The point of art/ aesthetics is about the way in which tragedy occurs to ensure that the characters match with the genre which is done successfully through matter, subjects and method. Make profound truths about life stick in our minds.
Key words
Peripeteia- a change in fortune
Anagnoresis- the point in a play, novel, etc., in which a principal character recognizes or discovers another character’s true identity or the true nature of their own circumstances.
Catharsis- a type of cleaning eg. getting rid of our emotions specifically feelings around pity and fear
In Blinded by the Light, Javed experiences peripeteia when he gets the opportunity to go to writing awards ceremony and gives a speech which changes his family’s perception. For Javed, the catharsis of Bruce’s lyrics represents an escape from his domestic doldrums. Anagnoresis happens at the end of the play when Javed realises that it isn’t all about one person (Springsteen) but about how family and forgiveness will lead to a better life.
The 3 unities
Action- very focused, dramatic action
Place- in a single location
Time- in one day
- plot vs character- although having complex, interesting characters is important, he suggests “character determines people’s qualities but it is by their actions that they are happy or reverse. Dramatic action, therefore, is not with a view to the representation of character: character comes in subsidiary to the actions… plot is the soul of a tragedy”
- arrangement of incidences (how do you arrange events in a story?)- most films are composed around 3 act narrative structure, falls into 2 parts: complication and unravelling
- Aiming towards a goal- protagonist is set towards a goal but becomes more difficult as time goes on
- complication and unravelling (peripeteia)- a moment where there is a change of circumstance which shifts characters journey in a different direction
- Recognition (anagnoresis)- peripeteia and anagnoresis are conjoined when character finally discovers the true nature of his situation “the scene of destructive or painful action”
- Pathos (agony of recognition)- character wrestles with the consequences of the reversal
- Catharsis (knowledge through purge)- the moment is lead by the peripeteia, anagnoresis and pathos
Key terms
- Linear- we see the events of the story unfolding in the order in which they occurred
- Chronological- listing, describing, or discussing when events happened as they relate to time
- Sequential- a series of scenes that form a distinct narrative unit, which is usually connected either by a unity of location or a unity of time
- Circular structure- the story ends where it began
- Time based- art is to watch it unfold over time according to the temporal logic of the medium as it is played back
- Narrative arc- the path a story follows
- Freytag’s Pyramid- a paradigm of dramatic structure outlining the seven key steps in successful storytelling: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and denouement
- exposition- a comprehensive description or explanation to get across an idea
- inciting incident- the event that sets the main character or characters on the journey that will occupy them throughout the narrative
- rising action- the part of the plot where obstacles stand in the way of the protagonist achieving his goal.
- climax- when the conflict and tension peak for the audience
- falling action- occurs right after the climax. It is what happens after the main problem of the story has been solved.
- resolution- Also known as the denouement, the resolution is when conflicts are resolved and the story concludes
- denouement- the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot
- Beginning / middle / end
- Equilibrium- at the beginning of the film, where everything is as it should be and the characters lives are normal.
- Disruption- a monumental change, resulting in a paradigm shift
- New equilibrium- things turn back to normal
- Peripeteia- a change in fortune
- Anagnoresis- the point in a play, novel, etc., in which a principal character recognizes or discovers another character’s true identity or the true nature of their own circumstances.
- Catharsis- getting rid of our emotions specifically feelings around pity and fear
- The 3 Unities: Action, Time, Place
- flashback / flash forward- memory of different time
- Foreshadowing- predicts what will happen
- Ellipsis- the narrative device of omitting a portion of the sequence of events, allowing the reader to fill in the narrative gaps
- Pathos- audience manipulation
- Empathy- feeling sorry for someone and understanding it
- diegetic / non-diegetic- (of sound in a film, television programme, etc.) occurring within the context of the story and able to be heard by the characters/ of sound in a film, television programme, etc.) having a source external to the context of the story, and not heard by the characters
slow motion- playing back video more slowly than it was made or recorded, so that the action appears much slower than in real life.