Genre Theory Analysis

GENRE CRITICISM

The Last Song

By Nicholas Sparks

Synopsis:

The Last Song is the story of Ronnie Miller and the summer that she spends with her father at Wrightsville Beach. At the start of the summer, she is a rebellious 17 year old who resents her parents for their messy divorce; she is particularly annoyed that she is being forced to spend the summer with her estranged father, to whom she has not spoken in three years. She is so angry that she has abandoned the one thing that she and her father used to share in common — playing the piano. She has no desire to spend the summer in North Carolina; she has no desire to get to know Will Blakelee, the good-looking beach volleyball player who literally bumps into her during her first day in the South; and she has no desire to reconnect with the father who walked away from her, her mother, and her brother. However, a run-in with the wrong crowd combined with a nest of endangered loggerhead turtle eggs results in Ronnie's unexpected maturation. The summer she initially dreaded ends up being an opportunity for her to learn about faith, family, and love.

Analysis:

 The last song is a novel because it has a unified and plausible plot structure, 

sharply individualized believable characters and a pervasive illusion of reality. This novel is a very inspiring and interesting novel to read. Also, this is a genre criticism theory because this is divided into chapters and cannot be read in just one sitting.

Narratology Theory Analysis

NARRATOLOGY

Footnote To Youth

By Jose Garcia Villa

Synopsis:

Dodong wanted to marry Teang and asked his father’s permission. Thinking that since they are young, their love would be short, he allowed them to get married. After nine months, Teang gave birth to a child named Blas. For six consecutive years, a new child came along. Teang did not complain even thought she secretly regretted being married at an early age. Sometimes she even wondered if she would have the same life if Lucio, her other suitor who was nine years older than Dodong, was the one she married. Lucio has had no children since the time he married. When Teang and Dodong were twenty they looked like they were fifty. When Blas was 18, he told his father that he would marry Tona. Dodong did not object, but tried to make Blas think twice before rushing to marriage - because Dodong doesn’t want Blas to end up like him.

Analysis:

The short story is in the narratology literary theory because the story is narrated in the third person point of view using the sequential order. the story started and ended on what happens from the father of Dodong, to Dodong who's asking a permission ro his father and from his son who also asked the same permission to his father Dodong. this story shows that the three fathers committed and continuously doing the same decision but ended regretting it.

Darwinian Theory Analysis

DARWINISM

Creation (Movie)

Synopsis:

British naturalist Charles Darwin is a young father who lives a quiet life in an idyllic village. He is a brilliant and deeply emotional man, devoted to his wife and children. Darwin is especially fond of his eldest daughter Annie, a precocious and inquisitive ten-year-old. He teaches her much about nature and science, including his theory of evolution, and tells her stories of his travels. Her favourite story, despite the sad ending, is about the young orangutan Jenny, who is brought from Borneo to the London Zoo, where she finally died of pneumonia in the arms of her keeper. Darwin is furious when he learns that the family clergyman has made Annie kneel on rock salt as punishment for contradicting him about the existence of dinosaurs, as their existence and extinction contradicts the church's position that life is unchanging and that the Earth is very young.

Having returned from his expedition in the Galapagos Islands 15 years earlier, Darwin is still working on finishing a manuscript about his findings, which substantiates his theory of evolution. The delay is caused by anxiety about his relationship with his devoutly religious wife, Emma, who fundamentally opposes his ideas and understands the threat to their religion that his work poses. Emma worries that she may go to heaven and he may not, separating them for eternity.

The film shows Annie in flashbacks and hallucinations, a vibrant apparition who goads her father to address his fears and finish his masterwork. It is apparent that Annie has died, and that her death is a taboo subject between Darwin and Emma, as both feel intense blame for her death. As a result of the strained relations between Charles and Emma, they stop making love entirely. Anguished, Darwin begins to suffer from a mysterious, fatiguing illness.

It is revealed that after Annie becomes ill in 1851, Darwin takes her to the Worcestershire town of Malvern for James Manby Gully'swater cure therapy, against Emma's will. Annie's condition worsens, and she ultimately dies after her father, at her request, tells her Jenny's story once more. Darwin is devastated, and her death sharpens his conviction that natural laws have nothing to do with divineintervention. To his contemporaries, this is an idea so dangerous it seems to threaten the existence of God. In a box in Darwin’s study, we discover the notes and observations that will become On the Origin of Species.

Having read his 230-page synopsis, Darwin's friends in the scientific community, Joseph Dalton Hooker and Thomas Henry Huxley, also encourage him. Huxley admiringly tells Darwin that with his theory he has "killed God", which fills Darwin with dread. In his hallucinations, he also feels that Annie disapproves of his procrastination.

Darwin receives a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace in 1858, which details the same findings as Darwin in 20 pages. He has mixed feelings about this; all his work may have been in vain, but on the other hand, as he will not have to write his book, the discord with Emma will heal. However, Darwin's friends will him to continue, as his book is much more comprehensive.

After receiving treatment at Malvern himself, Darwin makes a pilgrimage to the hotel where Annie died. The journey marks a change in him; upon his return home, he is able to reconnect with his wife, and they speak to each other for the first time of their fears and grief over Annie's death. They specifically speak about the possibility that Annie died because she was genetically weak, as Darwin and Emma are closely related cousins. Their renewed devotion restores Darwin's health, and he is able to resume his work, as it also restores Emma's faith in their marriage, and she regains her strength to support his controversial work. Darwin decides that Emma must make the decision about publishing his work. After reading the manuscript, she quietly returns it addressed to John Murray publishersin London. Emma accepts that she is an "accomplice" now, but hopes that God will forgive them both.

Darwin walks down the lane, holding the package. When the postman arrives, Darwin falters, almost letting him go empty-handed. The postman rides away, unaware of the powerful idea about to be released onto the world. As Darwin walks home, the little figure of Annie walks alongside him.

Analysis:

Darwinian Literary Studies (aka Literary Darwinism) is a branch of literary criticism that studies literature in the context of evolution by means of natural selection, including gene-culture coevolution. This literary piece is under this because in the movie, it shows the evolution of man in the earth and also this is based on the real-life letters and documents of the Darwin family.

Archetypal/Mythological Theory Analysis

ARCHETYPAL

Ceyx And

Alcyone (Excerpt)

Synopsis:

Ceyx and Alcyone are married happily until the day when Ceyx decides to journey across the ocean. Knowing the dangers of the sea, Alcyone begs him not to go, or at least to take her with him. But Ceyx declines her offer and sets out without her. On the first night of the journey, a storm ravages his ship, and Ceyx dies with Alcyone's name on his lips. Alcyone continues to wait for her husband, making him cloaks and praying fruitlessly to Juno for his safe return. Juno pities the woman and asks Somnus, god of Sleep, to tell her the truth about her husband's death. Somnus sends his son Morpheus to break the news in a dream, so Morpheus takes the form of the drowned Ceyx. Alcyone wakes from the terrible dream and knows her husband has died. She goes into the ocean to drown herself and be with him, but she sees his body floating towards her. She dives in but, miraculously, flies over the waves instead of sinking into them. The gods have turned her into a bird! The body of Ceyx disappears, and Ceyx turns into a bird as well. They are still together, flying and in love.

Analysis

 The literary piece is an archetypal theory because it is a situational archetype. It is because the story grows out of the parallel between the cycle of nature and life.  Morning and springtime represent rebirth, birth, and youth; evening and winter suggest old age and death. Here, Ceyx was reincarnated as a bird in order to be with his wife because he died because of the shipwreck. This is an archetype because it is patterned on the Greek Mythology and also the symbolism given is very obvious to understand.

Cultural Studies Theory Analysis

CULTURAL STUDIES

I THANK YOU GOD (Poem)

By BERNARD DADIE

I thank you God for creating me black,

For making of me

Porter of all sorrows

Setting on my head

The World.

I swear the Centaur’s hide

And I have carried the World since the first morning.

White is a colour for special occasions

Black the colour for everyday

And I have carried the world since the first evening.

I am glad

Of the shape of my head

Made to carry the World,

Content

With the shape of my nose

That must snuff every wing of the world

Pleased

With the shape of my legs

Ready to run all the hats of the world

Thank you God for creating me black

For making of me

Porter of all sorrows

Thirsty-six swords have pierced my heart

Thirty six fires have burnt my body.

And my blood on all calvaries has reduced the snow

And my blood at every dawn has reddened all nature

Still I am

Glad to carry the World,

Glad of my short arms

 of my long legs

 of the thickness of my lips.

I thank you God for creating my black,

White is a colour for special occasions

Black the color for everyday

And I have carried the World since the dawn of time

And my laugh over the World, through the night, creates the Day.

                                                                                                                  

I thank you God for creating me black.

Analysis:

Cultural study theory talks about the relationship of the literary piece to the author’s cultural background. Here, the poem was written by the poet by its cultural influence. He wrote this poem dedicated to his fellowmen (Africans) and to the things that they are experiencing towards others.

Neo-Classicism Theory Analysis

NEO-CLASSICISM

Napoleon (Novel)

By Emil Ludwig

In 1799, after the French Revolution had quieted into the Thermidorean Reaction, a brilliant general named Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory and came into power as leader of the Consulate, beginning in 1799. Under Napoleon, France became a nationalist power, expanding its territory into Italy and exerting its influence over other powers. Napoleon consolidated his rule by suppressing rebellions in France, normalizing relations with the Church in the Concordat of 1801, and streamlining the French law system in the Napoleonic Code. By 1804, Napoleon was so powerful that he declared himself Emperor.

Defeating the various military coalitions the other powers of Europe threw against him, Napoleon won battle after battle: Marengo (1800), Austerlitz (1805), Jena-Auerstadt, and Friedland (1807). He built a vast empire of dependant states, forced Czar Alexander I to ally with him in the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit, and controlled the majority of Europe. Everywhere he went he spread the reforms and influence of the French Revolution to a remarkable extent. Just about the only blemish on his record during the first decade of the 19th century was a stunning naval loss to Britain at the Battle of Trafalgar

Seeking to undermine Britain's sea power, Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree in 1806, imposing the Continental System on Europe, which was meant to stop European countries from trading with Britain. Instead of hurting Britain, the Continental System hurt Napoleon. Upset by Napoleonic rule, Germanic nationalism got its start, and the Germans began to move towards Romanticism as an intellectual rebellion against French Enlightenment ideas. In Spain, the attempt to impose the Continental System led to the Peninsular War, a protracted guerrilla war that diverted French forces from the rest of Europe.

In 1810, Napoleon replaced his wife, Josephine, who had borne him no heir, with a younger wife, Marie Louise of Austria. They produced an heir, referred to as The King of Rome. Napoleon's happiness did not last, however, because at the end of 1810, Alexander I withdrew Russia from the Continental System. In 1812, Napoleon moved his Grand Army into Russia. Though Napoleons army pushed the Russians into constant retreat, the terrible Russian winter decimated Napoleon's Grand Army. Napoleon rushed home to raise a new army, but was defeated in October 1813 by an international coalition of armies at the Battle of Leipzig.

In 1814, Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba and Louis XVIII took the throne of France, returning a Bourbon to the throne that had been lost by Louis XVI just twenty years earlier. As the powers were just starting to negotiate a settlement, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France, raising an army during the period known as the Hundred Days. Napoleon's army was defeated by Wellington (Britain) and Blucher (Prussia) at Waterloo in June 1815. He was then exiled to Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he eventually died.

The chaotic Europe left behind by roughly two decades of war was reorganized by the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815). The major powers sent their top negotiators: Metternich (Austria), Castlereagh (Britain), Alexander I (Russia), Hardenberg (Prussia), and Talleyrand (France). The complex and delicate negotiations in Vienna created a stable Europe wherein no one power could dominate the others, as Napoleon's France had, for quite some time. Not until a century later, when World War I started in 1914, would another Europe-wide military conflict break out.

 

Analysis:

The English Neoclassical movement, predicated upon and derived from both classical and contemporary French models, embodied a group of attitudes toward art and human existence — ideals of order, logic, restraint, accuracy, "correctness," "restraint," decorum, and so on, which would enable the practitioners of various arts to imitate or reproduce the structures and themes of Greek or Roman originals.

This literary piece is a neoclassical for it was published and written during neoclassical period. A revival in literature in the late 17th and 18th centuries, characterized by a regard for the classical ideals of reason, form, and restraint.

Moral Criticism Theory Analysis

MORAL CRITICISM

The Last Hellion (Novel)

By Loreta Chase

Synopsis:

The hero of The Last Hellion is Vere Mallory, Duke of Ainswood, one of the disreputable friends of the hero of LOS. Vere is Duke even though he is a younger son of a younger son, for the Mallory family has been cursed by one death after another in the preceding decade. The most poignant death was that of Vere's nephew, Robin, the nine-year old sixth duke, felled by diphtheria. Nowhere is Chase's writing talent more on display than in the moving prologue when we feel Vere's pain as one after another his loved family members die. And we come to understand why he is such a hellion and why his behavior since becoming the seventh duke has been so irresponsible. How can he accept a position bought at the price of so many deaths?

The heroine is Lydia Grenville, the most popular writer for one of London's weekly magazines. Although Lydia's mother was the descendant of a marquess, her runaway marriage to an actor had led to her being disowned by her family. Lydia's life had been harsh; her mother had died young, her father was a wastrel and a gambler; her sister died when the family was sent to Marshalsea prison when her father could not pay her debts. After her father absconded to America, she had been raised by her eccentric great aunt and uncle who traveled widely if not always wisely.

Lydia has become a 19th century investigative reporter, with a particular interest in uncovering the perils that beset young women in London. When one day she sees a noted procuress with a new victim in tow, she rushes to the rescue. The Duke of Ainswood crosses Lydia's path at this point, and interferes in her confrontation with the evil madam. Lydia proceeds to deck him, treating him with the contempt his behavior and reputation seem to warrant, but is inexplicably attracted to this man who seems the epitome of all she despises.

For Vere, it is love at first punch (although he refuses to recognize his feelings for what they are.) And so begins a series of confrontations between this seemingly mismatched pair as they engage in one adventure after another. Nobody does humorous repartee between hero and heroine better than Chase. At times I was close to laughing out loud (Remember me, the dour Scot.) And she likewise does a great job of building and sustaining sexual tension. Her love scenes are elegantly incendiary.

There is a lot more in this book: a charming secondary romance between Bertie Trent and Lydia's protege; breaking and entering; a carriage race; a rescue of Vere's wards from the the evil procuress; the reappearance of Dain from LOS; the discovery of Lydia's true parentage. But Chase never loses control over her story and all the parts come together to provide an exciting tale that never lost my interest.

Central to the story are Vere and Lydia. Lydia is a marvelous heroine – bright, strong-minded, ambitious, caring, daring as well strikingly attractive. One can believe that Vere would come to love her and that she can heal his wounds. Vere is a more familiar hero – the rake extraordinaire, the care for nobody, who really cares too much but who flees his pain until Lydia (or as he charmingly calls her, Grenville) forces him to face it. An altogether satisfying romance.

Analysis:
The literary piece is in the Moral criticism theory because it gives us a realization in life while reading it. The realization in this story is passion. Lydia Grenville is dedicated to protecting London's downtrodden. Dissolute noblemen like Ainswood are part of the problem, not the solution. She would like him to get his big, gorgeous carcass out of her way so that she can carry on with her work. The problem is, Ainswood can no more resist a challenge, especially in female form, than he can resist the trouble she seems to attract.

If they can only weather their personal firestorm...they might survive the real danger that threatens all they hold dear.