Tuesday, February 21, 2012
My Best Entry
My best blog entry was the fairy tale archetype analysis because I gave examples in my introduction paragraph and found archetypes that are shown specifically in The Frog Prince, not just in fairy tales generally. I believe I had a good balance between summary and analysis, explaining archetypes I found as I summarized the story. I went deeper into the analysis and thought about the number of days the author chose, the personalities of the King, Princess, Prince, and Fairy. After a couple of posts before this one and pointers given from my group members, I better understood what I needed to analyze and include in my posts.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The Frog Prince Archetype Analysis
As children, we've all dreamed of living a "fairytale life," but why is that? The fairytales we were told as children and still read to this very day are filled with the same archetypes, where the protagonists always find true love and happiness, for example in the stories Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty & the Beast.
The fairytale The Frog Prince by Brothers Grimm is about a prince who is saved by a princess. The beginning of this story begins with the princess sitting by a pool of water, playing with her golden ball, symbolizing wealth, majesty, and truth, but accidentally drops it, therefore it rolls away and down into the spring. This is a typical archetype that many fairytales use, where the princess loses something and the prince later comes and finds her, returning her prized possession. Once the princess began to cry over her loss, a frog appeared out of the spring, promising her he would retrieve the ball back for her if she, in return, promises to love him, let him live with her, eat off her golden plate, and sleep in her bed. She was reluctant at first, but agreed to his deal, thinking that she wouldn’t have to follow through with it. The frog is on a quest to find true love, as most princes in fairytales do. Another archetype found in The Frog Prince is that the princess makes a pact with someone, and in this case, the frog. When the frog finally retrieves the princess’ ball back from the spring, she ignorantly runs away as fast as she possibly can, hoping she won't have to keep her promise.
The next day, the frog paid the princess a visit at her home where her father, the trustworthy and loyal king, saw she was frightened, and told her to keep her word from the night before. She let him eat off her golden plate, sleep on her bed, and live with her for 3 consecutive nights, the number symbolizing mind, body, spirit, birth, and life. The Brothers Grimm may have used the number 3 to represent the different bodies and lives the frog prince experiences. On fourth morning, she woke up to a handsome prince beside her instead of the frog. The author may have also chose 3 nights as the number 4 represents mankind. He confessed that he had been enchanted by a fairy, who had cursed him and changed him into a frog until he could find a princess to take him in and let him sleep upon her bed for three nights. The fairy in this story acts as the witch/troll, who brings misery upon one of the main characters. This portrays the archetype of “the quest,” where the hero, the prince, has to complete a task, which is to find a princess to love him, to restore the status quo. The hero goes through what could be understood as ressurection, from a frog back to who he was before - a handsome prince.
The prince asks the princess for her hand in marriage, and she immediately agrees. The two of them throw an extravagant wedding, riding off in a coach pulled by eight horses off to their new life together, happily ever after.
The fairytale The Frog Prince by Brothers Grimm is about a prince who is saved by a princess. The beginning of this story begins with the princess sitting by a pool of water, playing with her golden ball, symbolizing wealth, majesty, and truth, but accidentally drops it, therefore it rolls away and down into the spring. This is a typical archetype that many fairytales use, where the princess loses something and the prince later comes and finds her, returning her prized possession. Once the princess began to cry over her loss, a frog appeared out of the spring, promising her he would retrieve the ball back for her if she, in return, promises to love him, let him live with her, eat off her golden plate, and sleep in her bed. She was reluctant at first, but agreed to his deal, thinking that she wouldn’t have to follow through with it. The frog is on a quest to find true love, as most princes in fairytales do. Another archetype found in The Frog Prince is that the princess makes a pact with someone, and in this case, the frog. When the frog finally retrieves the princess’ ball back from the spring, she ignorantly runs away as fast as she possibly can, hoping she won't have to keep her promise.
The next day, the frog paid the princess a visit at her home where her father, the trustworthy and loyal king, saw she was frightened, and told her to keep her word from the night before. She let him eat off her golden plate, sleep on her bed, and live with her for 3 consecutive nights, the number symbolizing mind, body, spirit, birth, and life. The Brothers Grimm may have used the number 3 to represent the different bodies and lives the frog prince experiences. On fourth morning, she woke up to a handsome prince beside her instead of the frog. The author may have also chose 3 nights as the number 4 represents mankind. He confessed that he had been enchanted by a fairy, who had cursed him and changed him into a frog until he could find a princess to take him in and let him sleep upon her bed for three nights. The fairy in this story acts as the witch/troll, who brings misery upon one of the main characters. This portrays the archetype of “the quest,” where the hero, the prince, has to complete a task, which is to find a princess to love him, to restore the status quo. The hero goes through what could be understood as ressurection, from a frog back to who he was before - a handsome prince.
The prince asks the princess for her hand in marriage, and she immediately agrees. The two of them throw an extravagant wedding, riding off in a coach pulled by eight horses off to their new life together, happily ever after.
Friday, February 10, 2012
John Carter Movie Trailer Archetype Analysis
At the beginning of the film John Carter, the main character is transported to the mysterious land of Mars (Barsoom). He is shown battling an extremely large monster through scenes that cut from one to another at different camera angles, later learning that these are enemies of the land he is residing in. In a dark cave, Princess Dejah Thoris of Barsoom, asks him, “You … are … John Carter of Earth?” He later finds himself caught between different nations of the planet where he then decides himself that he has the responsibility to protect both the land and people from the other superpowers. John uses his skills he’s obtained from living on planet Earth and the weapons available on Barsoom to defeat the large monsters fighting against Barsoom for their land. In this trailer, we see elements of the hero’s journey being portrayed. First he leaves home to a mysterious land (departure), then he meets the leaders of Barsoom (initiation), fights one of the monsters one-on-one (the road of trials), then acts as a soldier on Barsoom’s army, participating in a battle to protect what they have left (the innermost cave). While on this journey, John Carter also falls in love with the princess, who acts as the damsel in distress. This pure love motivates him to save the Barsoom society and be the princess's Prince Charming, reflecting the "hero as lover" archetype. He is also portraying the heroic character archetype of "the superheroic" as he is a human on another planet. He doesn't quite belong there, but those who live on the land need him. The movie John Carter is a science fiction movie that tells about the typical archetype of the battle between good and evil, where the people of Barsoom pose as the good and the other superpowers in Mars pose as the bad.
The initials J.C. are not only John Carter's initials, but also Jackie Chan's. Jackie Chan acts as a hero in every single movie he's played a role in, displaying his wit and skill through martial arts, always defeating the enemy. This foreshadows John Carter to have similar traits, with the ability to dominate the other nations of Mars and taking back the land that is rightfully Barsoom's. I predict he will rescue the damsel in distress and live happily ever after as all heroes do after saving a princess from danger.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Samurai Jack Archetype Analysis
The cartoon series Samurai Jack is a great example showing the different elements of the archetypical hero's journey. This cartoon series fit for children shows the different adventures and conflicts Jack faces in order to become a real hero for his home town.
The story begins with the typical departure stage of the hero's journey, where Jack unwillingly leaves his comforting home both naive and innocent after the kingdom is attacked by the evil Aku. Jack leaves his home on a boat, a symbol for safe passage which brought him all over the world where his many different mentors teach him skills and techniques he will need to use in order to defeat Aku later on. This begins the initiation stage of the hero's journey. Throughout this stage, his mentors also act as his father figures along the way as his biological father is at the kingdom he left. Jack is taught many skills such as archery, the art of sword fighting, precision, bravery, and self discipline, gaining the confidence and maturity he will require in order to find the courage to face Aku.
The road of trials stage begins when Jack is paid a visit by his mother who offers him a robe with the family crest and a sword, which is the traditional ritual/ceremony hosted that brought Jack from a stage of childhood to manhood. He is faced with a task to defeat Aku's minions and protect both his home and people from the evil force.
The last stage shown in the first episode of Samurai Jack is the innermost cave stage, where he seeks out Aku in his own territory - Hell. Jack fights Aku here, his objective to reclaim the land and rights that the people back in his home deserve to have. Every time Jack managed to use his sword to slice Aku, Aku changed into a different animal, obtaining new skills and abilities to attack Jack. When Jack thought he had captured Aku in his sword, Aku came right back out and trapped Jack into a portal, teleporting him into a mysterious and unknown place. Despite Jack's efforts, Aku still manages to catch Jack off guard and win the battle. Nonetheless, Jack had gained much maturity and knowledge from this experience and will be better prepared for the next battle he will fight against Aku.
Other pieces of work that I've come across which portray similar elements as Samurai Jack are: The Lightning Thief, Shrek, and Captain America. In these three films, the main character goes through the heroic journey, where they leave home to save a family member or a whole army of people.
The typical plot of the hero's journey continues to be revised because they all have happy endings, something we has human beings all strive and yearn for. Even though we can see what comes next, they always get us onto the edge of our chairs, waiting for the next conflict to come up.
The story begins with the typical departure stage of the hero's journey, where Jack unwillingly leaves his comforting home both naive and innocent after the kingdom is attacked by the evil Aku. Jack leaves his home on a boat, a symbol for safe passage which brought him all over the world where his many different mentors teach him skills and techniques he will need to use in order to defeat Aku later on. This begins the initiation stage of the hero's journey. Throughout this stage, his mentors also act as his father figures along the way as his biological father is at the kingdom he left. Jack is taught many skills such as archery, the art of sword fighting, precision, bravery, and self discipline, gaining the confidence and maturity he will require in order to find the courage to face Aku.
The road of trials stage begins when Jack is paid a visit by his mother who offers him a robe with the family crest and a sword, which is the traditional ritual/ceremony hosted that brought Jack from a stage of childhood to manhood. He is faced with a task to defeat Aku's minions and protect both his home and people from the evil force.
The last stage shown in the first episode of Samurai Jack is the innermost cave stage, where he seeks out Aku in his own territory - Hell. Jack fights Aku here, his objective to reclaim the land and rights that the people back in his home deserve to have. Every time Jack managed to use his sword to slice Aku, Aku changed into a different animal, obtaining new skills and abilities to attack Jack. When Jack thought he had captured Aku in his sword, Aku came right back out and trapped Jack into a portal, teleporting him into a mysterious and unknown place. Despite Jack's efforts, Aku still manages to catch Jack off guard and win the battle. Nonetheless, Jack had gained much maturity and knowledge from this experience and will be better prepared for the next battle he will fight against Aku.
Other pieces of work that I've come across which portray similar elements as Samurai Jack are: The Lightning Thief, Shrek, and Captain America. In these three films, the main character goes through the heroic journey, where they leave home to save a family member or a whole army of people.
The typical plot of the hero's journey continues to be revised because they all have happy endings, something we has human beings all strive and yearn for. Even though we can see what comes next, they always get us onto the edge of our chairs, waiting for the next conflict to come up.
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