Yay , You’re Here! 1/4/11

1. Read the article on “Banished words”—decide on one word/phrase they “missed” that you feel should be added to the list and be prepared to defend your choice Yay, You’re Here! 1/4/11

2. Objectives Students will: • Examine their own writing for “dead” words, phrases, techniques • Consider the value of “simplicity” as proposed by Zinsser and apply it to their own writing • Compare Aristotle’s, Hegel’s, and Nietzsche’s theories of tragedy and apply them to previously read works

3. Due Dates 1/6—Macbeth • Seminar Card and Reading Guide for Acts 2-5 1/12—Reading Rehearsal • No Exit • Macbeth • Turn of the Screw • Poetry 1/21—Turn of the Screw • Seminar: Cards from everyone and Questions from those not presenting

4. Could—passive voice • Very • Also • “try” and its various forms • However—switch up your favorite conjunction • “by saying,” “by having” • “makes” • Redundancy (descriptive imagery) • As a reader • In the story/book/play/novel • As • “This shows that…” • Thus • In order to… • Continues –other forms • Seems • Introducing quotes in the same way • Using too many quotes • It is obvious… Style Graveyard

5. Tragedy—According to Aristotle • Outlined in his work, Poetics • Dependent on specific elements of plot and character • The downfall of a basically good person through some fatal error or misjudgment, • Suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist • pity and fear on the part of the audience • Catharsis—tragedy allows the audience to arouse and then purge these emotions • The fall of a good person is disturbing to us. The better the person appears to be, the more disturbed and anxious we feel at their fall • The hero’s fall must be due to their own error—there is no innocent victim of . True tragedy can’t be due to bad luck. The tragic hero must bear responsibility for his or her own doom.

6. Key terms • Anagnorisis: a moment of insight or understanding in the mind of the tragic hero as he suddenly comprehends the web of fate that he has entangled himself in. • Hamartia:  a fatal error or simple mistake on the part of the protagonist that eventually leads to the final catastrophe. It need not be an egregious "fatal flaw.” Instead, it can be a simple miscalculation or slip-up. • Hubris : Though it is usually translated as pride, hubris is probably better understood as a sort of insolent daring, a haughty overstepping of cultural codes or ethical boundaries. • Nemesis ("retribution"): the inevitable punishment or cosmic payback for acts of hubris. • Peripateia("plot reversal"): a pivotal or crucial action on the part of the protagonist that changes his situation from seemingly secure to vulnerable.

7. Tragedy—According to hegel • German philosopher (1770-1831) • The fatal conflict between two opposing forces—both right • Hegel asserts that tragedy happens when two equally right goals are in opposition, and one of them must yield • A conscientious objector is drafted • Antigone • Can you think of any others? Excerpted from The School for New Learning, DePaul University, David L. Simpson, 1998

8. Tragedy—according to Nietzsche • The origins of tragedy symbolically represented in the confrontation of Apollo (Order , restraint and form) and Dionysus (impulse, instinct) • The tragic hero is divided "between imperative and impulse, between moral ordinance and unruly passion . . . between law and lust" (Heilman 207). • While Aristotle saw extremism as the cause of the tragic hero’s downfall, Nietzsche felt that this was the reason for the hero’s existence: to test the limits of nature, to surpass his own limitations and reach the unattainable • Not a form of purging fear but of embracing it, taking joy in the reality of it, of going beyond it, even if it means destruction (Wikipedia) Excerpted from “Tragedy after Aristotle” by Larry A. Brown Professor of Theater

9. Let’s take another look • Dr. Faustus? • Oedipus Rex? • How would each of these philosopher’s interpret these tragedies? • Which form of tragedy does each fit best?

10. “This shows that…” “Says” • “States” • Very _______ • “guilt-trip” • “For example…” • First, second, third… • Beware of adverbs! • “So” • Unnecessary words • Summary + paraphrase • “One can see that…” “The reader can see…” • “that,” “this”—need different way of transitioning • “Which” • “In the novel/play/essay/book/story” • “as” –watch out for repetition • Redundant appositives • “just, even, very” • “says” • Look out for redundancy in general • “because, since”—relying on one • conjunction in particular • “In order to…”\ • “You can infer, the reader can…”\ • “a lot” • “An example of this is…” • Unnecessary adjectives • Overexplaining