Today’s Agenda
1) Welcome back from break
2) No Class Friday, March 27. I will be attending a conference, so I will not be here on that day.
3) We will be moving into the end of Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, and Pride and Prejudice over the next few weeks, and will have our normal reading and writing load.
However, there are also two projects that will be occurring over this time
The Group Presentation 10%
The Final Paper 30%
4) I just want to give you a little info on these assignments now, though more will be coming at you later this week.
a. The Group Presentation 10%:
i. Groups of 4 will be presenting 20 min presentations for the class. All participants will take part in the presentation.
1. Presentations Will Begin April 1st. Topics will be presented next time. If you know of a group of 4 you want to work in, identify yourself as such before next class.
Final Academic Paper 30%
This paper will build on your short research paper. It will propose a mature literary argument capable of sustaining the critical scrutiny of your peers. The length will be 7-8 pages, and you will need to use 8-10 secondary sources. We will begin working on these in class in a few weeks. The final draft will be due on March 1st.
There will also be a detailed essay-based final exam in this course, which we will discuss much more as we move forward.
Part II
One of our major issues we discussed during the first half of the semester was the issue of the development of the English language. Before break we took up Justine’s farewell prayer:
“Farewell, sweet lady, dearest Elizabeth, my beloved and only friend; may heaven in its bounty bless and preserve you; may this be the last misfortune that you will ever suffer. Live, and be happy, and make others so.”
And I argued that this passage demonstrated the vast power of the English language to convey the depths of human emotion in very simply language.
In the second half of this course, we are to take up a new issue, which is basically this: Now that we have this powerful language, what are we going to do with it? How might we use it to express ourselves? How might we use it to make the world a better place?
We use about 7000 words a day, on average. Some more, some less. The average student has a vocabulary of about 10000 words. Now, you certainly don’t use all the words you know every day, but what I want you to see here is that you probably use a lot of the same words over and over. We all do.
There are over 600,000 words in the English language alone.
Okay, now that we have thought about that a little bit, let’s jump right back into it:
Journal Entry:
Often times, we are told that we make our vocabulary better by learning new words. And while it is important to learn new words, it is also the case that another way to improve your language is to think about how you use it. I am going to ask you a very general question right now, but I think you may be surprised by the results: How do you use language? I want you to write in paragraph form about the different ways in which you use language. When you are done, I want you to look over what you have written and see if there are any commonalities between the different ways you use language.
Group Work
In your groups, I want you to discuss the following: Identify a situation you have been in in which someone has used language in a way that surprised you. This is a difficult question, but it is a KEY experience to understanding Frankenstein. So think about it for a bit, and then discuss.
Group Discussion of reading
Class Discussion of Reading
Reading Assignment for next time (Next 50 pages)
Writing Assignment for next time (1.5 page blog post on something you found interesting in the reading)
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Jason Stewart
Adam Crowley, Eh 241
17 March 2009
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has many scenes that are shocking to the reader. The first sight of monster on the ice in the Arctic Circle to Victor’s paranoid thoughts as he travels back to Geneva to be with his family, the reader is subjected to many shocks and scares to classify this novel as a thriller. There is one aspect of this novel that is quite shocking to the reader that has just recently finished Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. The similarities between Robinson Crusoe and Victor Frankenstein are somewhat subtle yet still noticeable. Both characters are just that, characters of a new breed to English literature. They think, breathe and feel in a different way from Geoffrey Chaucer’s characters in The Canterbury Tales. The reader is subject to both Crusoe’s and Frankenstein’s intricate and intimate thoughts about the experiences they undergo, which creates a very different kind of story for the reader.
In Crusoe’s tale we find a man that is very much lost emotionally and physically yet Frankenstein finds himself in the same situation after his creation comes to life. When both men are threatened with violence (Crusoe by savage natives and Frankenstein by his monster) they react in a similar way. Crusoe flees to the sanctuary of his largest and most protected hut while Frankenstein flees his laboratory seeking any kind of salvation possible, only to end up in the arms of his friend Clerval. Though Crusoe quickly comes out of his terror and Frankenstein stays cooped up for several months, both characters reactions were primal and natural.
Crusoe when fully aware of the island he is on falls in love with the scenery and reports in his journal about his “lovely island”. Frankenstein is also quite fond of his homeland in Geneva, also regaling the reader with remarks about the snow capped Alps. However when both men are pulled out of their beloved country setting they react in a similar way. When Crusoe leaves his island for England he eventually becomes unhappy with the new urban setting he is in and decides to depart from it. Frankenstein even says when in London, “I abhorred society, wished to view again mountains and streams, and all the wondrous works with which Nature adorns her chosen dwelling places” (Shelley 164). Both characters preferred to be away from society and in the presence of nature. These similarities are found throughout both novels as both men describe their dislike for larger cities or their want for solitary existences.
Though there are many differences between both characters, it is their similarities that create a surprise. Both characters were given birth a century between each other, however both could easily have been in the same novel together. Perhaps the most frightening similarity between Frankenstein and Crusoe is that both men were seeking a form of perfect civilization or livelihood. Frankenstein was seeking to create the perfect man with a strong intellect and Crusoe was seeking to live his perfect life on a perfect island. Both men eventually are subject to some sort of human folly that tore apart their plans.
William Dow
EH241.001
3/17/2009
What is Interesting in Frankenstein?
In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, the reader is given much to think about how someone could create what is essentially a zombie. This feat is more amazing that the good doctor Victor Frankenstein has only one year of higher education under his belt. However, the most curious scene in the book I have read is in chapter 20. The scene is Victor is in his lab thinking about the reasons why his monster wants a mate. We are told it is three since the doctor has created his monster.
During this scene, he wonders if the monster wants children, which was odd to me as the monster is reanimated corpus. I understand that reality is kind of out the window with a walking corpus but it is still a little hard for me to wrap my mind around procreation of undead creatures. The point where Victor comes to the conclusion “the first results of those sympathies for which dæmon thirsted would be children, and a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth who might make the very existence of the species of a man a condition precarious and full of terror (164).” This comes from a Dr. Frankenstein that feels threatened that if he does not create mate for his monster. It is hard to think that the monster could reproduce is a hard thing to swallow. Nevertheless, it is a decent point that if the monster could reproduce and it wanted to take over it is possible it could try to reproduce like a rabbit to swarm like locusts.
The monster will kill him. Therefore, I really do not that his monster reproducing is his biggest concern. Perhaps it is just me but I believe survival should be the primary concern that the good doctor. Not only should survival be Victor’s concern but also the monster procreating should be the last worry it may be hard with simple knowledge of anatomy would show that an undead female mate would be hard pressed to create necessary biological output.
To conclude the discussion I would have to say that the doctor’s thoughts that the monster would reproduce and try to destroy the human race. It does show what I said survival is his for front but he is a little less selfish then I was in my thinking in this passage. So his head is in the right place if not a little askew think that his monster can reproduce.
Leah Gomes
18 March 2009
Adam Crowley
Frankenstein
Importance of Written Communication
Because language is such an obvious thing, we don’t really think about the number of words we speak each day or how many words we know, but the conversation we had in class on Monday was very interesting. I began to think back on Frankenstein to see where language was important. Even though the spoken language was very important, I think that the written language is more interesting. I have always found the written word more interesting than the spoken word, I think it is easier to appreciate. When someone speaks well, I tend to see them as pompous and lose interest; but when I read something that is written well, it makes me think about what they are saying. Maybe this is because I have only ever heard extremely boring speeches.
Back to Frankenstein. My last entry was about how I was confused about the many POVs that Shelley included in the book; switching from Walton’s letters to Victor’s narrative, which also includes letters. I once read a novel where the entire story was told through letters. You really have to think in a different way when reading something like that, and the same must be true for the person writing it. I think by using letters, Shelley was able to show a more human side to the characters that were not directly in the story as well as advancing the plot without the reader being entirely aware of it. I think it is usually encouraged to keep to one or two point of views in a novel, unless you are sure you won’t confuse the readers. So, by using letters, Shelley is actually able to include multiple views on what is happening and show a relationship between the characters.
So, Walton uses letters to his sister, Victor uses letters from Elizabeth, and even the monster uses written communication at the end of the novel to give directions to Victor. I am not sure what I would do if I could not write stuff down or if i couldn’t read. The spoken language is important and stories can still be passed along without written language, but I feel like there is something very important and special about the written language.
Meghann Peterson
March 17, 2009
Major British Writers
Response to Frankenstein
The thing that occurs to me when I read Frankenstein is the difference between the actual contents of the book and the public perception of Frankenstein. When people think of the name Frankenstein they attribute the name to the monster, not Victor. This might be because even though the monster is not given a name, besides monster, he is the most significant character of the book. The Boris Karloff monster that most people are familiar from the movie is much different from the monster in the book. In the movie the monster is portrayed as oafish and illiterate. He speaks in fragments and mostly just grunts. But in the book the monster is as eloquent as Victor. He seems to have been able to learn all the things about the world that Victor knows in the few short years he has been alive. He teaches himself to speak just by observing the French family. He also seems to understand a lot about human emotion. His plead to Victor to make him a partner is kind of heartbreaking. He knows that no human will accept him for who he is, even his creator rejects him. He just wants someone to spend his time with. These are not the thoughts you would expect from a “monster”. The monster makes a good case for his need of an equal and it seems like maybe Frankenstein owes him this.
When Frankenstein refuses the monster’s request, it is expected that the monster will want revenge. So far his life has only been filled with pain and loss. If Frankenstein created the monster he should be responsible for it. Frankenstein seems like the true villain of this story. Why spend years creating something only to totally abandon it when you are finished? What does Frankenstein expect the monster to do? He is alone in a world that will not accept him because of the way that his creator chose to construct him. Had Frankenstein mad him more pleasing to the eye maybe he would have been able to find some people who would care for him. But his physical attributes make him monster-like and consequently he cannot be viewed as a human. Before the point where Frankenstein refuses to make him a partner all the havoc that the monster has caused has been accidental. It is only after he is shunned by his creator that he makes the decision to do bad things. This is at least partly the fault of Frankenstein.
Stefanie Foutch
3/18/09
Eh 241
Major British Writers
What I Found Interesting
Many events took place in the fifty pages that were required to be read for next class. However, one thing that took me by surprise was Frankenstein’s decision to not create a female monster. He promised his first creation that he would make him a mate, then he changed his mind and suffered the consequences.
The monster hunted down Frankenstein and told him he would leave him alone if he would make him a mate. At first, Frankenstein refused, but then he was scared into doing it. The monster said he would make his life miserable if he did not complete this favor for him. Frankenstein thought it would be a good idea to listen and just make a female, then he would be able to have his peace. They agreed on the decision and the monster left Frankenstein alone.
Frankenstein started working on the female several months after his run in with the monster. Then, he started thinking, what if the female does not like the male? What if she does not want to hide from society? What if she is stronger and more wretched? All these thoughts came into Frankenstein’s head, and he decided that he no longer wanted to make a female monster. The part that I found interesting was; why did he not think of this before? Those thoughts were mine exactly when the monster asked Frankenstein for a mate. What if she did not like her male mate? Why would she want to hide from the world? How can the monster be so sure that she will love him back? How does he know that she will run away with him?
After Frankenstein decides that he does not want to make a woman, the monster finds him. The monster and Frankenstein get into a verbal fight. Frankenstein refuses to make the woman, and the monster promises Frankenstein that he will make his life miserable if he does not keep his promise. The part that I found interesting is; the fact that Frankenstein actually got into a fight with the monster, and he thought about tackling him too! I would not go head to head with a “zombie”. I would have kept my promise to keep the monster happy, and away from me. I certainly would not even think about getting into a heated argument with the creation. I also found it interesting that Frankenstein underestimated the monster. The monster promised to make Frankenstein’s life a living hell, and Frankenstein did not really seem to think about what the monster is capable of. I would have heeded the monster’s warning, and I would have kept my promise. Frankenstein soon found out that the monster had power over him, and Frankenstein would be very sorry for not keeping his promise.
Adam Crowley
18 March 2009
What I Find Most Interesting
In “Frankenstein,” Mary Shelley depicts anxiety and agony very well. The unfortunate dispositions and fevers of which Victor suffers seem prolonged throughout the book, causing me to feel empathetic towards Victor’s emotions. As Shelley writes about each of the morbid instances which affect Victor, I begin to question why Victor does not just create a wife for his “demon” in order to protect his loved ones. The most interesting portion of the book (so far) takes place in the latter third of the story where Victor and his magnum opus speak about why Victor decided not to make a wife for him. In this section, Frankenstein tells his tormentor he will not create a wife for him because he does not want to create another equally deformed and wicked being. The fiend replies, “Slave, I before reasoned with you, but you have proved yourself unworthy of my condescension. Remember that I have power; you believe yourself miserable, but I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. You are my creator, but I am your master – obey!” Of course, Victor’s reply is not one of kindness. However, this is the first time in the book where the monster explains his intentions of power over Victor. This has unfortunately set Frankenstein into another fit of fear and fever, especially after the fiend kills his friend Cleval. This portion of the book can be argued to be a religious argument. Shelley seems to be telling her audience that humans act the same way toward God, their creator. She seems to depict a way to explain why this is not okay, but at the same time comparatively depicts why we (humans) may feel defiant towards God. She does this by depicting Frankenstein’s abandonment of his creation; much like the way some people feel about God. I find this interesting because it is the first time a creation has ever told his/her creator that they were the master and its creator the slave. As a result, I ask myself this: Is Mary Shelley trying to tell us that we do the same thing to God by telling Him what we want instead of obeying his orders, or is there some other message there that I am not seeing? Is Frankenstein’s monster supposed to be representative of the human race? If so, she makes us question the monster’s betrayal in a way which she may argue we should question our own.
Sarah Rackliffe
EH 241
Professor Crowley
March 18, 2009,
Interesting Parts in Frankenstein
While reading Frankenstein I found many things that interest me. One part in particular was in the reading that we did for this Wednesday. The while scene begins when Frankenstein is making his monster a female companion and he begins to wonder what can come of this He realizes that it was a big mistake to create his first monster and thinks of what could happen with this second one. Could they reproduce and will there be more of these hideous monsters? Questions like these run through Frankenstein’s mind and suddenly he destroys the creation that he is about to make.
When his monster sees this he becomes furious and vows revenge on Frankenstein. He tells Victor that he will be there on his wedding day, that’s all he says and takes off. Victor, though fearing for his life goes on living his life which takes him to jail for the accused murder of his friend Henry. During this whole ordeal Victor finds himself ill again from all the commotion. His father comes and fights his trial and he is released from prison.
Now it’s time for the big wedding between Victor Frankenstein and Elizabeth. Victor, still fearing for his life is nervous but continues with the plan, he and Elizabeth are married. After the wedding Victor and Elizabeth retire to a cottage to spend the night. After a quick walk Frankenstein wonders how Elizabeth will react to the hideous monster and the battle that will be between him and the monster. After thinking this he tells Elizabeth to go to bed and she obeys.
Frankenstein wonders where the monster is and begins to search for him. Shortly after doing so he hears a scream form Elizabeth’s rooms he then realizes that when the monster says the words, “I will see you on your wedding night” he was not planning on killing Victor, he was planning on taking away from Victor what was taken away from him, love. Personally I believed that the monster was going to go after Elizabeth all along because he had many chances to kill Victor but did not. Plus since Victor took away what the monster wanted most it makes since that the monster would want to take that away from Victor.
This play of words Shelly uses is very interesting. She gets Victor and the reader to believe that the monster is after Victor and there will be an epic battle between the two. She then suddenly turns the story around and Elizabeth is killed.
Caleb Ashey
Eh241 Professor Adam Crowley
Blog Post
The most interesting thing that I can find in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, is the very fact that Victor Frankenstein has actually created something with a life out of a collection of human body parts. He has literally created life. Even more incredible is that he did this with only a year of medical school in his background. How would a person even know where to begin with such a small amount of education of the human body and its peculiarities. Also the fact that Victors monster shows such human emotions. It is not like any other Frankenstein encountered in modern literature. Where Frankenstein is a massive, retarded, zombie. Shelley’s monster is capable of speech, thinking ahead, and shows emotion. But that’s not the most intriguing thing about the monster, its that fact that he can learn. He has learned what Victor has learned in just a fragment of the time. He picks up on things very easy and teaches himself.
I do wonder though if he is capable of such intelect, why does he force Victor into making a female version? Instead of baragaining with him. He always goes to the darker side of humanity but I do not know if this is because he has been neglected or the fact that it is just how he is. I believe that it was the monsters viscousness that forced Frankenstein to not create a companion and therefore irritate the monster even further.
Also another thing I found interesting was the fact that Victor is completely trying to avoid the situation he was brought upon himself. A man as educated as he is, a man who created life, should also be able to thing of a way to destroy that life. Instead he runs away from the situation entirely, indeed is quite frightened of the creation.
Benjamin McGray
EH 241
Adam Crowley
March 17, 2009
Asking somebody what it is that they found interesting about Frankenstein is much like asking somebody to isolate everything they find nice about a sunny day. Where does one begin, with the complex relationship between Victor Frankenstein and his monster, the contradiction of hatred and sense of obligation that Frankenstein feels? Or perhaps it is better to start with the disturbing mental process of the monster, how he is aware of his hideous appearance, and how it hinders his desire, one of great passion, to be love. But then who would dispute that Mary Shelley’s ability to exhibit a constant state of despair and “wretchedness” for the reader through her use of language, all the while keeping it fresh and relevant with every chapter, is an equally good opening observation. Well, maybe it is best that I just proceed in the order that I’ve laid them out in this paragraph.
I have found the relationship between Frankenstein and the monster that Mary Shelley has provided very intriguing, and I find that I myself am also conflicted along with Frankenstein on how the monster should be perceived. When the monster requests that a mate be made in the same likeness as he I expected Frankenstein to flat out refuse, considering all that he has gone through since his initial creation, however he does not. Instead there is a contemplation on what it is that he owes this “person” as it’s creator. Frankenstein is singularly responsible for this being’s existence and with that it’s misery, so as the creator is it not his duty to make the creation as happy as possible? To deny the monster happiness is not only cruel but evil. Eventually Frankenstein accepts the offer for various reasons, however changes his mind while performing the task, which sends the monster into a fit of rage and tragedy ensues. Ultimately I feel that Frankenstein should have completed the second being, knowing, as the reader, that the monster’s intentions were pure, a luxury that Victory did not have.
Another aspect that I found both interesting and emotionally troubling was the monster’s desire to be loved, despite his hideous appearance. What was most moving about this was the monster’s awareness of his ugliness and his realization that he was essentially unlovable. This is heartbreaking at times when he tries to approach humans and is unable to get people to look past his superficial characteristics. The most frustrating example would be the De Lacey family. It seems that the monster started to view them as his family, and upon his discovery he was attacked.
My last point of interest that I am going to address is Mary Shelley’s abilities as a writer. She is able to convey despair and misery with, at times, unrelenting constancy. There are some chapters where the pages drip with depression. The characters seem to be sinking, and every time that they begin to swim upwards and maybe see small visible traces of light something pulls them back down into deeper darker places than before. I can honestly say that I have never been exposed to a character quite as woeful as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (sorry Shakespeare). The despair expressed in this book is right up there with that of Sweeny Todd and also the story of Turin son of Hurin (look it up).
Timothy McGuire
Eh 241
The thing that I found most interesting is the difference between what I expected the monster to be like and what he is actually like. In modern renditions the monster is basically mentally challenged to being almost animal or beast like. For example in many of the movies the monster is portrayed as being afraid of fire or sudden flashes or sparks. In contrast the monster in the book in my opinion isn’t a monster at all. In fact I would say that he is quite human. Except for his abnormally powerful physique and monstrous appearance he acts very human. Even his violent acts are understandable and are not inhuman because we as a species are prone to violence. In fact I would say that in the beginning the monster was particularly resistant to violence. Only after the monster was rejected by the entire world and his creator did he begin murdering for revenge. Then he tried to turn from his destructive path in exchange only for someone like himself to love and be loved, only to have this dream ripped apart in front of him. Who among us is stoic enough to withstand such an emotional blow? Is it any wonder considering his circumstances that he turns to violence as a solution to his despair? I would say that this is one of his most human qualities.
I also found this book an interesting exploration of responsibility. As a criminal justice major I found myself constantly asking the question of who to blame. Is the monster responsible for his actions? He certainly seems capable of rational thought and has an idea of fairness. At the same time though he isn’t 18, despite that he was created as an adult he still had to grow up. Psychologically he may be much younger even though his urges, and feelings, and potentially for destruction are much greater that doesn’t necessarily mean that he is truly as accountable as say Victor.
Kacey Beckwith
03/20/09
Professor Crowley
Frankenstein Response
The most shocking thing to me in the fifty pages that we had to read for homework was probably when Victor Frankenstein decided not to create a female monster to go along with his creation. This was very shocking to me because of the repercussions that were destined to follow this decision. The monster threatened Frankenstein if he failed to follow through. However, Frankenstein seems to disregard the threats anyway. He seems to feel that creating another monster is too dangerous, especially after all of the havoc the first one created.
This was very surprising to me because Frankenstein’s monster has already committed murder of someone that Victor cares about. Therefore, I would’ve thought that Victor would try to please the monster by any means possible to spare others whom Victor loves, along with his own wellbeing. However, this does not seem to sway him in the end. He still decides not to go through with it out of fear of what two monsters would be able to do.
I think that Frankenstein should’ve shown at least some shred of humanity and made his creation a companion. He doesn’t seem to feel any sympathy whatsoever for the monster, no matter what is said to him. Even after the monster promises that he will take the female and disappear with her, Frankenstein still refuses. He is afraid that he is lying. I don’t blame him for having doubts, especially after the murder of the young boy. However, I think that Frankenstein still should’ve gone through with the second creation. There really wasn’t much of an alternative, unless he is willing to sacrifice the lives of those he loves.
It seems that Frankenstein is a very contradictory character. He claims to be so racked with guilt and revulsion, yet when an opportunity presents itself where he might be able to fix things to a certain extent, Victor still refuses. I don’t think he loves those he claims to as much as one would think he should. I would do whatever it took to make the monster happy, as long as I could spare those that mattered to me. This, to Frankenstein, doesn’t seem to be the biggest concern. However, once all of Frankenstein’s loved ones are dead, he can think of nothing but getting revenge. This seems very contradictory to me. Wouldn’t he have wanted to prevent their deaths, rather than waiting until they happened? I don’t really understand Frankenstein’s reasoning when it came to this part of the book much at all.