Analysis Of Rubber Men And Flashbacks - 1758 Words

Suma Thati Media Studies 10: Intro to Media Studies Fall 2016 Rubber Men and Flashbacks: Narrative Complexity in American Horror Story: Murder House In the third episode of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s anthology drama American Horror Story: Murder House (henceforth AHS: Murder House), Violet Harmon, the daughter of Ben and Vivien Harmon (the owners of the titular house) begins a relationship with Tate Langdon. It is only in the sixth episode that she finds out that Tate is not in fact alive: he was shot and killed in 1994 by police following his murder of 15 students at his high school. Up until then, and even afterwards, Violet and Tate co-exist harmoniously. The audience almost forgets that Tate is a ghost. This blurred boundary†¦show more content†¦A narratively complex show thus rejects the episodic convention of a return to the original status quo at the end of each episode, as one might see in an episode of Friends. Problems are often left unresolved to be expanded upon in future episodes. Narrative complexity is thus cumulative and unconventional: it is a combination of episodic closure and serial accumu lation, and employs new and engaging narratives and forms of storytelling (Jackson). Of the many ways to achieve narrative complexity, Mittell discusses â€Å"operational aesthetic,† which can best be described as something similar to special effects. Operational aesthetic is augmented in certain moments within a narratively complex program. That being said, complex television employs something called the narrative special effect, which is when a program makes use of certain storytelling tools, to engage the viewer (Mittell 43). It is by way of the narrative special effect that the media makers attempt to foster engagement in audiences by planting clues, and this can be achieved through, for example, shifts in perspective or time, dreams or fantasy sequences, and the absence of clear storytelling cues. The result is that audiences focus and speculate on form and structure in addition to content (Jackson). As a narratively complex program, AHS: Murder House makes use of narrat ive special effects to drive its storyline and to develop its characters. Episodes start in different time periods, and characters are oftenShow MoreRelatedLiterary Criticism : Not Just A Pretty Face 2609 Words   |  11 Pageswritten word. He contends that it suffers not only from inconsistencies internally because of Socrates analogy between memory and writing, but also because his ideas come to us only through his written word. Many deconstructive arguments center on the analysis of its oppositions. The person doing the deconstruction looks for ways in which one term is more privileged than the other in a particular text because it is considered the general, or normal, term, while the other is considered special or exceptionalRead MoreThe Hot Zone9599 Words   |  39 Pagesclotting agent. He is bleeding from his nose, as well as internally. By the time he reaches the hospital, Monet crashes and falls to the floor in a river of virus-infected blood. The Hot Zone Summary | Part 1, Chapter 1 Something in the Forest Analysis The author develops the first chapter with extreme attention to detail. In the plot structure of The Hot Zone, Part 1 acts as the exposition. The landscape of the region is used to foreshadow the potential for fear and death that may follow throughoutRead MoreProject on Stress Management9684 Words   |  39 Pagesball is about to be served at the other end. Certain Statistics that support common belief about stress: Statistics from a recent global stress research study show that increased stress is felt worldwide, and stress affects women differently than men: A recent Roper Starch Worldwide survey of 30,000 people between the ages of 13 and 65 in 30 countries showed: †¢ Women who work full-time and have children under the age of 13 report the greatest stress worldwide †¢ Nearly one in four mothersRead MoreTaguibo Watershed6389 Words   |  26 Pagessecond-growth forest but below 50% slope and 1000 meters above sea level, composing 589 hectares. A brush land area consists 227 hectares; grassland covers 641 hectares dominated by Cogon and Talahib among others. 148 hectares is filled with Falcata and rubber plantations. 62 hectares, meanwhile, constitute residential houses, barangay hall, bunkhouses as such. Roads and trails cover 22 hectares while rivers and creeks cover an estimated 27 hectares. Total cultivated area planted with fruit trees, coconut