Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Comment on a profile
In Propp’s theory of narrative, there is always a hero seeking something. In this profile, the heroine is Phakama, a female student who is seeking a better life for herself.. The disruption she faced was the death of her mother. According to Todorov, before a disruption there is a state of equilibrium. The heroine’s sate of equilibrium was when her mother was alive. A further disruption is the reappearance of her father. The heroine had to overcome a lot of challenges, including growing up in an unsafe environment and having to survive on her father’s money, which was insufficient for the family. She also encountered racism in her first week at university. Studying is her attempt to restore the state of equilibrium, for if she does well, she will lead a good life. Propp holds that there is a helper who aids the hero. In this case, it would be the heroine’s faith in God which helps her through the hard times. If she does well in her studies, the state of equilibrium will be restored, albeit in a situation different from the first.This is because though things can be stabilised, they cannot be restored to their exact position.
I thonk the writer here has handled the subject quite well. He or she managed to capture the story of the subject without placing any of the writer’s inferences or personal opinions. In a nutshell, the story sounds authentic. Despite that, I would have loved to get the story of the interview itself, because there seems to be more of the subject’s story and little of the story of the interview. But all in all it
is quite a good, insightful and emotion-filled sort of profile.
Profile from • http://www.my1stime.blogspot.com
Posted by Anonymous at 5:34 AM