Last class, you should have made a list of Fantasy Tropes in The Tower of the Elephant & Troll Bridge: (common tropes in fantasy)
To begin class, please take notes viewing these sources. We will stop occasionally for writing prompts. Use your journal to collect these things.
- Mythical creatures or monsters (usually metaphors of our fears, weaknesses, or problems...)
- Personification or allegory of objects, ideas, or events (death as a person, for example...)
- Medieval settings (technology is replaced by magic)
- Magic, wizards, sorcerers, witches, necromancers, etc.
- Quests and adventures--journeys (usually a hero is seeking something...)
- Knights, armor, swords, bows and arrows...
- Good vs. evil (often worlds or kingdoms hang in the balance)
- Talking animals or companions
- Heroes (& antiheroes)
- Thieves and scoundrels or rogues or jesters/fools or wenches or servants...these contrast with the royalty (princes, princesses, kings, queens, dukes, counts, barons, lords, ladies, etc.)
- Barbarians and primitive cultures
- Treasure (often rare and wonderful items of great power...)
- Divine beings
- Transformations
- Battles, wars, hunts, etc.
- Descent into caves (dungeons), penetrating castles (towers, fortresses), wild and untamed forests (these are all metaphors for sex...)
- Riddles, puzzles, traps
- Economic disparity (very rich and very poor)
To begin class, please take notes viewing these sources. We will stop occasionally for writing prompts. Use your journal to collect these things.
- What makes a hero?
- Anti-hero of One's Own
- A Host of Heroes
- Anti-social skills for writers
- Definition of Comedy
- How to write descriptively
- How to Build a Fictional World
We have discussed the quest, adventure, chase, survival, and rescue archetypes. These archetypes can be used in various ways to tell effective stories. Here are a few more, central to the fantasy genre:
When an author uses archetype, he is patterning his character(s) or plot after other types of that kind. For example: character archetype might include: 1. The hero 2. the protective mother 3. the prostitute with a heart of gold 4. the trickster or 5. the evil or cruel master. Plot archetype might include: 1. the Rags to Riches plot 2. the Quest 3. Transformation or 4. traditional love story: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back.
There are many, many more. And yes, archetype used too often, can create stereotype.
Plots, too, can be archetypical.
The Bildungsroman is a type of story that focuses on the psychological, moral, and social formation of the protagonist (usually a young person) as he or she grows to adulthood.
This type of story was made popular during the period of the German Enlightenment, or during the seventeenth century through the eighteenth (usually ending at the Napoleonic Wars or early nineteenth century). It is still with us today, as most children's literature writers use the pattern somewhere within their stories.
The pattern is as follows:
1. The protagonist grows from child to adult.
Note: this does not always mean growing to legal or mature age--it refers mostly to the psychological state of the child (whose world centers around him/herself) to that of the mature adult (whose world centers around others). Of course, not everyone reaches this state of being just by growing older.
2. The protagonist must have a reason to embark upon his or her "journey of self discovery." A loss or discontent must, at an early stage, jar him or her away from their home or family setting. In literature, we usually call this the INCITING INCIDENT. It is the event that gets the plot moving along.
3. The process of maturation is long, arduous and usually gradual, involving repeated clashes between the hero's needs and desires and the views and judgments enforced by an unbending social order. Note: this is similar to Sigmund Freud's concept of the pleasure principle versus the reality principle- meaning that a character wants what is desired immediately or will give the greatest satisfaction, but must deal with the concept that "you don't always get what you want." Wise words for any growing or maturing person today.
4. Eventually, the spirit and values of the social order become manifest in the protagonist, who is ultimately accommodated into the society. In other words, the character grows up to become a model character -- one accepted into a specific culture or society.
5. The novel or story ends with the protagonist's self discovery or awareness of his/her growth and understanding his/her new place or role in society. In other words, there is a realization by the character that he/she has grown up.
An example of the bildungsroman archetype would be:
Metamorphosis: This archetype is similar to transformation archetypes, but differs slightly...)
Of course, all archetypes can be combined in a variety of ways. Keep a look out for them in films, plays, novels, stories, even some poems!
HOMEWORK: Read the short story: "Lila the Werewolf" by Peter S. Beagle. Identify elements of the transformation/metamorphosis archetypes within the story. Explain how Beagle plays creatively with this archetype (you may also refer to the Romance archetype--see post below!) Annotate the draft and write your examples as to how this story uses archetype in your journal.
There are many, many more. And yes, archetype used too often, can create stereotype.
Plots, too, can be archetypical.
Transformation/Coming of Age:
· The protagonist changes internally more than externally
· The focus of the plot is on the change itself; how it happens and how the protagonist reacts to it
· The protagonist moves from one period of their life to another. Example: Adolescence to Adulthood
· The protagonist must learn to understand and cope with this change; conflict arises when the protagonist cannot cope or fails to understand what is happening
· The change or transformation is often gradual
As a result of the change, usually the protagonist learns something valuable about himself; there is a gain of wisdom but usually at the price of a certain sadness. One major subtype of the archetypical plot of transformation is the young adult novel/story, also called: The Bildungsroman.The Bildungsroman is a type of story that focuses on the psychological, moral, and social formation of the protagonist (usually a young person) as he or she grows to adulthood.
This type of story was made popular during the period of the German Enlightenment, or during the seventeenth century through the eighteenth (usually ending at the Napoleonic Wars or early nineteenth century). It is still with us today, as most children's literature writers use the pattern somewhere within their stories.
The pattern is as follows:
1. The protagonist grows from child to adult.
Note: this does not always mean growing to legal or mature age--it refers mostly to the psychological state of the child (whose world centers around him/herself) to that of the mature adult (whose world centers around others). Of course, not everyone reaches this state of being just by growing older.
2. The protagonist must have a reason to embark upon his or her "journey of self discovery." A loss or discontent must, at an early stage, jar him or her away from their home or family setting. In literature, we usually call this the INCITING INCIDENT. It is the event that gets the plot moving along.
3. The process of maturation is long, arduous and usually gradual, involving repeated clashes between the hero's needs and desires and the views and judgments enforced by an unbending social order. Note: this is similar to Sigmund Freud's concept of the pleasure principle versus the reality principle- meaning that a character wants what is desired immediately or will give the greatest satisfaction, but must deal with the concept that "you don't always get what you want." Wise words for any growing or maturing person today.
4. Eventually, the spirit and values of the social order become manifest in the protagonist, who is ultimately accommodated into the society. In other words, the character grows up to become a model character -- one accepted into a specific culture or society.
5. The novel or story ends with the protagonist's self discovery or awareness of his/her growth and understanding his/her new place or role in society. In other words, there is a realization by the character that he/she has grown up.
An example of the bildungsroman archetype would be:
- Holden in A Catcher in the Rye
- Harry Potter in the Harry Potter and the ... series
- David in Montana 1948
- Huckleberry Finn in Huckleberry Finn
- Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Metamorphosis: This archetype is similar to transformation archetypes, but differs slightly...)
·
The
protagonist changes physically (usually as a result of a curse or the
character’s hamartia)
·
Much
of the plot deals with the protagonist adjusting to the change
·
The
point of the plot is to show the process of transformation back to humanity
·
The
antagonist is the catalyst that propels the protagonist toward release
·
The
protagonist is usually released at the end of the plot
·
The
reader learns the reasons for the curse and its root causes
No comments:
Post a Comment