Mini-Analysis #1: “Hamilton” and Narrative Criticism

The play “Hamilton” is a Broadway depiction of the story of early America, told in relevance to today’s current outlook of America. “Hamilton” features is an exciting musical that features a blend of today’s music, incorporating jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and show tunes, which are employed expertly to speak on the current issues and perspective of society as is today, based on the past of America’s founding father, Alexander Hamilton. For instance, the song (“Right Hand Man”) depicts Alexander Hamilton’s decision to accept a political position as an aide-de-camp for George Washington (Miranda, Lacamoire & Chernow, 2016, Act I). Interestingly, “Hamilton” captures the story of the founding father Alexander Hamilton to create a musical that reflects the issues of culture, politics, and education in American society (Delman, 2016). To assist in understanding “Hamilton,” the analysis will employ narrative criticism to explore the critical subject areas involved in the play. As Loof (2015) points out, narrative criticism is a form of literary analysis used in identifying the stories told by the speaker or author, which aid in comprehending the connotations held in actions and experiences. 

The first act of “Hamilton” kicks off with a musical (“Alexander Hamilton”) performed to highlight the commencement of Alexander Hamilton’s journey, an orphan who embarks on a journey to New York from his hometown in the Island of Nevis. The use of setting is established with the depiction of a historical background, which begins with the attire used in “Hamilton” and the portrayal of a time in history (Miranda, Lacamoire & Chernow, 2016, Act I). The genre explored in “Hamilton” is that of history, shown by the portrayal of a past time, with historical regalia, and the music played in the first act encompassing past music such as (“My shot”) (Miranda, Lacamoire & Chernow, 2016, Act I). The use of historical genre provides the setting of the “Hamilton” musical and provides a detailed and reflective outlook of Alexander Hamilton’s story as they begin to form the narrative.

Another narrative criticism is the exploration of the persona in the “Hamilton” musical, where it is observed that the use of the primary persona of Alexander Hamilton introspected to identify his involvement in shaping the history of black American communities. The song (“Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story”) reflects on Alexander Hamilton’s historical significance, which helps touch on his persona of being a care-free and callous attitude (Miranda, Lacamoire & Chernow, 2016, Act II). Alexander Hamilton is prone to anger and overreacting, observed in the song (“The Adams’s Administration”), an inflammatory critique that bashes the interim president John Adams (Miranda, Lacamoire & Chernow, 2016, Act II). Finally, animosity is observed in the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Burr, consistent with the exploration of the persona depicted in the song (“Your Obedient Servant”), highlighting competitive attitudes in both Burr and Hamilton (Miranda, Lacamoire & Chernow, 2016, Act II). Despite being influential and an avid proponent of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, the narrative explored is also callous and anger-driven, which are some of the human qualities humanity is susceptible to in society.

The “Hamilton” musical is a historical depiction of the activities and influences Alexander Hamilton had in historical America, with an outlook of today’s society encompassing aspects of culture, politics, and education. “Hamilton” tells a story premised on Alexander Hamilton’s contrarian persona, based on a historical genre, with the depictions of the golden American Revolution era setting. The rhetorical invention applied in “Hamilton” expands on society’s aspects, subtly and expertly hinted in the musical, which establish a correlation to the past and significance to American society’s present representations.

Mini- Analysis #2: AOC’s Yoho speech and Neo-Aristotelianism

There is a powerful saying that actions mean more than words, but equally, words have been found to have profane consequences depending on the interaction or context they are applied to in an interaction. The ensuing candid response shared by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez rebuking the vulgar insult by Rep. Yoho and his alleged “apology” was one considered to not only addressing the use of improper language and denying responsibility but also touched on the persistent issue of sexism engulfing society (Wu, 2020). According to Rep. AOC, the insults hurled her way by Rep. Yoho, is “not new,” and she has been exposed to during her previous jobs, and sees the entirety of the insult thrown at women to have a common grounding in society, which is a problem (Wu, 2020, para. 11). The use of neo-Aristotelianism provides a credible pathway to investigate Rep. AOC’s speech’s meanings and significance. As McLean (2017) points out, neo-Aristotelianism provides a rhetorical criticism approach that explores the speech’s ability to convey a particular idea or message to the audience.

The profound impact of Rep. Ted Yoho’s insult to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) highlights the significance that words can have to an interaction. In Rep. AOC’s response, the neo-Aristotelianism approach used provokes exploring the canons of invention, arrangement, and memory. Rep. AOC’s speech is a critical response that attaches both logic and emotion in its argumentative invention, where she feels saddened but firm and somewhat “not deeply hurt or pierced” by the comments of Rep. Yoho (Wu, 2020, para. 11). By seeming hurt but strong simultaneously, she depicts Rep. AOC as a strong young woman, and the audience can relate both to her emotional state, composure, and sadness to sympathize with her situation. Successively, the premise of logic is achieved with an in-depth outlook to the problem Rep. AOC alludes to as a cultural incident, “a culture of a lack of impunity, of acceptance of violence and violent language against women,” which is common in today’s society (Wu, 2020, para. 12). 

Rep. AOC’s speech also employs the canons of an arrangement employing a systematic structure that first highlights the issue, an in-depth dig into the cause of the issue, and the prevalence and impacts on society. Firstly, being insulted by Rep. Yoho being called a “f****** b****” is explicitly mentioned, the persistence of the insult she was exposed to working in other jobs, and the excuses made by Rep. Yoho on “the floor of the House of Representatives” goes to show the adequately arranged structure of speech (Wu, 2020, para 10, 11, 15). Rep. AOC expertly demonstrates the canon of memory in her failure to show negative emotion and remain articulate in her message. She goes to say, “I do not need Rep. Yoho to apologize to me. Clearly, he does not want to,” which highlights her whole point of sexism being perpetuated with those that hold power, “an entire structure of power that supports that” (Wu, 2020, para. 12, 19).

Based on Rep. Yoho’s speech, it is necessary to examine sexism in today’s society, exposing women to abuse and dehumanization, spread evenly in the highest offices in congress. Most of the observations shared by Rep. Yoho are consistent with the outlook on women that needs to change. Women are exposed to inferiority and are considered second-best to men, which is wrong, and an indoctrination still exists in the twenty-first century (Blackburn, 2017). Society needs to recognize women and their roles, which are equally as important as their male counterparts.  

Mini-Analysis #3: Season 1, Episode 5 of 30 Rock and Genre Criticism

The episode “Jack-Tor” in Season one of the sitcom “30 Rock” was aired as the fifth episode of the thirty episode series on the NBC network in the United States (U.S.). The plot of the episode revolves around Liz and Jack, who are looking at doing a sketch performance; however, there is the realization that Jack lacks the acting chops necessary and is only concerned with inserting a General Electric (GE) product into the show. Jack forgot most of his lines in the sketch, which prompts Liz to offer assistance, and go over the sketch again (“”30 Rock” Jack-Tor (TV Episode 2006) – IMDb”, n.d.). While that unfolds, Tracy is faking illiteracy to avoid rehearsals, and quickly gets discovered by Liz when she finds him reading a newspaper. Another scene unfolds with Jenna being pranked by Frank and Toofer, telling her about the job loses about to happen, which provokes her to flirt with an alleged executive only to find out the executive was an extra on the show(“”30 Rock” Jack-Tor (TV Episode 2006) – IMDb”, n.d.). The use of Genre Criticism provides literary criticism to establish the genre of works of literature and the category they fall under (Miller, Devitt & Gallagher, 2018). 

According to Reeder (2020), the use of genre criticism works by exploring the various vital genre characteristics of works of literature, establishing their categorization, and how they fit or break the conventions of a particular genre. The genre for “30 Rock” applies to a situational comedy film since it is based on identical characters involved in the entirety of the series and involves a comical approach to the film. The episode five, “Jack-Tor,” depicts Jack’s struggles and product integration, Liz’s integration of self-referential sketch for Jack’s product placement, and the faking of illiteracy to avoid work by Tracy, which are all illuminated in a comic aspect. Aitbaeva et al. (2018) define comedy as a play with humorous and satirical aspects and tone that depicts amusement, which is consistent with episode five, “Jack-Tor” of “30 Rock.” 

Another genre criticism aspect observed in the sitcom “30 Rock,” mainly episode five, “Jack-Tor” is the use of mischief observed in Jenna’s prank by Toofer and Frank, which alludes to fun and harmless malice shared among counterparts, indicating a comic genre. The prank revolves around misinformation and misleading Jenna, and expertly orchestrated by Frank and Toofer, only to be interrupted by Liz when she tells Jenna the truth. The premise of laughter is gained in the episode whereby Jenna flirts with set extra thinking they hold an executive position to find information on people’s alleged firing. These are some of the playful banter in the episode that qualifies it under the comic genre. Furthermore, Tracy’s faking of illiteracy only to be found reading a newspaper is funny in the sense that he can gain some time off work in full pretense only for his lie to catch up with him when he needs most to read a newspaper. 

The film “30 Rock” is identified as a comedy genre film as the exploration of episode five, “Jack-Tor” provides the intricate outlook of the film’s activities, made up of satire, irony, and mischief observed from the personas in the film. The involvement of characters who display a humorous and amusing perspective establishes the genre of comedy, as there is fun, laughter, and amusement in episode five.

References

“30 Rock” Jack-Tor (TV Episode 2006) – IMDb. IMDb. Retrieved 6 October 2020, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0882999.

Aitbaeva, B., Abduov, M., Tuleubaeva, K., Zhunusova, M., & Ametova, A. (2018). Creating comedy in satiric short stories by means of language tools. XLinguae. 11. 383-393. DOI: 10.18355/XL.2018.11.02.31.

Blackburn, H. (2017). The status of women in STEM in higher education: A review of the literature 2007–2017. Science & Technology Libraries, 36(3), 235-273, DOI: 10.1080/0194262X.2017.1371658.

Delman, E. (2016). How Lin-Manuel Miranda Shapes History. The Atlantic. Retrieved 5 October 2020, from https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/09/lin-manuel-miranda-hamilton/408019/.

Loof, T. (2015). A narrative criticism of lifestyle reality programs. Journal of Media Critiques, 1(1), 167-178. DOI: 10.17349/JMC115209.

McLean, D. (2017). Speaking of virtue ethics: what has happened to leisure?. Annals of Leisure Research, 20(5), 529-545. DOI: 10.1080/11745398.2017.1357046.

Miller, C. R., Devitt, A. J., & Gallagher, V. J. (2018). Genre: Permanence and change. Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 48(3), 269-277. DOI: 10.1080/02773945.2018.1454194.

Miranda, L., Lacamoire, A., & Chernow, R. (2016). Hamilton: an American musical. Vocal selections. [Los Angeles, California]: Warner/Chappell.

Reeder, E. (2020). What Is Genre Criticism? (With picture). WiseGEEK. Retrieved 6 October 2020, from https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-genre-criticism.htm.

Wu, N. (2020). ‘I am someone’s daughter too.’ Read Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s full speech responding to Rep. Ted Yoho. Usatoday.com. Retrieved 5 October 2020, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/24/aoc-response-ted-yoho-read-text-rep-ocasio-cortezs-speech/5500633002.