years, his father tells of how they found him, with a medallion bearing the symbol of the gods.

Hercules sets off for the Temple of Zeus to find answers. Once inside the temple, the enormous statue of Zeus comes to life, first scaring Hercules, but then explaining how he is the young boy's father. Zeus then explains that if Hercules can become a True Hero, he'll be able to return to My Olympus and rejoin them. Zeus then provides Hercules with a winged horse named Pegasus, and sends them off to find Philoctetes.

Hercules and Pegasus find Philoctetes (who is nicknamed 'Phil') on a deserted island. Having become a grouchy, old satyr, Phil is at first reluctant, but finally relents. After an intense period of training, Hercules grows from a scrawny teenager to a buff young man. At Hercules' insistence to try what he has learned, Phil, Hercules and Pegasus head for the city of Thebes, which is plagued by a number of disasters and problems.

On the way there, they are sidetracked by Meg, who appears to be menaced by a centaur. Hercules grows somewhat enchanted with her, before Phil gets them back on track to Thebes. After they leave, Meg meets with Hades, and his assistants, Pain and Panic. Meg was actually trying to get the centaur to side with Hades, but claims Hercules spoiled her plans. Upon hearing this, Hades angrily grabs his assistants, realizing they have lied to him. Pain and Panic manage to convince Hades that since Hercules is mortal, they can still kill him.

In Thebes, Hercules tries to convince the citizens that he is a hero, but noone is willing to believe him. Suddenly, Meg appears, and tells of two small boys trapped under a rock in a nearby canyon. Hercules saves the little boys (actually Pain and Panic in disguise), but then has to contend with the 3-headed beast called the Hydra. After finding out that cutting off one head produces 3 more, Hercules ends up crushing the beast with a rock slide. The defeat of the Hydra causes the citizens of Thebes to acknowledge Hercules as a hero, and further anger Hades.

Hades continues to send beasts and creature against Hercules, but each and everyone is defeated, further making Hercules a hero in the eyes of the citizens. Statues and merchandise are soon rampant with Hercules' face, and Hercules thinks that his fame will allow him to return to Mt Olympus. However, upon visiting the Temple of Zeus again, Zeus explains to Hercules that fame does not equal heroism. When Hercules asks to know what he can do, Zeus refuses to explain further.

Back in Thebes, the conversation has upset Hercules, who wonders if he even has what it takes to be a hero. While in his home, Meg appears, and gets Hercules to come with her for an evening rendezvous. However, Meg's intentions are to secretly find Hercules' weakness, but as the night goes on, she begins to find him charming. The mood is broken when Phil and Pegasus show up to take Hercules home. During the flight away, Phil ends up getting hit by a tree, and falls off Pegasus. When he comes to, he sees Meg talking to Hades, with their conversation sounding as if Meg has been two-timing Hercules. In truth, Meg refuses to go along with Hades plan, claiming that Hercules has no weakness...which leads Hades to believe that she IS that weakness.

Back at Thebes Stadium, Phil tries to convince Hercules of what he saw, but Hercules angrily hits Phil. Phil, hurt by his protege's backlash, gets up and leaves. Once Phil is gone, Hades appears, and offers Hercules an ultimatum: if Hercules gives up his powers for 24 hours, Hades will allow Meg to go free, with the provision that the deal will be voided if any harm comes to her. Hercules goes through with the deal, only to have Hades then tell Hercules how Meg was working for him. Now drained of his strength, Hercules can only watch as Hades lets loose the Titans that Zeus had imprisoned years earlier.

Hades sends a giant cyclops to Thebes to destroy the City. Even though Hercules is drained of his strength, he still tries to stop the creature. Fearing that he'll be killed, Meg and Pegasus find Phil, who they convince to return and help his student. With Phil's help and some ingenuity, Hercules ends up blinding and finishing off the cyclops, but in the process, Meg is gravely injured.

Her injury causes Hades' deal to expire, and Hercules receives his strength back. With Phil watching over Meg, Hercules and Pegasus fly to Mt Olympus, where the Titans have all but over-powered Zeus and the other gods. Hercules helps turn the tide of battle, and ends up taking care of the Titans, and Hades angrily retreats to the Underworld.

When Hercules returns to Thebes, Phil reveals that Meg has died. Upset by this, Hercules descends into the Underworld to get her back. Hercules makes a deal with Hades, that he will take Meg's place if he rescues her from the River of Death. Hades accepts the deal, sure that Hercules will die before he can save her.

It seems Hercules will die, but upon reaching Meg, he suddenly begins to glow yellow, having achieved god status by risking his life to save her. Hercules manages to get Meg out of the River of Death, much to Hades ranting and protestations, several of which cause Hercules to send him flying into the river, where the dead attempt to drown him.

Hercules, Pegasus, Phil and Meg then fly to Mt Olympus where the gods are waiting to welcome Hercules back, now that he has become a 'True Hero.' However, Hercules chooses to stay on Earth, but still be able to visit his family.

The film ends as one of the gods creates a constellation in the sky of Hercules, making Phil swell with pride that he was able to train a legend and a god.  

CRITICISM:

The movie focuses on Hercules, the hero. It also showed the different trials and adventures he experienced. But if we go behind the movie, the producers based it on the mythological Hercules where in he was the son of Zeus the god among gods, who was planned to be killed by sending a poisonous snakes but in the end the baby Hercules killed it instead and he was brought upon the earth. 
And by the time he set his foot on the earth and as he was beginning to be a man he wonders where and who is his father so he traveled and along his way he met many imposible task and battle among hideous beasts where in he defeated them all. 
Hercules, the movie is a very best example of archetypal criticism because first of all it was based on the greek mythology and it is all about him, being a hero who traveled and met his adventures along his way.