Dan Roemer

Eastern Washington University Student Research &

Creative Works Symposium
May 16, 2012
Genre Theory:

Kathleen Kohrs Campbell and Kathleen Hall
Jamieson 1978 Genre Theory:
Listed four essential standards for a genre
analysis
Classification is justified only by the critical
illumination it produces, not by the neatness
of a classificatory schema.
Genre Criticism taken as a mean towards
systematic, closed textual analysis.
A genre is a complex, an amalgam , a
constellation of substantive, situational, and
stylistic elements.
Generic analysis reveals both the conventions
and affinities that a work shares with others; it
uncovers the unique elements in the rhetorical
act, the particular means by which a genre is
individuated in a given case.
Independence Day
(1996)
The Situation:
An alien invasion with the invaders fiercely
determined to steal our resources and take
over the earth.

The Heroes:
Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith), David
Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), and President
Thomas J. Whitmore
(Bill Pullman).

The Villains:
The aliens and the Secretary of Defense

The Government Underling who
Inadvertently Sabotages the Heroes:
Secretary of Defense Albert Nimzicki
(James Reborn).

The Resolution:
The U.S and the rest of the world
successfully hold back an alien invasion
and brings victory to humankind.
Dante Peak (1997)
The Situation:
The possible eruption of Dantes
Peak a fictional volcano in the
Cascade Range.

The Heroes:
Volcanologist Harry Dalton
(Pierce Brosnan), Mayor Rachel
Wando (Linda Hamilton), and
Harrys fellow volcanologists.

The Government Underling:
Paul Dreyfuss (Charles Hallahan),
who opposes Harry evacuating the
town earlier.

The Resolution:
The volcano erupts, but with only a
small number of casualties and the
heroes survive.
2012 (2009)

The Situation:
An increase in the Earths core
temperature resulting in wide
spread global cataclysm.

The Heroes :
Jackson Curtis (John Cusack),
Adrian Helmsley (Chiewetel
Ejiofor), and Dr. Satnam Tsurutani
(Jimi Mistri).

The Government Underling:
Secretary of State Carl Anheuser
(Oliver Platt).

The Resolution: The government
shepherds the world to safety with
a large number of casualties, but a
renewed chance at survival.


















Hollywood Disaster Themes and
Trends:


The Hero
Government as the Savior
Finding love amidst the rubble
The Conspiracy Theorist
Government underling
President Whitmores
Independence Day Speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l31UUl5SyXk&feature=youtu.be
"Good morning. Good morning. In less than an hour,
aircraft from here will join others from around the world,
and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the
history of mankind. Mankind, that word should have new
meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our
petty differences any more. We will be united in our
common interest. Perhaps it's fate that today is the 4th of
July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom.
Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution, but from
annihilation. We're fighting for our right to live, to exist.
And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be
known as an American holiday, but as the day when the
world declared in one voice, 'We will not go quietly into the
night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to
live on, we're going to survive.' Today we celebrate our
independence day!"

President Thomas Whitmore
July 4th, 1996
Kenneth Burke and Dramatism
Kenneth Burkes Dramatistic Pentad:
All of human life is drama or
Seeking Speaker (Movie Director) Motive

1. SCENE: What is the context in which the interaction occurs?
2. PURPOSE: What is the goal of the act?
3. ACT: What is the act that is being done?
4. AGENCY: What is the means through which the act is being
accomplished?
5. AGENT: Who is performing the action?
www.wordle.net
The Dramatistic Pentad:
Act: The act is the fighting.
Scene: the world
Agent: We is the agent as in the people who are fighting.
(second most predominant part of the pentad).
Agency: The agency in which the act is occurring is
through human will. (most important part of the
pentad).
Purpose To live to fight for survival

Conclusion:
Introduce the topic and why you came to it
Introduce genre theory (or Pentad)
Introduce each movies particular generic components
(3)
Summary of disaster film generic components
Pullman speech (as anomaly, as gap the genre theory
couldnt explain, as rhetorical criticism opportunity)
Introduce Pentad as method to discover President
Whitmores motive for speaking
Summary

Work Cited: