ASSIGNMENT 8: NARRATIVE

THEORYBy Nicole Lewis

PART A: TODOROV

TODOROV TASK 1

TODOROV TASK 2

SNAKES ON A PLANEEQUILIBRIUM: They are getting on the plane. Hoping

for a safe journey and relaxing.

SNAKES ON A PLANEDISEQUILIBRIUM: The timer ends and the snakes start to

travel around the plane, but nobody knows yet.

SNAKES ON A PLANERECOGNITION OF DISEQUILIBRIUM:

The pilot ends up finding a snake around his controls. He then shows the stewardess and the FBI. The snakes start cutting through the wires on the plane, which drops the oxygen mask, making even more snakes come out.

SNAKES ON A PLANEATTEMPT TO REPAIR DISEQUILIBRIUM:

The FBI agent calls the other agent to find a lot of anti-venom for everyone on the plane. They start building a barrier to stop the snake from moving anymore.

SNAKES ON A PLANENEW EQUILIBRIUM: At the end, once all the snakes are

gone, the FBI agent and the witness go surfing.

PART B: LEVI-STRAUSS

Film Opposite 1 Opposite 2 ExplanationThe Breakfast Club

• John Bender, who goes by Bender is the rebellious one.

• He gets into trouble all the time and ends up having even more detention because of his actions in the movie.

• He comes from a broken home where his father often abuses him, but puts on a tough image for school.

• He gets angry quickly and

seeks attention.

• Brian Johnson is nothing like Bender. He is the nerd of the group.

• He likes to keep himself to himself and lacks self-confidence and does not have any social skills.

• He is very intelligent but is pressured by his father to be so.

• They are opposites by the way they dress.

• Bender dresses like a rebel, pilling clothes on then wearing leather gloves.

• Brian dresses like how every parent wants their child to look. Plain jumper, normal jeans, socks and trainers.

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Film Opposite 1 Opposite 2 Explanation

Spiderman

• Spiderman is the hero of the film.

• He saves the day after he was the one to give ‘The Lizard’ power in the first place.

• The Lizard is the villain in the film.

• He gets obsessed with power and loses control.

• They are opposites because once Peter found out that he had spider powers, he used them for good, but when The Lizard got his power, he used it to take over the world.

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Film Opposite 1 Opposite 2 Explanation

The Unborn

• Casey stats to see “Matty”. She finds out he’s her twin brother that dead in the womb.

• No one believes her because her mother died of a mental disability, so they think she’s mental too.

• He wants to be born again.

• He’s evil.• He wants

Casey dead and is part of the family curse.

• Casey wants to get rid of the family curse, while Matty wants everyone dead.

Film Opposite 1 Opposite 2 Explanation

iRobot

• The detective Del Spooner holds a grudge on the robots because he says they are heartless as they saved him from drowning instead of a 12 year old girl.

• The robots live by 3 laws.

• A robot must never harm a human being or, through inaction, allow any harm to come to a human.

• A robot must obey the orders given to them by human beings, except where such orders violate the First Law.

• A robot must protect its own existence unless this violates the First or Second Laws.

• They are opposites because as a detective, Del Spooner’s job is to protect everyone from danger, but then again, so are the robots.

• Instead of following their rules the create their own to take over the world.

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Film Opposite 1 Opposite 2 Explanation

Snakes On A Plane

• He’s an FBI agent and is on the plane bringing a murder witness to LA.

• A snobby business man, that is already angry at the airline for having to move from first class to coach, because of the FBI.

• They are opposites because while agent Neville Flynn plans to save people from the snake bites, the business man throws a woman’s Chihuahua at a snake to save himself.

• He later gets eaten whole by a snake.

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PART C: BARTHES

ENIGMA CODE Narratives set up as puzzles to be

solved.So Undercover.Everything is hidden until the end, where there is a huge plot twist.

ACTION CODE Actions and behaviour that leads the

audience to expect certain consequences.

Horror films: House at the End of the Street. Check to see if the killer is actually

dead. Killer is not dead. Other injured person has to save the

one in help.

SEMANTIC CODE Connotative meanings of characters,

objects and location.Dark, old clothes.

Clear, empty space.

Scary, evil contacts.

Cold, blue lighting.

Bright, daylight background.

Light, natural make-up.

SYMBOLIC CODE Symbolic features often signify

oppositions and antitheses. St. Trinians.

Trustafarian Chavs Geek Emo Posh Totty

CULTURAL CODE Outside of text and knowledge we

commonly share to bring understanding of the meaning in the text. Often references to things in popular culture and historical events.

Disturbia. Camcorder and TV to show what’s on it.

Swimming Pool.

PART D: PROPP THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN

HERO On a quest/search to restore the

disequilibrium.

The Amazing Spiderman/Peter Parker

VILLAIN Opposes the hero. Cause of disruption

and often a threat to the safety of the heroine.

The Lizard.

DISPATCHER Starts the hero on it’s way, usually to

restore the equilibrium.

Uncle Ben. Even though he is dead. Peter would

have never become the hero if he wasn’t fighting for Uncle Ben.

DONOR Helps the hero by giving them a ‘magic’

tool, to help them on his journey. Could be advice, a skill or an object.

N/A

HELPER Assists/helps the hero in resorting the

equilibrium. Could be the sidekick.

Officer George Stacy. Once he finds out that SpiderMan is

trying to save the town, he helps SpiderMan by creating a distraction.

HEROINE Often referred to as the Princess. Is

threatened by the villain and needs rescuing by the hero. Often in love.

Gwen Stacy.

FALSE HERO Starts off on the hero's side then turns

against them.

Dr. Curt Connors. All he wanted was to cured illnesses, but

once he found a cure for himself, he let it go to his head.

PART E: TERMS

DIEGESIS The world the characters live in.

Mean Girls. Where the characters live in a high school world.

NARRATIVE RANGE

UNRESTRICTED NARRATION Exposes many information. Cast Away After getting washed away onto an

island, Chuck must find his way by himself, back home.

UNRESTRICTED NARRATION

Only giving the audience minimal information.

Contagion. It is a film about a deadly disease going

around and nobody knows where it came from or how to cure it.

The audience only finds out at the end where the disease came from.

PART F: CAMERON. MODULAR NARRATIVE.

FORKING PATH Groundhog Day It is a forking path because Phil (the

main character) is reliving the same day over and over again and he’s the only one that knows that it is happening.

FORKING PATH Sliding Doors It is a forking path because one person

becomes two as the live two different lives, then ends up back as one at the end.

EPISODIC What to expect when you’re expecting. All I women go through the joys of having a child. At the

end the audience finds out they are all connected. Ramsey and Skyler are married. Gary, Ramsey's son, is married to Wendy. Skyler's cousin is Rosie, who is has a growing relationship

with Marco. Gary was on Jules' weight loss program. Jules was Evan dance partner on a dance competition

show. She is now pregnant with his child. Wendy's photographer is Holly, who is married to Alex. Wendy suggests that Skyler use Holly for her baby

photos.

EPISODIC Love Actually Different aspects of love as shown through ten separate

stories. John and Judy work with Tony who is best friends with Colin who

works for a catering company that services the office where Sarah, Karl, Mia, and Harry work.

They also catered Peter and Juliet's wedding. Mia is friends with Mark who runs the art gallery where the

Christmas office party takes place. Mia also lives next door to Natalie. Mark is in love with Juliet and friends with Peter. The couple are friends with Jamie and Sarah. Harry is married to Karen who is friends with Daniel, and

Karen's brother is David who works with Natalie. Harry & Karen's children (David's niece & nephew), Natalie's

siblings (Mia's neighbours), and Carol's son are all school

mates of Sam and Joanna.

ANACHRONIC Saw (Flashback)

The Time Traveler’s Wife (Flash Forward)

SPLIT SCREEN Sisters (1973)

Conversations with other women (2005)