Hello, this is a mini lecture on the
thematic paradigm and the semiotic
analysis heroes of The Simpsons. So we're
talking about the essay "The Thematic
Paradigm" by Robert B. Ray, and a paradigm
is an example that serves as a model or
a pattern; therefore, a thematic paradigm
refers to themes that serve as models or
patterns. Ray is discussing the themes in
the heroes that we tend to see in
American film. He begins by explaining
the theory by psychoanalyst Erik Erikson
that American personalities are drawn to
"some tentative combination of dynamic
polarities" by this Erikson means that
our personalities are made of opposite
traits for example we are strong yet
sensitive traditional yet open to change
outgoing yet sometimes shy and so on
and Ray tells us that we see such
opposites in movie characters. He
discusses two main types of heroes we
often see, the outlaw hero and the
official hero.
So first talking about the outlaw hero
this hero appeals to "that part of the
American imagination valuing
self-determination and freedom from
entanglements" for example many of these
heroes are adventurers Wanderers loners
and so on this hero is childish and has
a "propensity to wins tantrums and
emotional decisions," "Adults try
desperately to postpone responsibilities
by clinging to adolescent lifestyles," and
this hero has "a distrust of civilization
typically represented by women and
marriage." "Women are avoided as
representing the very entanglements this
tradition seeks to escape: society the
settled life continuing responsibilities.
Women are taboo except as the objects of
lust the outlaw hero is ambivalent about
the law and has a sense of the law's
inadequacy his motto "I don't know what
the law says but I do know it's right
and wrong." Moving on to the official hero
the official hero represents the
"American belief in collective action and
the objective legal process"; thus, many of
these heroes are teachers lawyers 
police officers family men. The official
hero is "mature has sound reasoning and
judgment wisdom and sympathy based on
experience." This hero is "worldly
comfortable in society devotes
themselves to proper dress manners and
behavior the settled life and
responsibilities." His mottos: "We are a
nation of laws not men," "No man can place
himself above the law," and "You cannot
take the law into your own hands." So
we're going to apply this information to
our semiotic analysis assignment. Ray's
categories of heroes can also be used as
a critical framework to analyze
television for instance the animated
series The Simpsons features characters
that don't readily fit raise two main
categories of hero so you're going to
choose one Simpsons family member
actually it doesn't have to be a family
member it could be another main
character on the show.
You will invent a third type of hero to
accommodate this character; you'll
analyze his or her characterization over
any two episodes of the series, decide
what unique type of hero this person is
and then you'll give that hero type a
name; make a claim about the qualities
and traits of your hero type. That's
going to be your thesis. Your essay will
explain how your chosen character fits
this third category; support your claim
by citing evidence including quotations
of dialogue from any two episodes of The
Simpsons. You also need to cite Ray's
essay and cite at least one credible
outside source preferably from the
Chaffey library so then you know that it
is credible. So here's Lisa Simpson we
will use her as our example you may
choose to write about Lisa but you must
make different points than those you see
here and in the peer review PowerPoint.
Lisa Simpson is part official hero in
that she has sound reasoning she's
responsible
she has proper dress manners and
behavior but she is also part outlaw
hero in that she is not comfortable in
society
and she believes in taking the law into
her own hands if necessary. So we are
going to name her hero type the
sensitive Crusader hero and some of her
character traits one is she cares about
animals and an example that shows that
is she becomes a vegetarian and tries to
convert others
another character trait is she can go
overboard in her caring an example of
that is she steals a pig that her dad
was going to cook and both of these
examples are from the episode "Lisa the
Vegetarian." A third character trait is
she cares about women's rights and
equality and examples of that she hates
the Malibu Stacy doll and she creates
her own smaller doll Lisa a Lionheart
and both of those examples are from the
episode "Lisa versus Malibu Stacy." So from
all of that
we come up with a possible thesis
statement:
Lisa Simpson possesses some traits of
the official hero and some of the outlaw
hero but her caring passion and desire
for equality make her a third type of
hero the sensitive crusader. So now here
is a possible outline of the body
paragraphs of our essay. So we'll have
our introduction with a thesis statement
at the end and then we move into a brief
description of the official and outlaw
hero traits that Lisa possesses; here's
where we're going to cite Ray. We'll talk
about her caring trait discuss why she
decides to become a vegetarian how her
family reacts how she imagines a lamb
chop begging her not to eat it how she
makes gazpacho for the barbecue. We will
include quotations of Lisa from the
episode "Lisa the vegetarian" so
quotations of things that she actually
says and we'll include a quotation from a
credible outside source, something about
Lisa's personality. Then we'll move on to
discussing her trait of passion
we'll discuss how her dad and brother
drive her to steal the pig from the
barbecue we will again include
quotations of Lisa from the episode "Lisa
the vegetarian" then perhaps in the next
paragraph we'll still talk about passion
but we're going to look at it in the
other episode. So we'll discuss her
disdain for the Malibu Stacy doll we'll
include quotations of Lisa from the
episode "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy"; we'll
possibly include one more quotations
from the outside source if we find a
relevant one, and then the last trait is
her desire for equality. So in this
section we'll discuss how she hears
Malibu Stacy's unintelligent phrases and
gets angry discuss how she decides to
create her own doll describe Lisa
Lionheart doll and the public reaction
to it and we'll describe Lisa's
reactions. And among that we will include
quotations of Lisa from the episode "Lisa
versus Malibu Stacy,"
so quotations of things that she
actually says, and we might possibly
include one more quotation from the
outside source. And that is how you will
go about doing this essay. Thanks.
