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How The Grinch Stole Christmas

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The archetypal critical theory which argues that the true meanings of literary works are shaped by cultural and psychological motifs, characters, symbols and images that have concretized connotations before they are used in literature, is the school of criticism that best interprets Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” This story heavily mirrors psychologist and archetypal criticism pioneer, Carl Gustav Jung’s postulation of the existence of two levels to the unconscious: a personal unconscious, of which suppressed memories of an individuals psyche are comprised, and an archetypal unconscious, which functions collectively for all of humanity, constituting patterns, thoughts, images, feelings, instincts and memories of ubiquity. The …show more content…

In nearly every story setup, these personas are there to drive the plot, because audiences enjoy happy endings with the oppressed (innocents) triumphing over their oppressors (villain). The grinch plays the role of the outcast/trickster because he alienates himself from the Whos in a cave at the top of a mountain overlooking the town, and also plots against their enjoyment of Christmas from there, shapeshifting to look like Santa and successfully deceiving little Cindy Lou Who. His green colour also indicates a sharp difference between him and the Whos. By the end, he also assumes the role of the friendly beast when his heart grows three sizes larger and he changes his thinking about what Christmas means to the Whos. Conversely, the Whos play the innocent and good roles, because throughout the story they are preparing for their Christmas celebrations and not causing any trouble. Even when their food, presents, and decorations have mysteriously disappeared, they band together and sing to celebrate the coming of Christmas instead of going up in

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The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is a poem by Theodor Geisel otherwise known as Dr. Seuss. This children story, would best be criticized by the Marxism Theory. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are German philosophers also referred to as the founders of Marxism; the main principles of Marxism is the social and economical equality. Due to the industrial revolution and spreading of capitalism their theories and ideas were made to achieve a society in which the class structure would be put to an end and all people were considered equal. Their beliefs and ideas also reveal that there will always be conflict with the upper, middle and lower classes and which may be reflected in literature and other forms of expression.

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At the start of the book the Grinch is a grumpy old man that got bullied when he was a child in school around Christmas time and decided to run away and is live up in te h snowy mountains with his dog Max Whoville and despises Christmas and joy. The Grinch decides that on Christmas Eve he will sneak into everybody 's house and steal their Christmas trees and their gifted presents. While hes busy ruining everyone 's holiday he runs into Cindy Lou, the daughter of one the citizens that live in Whoville who makes him figure out that Christmas is something much more important than foiled wrapped gifts and giant trees, and that its about spending time with your family and people you love, and from that day on the Grinch 's tiny heart grew three

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An American poet once stated, “Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree” (Pound). Every piece of literature has an impactful underlying meaning and can be interpreted into universal symbols, motifs, and patterns. Archetypal Criticism is a theory based off common myths, images, and symbols in literature. The definition of an archetypal can be defined as a very typical example of a certain person or thing (Davidson). With that being said, readers can apply Archetypal Criticism to In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.

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The Grinch has changed the most throughout his story. The Grinch was a foul, green, furry creature from whoville. He was brought to an older family with no real parents; he looked different from everyone else. He bullied him for his long hair as a kid, everyone thought he was a joke. The Grinch tried to change his appearance

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What Affects How YOU View Yourself? The Grinch from the Doctor Seuss story, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, is a lonely, grumpy monster, that is the only person in Whoville who hates Christmas, therefore plotting to ruin it. He relates to Grendel because he is also an outsider viewed as a monster, and is not accepted in society. Both the Grinch and Grendel lash out on others because they do not feel accepted.

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How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, also known as “The Grinch”, is a 2000 family-based, Christmas-themed, comedy film delivered by Universal and Imagine Entertainment and based on the 1957 children’s picture book written by Dr. Seuss of the same name. Directed by Ron Howard (who also directed “Splash”, “Rush”, and “The Dilemma”), “The Grinch” was the first full-length feature film adapted from the series of outstanding and beloved Dr. Seuss tales. Since the film was the first to be based off one of Seuss’s famous children's books, many additions had to be made to the storyline to make the film fit the era’s “standards” by bringing it up to feature-length, leaving the young and older audience intrigued, and most importantly keeping the legacy of Dr. Seuss's works intact. In addition, this included adding some vivid information about the

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In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the theme of “empathy” is frequently apparent. Throughout the novel, the mockingbird is used as a symbol, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy….That ’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 103). The mockingbird relates back to the theme of empathy because it represents the people who were innocent, yet treated unjustly.

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Fairytales often show characters losing their way before they can be triumphant. This motif is not lost within these stories, The Mosue and his Child, Charlotte’s web, A Christmas Carol, as our main characters must face several trials to succeed. Within each story, these characters have a certain test that influences their overall success more than others. Within The Mouse and his Child, I think their greatest trial was at the Caws of Art performance.

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However, looking beyond what is initially shown, a new context can adhered to the plot. Carl Jung’s theory of archetypal patterns delves into the human psyche by analyzing its parts. According to Jung, the human mind is split into three different parts; the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious- which can be split into many different archetypes that impact personality (McLeod). Oates uses archetypes and symbolism to show the battle of a young girl trying make her own home and identity in a world that

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The poet, Lascelles Abercrombie once said, “There is only one thing which can master the perplexed stuff of epic material into unity; and that is, an ability to see in particular human experience some significant symbolism of man 's general destiny.”. He talked about how powerful of a tool symbolism is and how it is the only thing that can truly define a highly complex ‘destiny’ or series of events. Symbolism is something that is found throughout Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee shows the reader that racism is a product of society,she portrays the matter through her symbolism of the mad dog, the birds and the bugs.

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The problems of the Grinch can be interpreted in many ways, as there are many possibilities as to why the Grinch ended up so “grinchy.” He seems to have some deep-rooted issues. The reasoning behind it is not known, but the possibilities are

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The Cat in the Hat by Dr.Seuss is more than just a simple children’s story; it is a representation of Dr. Sigmund Freud’s structural model personality spectrum that presents the theme of learning to control one’s self even when having fun. Perhaps, it seems true that the illustrations within The Cat in the Hat make it appealing to children. It may also be true that the pictures add the plot and characterization of Sally, the narrator, the Fish and the Cat. For example, on page 19 there is a picture with the Cat balancing things such as the Fish, a rake, milk, books, and a cake, all while balancing on a ball.

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Dr. Sigmund Freud’s structural model of personality is used by literal critics to analyze Literature. Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, is a “children’s primers”, that can be analyzed by using Dr. Sigmund Freud’s, Structural model of personalities (“About Dr. Seuss”). The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss, is more than just a children’s story; upon a closer psychoanalysis of the story, it is a representation of Dr. Sigmund Freud’s Structural model of personalities that presents the theme of pleasure is temporary. While it is true that The Cat

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However, it could also be analyzed from a psychoanalytic perspective. The unnamed narrator has many mental problems. First of all, according to Freud, the unconscious affects the conscious in the form of guilt. The narrator always has an overwhelming sense of guilt. For example, the narrator says "he takes all care from me, and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more."

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