This page provides a supplement to the course syllabus, readers and texts for English 630: Tragedy and Comedy as Cultural Studies. At this point, only a few random links are provided, but more may be added as the term progresses.
Here are a few links to course related material:
- This is an important link that everyone should check out. Commedia Del Arte is a ancient Italian theatre form which employed masks and stock characters to create comic plays structured around persistent characterizations, regardless of the situation. From the commedia emerged such familiar roles as the trickster, the lovers, and others.
- Sisyphus is the subject of the essay by Albert Camus that serves as an existential descriptor of tragedy. Seattle artist Jack Daws interrogates Sisyphus in his show, documented online by the Greg Kucera Gallery.
- Here's a link to a resource page for the long-running TV show, The Simpsons. I'm sure similar resources are available for other popular (and funny) animated TV shows such as South Park and Family Guy.
- If you like the Joe Wenderoth excerpts in the course reader, you may also like Lydia Davis, another writer who is particularly talented with condensed prose, often funny in a resonant, possibly disturbing way.
- Finally, here is the homesite for Ween, a band with lyrics that inspire difficult laughter, to borrow a term from my friend at University of Washington, Cody Walker.
LECTURE NOTES: OPENING NIGHT
THAT WAS MY MANIFESTO, MY GOALS, MY DREAM FOR THE CLASS. BUT A MANIFESTO IMPLIES COMRADERIE, AND YOU'VE HAD NO SAY. YET. AS CLASS PROCEEDS, PERHAPS WE CAN REVISE OR REDRAFT TO REPRESENT A COLLECTIVE VOICE.
IN THE MEANTIME, THINK OF THE INITIAL MANIFESTO AS A MISSION STATEMENT.
NOW, WHAT IS YOUR MISSION?
HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT PROFESSIONALIZATION? FOR WHAT END GOAL ARE YOU PREPARING YOURSELF?
PROFESSIONAL CONCERNS FOR THOSE CONSIDERING A PH.D. PROGRAM:
- MLA STYLE RESEARCH ARTICLE THAT HAS BEEN PUBLISHED OR IS WORTHY OF PUBLICATION
- DEMONSTRATION OF MOTIVATED AND PROPERLY SCOPED RESEARCH
- PRESENTATIONS IN THE MANNER OF ACADEMIC CONFERENCES
ALTERNATIVES TO ACADEMIC PROFESSIONALIZATION:
- CREATIVE AND HYBRID FORMS OF WRITING
- IMAGINATIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF THEORETICAL UNDERSTANDING
- EXPERIMENTAL REPRESENTATION OF MOTIVATED AND PROPERLY SCOPED RESEARCH
- PERFORMANCE-ORIENTED PRESENTATIONS
TRAINING IS PROVIDED FOR BOTH APPROACHES TO WRITING AND PRESENTATIONS.
ULTIMATELY YOU WILL NEED TO SELECT THE APPROPRIATE STRATEGY FOR YOUR ORAL REPORTS AND FINAL PAPER.
WHAT ARE YOUR GUTS SAYING (BESIDES THE USUAL GRUMBLING HUNGER)? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM THIS CLASS?
DISTRIBUTE & REVIEW COURSE READERS AND SYLLABI;
BREAK;
Q&A;
ROLL;
LECTURE:
INTRO TO TRAGEDY, INCL. READING PREP;
The Tragic Hero:
- Superior in degree to other men
- Not superior to his environment
- Doomed to fall
- Falls from the top of the wheel of fortune
- Fall brought on by error of judgment or tragic flaw
- In falling becomes isolated
Tragic Plot Elements:
- Pathos, an act involving destruction or pain
- Nemesis, inevitable righting of moral balance
- Sudden reversal of circumstances brought about by catastrophe
- Augenblick, recognition of what could have been
- Catharsis, fear or sadness brought about by the demise of the human element
TRAGEDY EXAMPLES:
- THE E TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY OF HERVE VILLACHIAZE
- THE SIMPSONS: FRANK GRIMES
- PINK FLOYD WELCOME TO THE MACHINE
HW:
- ONE SENTENCE DESCRIPTION OF WHAT YOU WANT FROM THIS CLASS. DUE BY EMAIL IN 48 HOURS.
- READ ARISTOTLE'S POETICS, HUBBARD TRANS.
- READ FRYE CHAPTER
- TYPE THE LYRICS TO A SONG WITH A BRIEF EXEGISIS OF YOUR READING OF IT AS TRAGEDY: ONE PAGE.
- BRING TWELVE COPIES. BRING SONG ON VINYL, TAPE OR CD.
last modified: 9/23/03
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