Cultural Studies

Why Women Washes the Dishes

by Filomena Colendrino

Plot

Have you ever wondered why women always wahses the dishes? Its because of this story:

In the town of Santa Rosa there once lived a couple named Hugo and Imelda. Every mealtime they quarreled over the chore of washing the dishes. Imelda would scold Hugo if he refused to wash the dishes. Sometimes she would become angry and call him names, and if he talked back she would get coconut midrib broom and chase him with it. He would run to the house of his compadre and hide there till his wife’s anger had passed.

The neighbors familiarly called Imelda, Ka Maldang and Hugo, Ka Ugong.

One day just as they were finishin their lunch, Ka Ugong announced: “I’m not going to wash the dishes any more.” He threw out his chest and lifted his chin.

“Who says so?” asked Ka Maldang, holding up her chin, highert than his.

“I say so; I worked so hard in the field this morning. I’m not going to wash any dish.”

Ka Maldang stood up and with her arms akimbo, she glared down at Ka Ugong across the table. She was at Ka Ugong across the table. She was a Big woman. Her arms were stourt. Her voice was also big. “Ad who, Mister Hugo, is going to wash these dishes?” she asked.

Ka Ugong’s chest sank again. His chin salso went down. He held on the edge of the table nervously.

“You!” he said in a much lower tone. “You are the woman. You should do all the housework.”

“And what do you do?” asked Ka Maldang. “You tie the carabao to the reeds in the field and then you lie down on the grass to watch it graze. You call that hard work? I cook, clean the house, wash your clothes, I scrub the floor, I do all the work that only slaves should do. And yet, you even refuse to help me wash the plate which you have eaten!” Ka Maldang’s voice was now raised to a high pitch and her tears posed on her eyelids at Ka Ugong and at her broom. She grabbed the broom. She raised the broom to strike him, crying, “You, you, you lazy man!”

Ka Ugong ducked under the table, “Don’t” he cried. “Don’t strike me!”

“Come out from under the table, you coward.” ordered Ka Maldang.

“Lay down your broom,” said Ka Ugong.

“All right, all right. Come out.” Ka Maldang put her broom behind the door.

Ka Ugong returned to his seat opposite her at the table.

“What have you to say?” asked Ka Maldang, wipingher eyes.

“Let’s stop quarreling over the plates. Let’s have a wager. The first one of us who will speak after I’d said ‘Begin’ will wash the dishes. Always”

“Only that?” said Ka Maldang. “The first one who talks will always wash the plates, and bowls, and pots and pans. Always.”

“Right.” said Ka Ugong. “If you ever say just one word to me or to anybody, or to anything after I had said ‘Begin’, you will always wash the dishes.”

“That’s easy. I can keep my mouth shut even for a week. You can’t. You even talk to your carabao.”

“All right, are you ready?” asked Ka Ugong.

Ka Maldang sat upright in front of him across the table. She nodded her head, compressed her lips, and Ka Ugong said “Begin.”

They both fell silent. They sat at the table looking at each other across the unwashed plates and bowls and spoons. They did not like to leave each other for fear that one would talk to him self without the other’s hearing. They sat there just staring.

Soon tje cat began to mew for its food. Neither Ka Maldang nor Ka Ugong paid attention to its mewing. The cat jumped upon the drying dishes to lick the leftovers. Ka Maldang did not drive the cat away. Neither did Ka Ugong. The cat licked the pot and pan on it, overturned a kettle, spilled its contents, then went to lie down under the table. Ka Ugong pretended that nothing had happened. He continue to sit still, and so did Ka Maldang.

Soon, it was getting late in the afternoon but they went on sitting mutely at the lunch table. Their eyes were tired from staring hard at each other. Tears began to roll down their cheeks. Ka Ugong’s shirt became damp with his sweat. Ka Maldang’s sweat gathered on her fore heat, and trickle down to the sides of her face, and fell drop by drop to her breast.

A neighbor called, “Compadre Ugong! Oh! Compadre!”

Ka Ugong did not answer.

The neighbor called again, “Comadre Maldang! Yoo-hoo Comadre Maldang. Yoo-hoo, Compadre Ugong, may I borrow your ax?”

Ka Maldang did not answer. Ka Ugong looked at her silently.

“Perhaps nobody is at home ,” they heard the neighbor say to himself. “But why did they leave their ladder at the door? They usually remove the ladder when they go away. Well, I’ll just go up get the ax and return it later.” The neighbor went up.

When the neighbor went u the bamboo ladder he was surprised to see Ka Maldang and Ka Ugong sitting silently at the table where the plates had dried up with the leftovers. He hurried toward them.

Ka Ugong nether moved nor talked. The neighbor repeated his question. He shook Ka Ugong;s shoulder. Ka Ugong let him shake him, closing his lips tighter.

The neighbor turned to Ka Maldang. “Speak, Comadre! What happened?” He shook her shoulders, too.

She pushed him roughly aside but did not speak.

“Did you eat something poisonous? Some food that has made you dumb?” He shook each one alternately. But still neither stood up nor talked.

The neighbor was alarmed . He did not get the ax but ran out to the rest of the neighbors, He told them that something terrible had happened to to his Compadre Ugong and Compadre Maldang. The neighbors gathered at Ka Maldang’s dining room. They took turns trying to make them speak. But the two continued to sit staring at each other in silence. Ka Maldang looked at her husband threateningly for a moment then closed her eyes. Ka Ugong knew that she did so to avoid looking at the neighbors, He also closed his eyesand ignored every one who had come up to his house. Ka Maldang was very angry with her Compadre’s interference but she dared not to speak her mind, She pretended to be asleep.

The compadre was very much worried. He ran to the village herb man. The herb man came and when he saw the motionless, silent husband and wife sitting at the table, he declared that they were bewitched. He spread a woven bud mat in the center of the sala and asked the “bewitched” couple to lie down. Ka Ugong obediently lay down and closed his eyes. He curled up and went to sleep. But Ka Maldang refused to get up from where she sat at the dining table

The herb man said “Ah, the spirit that has taken possession of her is very stubborn. I must break its spell.”

He turned, then produced from a small bag which he always carried nine pieces of betel leaf, a piece of areca nut, and a little lime from a tiny bottle. He examined the leaves closely to choose those which had veins running in identical arrangements on each side of the midrib. He cut the nut into nine pieces. He spread a little lime on each betel leaf, rolled them and wrapped them around each piece of areca nut. He now had nine rings of the leaves.

“This represents the lost spirit of the couple,” he said.

He chewed the leaf and nut. When he had chewed it he spat it on his palm, dipped a forefinger of the other hand into the nut colored saliva and marked with it a cross on the foreheads of Ka Ugong and Ka Maldang. Ka Ugong did not seem to feel the old man’s finger on his forehead. Ka Maldang caught the man’s forefinger and twisted it. The old herb doctor cried “aray” and pulled back his hand. He moved toward Ka Ugong who was lying down. Calling his name softly and slowly several times. “Come, Ugong, Come back, Ugong!” Ka Ugong did not move nor speak.

“Come Maldang…come home to your body now…come. Maldang…!” chanted the old man. Ka Maldang did not answer.

Evening fell on the frightened village, frightened because the herb doctor said that the spell might be cast on some other villagers besides Ka Ugong and Ka Maldang. He called to the bewitched couple softly at first, and then louder, but became tired so she reclined against the bamboo wall.

The old her man said, “This is the first witchery of its kind that I have met here. By their silence I believe that they are dead. Their spirits, driven away by the witch, have left their bodies. The only thing to do in order to keep their souls in peace and to prevent this witchery craft from spreading among us is to bury them.”

The herb man ordered some of the men to look for boards and make two coffins immediately before the malady would go to them. In no time, the two coffins, made of rough planks, hurriedly nailed together, were finished .

The women began to weep for Ka Maldang. She had leaned rigidly against the back of her chair, closed her eyes, and shut her lips tight. The herb man asked the men gathered around to lift the couple into the coffins.

“We shall bury them at sunrise. Some of us have to stay to keep the wake for the dead,” he said.

The man easily lifted Ka Ugong and places him inside his coffin. Surely, he thought to himself, he would win the wager. He would not be afraid of being buried. Why, he would just get cut of the grave when the neighbors were gone. He thought everything going on was great fun and he was enjoying himself. How he would frighten them all when he returned from his grave!

The herb man approached Ka Maldang. Although her eyes were closed, she had been listening to his directions. She was afraid that he would surely force her into the coffin if she did not tell him to go away. But she did not want to talk. She hoped her husband would object to the men’s lifting her into the coffin.

“Surely, Hugo will not let me be buried tomorrow. Uh, I’m afraid to sleep in that coffin tonight. No, I’ll not let them lift me into it,” she thought to herself.

But she did not hear Ka Ugong speak. She opened her eyes just as the herb man, aided by two other men, put his arms around her to lift up from her chair.

Ka Maldang pushed the men, got up to her feet, and shouted, “Don’t touch us! Get out! Get out of my house. Shame on you for coming here, meddling with our lives!”

Ka Ugong leaped to his feet. He also shouted, “You talked first!”

He jumped about clapping his hands and saying to the astonished neighbors, “She talked first. We had a wager. Now she will always wash the dishes!’

Ka Maldang lifted up the lid of Ka Ugong’s coffin to strike his head with it but he ran out with his neighbors, still shouting happily and saying “I won, I knew I would win! Now I’ll never wash dishes.”

Analysis

Cultural Studies' primary goal is to understand the nature of social power reflected within the text It is judged according to its role or use in daily life. It studies the totality and the whole context of a culture inside a text. 

It was shown here in the short story how it came to be that women wash dishes in the culture of the Filipinos. It is a funny story about the culture of the Filipinos. As we all know, we Filipinos think before that man is supposed to work and the wife only stays at home and do the house chores. The author told it in a humorous way but at the same time it is being ridiculed. A lot our not agreeing with the thinking that men is stronger then women. So now a days Filipino has overcame this way and thinks of men and women equally.

Logocentrism

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Plot

Oliver Twist's mother dies after the birth of her child in a workhouse. The infant's father is unknown, and the orphan is placed in a private juvenile home. After nine years of mistreatment, the boy is returned to the workhouse for even more abuse. After representing his fellow sufferers in an attempt to get more food, Oliver is punished and is apprenticed to Sowerberry, an undertaker. Noah Claypole, a charity boy working for Oliver's master, goads Oliver to rebellion, for which Oliver is savagely flogged. Consequently, Oliver runs away and heads for London.


Near London, Oliver joins company with John Dawkins, The Artful Dodger, a questionable character who brings the boy to Fagin, the ringleader of a gang of criminals. Instructed in the "art" of picking pockets, Oliver goes out with Charles Bates and the Dodger. His companions pick an old gentleman's pocket and flee, and Oliver is arrested for their offense. At the police station, the terrified boy is cleared by the testimony of the bookseller who witnessed the theft. Oliver collapses and is taken home by Mr. Brownlow, the victim of the crime.

While Oliver recovers at his benefactor's home, Brownlow is puzzled by the resemblance between Oliver's features and the portrait of a young woman. Fagin is apprehensive and furious at Oliver's rescue. Nancy, one of his trusty retainers, is set on the boy's trail as the gang shifts headquarters.

Mr. Grimwig, Brownlow's friend, has no faith in Oliver, so Oliver is sent on an errand to test his honesty. The boy is recaptured by Nancy and her friend Bill Sikes, a vicious lawbreaker. Oliver is restored to Fagin, who holds him in strict captivity for a while. In the meantime, Bumble, a minor parish official from Oliver's birthplace, answers Brownlow's advertisement inquiring about Oliver. Bumble turns Oliver's benefactor against him by grossly misrepresenting the boy's history and character.

Eager to get Oliver completely in his power by thoroughly involving the child in some crime, Fagin convinces Bill Sikes to use Oliver in a major burglary that is being planned. Sikes takes Oliver westward through the city to a rendezvous near Chertsey with Toby Crackit.

At the house that is to be burglarized, Oliver is hoisted through a small window. The occupants are aroused and in the resulting melee, Oliver is shot. The robbers run off with the wounded Oliver but abandon him in a ditch.

In the workhouse, Sally, the old pauper who attended Oliver's mother, is dying. At her urgent request, Mrs. Corney, the matron, sees the old woman alone before she expires. Immediately thereafter Bumble and the matron agree to marry.

Fagin is greatly upset when Toby Crackit returns alone. Fagin makes anxious inquiries about Sikes. He then has an ominous meeting with a person called Monks, who is angry with Fagin, who he claims has failed in his obligation to ruin Oliver by tricking him into a lawless life

When Oliver regains consciousness in a ditch, he stumbles to the nearest house, which proves to be the site of the attempted burglary. The owner, Mrs. Maylie, takes the boy in and protects him with connivance of her doctor, Mr. Losberne. The boy is taken to a cottage in the country, where Mrs. Maylie's niece Rose suffers a near-fatal illness. In the town inn yard, Oliver encounters a repulsive stranger who later spies on him with Fagin. Rose rejects the proposal of Mrs. Maylie's son, Harry, but he does not accept her refusal as final.

Monks meets the Bumbles and purchases a locket that Mrs. Bumble redeemed with a pawn ticket that she took away from the dead Sally, who had received the pledge from Oliver's dying mother. The trinket contains a ring inscribed with the name "Agnes"; Monks drops it into the river.

Nancy, who sympathizes with Oliver, nurses Sikes until he regains his "natural" meanness. She drugs the man and slips away to Hyde Park for a secret meeting with Rose Maylie. Nancy tells Miss Maylie everything that she has learned by eavesdropping on Fagin and Monks on two occasions. The two rogues are plotting the destruction of the object of Monks's inveterate hatred — his brother Oliver. Mr. Brownlow, who has been absent from London, reappears and Rose tells him Nancy's story. Harry Maylie, Grimwig, and Mr. Losberne are also briefed on what Nancy has learned.

Noah Claypole and Charlotte, Sowerberry's maidservant, hide out in London after she has plundered the undertaker's till. They are discovered by Fagin, and Noah is employed to visit the police station to bring back information about the Dodger's indictment as a pickpocket. Because of her suspicious behavior, Fagin then assigns the sneak to spy on her. Nancy has a midnight meeting with Rose and Brownlow on London Bridge. Nancy informs Brownlow how he can corner Monks. Noah hears everything and immediately reports his findings to Fagin.

Fagin waits up for the marauding Sikes and provokingly discloses Nancy's double-dealing. Sikes promptly goes home and bludgeons her to death. After wandering in the country for a day, haunted by his evil deed, the murderer returns to London.

Mr. Brownlow has seized Monks and taken him to his home. The resultant disclosures clear up many mysteries. Brownlow had been engaged to the sister of his friend Edwin Leeford, Monk's father. While yet a mere boy, Leeford was forced into a bad marriage. The couple had only one child — Monks — and separated. Leeford became attached to a retired naval officer's daughter, Agnes Fleming. But Leeford died suddenly in Rome while looking after an inheritance. His wife had come to him from Paris just before his death. At the time, Agnes was expecting a child — the future Oliver Twist. Before leaving for Italy, Leeford had left the girl's picture with his friend Brownlow.

On account of the striking similarity between Oliver's face and Agnes Fleming's, Brownlow has been searching for Monks since the boy's disappearance. With the help of Nancy's discoveries, Brownlow has learned all about the destruction of Leeford's will, the disposal of the identifying trinket that Oliver's mother possessed, and Monks's vindictive conspiracy with Fagin to destroy the innocent boy. Faced with these revelations and a reminder of his complicity in the murder of Nancy, Monks comes to terms in return for immunity on the condition that Monks make restitution to his brother (Oliver) in accordance with the original will.

Toby Crackit and Tom Chitling have taken refuge in a crumbling building amid the ruins of Jacob's Island, in an inlet on the south side of the Thames. Fagin has been arrested, along with Claypole, while Chitling and Bates escaped. An unwelcome addition to the group is Bill Sikes, who is being tracked down. Charley Bates turns against the killer and raises an alarm to guide the pursuers. Attempting to escape from the house top, Sikes falls and is hanged in his own noose.

Oliver returns to the town of his birth with Mrs. Maylie, Rose, and Mr. Losberne. Brownlow follows with Monks. Monks confirms what he has already declared in writing. The past history of the two half-brothers is recapitulated. Their father's will left the bulk of his fortune to Agnes Fleming and her expected child. The Bumbles admit their part in the affair after being confronted with Monks's confession.

A new disclosure concerns Rose, who is of uncertain origin, although recognized by Mrs. Maylie as her niece. Rose is in reality the younger sister of Agnes Fleming, hence Oliver's aunt. Harry Maylie has repudiated his station in life to become a village parson, so the way is cleared for the young couple's betrothal.

Fagin is found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. While in prison awaiting execution, he disintegrates into a state of unrepentant maliciousness, but on his last night, he is visited by Brownlow and Oliver. Regaining some semblance of humanity, he reveals the location of some papers relevant to Oliver's interests.

For testifying against Fagin, Claypole is pardoned, and he and Charlotte live by disreputable means. Charles Bates reforms and becomes a herdsman. The other leading members of Fagin's gang are transported from England. In accordance with Mr. Brownlow's recommendation, Oliver shares his fortune with Monks, who nevertheless later dies in prison, destitute.

Rose and Harry Maylie are married, and Mrs. Maylie lives with them. Brownlow adopts Oliver and they settle near the parsonage, as does Mr. Losberne.

The Bumbles lose their positions and become inmates of the workhouse where Agnes Fleming died after giving birth to Oliver Twist.

Analysis

Logocentrism  assess the literary text, or utterance, in terms of its adherence to certain organizing conventions which might establish its objective meaning. It focuses on the text and how it functions in a piece. Its focus is upon words and language to the exclusion of non-linguistic matters, such as an author's individuality or historical context. 

Oliver Twist has many symbolism present in it. 

The character's name represents personal qualities.The name “Twist,” though given by accident, alludes to the outrageous reversals of fortune that he will experience. Rose Maylie’s name echoes her association with flowers and springtime, youth and beauty. Toby Crackit’s name is a lighthearted reference to his chosen profession of breaking into houses. Mr. Bumble’s name connotes his bumbling arrogance; Mrs. Mann’s, her lack of maternal instinct; and Mr. Grimwig’s, his superficial grimness that can be removed as easily as a wig.

Bill Sikes’s dog, Bull’s-eye, has “faults of temper in common with his owner” and is a symbolic emblem of his owner’s character. The dog’s viciousness reflects and represents Sikes’s own animal-like brutality. 

The London Bridge exist to link two places that would otherwise be separated by an uncrossable chasm. The meeting represents the collision of two worlds unlikely ever to come into contact and the atmosphere of degradation in which Nancy lives. 

Neo - Clacissicism

Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

Plot

The book is divided into two parts, the "home", and the "castle". The ending is part of the "home" section, returning after the castle.

The story is based around the German fairy tale of Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty) which is told by "Gemma", an elderly woman, to her three granddaughters. She tells this to the children almost all the time and it is the only bedtime story she ever tells. The times when "Gemma" tells the story are flashbacks and alternate between the present-day story.

In the present day, Gemma's Jewish family is living somewhere outside a city in Massachusetts. After her grandmother's death, Rebecca Berlin, the youngest of her three granddaughters (referred to as Becca in the novel) begins to believe that there is some meaning behind the bedtime story that her grandmother told to them hundreds of times. She consults Stan, a good friend and journalist who works for an "alternative" newspaper and uncovers historical facts.

She discovers that her grandmother was actually a survivor of the Holocaust who was persecuted for her Polish ethnicity and Jewish belief, and sent to Chełmno extermination camp to be executed. She decides to visit Chełmno and discovers a link with a man by the name of Josef Potocki in Poland. Becca sets off for Poland to find the identity and the life of her grandmother.

In Poland, Josef tells his life story and his meeting with Gemma. In the book, his story is told in the "castle" section. He was a target of the Holocaust due to his homosexuality, and became a fugitive, during which time he met many different people, mainly partisans, mainly in Germany. He had heard stories of torture and extermination camps and joined an underground group set out to rescue victims. This leads him to Chełmno (called Kulmhof by the Germans), where he witnesses the gassing to death of numerous people. The people are brought to the camp and then packed into trucks. The trucks drive away, with their exhaust funnelled into the passenger hold. By the time the trucks arrive at their destination, a mass grave, all of the people it was carrying have been gassed to death by the truck exhaust. The people are then dumped into the grave. When Josef sees the bodies of the people dumped, he notices that a woman with red hair (Gemma) is still alive and faintly breathing. He revives her through mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, which the woman, (who is later called KSIĘŻNICZKA, which means 'princess' in Polish) refers to in her fairy tale as "the kiss of life". In reality, during this period of time, 320,000 were killed in Chelmno via the method of gassing them in trucks.

Later, she hid in the forest with Polish partisans, fighting the Nazis, and married another Jew among them. She became pregnant by him shortly after their marriage. Then he, along with almost all of the other partisans, were killed by the Nazis. She escaped and was brought safely to the United States. She never told a soul about these experiences, rather dealing with the trauma by refashioning them in her mind into the form of a familiar fairytale about an evil witch, a princess rendered unconscious who is then revived by a handsome prince, and a happy ending.

The final part of the book is simply a conclusion where Becca returns to the U.S. to tell Stan and her family about what she discovered. At the airport, Stan is there to pick her up. He kisses her, and says "We'll get to our happily ever after eventually".

Analysis

Neo Classicism is the combination of classic and modern literature. In this novel your first thought would be the classic fairy tale Briar Rose. The classic story was told about the sleeping princess and everything but there was a hidden meaning behind it. It turns out that it was just a cover up story about what really happened because it was too traumatic for the narrator. Bringing out the story out of the classic tale to the modern world when Becca tried to discover the true meaning behind the story Briar Rose.

Genre Criticism

Happily Never After

Plot

The story begins with the idea that the Wizard (George Carlin) controls all of the fairy tales and maintains the balance of good and evil in Fairy Tale Land. With the help of his assistants the uptight Munk (Wallace Shawn) and the decidedly goofy Mambo (Andy Dick), the Wizard is checking to make sure that all the fairy tales under his care are "on track" to have their traditional happy endings. As we meet him however, the Wizard is leaving for Scotland for a long-overdue vacation. He leaves the kingdom in the hands of Munk and Mambo.

Ella is a girl who is better known as Cinderella (Sarah Michelle Gellar). She lives as a servant to her step family, dreams of the Prince (Patrick Warburton) who will sweep her off her feet. Her best friend at the palace is Rick (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), the palace dishwasher. Rick takes it upon himself to deliver the invitations to the royal ball to Ella. Ella sees Rick only as a friend, but Rick secretly loves Ella, although he is too cool and proud to admit it. Rick can't really understand what Ella likes about the Prince. Rick's Three Amigos, the comic chefs in the palace kitchen, believe that Rick has a bad case of "Prince envy". The Prince does everything by the book, and plans to meet his maiden at the ball.

However, things don't go as planned at the ball. Thanks to the assistants, Ella's evil stepmother, Frieda (Sigourney Weaver), gains access to the Wizard's lair during the Prince's ball. She manages to chase off Munk and Mambo and tip the scales of good and evil, causing a series of fairy tales to go wrong and have unhappy endings including Jack getting stepped on by the Giant (John DiMaggio), Little Red Riding Hood being eaten by the Big Bad Wolf, and Rumpelstiltskin (Mike McShane) winning his bet with the miller's daughter and takes her baby. She summons an army of Trolls, witches, 3 Big Bad Wolves, the Giant, and Rumpelstilkskin to her castle. Ella finds out and escapes to the woods, where she meets Munk and Mambo. The trio set out to find the prince who has gone looking for his maiden (not knowing it was actually Ella), in hopes that he will defeat Frieda and save the day.

Together, they flee to the Seven Dwarfs' home. Witches and trolls led by The Ice Queen attack them. The dwarfs hold off the trolls, while they flee with the help of Rick who had stolen a flying broom. Frieda decides to go after Ella herself. She succeeds in capturing her and returns to the palace, with Rick, Munk and Mambo in pursuit. Frieda tortures Ella because if the story had run its course she would have married the prince while Frieda would never get anywhere in life. Rick, Munk, and Mambo slip into the castle and attack Frieda. During the fight, Frieda generates a pit in the floor. Mambo knocks her in, but she uses her staff to fly back up again. After a short battle, in which Rick takes a blast meant for Ella and falls into a deep sleep, Frieda creates a portal by accident. Ella knocks Frieda back and punches her into the portal. Rick awakes from the spell and he and Ella kiss, finally admitting their feelings for each other.

Ella and her true love Rick decide to choose their destinies in a world of happy endings and get married. Rumpelstiltskin has shown throughout the movie that he has come to care for the baby, and the miller's daughter lets him stay in the castle as the baby's nanny. The Wizard returns from vacation where he wasn't told about what happened while he was away.

In the final scene, Frieda is shown trapped in the Arctic surrounded by elephant seals.

Analysis

Genre criticism analyses a piece according to its genre. Happily Never After is considered to be a fairy tale. Here are the characteristics of a fairy tale. Just like a typical fairy tale it started and ended with the special words like "once upon a time," and "they lived happily ever after." The story takes place in the castle and in the forest. It has a good character which is the protagonist of the story. In this film Ella is our good character.There is also a character which is a royalty. In the film, it is Prince but he is not the leading man. Magic is involved. In this case, the evil step sister took hold of the magic staff of a wizard that manages the fairy tale world. Lastly, the story revolves around a single plot. The films main plot line is about Cinderella's struggle from the cruelty of his step mother. With just slight bit of a twist from the original tale.

Archetypal

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Plot

This story begins with Percy having a nightmare about Grover being chased by a cyclops. The nightmare ends with a big voice booming, "MINE!"

Percy has another dream of Grover, and this time Grover and Percy talk to each other (Grover had earlier had made an empathy link, allowing them to communicate sometimes while Percy is sleeping) and Grover reveals that he is trapped in The Sea of Monsters by a Cyclops named Polyphemus. Grover says that "it" is here, but Percy wakes up before he can ask what Grover means.

The day after, Percy asks Annabeth if she understands what the dream about Grover means. Annabeth tells him that Grover may have found theGolden Fleece, and they both realize that the Golden Fleece can cure Thalia's poisoned tree. That night at the campfire, Annabeth and Percy ask Tantalus to send somebody on a quest to find the Golden Fleece, which he does, sending Clarisse. Percy gets angry with Tantalus, but doesn't know what to do. Later that night, when everyone else is asleep, Percy sneaks out to the beach and is met by Hermes, who gives him three duffel bags full of money and clothes, a magical thermos that holds the four winds, and a box of Minotaur-shaped multivitamins. He tells him that he must choose to board a passing cruise ship. Annabeth and Tyson arrive, and they decide to go to the cruise ship before security harpies consume them.

Percy receives help from Poseidon, who sends them three hippocampi, and together with Annabeth and Tyson, end up on the cruise ship, the Princess Andromeda, which is revealed to be owned by Luke. They are captured and learn that Luke is trying to reform Kronos, the lord of the Titans. They manage to escape on a lifeboat and go to Chesapeake Bay, where Annabeth leads them to a hideout that she had created a few years earlier when running away with Luke and Thalia.

Tyson gets a box of donuts which he got from a nearby donut shop (Monster Donut). They are attacked by a Hydra, which is killed by Clarisse who has a boat of her own that was given to her by her father Ares. The boat is an ironclad from the Civil War. They sail for the Sea of Monsters (which has now moved to the Bermuda Triangle) and Clarisse plans to destroy Charybdis and also encounters Scylla, who devours the captain of the ship as well as a few others of the crew. The engine overheats and explodes, and Clarisse's boat is destroyed and eaten by a monster. Percy and Annabeth make it out (Tyson is presumed dead), but lose their duffel bags; plus, the thermos has been emptied because Annabeth opened it "a little too far." They eventually find an island where Circe lives, and dock at her island, which turns out to be a spa. However, Percy is turned into a guinea pig and is put in a cage with six others. Annabeth frees him by using the multivitamins to become resistant to magic, and gives some to Percy and the others, who become human again. It turns out that the other six guinea pigs were Blackbeard (son of Ares) and his crew, and Percy and Annabeth use Blackbeard's ship to get away.

As they are sailing, they pass the land of the Sirens. Annabeth, who knows that the Sirens tell of their innermost desires,she decides that she wants Percy to tie her to the mast and have her listen to the Sirens' songs. However, Percy forgets to remove her knife, and she manages to free herself, almost reaching the island, but Percy manages to save her; in doing so, he learns that the Sirens' song made Annabeth see what she wanted most: her parents reunited and Luke converted back to the side of the gods, all having a picnic, in front of a brand new Manhattan, rebuilt by Annabeth. He grabs her before she can get out of the water and gets her back under, creating a giant air bubble so that she can breathe, and they make it back to their ship. On board, Annabeth tells Percy that her fatal flaw is hubris (deadly pride). They reach the island of Polyphemus – where they find Tyson safe and alive – and save Grover with the help of Tyson and Clarisse, recovering the Fleece in the process. They make their way to Florida, and Percy sends Clarisse, with the Fleece, back to camp.

Percy, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson are captured by Luke, and are taken to the Princess Andromeda. Percy manages to contact camp with an Iris-message, tricking Luke into admitting he poisoned Thalia's tree. In a duel with Luke, Percy is nearly killed. He is saved by Chiron and his relatives, the "Party Ponies". Chiron is rehired after being proven not guilty, and the Fleece cures Thalia's tree of its poison; however, Thalia herself is spewed out of the tree. Chiron realizes that everything that had happened had been to bring back Thalia, just to "put another chess piece into play".

Analysis

Archetypal Criticism focuses on recurring myths and archetypes. Archetypal criticism argues that archetypes determine the form and function of literary works, that a text's meaning is shaped by cultural and psychological myths. Archetypes are the unknowable basic forms personified or concretized in recurring images, symbols, or patterns which may include motifs such as the quest or the heavenly ascent, recognizable character types such as the trickster or the hero, symbols such as the apple or snake, or images such as crucifixion all laden with meaning already when employed in a particular work.

The presence of mythical creatures like the cyclops and the famous golden fleece makes this a perfect example for an archetypal literature. 

Darwinism

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 

Plot

In 2005, elderly Daisy is on her deathbed in a New Orleans hospital; she asks her daughter, Caroline, to read aloud from the diary of Benjamin Button. From the reading, we learn that on the evening of November 11, 1918, a boy is born with the appearance and physical maladies of an elderly man. The baby's mother died after giving birth, and the father, Thomas Button, abandons the infant on the porch of a nursing home. Queenie and Mr. "Tizzy" Weathers, workers at the nursing home, find the baby, and Queenie decides to care for him as her own.

Benjamin learns to walk in 1925; he declares it a miracle, after which he uses crutches in place of a wheelchair. On Thanksgiving 1930, Benjamin meets six-year-old Daisy, whose grandmother lives in the nursing home. Later, he accepts work on a tugboat captained by Mike. Benjamin also meets Thomas Button, who does not reveal that he is Benjamin's father. In autumn 1936, Benjamin leaves New Orleans for a long-term work engagement with the tugboat crew; Daisy later is accepted into a dance school in New York.

In 1941, Benjamin is in Murmansk, where he begins having an affair with Elizabeth Abbott, wife of the British Trade Minister. That December, Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, thrusting America into World War II. Mike volunteers the boat for the U.S. Navy; the crew is assigned to salvage duties. During a patrol, the tugboat finds a sunken U.S. transport and the bodies of 1,300 American troops. A German submarine surfaces; Mike steers the tugboat full speed towards it while a German gunner fires on the tugboat, killing most of the crew including Mike. The tugboat rams the submarine, causing it to explode, sinking both vessels. Benjamin and another crewman are rescued by U.S. Navy ships the next day.

In May 1945, Benjamin returns to New Orleans and reunites with Queenie. A few weeks later, he reunites with Daisy; they go out for dinner. Upon failing to seduce him afterward, she departs. Benjamin later reunites with Thomas Button, who, terminally ill, reveals he is Benjamin's father. Thomas wills Benjamin his possessions before he dies.

In 1947, Benjamin visits Daisy in New York unannounced, but departs upon seeing that she has fallen in love with someone else. In 1954, Daisy's dance career ends in Paris when a taxi cab crushes her leg. When Benjamin visits her, Daisy is amazed by his youthful appearance, but frustrated by her injuries, she tells him to stay out of her life.

In spring 1962, Daisy returns to New Orleans and reunites with Benjamin. Now of comparable physical age, they fall in love and go sailing together. Upon their return, they learn that Queenie has died; they move in together after the funeral. In 1967, Daisy has opened a ballet studio and tells Benjamin that she is pregnant; she gives birth to a girl, Caroline in spring 1968. Believing he cannot be a father to his daughter due to his reverse aging, Benjamin sells his belongings, leaves the proceeds to Daisy and Caroline, and departs the next spring; he travels alone during the 1970s.

Benjamin returns to Daisy in 1980. Now married, Daisy introduces him to her husband and daughter as a family friend. Daisy admits that he was right to leave; she could not have coped otherwise. She later visits Benjamin at his hotel, where they share their passion for each other. After saying their good-nights, Benjamin watches Daisy leave in a taxi from his window.

Sometime in the early 1990s, widowed Daisy is contacted by social workers who have found Benjamin — now physically a preteen. When she arrives, they explain that he was living in a condemned building and was taken to the hospital in poor health, and that they found her name in his diary. The bewildered social workers also say he is displaying early signs of dementia. Daisy moves into the nursing home in 1997 and cares for Benjamin for the rest of his life. In the spring of 2003, Benjamin dies in Daisy's arms, physically an infant but chronologically 84 years of age. Daisy dies on her deathbed as Hurricane Katrina approaches.

Analysis

Darwinism shows a context of evolution based from Darwin's theory of evolution. It features phenomenal events with regards to human changes and development.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a great example for Darwinism. Although it does not features evolution it can still be classified under Darwinism because the main issue in the movie is human development but only in revers. In the movie Benjamin is mysteriously living his life in reverse. It is a mysterious phenomena that Benjamin was born as old man and died as a baby. 

Moral Criticism

Yes Man!

Plot

Bank loan officer Carl Allen has become withdrawn since his divorce from ex-wife Stephanie. Routinely ignoring his friends Pete and Rooney, he has an increasingly negative outlook on his life. One day, an old colleague suggests that he goes to a "Yes!" seminar with him, which encourages its attendants to seize the opportunity to say "Yes!". Carl considers the option, but subsequently misses Pete's engagement party. An irate Pete turns up at his house and berates him, telling him that he will end up completely lonely if he does not change his life. Carl decides to attend the seminar and meets inspirational guru Terrence Bundley, who publicly browbeats him into making a covenant with himself. Carl reluctantly promises to stop being a "No Man" and vows to answer "Yes!" to every opportunity, request or invitation that presents itself thereafter.

After the seminar, saying yes to a homeless man's request only leaves Carl stranded in Elysian Park. Disillusioned, he hikes to a gas station where he meets Allison (Zooey Deschanel), an unorthodox young woman. She gives him a ride back to his car on her scooter and kisses him before leaving. After this positive experience, Carl feels more optimistic about saying yes. However, he refuses oral sex from his elderly neighbor Tillie (Fionnula Flanagan), which results in falling down the stairs and almost getting attacked by a dog. Seeing the repercussions of saying no, he goes back to Tillie. While initially disgusted with the thought, Carl is ultimately pleasured by Tillie and thoroughly enjoys his time spent with her.

Carl starts to seize every opportunity that comes his way. He renews his friendship with Pete and Rooney, builds up a bond with his boss, Norman, assists Pete's fiancée, Lucy (Sasha Alexander), attends Korean language classes, and much more. Saying yes constantly works to Carl's advantage. He earns a corporate promotion at work and, making use of his guitar lessons, plays Third Eye Blind's song "Jumper" to persuade a man not to commit suicide. Accepting concert tickets from a promoter, he sees an idiosyncratic band called Munchausen by Proxy whose lead singer turns out to be Allison. He is charmed by her quirkiness; she is charmed by his spontaneity and the two begin dating.

As their relationship develops, Carl and Allison meet at the airport for a spontaneous weekend excursion. Having decided to take the first plane out of town, regardless of its destination, they end up in Lincoln, Nebraska, where they bond more. As they take shelter from rain, Allison asks Carl to move in with her and he hesitantly agrees. While checking in for the return flight, Carl and Allison are detained by FBI agents who have profiled him as potential terrorist because he has taken flying lessons, studied Korean, approved a loan to a fertilizer company, met an Iranian, and bought plane tickets at the last minute. Pete, his attorney, travels to Nebraska to explain Carl's odd habits, lessons, and decisions. As she finds out about Carl's motivational covenant, Allison begins to doubt whether his commitment to her was ever sincere. Deciding that she can no longer trust him, Allison leaves Carl and refuses to return his phone calls.

Carl's life takes a turn for the worse, and he almost forgets about Lucy's shower. He manages to arrange a major surprise shower, set his friend Norm up with Soo-Mi (Vivian Bang), a Korean girl, and Rooney with Tillie. After the party, Carl receives a tearful phone call from Stephanie, whose new boyfriend has walked out on her. When Carl goes to Stephanie's apartment to comfort her, she kisses him and asks whether they can get back together. After Carl emphatically says no, his luck takes a turn for the worse and he decides to end his commitment to the covenant.

Carl goes to the convention center and hides in the backseat of Terrence's convertible so that he can beg to be released from the covenant. Carl emerges as Terrence drives off, and the startled Terrence collides with an oncoming vehicle. The two are taken to a hospital. After Carl recovers consciousness, Terrence tells Carl that there was no covenant. The starting point was merely to open Carl's mind to other possibilities, not to permanently take away his ability to say no if he needed to. Freed from this restraint, Carl finds Allison and admits that he is not ready to move in with her just yet, but that he genuinely loves her. The couple are reunited.

At the end of the movie, Carl and Allison are seen donating a truckload of clothes to a local homeless shelter. Cutting to the scene of the "Yes!" seminar, Terrence is seen walking onstage to several hundred naked audience members. It is implied that the participants have said yes to donating their clothes to charity.

Halfway through the credits, Carl and Allison are seen donning on 31-wheel roller suits and racing down a hillside. The suits are fictionalized as invented by one of the people Carl had approved a loan with. The suits are a real life invention of the French designer Jean-Yves Blondeau.

Analysis

Moral Criticism shows ethical teachings and its effect to readers. It gives moral guidance and imparts a moral lesson.

In the movie Yes Man, the moral lesson is to choose to live life by saying YES to the opportunities that are presented to you regardless of your fears. The movie shows  that when you take more chances, get out of your comfort zone, and throw yourself into new experiences despite any fears you may have, you get to live a happier, fuller life. You also open yourself up to even more opportunities and experiences. When you learn to say YES to things you say no to but deep down inside want to say YES to, your life will start to take on a new path. Every decision you make or don’t make will have some effect on where your life will lead. Don't be afraid in making decisions always be positive with whatever life bring us.