Video+Clip+Explication+DS

Diction/Song media type="custom" key="5440869" Katharsis/Spectacle media type="custom" key="5442127"

Sabrina and Brandon Mr. Brunson Honors English 10 March 5, 2010

Explication of Video Clip

 .......... As stated by Aristotle in the website // Quotationspage.com //, "All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire”(Aristotle). In this case Aristotle focused on how nature affects human actions through cause and probability. Therefore his intentions in a tragedy were all based on how individuals were able to learn from these actions though the “purging and purification” of emotions process which is also referred to as Catharsis. In other words, Aristotle’s idea of a perfect tragedy was for the audience to achieve catharsis, however, without the correct use of diction and the incorporation of spectacle and the chorus, the process of “purging and purifying” emotions would not be able to occur.

.......... For Aristotle, diction was extremely important when it came to creating a perfect tragedy that would teach the audience a moral. As said by Aristotle, diction is “the expression of the meaning in words” (Aristotle). Both riddles (used to intrigue the mind by the constant use of metaphors or assimilations) and jargons (defined as heightened language; uncommon) are mentioned by Aristotle as concepts that apply in the usage of diction. To portray this idea in the video clip the female character speaks in jargons and the male character speaks in riddles to also create the balance between both which is key in the language used in a tragedy. Likewise Aristotle seems to show a certain interest in metaphors as he says that”the greatest thing by far is to have a command of metaphor;. . . it is the mark of genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblances” (Aristotle). In other words, metaphors allow the audience to mentally portray visual images and feelings by deciphering or simply interpreting the spoken language (and this personal perception of tragedy is what Aristotle considered as the “genius” coming from the art of the poet). In this case, in the video clip we find that both characters are named after either Riddle or Jargon and their dialogue is strictly defined by their name (meaning that the character Riddle only speaks with riddles throughout the video clip just like the character of Jargon). Moreover diction has to be clear for the audience to fully understand tragedy and learn from it (Aristotle). For instance, romance was used as the theme for the dialogue between both characters in the video clip because it’s a topic which most people can relate to. Similarly cleanness in diction can only be achieved by altering the words in proper manners (by lengthening and contracting words and keeping a balance between both). For this reason diction plays a key role as to guiding the audience into learning a moral lesson throughout the performance of a tragedy.

 .........Also in his //Poetics,// Aristotle holds a strong view of the chorus and how it was to be integrated within tragedy in order to support catharsis. As defined by Barbara McManus in reference to Aristotle, the song or melody of the play is the musical element of the chorus (McManus). Therefore, in order to demonstrate Aristotle’s idea of song, several musical sound effects were used to introduce the chorus into the performance of the extranormal //Diction/Song//. By using this specific musical element, the audience is able to experiences Aristotle's idea of how the relationship between the chorus and song should be (in which one element supports the other and vice versa). Moreover, as stated by Aristotle, the chorus has three main jobs in a play; to “pray” for the character, summarize the play, and represent the voice of the people (Aristotle). To illustrate Aristotle's idea of how the chorus summarizes the performance, one of the characters in the video clip, Jargon, turns into the chorus and summarizes the emotions that both of the characters were experiencing and the conflicts that occurred during the skit (as well as stressing its three main purposes ;to summarize, pray for the characters, and be the voice of the people). In this case the chorus (represented by the character of Jargon) is praying for the sake of Riddle and for his undesired necessity of reflecting romantic feelings towards Jargon. Likewise Aristotle held a strong perception of how the chorus was to unite and smoothly flow within the plot of tragedy (Aristotle). In other words, the Chorus was incorporated at the end of the video clip to. Yet, because the video clip concluded in such manners, it is also able to unite the plot of the perfromance with a satisfactory end. In conclusion, Aristotle’s idea of the chorus was to support the unity of tragedy in order to create a catharsis. .......... One of the methods used to support the process of catharsis was spectacle. Therefore Spectacle is defined as a physical performance or event that can intensify catharsis within the plot of a tragedy (Aristotle). In other terms, spectacle becomes a single physical occurrence that can bring out certain emotions in people. As seen in the video the laughter of the audience is heard in response to the actor’s or performer’s humor (humor considered a banned subject from tragedy; therefore it becomes all part of spectacle). Yet spectacle can be connected to emotions therefore capable of intensifying the process of catharsis (Aristotle). That is to say that spectacle can bring some emotions out to not only intensify the process of catharsis but to establish a closer and a more visual relationship between the audience and the performance. For example, in the video it can be seen that both the female character and the male character add humor to the plot (therefore both characters, by causing the audience to understand and respond to the humor and the expressions, are also giving the audience a perspective of how the physical performance can lead them to such emotional reactions). Nevertheless spectacle was considered by Aristotle as an unorthodox method or technique to intensify the process of catharsis (Aristotle). This means that because spectacle is strictly mechanical and physical Aristotle rejected it claiming that such catharsis should be raised by the arts of the poet (the plot, the dialogue, the language, the chorus) and not by specific physical occurrence in the plot (also defined as the arts of the mechanist). In the video both the female and the male characters are constantly using their expressions to increase humor and intensify the connection between the performance and the audience (therefore it would have been considered by Aristotle as low-quality performance regarding the boundaries of how a tragedy should be). In essence spectacle becomes another tool that the poet can use to bring out the process of catharsis.

.......... According to Aristotle Catharsis is the most important concept that evolves around tragedy. For Catharsis is defined as the purging or purification of emotions through a process of observing a tragedy (Aristotle). Such emotions range from pity to fear which make up the content of the process through which an individual is put up to. In other terms, just as seen in the video clip, the female character (Tina; the individual observing the tragedy) is able to experience pity and fear by listening to the male character’s (Martin) tragic event. Yet Catharsis is complete only when the individual is able to reach aesthetic pleasure at the end of the process (Aristotle). In this case we can also define aesthetic pleasure as the moral lesson the individual learns after observing the tragic situation. Therefore we can now understand why in the video clip the female character admits that she is now incapable of falling under the same tragic circumstances that the male character experienced (therefore the female character, after processing pity and fear, is now able to release them because there is no need for her to remain with such emotions if she now understands how to avoid such tragic situations). For Catharsis serves this purpose and so “it becomes the true essence behind tragedy”(Aristotle). At the same time we could also assume that according to Aristotle tragedy is all about the individual’s experience of catharsis. As illustrated by the video clip, the moral behind the “play” is to learn from tragic actions and experiences (which will then help the individual avoid such situations making him a better human being or at least one that will not commit tragic actions). In brief, Catharsis is the ideal process integrated within the recreation or performance of tragedy.

.......... Without Catharsis tragedy is meaningless and obsolete. Therefore, catharsis is considered as the most important idea integrated within tragedy and supported by several other concepts such as decition, song and spectacle. It is until then that the poet allows the audience to experience the real purging or purification of emotions. In essence, catharsis is what defines tragedy as it also defines that moment in which an individual can truly understand the philosophical and artistic value the of poet's work yet Cartharis and its definition are still subjects of controversial dispute as it is also claimed that its philosphical meaning is still deeper and more complex.

Work cited Aristotle. //Poetics//. Trans. S. H. Butcher. //The Internet Classics Archive//. Web Atomic and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 13 Sept. 2007. Web. 4 Nov. 2008.