For the reading, I chose My Monster by Barbara Johnson, and I took three points out of the reading that I thought were very capable of being compared to my essay on the Frankenstein scene.
1. Johnson begins to cover that critics have recently began to critique Frankenstein in the viewpoint of Victor being in a battle with depression. She states that it is a "representation of maternal rejection of a newborn infant" and "mixed feelings about motherhood." (Johnson 247). This was referred to in my viewpoints of the Frankenstein, as I believe Victor is very self conscious about his discovery as soon as he realizes that he made a mistake by making a creation rather than living as a father figure.
2. Barbara Johnson also summarizes a feeling that I had in my essay when she refers to the "monstrousness of selfhood" (Johnson 251). In my essay, I refer to the dangers of fortune and well being, which Victor believes that his creation will bring him success. Although he never states it, all the events that happens after his creation did not resemble what he believed to happen.
3. The last thought that stood out to me while reading My Monster/My self was something I never really thought of until said by Johnson. She indicates that "The figurative monstrosity of female narcissism is a subtle deformity." (Johnson 240). I find this fascinating as women had a large influence on the book as a whole.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Frankenstein scene
Shelley's "Frankenstein" chapter iv Scene:
The passage in which we are examining is during chapter IV, where the paragraph begins with "No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards...". In this passage, Victor is opening up his mind to the thought of the created life, and he describes it as "new species would bless me as the creator and source". His energy in this passage is exuded by his interest to create a subspecies that has never been created before. The energy was always there with Victor, but he was simply unable to keep consistently working that hard to create the monster without going insane.
He refers to "his spirits" and gives allusions to having success if he can accomplish this task. Throughout the second second paragraph, he states that his body and soul are breaking down due to fatigue, but his heart won't let him, when he says "lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit." This one pursuit is literally driving Victor crazy, which makes it very interesting that he continues on with the difficult task of creating the monster. However, Victor is very determined to create the monster due to the god-like feeling that is exhibited by Victor throughout the passage. Being the "creator and source" as stated before seems to be a reference to God, which would make him the all powerful and knowing creator of a species, which no human has ever done before.
I find it interesting that Victor was trying to accomplish a task that would bring him fortune and well being, but instead brought him a life of misery and fear. This instance is very interesting to me because his accomplishment is a very unbelievable feat, but it only brought him struggle. I feel that his mentality and demeanor had a large contribution to the struggle, because he was naive to what he was creating that he forgot to take into consideration how the monster would react to a new environment. The monster had a brain of its own (even though it was an abnormal brain from a hospital patient), so for Victor to overlook the monster's emotional state was surprising to me.
The passage in which we are examining is during chapter IV, where the paragraph begins with "No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards...". In this passage, Victor is opening up his mind to the thought of the created life, and he describes it as "new species would bless me as the creator and source". His energy in this passage is exuded by his interest to create a subspecies that has never been created before. The energy was always there with Victor, but he was simply unable to keep consistently working that hard to create the monster without going insane.
He refers to "his spirits" and gives allusions to having success if he can accomplish this task. Throughout the second second paragraph, he states that his body and soul are breaking down due to fatigue, but his heart won't let him, when he says "lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit." This one pursuit is literally driving Victor crazy, which makes it very interesting that he continues on with the difficult task of creating the monster. However, Victor is very determined to create the monster due to the god-like feeling that is exhibited by Victor throughout the passage. Being the "creator and source" as stated before seems to be a reference to God, which would make him the all powerful and knowing creator of a species, which no human has ever done before.
I find it interesting that Victor was trying to accomplish a task that would bring him fortune and well being, but instead brought him a life of misery and fear. This instance is very interesting to me because his accomplishment is a very unbelievable feat, but it only brought him struggle. I feel that his mentality and demeanor had a large contribution to the struggle, because he was naive to what he was creating that he forgot to take into consideration how the monster would react to a new environment. The monster had a brain of its own (even though it was an abnormal brain from a hospital patient), so for Victor to overlook the monster's emotional state was surprising to me.
Monday, August 27, 2012
A Paragraph about my favorite scene
In Frankenstein, I was most interested in the scene of chapter 12, which was a scene that was described by the monster to Victor. In this scene, the monster begins to express his observations about the humans, and he stated how the humans were scared of his appearance, which made the monster believe that he was some sort of evil. However, the monster did not believe this until he started to see the reactions of the other people, so he thought he was innocent at first, but soon began to realize that he was being seen as a scary creature of evil.
This chapter does not stop at the revelation of the monster, however, and also describes how the monster is beginning to realize how the humans communicated as well. I really thought this chapter was special because it really captured the sensation of first impressions very well. The monster was a very effective creature to use in this situation, as it did not have any previous opinions, which made the impression for the monster very interesting.
As a whole, this scene is one of my particular favorites because it outlines the innocence of the monster at first, which is a common human element that begins to fade with age. In this case, the monsters inexperience to human contact makes the experience very intriguing. I consider the monster to be a youthful infant, as they are beginning to understand the normal conditions of human interaction, but the monster is much more intriguing because it's a creation of an incredibly intelligent individual.
This chapter does not stop at the revelation of the monster, however, and also describes how the monster is beginning to realize how the humans communicated as well. I really thought this chapter was special because it really captured the sensation of first impressions very well. The monster was a very effective creature to use in this situation, as it did not have any previous opinions, which made the impression for the monster very interesting.
As a whole, this scene is one of my particular favorites because it outlines the innocence of the monster at first, which is a common human element that begins to fade with age. In this case, the monsters inexperience to human contact makes the experience very intriguing. I consider the monster to be a youthful infant, as they are beginning to understand the normal conditions of human interaction, but the monster is much more intriguing because it's a creation of an incredibly intelligent individual.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
My Ten Titles: August 21st, 2012
These are my ten titles that have had the most impact on me as an individual that I have read:
1. Shaq Uncut: This was the most recent pleasure reading that I have done. Shaquille O'Neal was one of the most influential athletes for me growing because of his on the court dominance, along with his large personality.
2. Frankenstein: This story was very enticing to me as soon as the monster's point of view was thrown into the equation. Nice read.
3. Babe and Me: I remember when I was about nine years old, and this was my first true pleasure reading book that I enjoyed more than I could have ever imagined. It started my interest in reading stories involving famous figures, such as athletes.
4. The Help: This was my I.D. book for U.S. History, but it turned out to be more than just that for me. It was an excellent read, and I found it to be one of my favorite reads that I have ever had. Such a touching story, with great amounts of deal drama and passion.
5. The Magic Tree House Series: This series was very entertaining for me, and it was simply pleasure reading. Good stories for a middle schooler to read about!
6. Oedipus: As I recall, this story was my favorite book to read from the Dr. Allison class. I remember enjoying my individual book I had to read, book 12, and had to make a presentation on it in front of the class. I learned a lot from that book, especially how to pay close attention to minuscule details.
7. Seven Seconds or Less: This book was an in depth novel on the fascinating plan behind the 2006-2007 Phoenix Suns fast break offense and scheme. I felt that the book was very fun to read because I have grown up watching the Suns since the Tom Gugliotta and Tony Delk days (sadly was too young to be a big fan of Charles Barkley, Dan Majerle, and Kevin Johnson).
8. The Very Hungry Caterpillar: The caterpillar was actually an influential book in my life, as it was one of the first stories I ever heard as a pre-k student at Phoenix Country Day School.
9. The Series of Unfortunate Events: These books were very fun to read in middle school as well, but I did not get to finish the entire list, sadly. That is why the series is not higher up in this blog post.
10. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: This book did not necessarily have the best impact on me, but it certainly have one. It was a struggle for me to keep up with the plot, which made it difficult for me to understand the story like I should have.
1. Shaq Uncut: This was the most recent pleasure reading that I have done. Shaquille O'Neal was one of the most influential athletes for me growing because of his on the court dominance, along with his large personality.
2. Frankenstein: This story was very enticing to me as soon as the monster's point of view was thrown into the equation. Nice read.
3. Babe and Me: I remember when I was about nine years old, and this was my first true pleasure reading book that I enjoyed more than I could have ever imagined. It started my interest in reading stories involving famous figures, such as athletes.
4. The Help: This was my I.D. book for U.S. History, but it turned out to be more than just that for me. It was an excellent read, and I found it to be one of my favorite reads that I have ever had. Such a touching story, with great amounts of deal drama and passion.
5. The Magic Tree House Series: This series was very entertaining for me, and it was simply pleasure reading. Good stories for a middle schooler to read about!
6. Oedipus: As I recall, this story was my favorite book to read from the Dr. Allison class. I remember enjoying my individual book I had to read, book 12, and had to make a presentation on it in front of the class. I learned a lot from that book, especially how to pay close attention to minuscule details.
7. Seven Seconds or Less: This book was an in depth novel on the fascinating plan behind the 2006-2007 Phoenix Suns fast break offense and scheme. I felt that the book was very fun to read because I have grown up watching the Suns since the Tom Gugliotta and Tony Delk days (sadly was too young to be a big fan of Charles Barkley, Dan Majerle, and Kevin Johnson).
8. The Very Hungry Caterpillar: The caterpillar was actually an influential book in my life, as it was one of the first stories I ever heard as a pre-k student at Phoenix Country Day School.
9. The Series of Unfortunate Events: These books were very fun to read in middle school as well, but I did not get to finish the entire list, sadly. That is why the series is not higher up in this blog post.
10. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: This book did not necessarily have the best impact on me, but it certainly have one. It was a struggle for me to keep up with the plot, which made it difficult for me to understand the story like I should have.
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