Archetypes

1. Archetypes • It is an image, story-pattern, or character type that recurs frequently and evokes strong, often unconscious, associations in the reader. • Archetypes are widely dispersed throughout folk literature and appear in slightly different forms in poetry, drama, and novels around the world.

2. The Quest • THE TASK: To save the kingdom, to win the fair lady, to identify himself so that he may reassume his rightful position, the hero must perform some nearly superhuman deed. (Beowulf slays Grendel, Frodo must arrive at Rivendale.) • THE INITIATION: This archetype usually takes the form of an initiation into adult life. The adolescent comes into his/her maturity with new awareness and problems along with new hope for the community. This awakening is often the climax of the story. (Growing Up: Huckleberry Finn, King Arthur, the hobbits.)

3. The Quest • THE JOURNEY: The journey sends the hero in search for some truth or information necessary to restore fertility to the kingdom. Usually the hero descends into a real or psychological hell and is forced to discover the blackest truths, quite often concerning his faults. Once the hero is at this lowest point, he must accept personal responsibility to return to the world of the living. (The Odyssey, The Canterbury Tales, The Fellowship of the Rings.) • THE FALL: This archetype describes a descent from a higher to a lower state of being. The fall is often accompanied by expulsion from a kind of paradise as penalty for disobedience and moral transgression. (Adam and Eve, Lancelot and Guinevere)

4. The Quest • DEATH AND REBIRTH: The most common of all situation archetypes, this motif grows out of the parallel between the cycle of nature and the cycle of life. Thus, morning and springtime represent birth, youth, or rebirth; evening and winter suggest old age or death.

5. Character Archetypes • THE HERO: The protagonist. The hero must successfully pass through several stages in his quest to accomplish something for the greater good. Many times a prophecy of some type has foretold of the future hero’s birth and adventures. Importantly, heroes must travel through several stages on their journeys to serve the greater good of society. He/She is destined to be our hero. (Oedipus, Moses, Arthur, Robin Hood, Beowulf, Harry Potter, Superman, & Frodo)

6. Character Archetypes • DAMSEL IN DISTRESS: This is the vulnerable woman who must be rescued by the hero. She often is used as a trap to ensnare the unsuspecting hero (Guinevere, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty). • FRIENDLY BEAST: This shows that nature is on the side of the hero (Toto, Lassie). • THE CHARMER: Someone who charms others for their own personal gain. • THE BEST FRIEND: The sidekick who accompanies the hero on his/her quest.

7. An ALLEGORY is a story that can be interpreted to reveal another, hidden meaning • Two stories in one • The plain, literal tale • The higher-level meaning • The underlying meaning of the story is often moral or political • SYMBOLIC RETRIBUTION: The punishment fits the crime (Dante’s Inferno) • VERNACULAR: The language of the people. Italian for Dante’s Inferno which is why it was so popular because everyone could read it, not just the scholars.

8. PARALLEL STRUCTURE: The use of the same grammatical structure repeatedly. • Ex: The squirrel went over the log, around the tree, and between the branches.

9. A research paper should be written in present tense. • Do NOT switch verb tenses throughout the paper. Keep the present tense all the way through. • The only exception would be if your direct quote is written in another tense. That is acceptable.

10. LEAD-INS: • Somebody Said: Use the author’s/speaker’s name to introduce the quote. • Blended: Using a quote to complete your sentence. • Ex: The fact that the SS soldiers could treat people in the manner shows “the darker side of humanity” (Smith 42). • Sentence: Use a complete sentence to introduce the quote. Separate the two with a colon. • Ex: Many victims succumbed to death in various ways: “Assassination, starvation, or being trampled to death were just a few” (Smith 86).

11. Allusion • An indirect referral to another well known piece of literature, art, person, or culture. • Example: Fluffy in Harry Potter is an allusion to Cerberus in Greek mythology.

12. Rhetorical Devices • LOGOS: The use of facts/statistics to convince an audience to agree with you. • ETHOS: Using the appeal of morals and what is just (right) to convince an audience. Also the use of celebrities. • PATHOS: Appealing to the emotions of the audience.

13. Night • Arbeit Mach Frei-- “Work is Liberty” • Auschwitz – the main concentration camp. Birkenau is the reception center (“first place you come to”) and Buna was the 3rd camp and work camp • Crematory – Ovens used to burn the dead. • Death March – The evacuation of prisoners from being liberated by the Allied forces. • Dysentery– inflammatory disease of the intestines. Wiesel’s father dies of this. • Evacuation – To flee something. Run away. • Liberation – To free something or someone. • Liquidation – To destroy/get rid something or someone. • Moshe the Beadle– warns the Jews of Sighet of the brutality of the German soldiers, but no one believes him. • Yom Kippur – Jewish Day of Atonement. Probably the most important day of the year for the Jewish community. Traditionally they are to fast (go without food willingly) on this day.