tragedy unit test

What are the essential questions of our tragedy unit?

Why do humans suffer? How do they respond to it?

What are the six archetypes of tragedy?

1. Destruction of Innocent Life

2. Loss of Innocence

3. Sacrificial Hero

4. Tragic hero and flaw

5. Hero suffers and asks why OR hero stands up to their suffering

6. Death as a Release

Which two archetypes are uplifting, or celebrates human strength and resilience?

Sacrificial hero, hero questions suffering/stands up to it

Define catharsis, identify the emotions that lead to it, and explain why/how those emotions are invoked in the audience.

Catharsis is the purging of emotion after a tragic story. Emotions of pity and fear invoked by the play cause catharsis in the audience. The Greeks viewed catharsis as a sort of emotional medication, which could purge the audience of undesierable emotions, by using the suffering of the tragic hero to invoke the emotions that lead to catharsis.

What is dramatic irony and what is an example from one of our stories?

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience has information that the characters do not, the character reacts in an unwise way, characters and situations are compared to create irony, or when there is a substantial difference between what the audience understands of the tragic hero’s actions and what the hero themselves understands about the actions.

An example lies in Oedipus Rex, where Oedipus sentences the killer of Laius to banishment although the reader knows Oedipus himself is the murderer.

List the elements of a Greek tragic hero

1. Has social status

2. Has conviction in beliefs

3. Has tragic flaw (not necessarily negative, crack in character)

   1. Flaw leads to choice leads to fall

4. Endures suffering and often is destroyed at end of play

5. Has recognition at end of play

What is a tragic flaw? Please include in your definition the sequence that the flaw puts into motion (this leads to this) and an example from one of our stories/works.

A tragic flaw is a crack/fissure trait in a character (not necesarrily a bad trait) which causes a hero to make particular choices and act in a specific way which brings their fall. The hero endures suffering and is sometimes destroyed at the end of the play after a recognition of the flaw.

For example, Creon’s tragic flaw could be interpreted as his uncompromising nature in Antigone. This causes him to stick to his edict and sentence Antigone to death, beginning the fall as much of his family commits suicide. Creon realizes that “he alone” is guilty for this tragedy, which is his recognition. Creon suffers alone as the ruler of Thebes, and while not destroyed, the good parts of his life were.

What is hubris in the way we have defined it in class?

Hubris is a fatal hamartia where characters forget their place in the world (like via ambition, ignorance, or pride), causing them to act above their station. This can lead to a tragic downfall.

Explain the recognition in tragedy using “Paul’s Case” as an example

The recognition in tragedy is a moment when the tragic hero realizes themselves or the tragedy of their situation fully, transitioning from ignorance to knowledge. This reverses their sentiments and intentions.

In “Paul’s Case,” Paul has his recognition moment as he’s falling in front of the train that he threw himself towards. Paul recogizes that his haste has lead to this foolish decision, and that threre was so much that he could have done if he hadn’t jumped, thus reversing his sentiment.

Explain the reversal in tragedy, using Antigone or Creon as an example.

The tragic reversal is when the tragic hero, who is “up high” and has a good life (social status, etc.) experiences a shift from up high to down low., plunging the hero into catastrophe.

In Antigone, Creon’s reversal comes when much of his family commits suicide. Previously, he was “up high,” a king with a loving family. Now, he is “down low,” condemned to rule all alone.

Tragedy is reflective of the struggle between which two Greek gods, and what does each represent in this struggle?

Apollo: Represents the of structure, the dialogue, the individual characters, as well as individuation and just boundaries.
Dionysius: Represents the raw, primal nature of suffering and dissolution of boundaries
Reconciliation in tragedy is the transition from Dionsysian chaos to Apolloinian order

Explain in a sentence or two how destruction of innocent life operates

Unprovoked destruction of something innocent by an unstoppable power, exploring themes of human frailty and how much free will we really have.

Explain in a sentence or two how Loss of Innocence operates

Characters discover evil after consenting to an loss of innocence, so the audience feels pity. This is inevitable.

Explain in a sentence or two how Sacrificial Hero operates

The hero is a scapegoat. (either a heoric scapegoat who does it willingly or a victim). Through their suffering, society is purged of burden. Else, the hero can be a martyr.

Explain in a sentence or two how Tragic hero and flaw operates

They start high, and they have an tragic flaw, which leads to a choice which starts the fall, and a reversal from up high to down low. Has a recognition of flaw at end.

Explain in a sentence or two how Hero suffers and asks why OR hero stands up to their suffering operates

Suffering seems harsher than the hero deserves, and they recognize that a power form above may doom them to failure. Hero asks for reason for suffering OR faces it.

Explain in a sentence or two how Death as a Release operates

The power causing the tragedy is too strong, and life becomes a worse prospect than death, and the world becomes a nightmare.