My essay on different genres including the Ghost genre and the Fantasy & Adventure genre
An essay on different genres including the Ghost genre and the Fantasy & Adventure genre
I have chosen two completely different genres to base my essay on. Firstly, I have the mysterious and gripping Ghost Genre; the books I have studied are "The Woman in Black", "The Langoliers" and the spooky film, "The Others". The second genre is Fantasy & Adventure. The book I am studying is "Lirael", a recent book written by Australian author Garth Nix. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring", directed by Peter Jackson is the film that I am analysing.
There are many, definite trends to ghost stories, no matter what the novel is about. They are all usually set in remote areas and are about haunting. Death is usually common in scary stories also. Dense fog creates mysteriousness in the ghost genre and scary stories. It is not just used in books, but is a frequent trick displayed in films.
The Langoliers is a gripping novel about a flight from L.A. to Boston, where the passengers somehow disappear when the plane is caught in a time warp, and pilot Brian Engle is left on his own, attempting to land the stray flight.
"Brian peered out of the cockpit window. Outside, all that was visible were peaks of the Rocky Mountains, which were engulfed in a dense, dark fog."
The above quote is used by writer Stephen King to make the reader believe that the plane is now completely lost as the pilot cannot see any landmarks to pinpoint where he is!
In the film "The Others" mist is constantly used when snapshots of the outside of the house are shown to create an eerie atmosphere. This works very well as it looks like the mansion is in the middle of nowhere and that the inhabitants are trapped inside, because if they go outside they will be lost in the thick fog.
A misty atmosphere also creates a ghostly setting as the lack of visibility makes either the reader or viewer not know what is out there in the large, open spaces.
In the ghost story film "The Others", an unnerving atmosphere is set straight away. It begins with cheerful, but strange music, and then a woman is shown screaming, making you wonder what has just occurred. This is the perfect beginning for a novel under the ghost story genre. Further on into the film, we learn that the children who live in the house are ultra-sensitive to any bright light. This adds to the strangeness of the story, possibly scaring the viewer and making them believe that the characters are quite strange.
The majority of all ghost stories are set in the winter months because the weather is bad and when it is like this, bad things usually happen. The main character usually gets themselves into a spot of bother due to either the torrential rain, snow or a storm. It is highly unlikely for a ghost story to be set in sunny or cheerful surroundings. It is the dark, dismal and eerie atmosphere that adds to the scariness.
In both "The Others" and Susan Hill's "The Woman in Black," death is a key factor in the story line. Dying is always used because if somebody had not died, there would be no ghost to haunt the major character in the novel. In "The Woman in Black", narrator and main character Arthur Kipps is constantly haunted by the sound of a pony and trap being pulled under a marsh by quicksand. He also hears the ghost of Jennet Humpfrye whistling for dog Spider to be lured out of Eel Marsh House. The book says:
"I heard, ...
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In both "The Others" and Susan Hill's "The Woman in Black," death is a key factor in the story line. Dying is always used because if somebody had not died, there would be no ghost to haunt the major character in the novel. In "The Woman in Black", narrator and main character Arthur Kipps is constantly haunted by the sound of a pony and trap being pulled under a marsh by quicksand. He also hears the ghost of Jennet Humpfrye whistling for dog Spider to be lured out of Eel Marsh House. The book says:
"I heard, unmistakably clean and clear, the sound of someone whistling,"
This line can scare the readers and prove that there is a ghost nearby as where Arthur is staying: Eel Marsh House, nobody wants to live and no person would be nearby!
In "The Langoliers", pilot Brian Engle is haunted by a vision of his recently divorced and dead wife. Abstract dreams are described to the reader, these always add to the strangeness of ghost stories.
The Langoliers, whose jobs are to eliminate anything trapped in time, are constantly mentioned:
"Dhina could hear their munching... the munching of those beings... the Langoliers."
The two sets of ellipses are used to create tension as the pauses make the reader pause, and then want to know what happens next. This type of punctuation is not only used for a cliff-hanger ending, they are used to describe thought and also slit the text up and create a jumpy rhythm to reading so tension is created.
In many ghost stories, although not in "The Langoliers", the setting is very gothic. This is due to the fact that when ghosts were most feared by many people, the houses were gothic. The image is now seen as very spooky! In the film "The Others", the mansion where the family live is on a small island; so it is isolated and the structure is stone with gargoyles surrounding the building. A graveyard is also inside the house's grounds. In "The Woman in Black", Arthur Kipps first meets the ghostly character in a graveyard. Tombstones are also close to Eel Marsh House where Arthur is staying. Graveyards could mean bad things in ghost stories. In "The Others", the servants cover up their gravestones in order to not reveal that they are dead! Arthur Kipps first sees the ghost of Jane Humpfrye leaning on a gravestone at lonely Mrs.Drablow's funeral.
These two parts of stories have one thing in common: they are both pivotal points in the story.
In the two ghost stories that I am analyzing, most of the chapters have dramatic endings. In "The Langoliers", a chapter ends with the sentence:
"Nick looked out of a small window; looked at the star-scattered sky, he looked even harder now as a frown appeared on his forehead, what he saw amazed him."
This works well as the reader will want to know what Nick is frowning at. They will want to discover what is either good or bad. This is where 'train of thought' comes into the novel. This means that one idea is carried on from one chapter to another chapter. Without it, the reader would have to read on further to find out what has happening or what is happening.
In "The Woman in Black", 'train of thought' is used as frequently, many chapters beginning where the previous chapter ended, an example of this is:
"...for the last few miles of our journey."
The next chapter begins with:
"When we arrived, my first impressions were..."
This is a great example of 'train of thought' as one part ends with Arthur on his journey. He then arrives and describes the market town on the next page.
I have discovered many trends in the three ghost stories that I have analysed. All of the books have been set in either a remote area or at night. Two have both of these characteristics. Ghost stories all have a main character who is haunted by ghostly things. Cliff-hanger endings to chapters are common, and are then followed by 'train of thought'. The houses in stories in the ghost genre are similar, they are gothic and the weather is usually bad; this is because the season is winter. Because the story is set in winter, fog, rain and storms are common, so the whole story is different and possibly more frightening because of the awful settings.
"The Others" and "The Woman in Black" both end with a twist. In the ghostly film, we find that the main characters are ghosts and the hauntings in their house were actually by the living people, not the dead!
"The Woman in Black" ends with Arthur's wife Stella dying and his baby being killed. We also find that Jane Humpfrye's ghost haunts anybody who has visited Eel Marsh House. Also, when her ghost appears, a child dies, unfortunately, it happens to Arthur.
These things were common in all the books that I studied.
I believe that there will also be certain patterns in the Fantasy & Adventure story!
In the next part of my essay, I will analyze two stories from the Fantasy genre. One is "Lirael", which follows the adventures of a young girl, running away from her home in the mountains and the rest of her creed. Unlike the rest of her creed (the Clayr) she cannot see into the future.
"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of Ring" follows the quest of Frodo Baggins who must destroy an all-powerful Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. The film, based on a book by J.R.R. Tolkein follows the Fellowship's quest.
As in the ghost genre, the book "Lirael" may have the same, or similar trends. Even though the "L.O.T.R." is a film, it may also have certain points which could be linked with "Lirael."
Both the stories set the scene at the beginning, "Lirael" starts by telling us about two of the characters who will influence the story, in the first chapter it says:
"You are Hedge."
This quote shows that the author has introduced a character, later on in the text another person is introduced, as the text quotes:
"The woman in that golden mask swiveled round, "I am Chlorr," the lady replied."
In the "L.O.T.R." writing does not set the scene as it is a film. There is a short speech and a film about Sauron and how the Ring was created and how it fell into the hands of Frodo Baggins.
In the Fantasy Genre, the setting is usually similar: it is not based on our earth, but in imaginary worlds. "Lirael" is set in the Old Kingdom, which is in many ways like our world, but has different species of animals. Middle Earth is where "L.O.T.R." is set and is similar to a country in Medieval times; it has open countryside, but fortress towns like Minas Tirith and Edoras.
In the Fantasy Genre, there are two sides, the good side and of course, the bad. In "Lirael" dead beings serve a necromancer called Hedge who is in allegiance with an evil King named Kerrigor. The "dead hands" are constantly searching for opponents to Kerrigor.
In the "L.O.T.R." Orcs are the slaves to Sauron, who, like Kerrigor is now only a spirit, attempting to take form once more. The Orcs are not clever creatures unlike Dead Hands and will put their life on the line for their master. This is another similarity between two completely different books in the Fantasy Genre.
Both people who are on the quest in the novel (Frodo and Lirael) are inexperienced and both have companions, which are not human. Lirael has her talking animal which she created, the Disreputable Dog and Frodo has the evil, two-faced Sméagol, also known as Gollum.
Further on in both the stories, the main characters meet up with other people and form a fellowship. Lirael finds an escaped Prince named Sameth, while Frodo and three other hobbits join forces with wizad Gandalf, ranger Aragorn, elf Legolas, dwarf Gimli and Gondor General Boromir. Bad things happen to the main characters in both the films and the book. Frodo is stabbed by one of the Nazgul who are hunting the Ring while Lirael meets an unfriendly creature called a Stilken and has a tough time destroying it.
In the Fantasy Genre, many of the stories are about adventure, so they are not set at any specific time of the year as the quests take a long time. Sometimes, when the characters are cheerful, the weather is bright and sunny; but like in "Lirael", when a group of boys are being pursued by Dead Hands, the weather suddenly deteriorates. In "Lirael" it says:
Sameth ran. As he did so, the heavens opened, and the large drops of rain began to fall. They splashed on the ground..."
In this genre, the weather matches the characters' moods, unlike in ghost stories where pathetic fallacy is used and there are constantly storms and overcast days.
At the end of both of the Fantasy films and stories, there are strange endings, with a small twist. In the "L.O.T.R." Merry and Pippin (two hobbits) are captured, Boromir is slain by an Orc and Frodo and Sam leave and decide to complete their task alone.
In "Lirael" Sameth realizes that his friend Nicholas has been captured by Hedge and sets off to find him, ending the book on a cliff-hanger!
I have found that, like Ghost stories, the Fantasy Genre has certain trends too. There are two sides, good and evil, the main characters are usually on quests and have a companion, and the weather matches the mood of people involved in the story. Also, in both "Lirael" of course the "L.O.T.R." magic is used frequently. 'Train of thought' is not used often though as so much is happening in the novel.
To summarise although all stories within a certain Genre are totally contrasting, they are similar in their sentence structure, characters, and of course... storyline.
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Andrew Keating
9D
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