Synthesis of Course Materials, Part 4

Literary Genres

We learned a lot about different literary genres and reviewed eras of writing; because understanding the influence on pieces of literature helps us better understand the meaning of the piece.

-Comedy

            There are many types of comedy, including, but not limited to, High and Low Comedy, Lampoon, Slapstick and Burlesque.  Each different type of comedy relies on different things to make it funny.  Some use hyperbole, others use ridicule, and some rely on crude jokes or buffoonery.  What makes a comedy, well, a comedy is not actually the humor, but the way the plot moves.  The protagonist must start in a low place, and gradually move to a high place by being true to his or her self.

-Tragedy

            Tragedy isn’t actually defined by its sad characteristics, but, much like comedy, by the way the plot moves.  In a tragedy a character must start in a high place and gradually fall into a low place.  The characters typically begin their fall by breaking a societal rule.

-Absurdism

            Absurdist Theatre is rather different from the other genres. It cannot be defined by the motion of its plot, because there tends to be little to no plot motion.  Some characteristics of Absurdist Theatre are use of small talk and understatements, futility, and the instability of characters. At a first read an Absurdist play may seem like pure nonsense, due to the character instability and the way the characters tend to talk.

-Eras of Writing

·         Classical period – Greek and Roman dramas about the gods.

·         Medieval period – Appealed to the Church, had very idealistic love.

·         Renaissance period – Think Shakespeare

·         Enlightenment period – Rise of Deism, America's revolution against England.

·         Romantic period – Wrote about nature and individualism

·         Victorian period – Sentimentality, think Brontë Sisters

·         Modernism – Based in realism

·         Post-Modernism – Surrealistic writing with tie ins of realism