It is Over

     I finished reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.  I actually really enjoyed reading this book.  I never found myself bored or uninterested.  I would definitely recommend this book to someone because it really captivated me.  I learned a lot as well.  I never knew that Frankenstein was the creator, and I never knew that there could have been a female creature as well.  The ending surprised and confused me in a way.  The creature said that he will "consume to ashes this miserable frame" (166).  Why did he want to burn himself to death?  He could have asked Walton to kill him and get it over with right then and there.  This book was one of my favorites that I have had to read in high school, and I am very glad that I got the chance to study it.

Thunderstorms

     In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley there are many times when the setting affects the mood of the situation.  The wedding night of Victor and Elizabeth is an example of this.  Right away it says that "suddenly a heavy storm of rain descended" (144).  When I read that line, I knew that things were not looking to good.  Victor says that he was calm during the day but as anxious as the night approached.  The storm adds to Victor's eagerness and he knows that the night will be bad.  The creature does end up appearing, and it seems to me that there are other times when the creature appears that there is bad weather.  I think it is smart of Shelley to work with the setting because it helps set the mood of the following scenes.  It allows the reader to predict what kind of events are about to happen and whether they will be good or bad.  Like I said, right when I read that it was storming, I knew that something horrible was about to happen.

Slavery

     In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley there seems to be a theme of slavery.  There are a few times when after Victor sees the creature he feels as if the creature is killing him.  He says "I felt the fiend's grasp in my neck" (135).  Victor soon becomes a slave to his own work, his own creation.  The creature begins to tell victor to obey him because he is the master now.  It is also kind of ironic that Victor's creation becomes his master.  Victor is such a slave to his work that he never asked himself in the beginning if he should do it.  He always asked himself "can I do it".  I believe that Victor could have avoided this if he realized what he was getting into.  He was the master in the beginning, the father to this creature.  His lack of raising the creature caused the creature to become evil and malicious.  

What About Your Wife?

    The creature tells Victor "I shall be with you on your wedding night" (123).  In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor believes that the creature means that he will be the one dying on his wedding night.  However, the creature is really after Elizabeth and ends up killing her.  The creature and Victor have parallel lives and it makes sense that since Victor ruined the creatures chance at true love and happiness, the creature will do the same to Victor.  The creature told Victor that he would hurt his heart before he hurt his body.  The creature was planning to do so when he told Victor that he will be there on his wedding night.  I do not understand that since the creature was already killing all of Victor's loved ones why he would not kill Elizabeth as well.  Victor should have been thinking about the possibility of it being her and not him.  The creature was only doing to Victor what Victor did to him.  To the creature, it seemed fair.  Victor killed his bride, and he would be sure to do the same no matter what.

Adam and the Fallen Angel

    In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley an allusion comes up more than once with the Bible and Adam and the fallen angel.  I found out later on that the creature learned about Adam in Paradise Lost.  The creature states that "like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence. . .but I was wretched, helpless, and alone.  Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition. . ." (92).  Throughout the novel, the creature connects himself and his situation with Adam and Satan.  At first I wondered how he knew about the creation story, but I soon found out that he acquired the knowledge from the books that he found.  The creature begins to convince himself that he comes from Satan.  He felt as if his feelings of envy and anger meant that he was more like Satan than Adam or anyone else.  I began to feel sympathy for the creature when he would compare himself to Satan.  If only Victor would have accepted him and loved him. Maybe then the creature would feel like a child of God.  The creature learns a lot from the books that he reads and the creation story was one of those that he took to heart and applied to his own life.

Frankenstein

     Already Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is not what I expected.  I honestly thought Frankenstein was the monster and was green and evil.  Then I come to find out that Frankenstein is the creator! Also, the creature is yellow, not green.  He is also the sweetest creature.  All he wants is to be accepted and loved.  It is sad to know that he knows he is ugly and that everyone is scared of him.  I could not imagine life without people who loved me and wanted to be with me.  One thought that came to mind though was that maybe Frankenstein is a monster? He is actually so crazy that he is the evil one.  I really just want to keep on reading to find out what will happen.  Will the creature ever be accepted, especially by Victor?  Did the creature really kill William?  I look forward to having these questions answered as I continue reading.

Frankenstein

     Frankenstein is quite depressing.  Mary Shelley likes to include a load of dark diction and tons of deaths! Will it ever stop?  For some reason I feel like someone is going to die soon and I do not know who.  Dark diction is displayed when Victor says that "remorse extinguished every hope.  I had been the author of unalterable evils, and I lived in daily fear lest the monster whom I had created should perpetrate some new wickedness" (62).  It is just so depressing how many negative words or phrases are used.  Then of course someone has to die.  Mothers, fathers, and brothers all seem to be dying.  This family just cannot seem to escape death.  I am anxious to find out what happens next.  Will someone else face the unfortunate event of death?

Frankenstein

    I feel as if Victor has a few people or events that act as his motivation for his experiment.  In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor has this thirst for knowledge and love for natural philosophy.  His childhood is definitely a reason for his behavior.  He was, "to a great degree, self-taught with regard to my favourite studies" (21).  He would read the works of Paracelsus and Magnus that made him more interested with natural philosophy.  Also, Victor believes in destiny and fate and this pushes him to do what he wants to do with no thought in the consequences.  Finally, I believe that his professors, M. Krempe and M. Waldman, both push him to keep studying and experimenting.  He takes their advice and thoughts and uses them to help him achieve his goals.  These are all reasons for the way that Victor behaves.  He is motivated by them and by his own curiosity.

Frankenstein

     Oh, M. Krempe and M. Waldman.  These two act as foil characters in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.  M. Krempe is this mean professor that just likes to break Victor's hopes and dreams.  When Victor tells him that he studied Paracelsus and Magnus, M. Krempe stares at him and says, "have you...really spent your time studying such nonsense?...you must begin your studies entirely anew..." (26).  M. Waldman on the other hand is Victor's closest friend.  He was gentle and everything he said was genuine.  Victor obviously prefers Waldman over Krempe, but he still finds Krempe's words valuable.  Waldman made is easier for Victor to understand and start his studies.  These two contrasting professors have a huge impact on Victor.  I wonder if they will continue to influence Victor or if they only did in the beginning.

Frankenstein

      Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, begins to characterize both Walton and Victor right away.  Their personalities are quite similar, and this is shown when Walton meets Victor and says "I begin to love him as a brother..." (11).  He knew right away that there was something about Victor that he could connect with. They both have this thirst for knowledge that drives them to do bizarre things.  Walton wants to be the first person to find this new land and Victor wants to get rid of death and illness.  Victor realizes that they are similar because he tells Walton that he will learn something from his story.  Both Walton and Victor are curious people that tend to be isolated because of their passion.  I am anxious to find out the end of Victor's story and the reaction of Walton. Will Victor's story be some type of advice?  I hope Walton does realize the risk that he is taking and that maybe he will look at things a little more realistically.

Alienation Unit 5

     Well this poem is depressing.  APO 96225 by Larry Rottman made me think of how people hide their true feelings. The son in this poem is hiding the truth from his parents because he does not want to upset him.  He instead lies and tells him happy things.  People today hide how they feel and lie in order to make others happy.  After he told his mother the truth his "father wrote right back" (846).  Sometimes when people feel like they can talk to someone about how they truly feel, something happens and they shut out again.  The son did not want his mom to worry about him so he lied to her.  I know I have lied to someone, so they would not worry about me.  The son feels alone and keeps writing to his mother so she is happy and still close in some way.  War has alienated him from his family and his true thoughts.

Alienation Unit 4

     The use of imagery in I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain  by Emily Dickinson helps evoke some of the senses.  Right away the sense of touch was being used when the speaker said "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain" (776).  I could picture what was going on because of Dickinson's use of imagery.  She uses power words as well like "creak" and "treading" which is more vivid.  I believe that this use of diction is smart because it allows Dickinson to get across the use of the senses. I am not sure which sense is absent from the poem.  I am also wondering why certain words are capitalized throughout this poem.  I thought it was just words that had to deal with the senses or mind, but "Box" and "World" is capitalized as well.  Maybe they all relate in some way? They could be the main parts in the speakers mind that he/she is thinking about, but I am not sure.

Alienation Unit 3

     Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville was actually a shocking story.  I wish I could tell people that I did not want to do something when I was told to.  What I realized afterward though was that this story is about the lawyer, not Bartleby.  The lawyer showing so much sympathy for Bartleby shows how similar these two are.  The lawyer is almost as isolated as Bartleby.  I did not find out if he had family or did anything in his free time.  He says that he is going to "remove my offices next week" (668).  He is doing this because he himself won't make Bartleby leave.  The lawyer is crazy! He did not have to go to such extremes.  All in all, this story was about the lawyer, watching how he deals with Bartleby and learning a lot more about him then I set out to find.

Alienation Unit 2

  After I finished reading Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville I thought about Bartleby's past job.  He burned letters that cannot be received because those people are dead.  What a hopeless job.  I feel like since Bartleby was working at this place with no promises and no hope, he became hopeless himself.  When he started his new job, I believe that he wanted to do well and work hard.  However, that despairing part of him came back because it is he who he is now. Slowly, I saw Bartleby in a sense give up and not do anything anymore. It got to a point where "at all events, he would do no copying" (661).  Bartleby gave up hope.  He would forever be that person that his old job of burning letters made him.

Alienation Unit 1

     Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield is quite an interesting story.  There is a theme of loneliness in this story that is very saddening.  Miss Brill is so lonely that she talks to her fur like it is her friend.  The reader can also understand how alone she is when she has to live through the lives of others.  Miss Brill spent time watching others so much that she "noticed--there was something funny about nearly all of them" (183).  She spends all of her Sundays people watching at the park because she does not have anything else to do.  I think that it is hard for her to accept the reality of her loneliness, and when it is brought to her attention by the young couple that she is crazy, she breaks down.  I feel as if that is a reality check for Miss Brill, but I am not entirely sure if she understands what is going on with herself. Feeling alienated can cause people to have to live vicariously through others.  Miss Brill is to that point where to feel alive she has to watch these people every Sunday. It is something that she is missing in her everyday life.