Civilization I

ARISTOTLE POETICS
Sunil Chintalapati
HUM 2051: Civilization I
Dr. Lisa K. Perdigao
Humanities and Communication
BIO
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Aristotle (384-322 B. C. E)
Member of Plato’s Academy and student
of Plato
Founded his own philosophical school,
“the Lyceum”
Taught students as Alexander the Great
and Theophrastrus
Established world’s first research library
Figure: Artist’s depiction of Lyceum;
Aristotle in blue robes in the center
of the picture
Figure: Present day, site of Lyceum;
picture taken around 1996
POETICS
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A verbal composition designed to convey
experiences, ideas, or emotions in a vivid
and imaginative way, characterized by the
use of language chosen for its sound and
suggestive power and by the use of
literary techniques such as meter,
metaphor, and rhyme.
First schematic work of literary criticism
in the West
Played a central role in shaping the theory
and production of literature
Offers an insight into Aristotle’ s thought
process about poetry
Examination of poetry by breaking it into
constituent parts
Insight includes different forms of poetry
namely, drama, comedy, satire, lyric,
epic, and dithyramb
Analysis of tragic poetry form the critical
part of Poetics
Figure: Front cover of Aristotle’s
Poetics
TRAGEDY
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Humans are innately attracted towards
poetry
The passions are purified by the tragic
performance because the excitement of
these passions by the performance
weakens them and reduces them to just
proportion in the individual
Tragic performance excites the emotions
only to allay them, thereby ridding the
spectator of the disquieting emotions from
which he or she suffers in everyday life
Figure: Tropical Storm Fay – Aug
2008; tragedy for some, not for
Figure: Sketch of Uncle Sam
weeping for the loss of Mark Twain
CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS
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Plot: combination of events
Character: person of so and so quality
Thought : to prove a point or express an opinion
Spectacle: Arrangement of spectacle forms the primary aspect of a tragedy
Melody: media in which they effect the imitation
Language: a communication media
• Example of finest tragedies:
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Alcmeon
Oedipus
Orestes
Meleager
Thyestes
Telephus
SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET
• A uniform plot with a beginning,
middle and end
• Play unravels along a central
character ~ Hamlet
• Surprise twist at end of the play
• Has a nice melody and language
Figure: sketch representing the final
scene in Hamlet
SE7EN
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Tragic mainstream movie on a personal front
The plot loosely follows Brad Pitt- the central character
Invigorating movie allows for independent thought
Grisly afterviews of horrific and bizarre killings enhance the spectacle
Aspects like melody and language are handled splendidly
Surprise downfall of central character at the end
Figure: Final moments of the movie Se7en
SCHINDLER’S LIST
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Tragic mainstream movie on a global front
Based on actual incident
Uniform plot with a central character
Central character strive to saves lives in the face of war
Glimmer of hope in the end
Figure: Scene from Schindler’s list
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
• Modern day tragic mainstream movie
• Moves away from Aristotle’s Poetics
(?) but still a critical success
• Multiple characters
• A non uniform plot but still adds to
the appeal of the movie
• Predictable tragic progression of the
movie – eliminates surprise element
• Crude spectacle
Figure: Glimpse from the movie
SOME PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHTS
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Critical look at tragedies by breaking them into their constituent part
Analysis of the poem solely on its constituent
Six main constituent part of poetry
Constituent analysis of poem eliminates the subtle charm of poem/piece/movie
Hamlet, Se7ev, and Schindler’s list decoupled and analyzed using Poetics
“Requiem for a dream” follows a different trend from Poetics, but still a success
Poetics not the ‘governing dynamics’ of poetry, but can be construed as a
guideline!
QUESTIONS?
http://www.explosm.net/comics/106/
WORD CITED
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Douglas, Kenneth, et al. The Norton Anthology - Westerrn Literature. W. W. Norton &
Company, n.d.
• Figures
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http://the0phrastus.typepad.com/noncontradiction/img/dbp/depoetica/812-813a.jpg
http://agclark.myweb.uga.edu/aristotle.html
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/5800/5805/hamlet_8.htm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27394865@N07/2553976115/in/photostream/
http://www.zoopy.com/data/media/379/original.jpg
http://connect.afi.com/images/content/photos/large_12975.jpg
http://images.askmen.com/entertainment/movie/schindlers-list_1.jpg
http://jamesthecarpenter.com/Imported%20Extra/Review%20PicsJpeg/Requiem%20for%20a%20dream-movie/requiem_for_a_dream_16.JPG
http://www.explosm.net/comics/106/