Mid-Term Check In

Laura Cline
English 102
October 18, 2011

 Dear, Mrs. Cline

 During thus far in this class I have enjoyed and struggled with several different things. This class has taught me that you have to look so much deeper into certain readings just so that you can find the true meaning of them. And sometimes you are still not fully comprehending what the author is trying to portray to you. I believe that my biggest challenge in this class has been trying to understand the poems that we had read. Poems have always been difficult for me to understand the meaning and the use of words. I think that the other part that has been challenging for me is trying to portray my thoughts and meaning on to paper for others to fully conceive. Although, liking to write, I would have to say that possessing this I have had an advantage in the class. It is not hard for me to sit down and write and think of how I could try to become creative and hopefully have people understand what I am saying. I honestly don't believe the readings in this class have effected me in any way. I look at the readings as something that is being asked of me so really they aren't presenting a strong opinion to me. The literary analysis has been a complete different writing approach then what I am used to doing. When I have taken classes in writing in the past I have always far surpassed the expectations of my teachers, I had always gotten straight A's and had a "wonderful writing style" this writing is very different for me. I much rather prefer writing an argumentative or research paper. Hopefully during the last half of my semester I will be able to understand and excel in the types of writing we are doing in this class.

I hope to be taking the advice from you as well as I possibly can. I like to write and would like to be able to take the skills in this class to better myself as a writer. I enjoy the challenges that are being thrown at me it gives me a reason to become more motivated and to push harder to strive for not only a better grade but to expand my abilities.

 Sincerely, Lindsey Meredith

Draft Essay #3

Death by Abandonment

“Frankenstein” was a book of turmoil. I found the book to be very depressing in every way possible. Although, the story was very well put together with a great deal of element. The point to detail was allowing the reader to be placed in the settings and hearing, smelling, and seeing what was really going on. Throughout the whole reading of this story you were able to sit side by side with every character and their feelings. The story itself was good, just disheartening. The theme of “Frankenstein” was simply put to me, abandonment. Abandonment, weather self-abandonment or abandonment by death flowed throughout the book. Everywhere that Victor turned he had seen ones that he loved and that he had hated leave him, and continue to further leave him lonely in this world. Excellence and companionship was always being strived for in the book as well. When Victor went off to school, he went to become a more educated human, when he began his creation of the fiend he attempted recognition, marrying his cousin for the happiness of his mother and fathers wishes, and Walton yearning for a friend while on his voyage; just to name a few. I believe that Shelley was trying to get us to understand that everyone in this world, weather they be good or evil, strives for a sense of placement in humanity. We all want to become something great and be loved, and this book shares the hardships of trying to accomplish this for the young man Victor. Ultimately causing him so many let downs that it kills him, yet his soul had been dead long before the actual mortality of his demise. “he forfeits every comfort of life, and finally even life itself.” (Anonymous 196)

The depth of despair lurks everywhere in this amazingly creative masterpiece. As stated “We rest; a dream has power to poison sleep. We rise; one wand’ ring thought pollutes the day. We feel, conceive, or reason; laugh or weep, Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away; It is the same: for, be it joy or sorrow, The path of its departure still is free. Man’s yesterday may ne’er be like his morrow; Naught may endure but mutability!” (Frankenstein, 64). Frankenstein’s nature is but sweet and honorable. He is predestined for a miserable life. He looks for a positive outlook yet always is pushed down. Frankenstein tries to obey every wish and accomplish every goal he has, all with a positive and open mind. Yet, every door he opens is slammed in his face with some type of mayhem that is to bring him down and give him the feeling of despair.

The personality of Frankenstein is continually emphasized throughout the reading. His quietness and compassion is shown when he is explaining his story to the new friend he made on the ship of which he was rescued. Everyday, growing weaker and more depressed thinking of his failure in not being able to reach his fiend to demolish his being. He stands up for his new friend when his crewmen question and demand him to go back as soon as the ice clears. As badly as he wishes to ask Walton to go after his fiend to complete his mission, he does not, in fear he too will bear the horrible outcome of life as he has. “This novel rests its claim on being a source of powerful and profound emotion.” (Shelley, 185) And even just for a brief moment shows compassion for the fiend he created he. When asked to make a companion of the opposite sex for the fiend he seriously contemplates this demand. Yet when truly having time to comprehend the possible outcome of this new creature, he refuses. He looks for the good in life but just cannot grasp it. Events that he tries to look forward to, he cant, in the fear of the bitter outcome that his fiend has promised him.

The fiend also shows great passion in this novel. He desires the companionship of a human, however with one look at his hideous features he is sworn a daemon. The compassion he shows to his friends in the cottage, by helping them gather wood and accomplishing chores for them at night when they cannot see him. Desperately asking for acceptance from the old blind man, and in turn getting beaten by the young son when he returns to find this creature with his incapable father. “…affectionate and full of moral sensibility, yet the circumstances of his existence are so monstrous and uncommon, that, when the consequences of them became developed in action, his original goodness was gradually turned to inextinguishable misanthropy and revenge.”  (Shelley 186) He so badly wanted to have a friend in the world and to be accepted. The ignorance of mankind made the creation become a monster, we must think if he could be accepted would be have turned out to be such a monstrosity or could he have kept his innocence and submissive demeanor? “-his natural tendency to kind feelings, and the manner in which they were blighted, -”. (Anonymous 191) It was if only he was treated with the kindness and compassion that he could have stayed a gentle creation and been one of the greatest inventions of all time.

“Frankenstein” is without a doubt one of the most creative novels ever written, bringing life, death and the troubling need for placement in the world. One who is banned to a solitary life style can only last in existence for so long without going insane. The acceptance from our peers is something we all strive for weather we choose to admit that or not. Shelley has, in all of her characters made a demanding need for that. And as hard as Frankenstein tries to achieve this he is always lacking the ability, and in the saddest manner it is in his own doings of why this cannot happen for himself. If Frankenstein would not have wanted so badly deify the rules of nature and continue to exceed himself in science he could have lived a long and prosperous life, with his family and the marriage of his cousin. And on the other hand if the fiend had been made successfully into the creation that Frankenstein had planned there was a chance for so much scientific accomplishment and wonder. And furthermore the fiend would not have been seen as an abomination and could have received the companionship and care that he had always wished to have with the human race, of which he was created out of. The Abandonment that Frankenstein felt was bitterly transferred to the fiend when he so eagerly abandoned the creation that he had made. The wretched sight of the creation was enough for Frankenstein to leave; he could have made the fiend such an astonishing accomplishment that was well educated and coherent showing his great knowledge surpassing that of his professors. Frankenstein had left his soft demeanor when he forsaken this hideous creation.  But nonetheless he abandoned this creation and therefore abandoning all hope for his happy and fruitful life he could have lived. Frankenstein had all of the makings in becoming something great with many accomplishments and the fiend completely took all of the hope of this away just because of the ways his creator and the other humans treated him. If shown Frankenstein’s true loving nature the fiend and he could have had an amazing partnership and continued their lives in an accomplished way.

Works Cited

Anonymous as cited in Frankenstein, Mary Shelley. From Edinburgh Magazine. A Norton Critical Ed. New York, London: WW Norton & Company, 191. Print.

Anonymous as cited in Frankenstein, Mary Shelley. From Gentleman's Magazine. A Norton Critical Ed. New York, London: WW Norton & Company, 196. Print.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. A Norton Critical Ed. New York, London: WW Norton & Company, 64. Print.

Shelley Bysshe, Percyas as cited in, Mary Shelley. On Frankenstein. A Norton Critical Ed. New York, London: WW Norton & Company, 185 & 186. Print.

Summary of a Critical Response

I chose to use William Veeder "The Women of Frankenstein" that was written in 1986 to respond to. The He is letting us know of the role of these women that are so important to Frankenstein, and how he sees them relate in Mary Shelley. He believes that Shelley is taking the very weakness in herself and becoming defensive in her writing on he female characters. She try's to express that her women are no more weak then a man. She at the same time gives her woman a very submissive demeanor.
I read the story differently then Veeder did. I didn't focus on the role of the women in the story to this much detail. Although, after reading this perspective of the story I can see where this can come to the mind. Personally this particular response will not be used in my 3rd essay. I found things in the story that I saw as having more importance, than what Veeder saw this as.  

           http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/13718/feminism_and_education_in_mary_shelleys.html

Reflections on Revision

My writing process usually consist of trying to really look in to what I have been given to read. I usually try to have a good understanding of what the summary is on the story, poem, article, or whatever is so may be that I am given. Once I have accomplished that I then try to analyze what I have read, sometimes this is harder then others. Be able to analyze a piece of writing takes more time to really look into what you have in front of you. I usually always revise my papers. I think by doing this you are able to write a better paper and have more people understand what you are trying to get them to perceive. The benefits of doing so is basically what I just stated. You can make a better paper after having someone more experienced go through and analyze and proof what you have originally wrote. Just because you think your paper makes sense does not always mean that it does. I thought that my first draft was really good and after getting notes on it I realized how much work I really needed to do to it for others to understand what I did.

I plan on really focusing on what notes I was given and to really look at the blog comments I was given by my fellow students and as always, plan on having my husband look it over as well. You can never have to many people look at your paper and give ideas and suggestions, it only improves the work you are trying to accomplish.

http://writing-program.uchicago.edu/resources/collegewriting/

Frankenstein

"Like one who, on a lonely road, 

Doth walk in fear and dread, 

And having once turn'd round, walks on, 

And turns no more his head;

Because he knows a frightful fiend

Doth close behind him tread"

(Shelley Pgs. 35-36)

This part of the the story of "Frankenstein" thus far, has the most impact on the story. This has great meaning to it in many senses. It speaks of loneliness of which Robert, Victor, and the Creation all have in common. In fear and in dread, reflects on Victor once he has completed his creation and given it life. He fears what he has made and has remorse in the accomplishment of his experiment. Furthermore, going on to not turning to look any more because of knowing what is treading behind, holds in the back of Victor's mind the guilt that he has in the death of his brother and Justine. He is the one who made the horrible being and he has continued to keep the secret of his creation.  In the very beginning of the story when to men pull the strange man aboard their vessel, the man in in search of a strange man that had been on the ice. He had been in search a a large figured man with an eerie stature that had the curiosity of the men aboard.  Also when Victor creates his monster in his apartment he flees from him in fright, dreading that he will run into him on the streets or back at his apartment when he finally decides to return. Victor sees his creation on several occasions both on his journey back to Geneva and when he, and what is left of his family have gone to the valley of Chamounix. The death of his brother William and the execution of Justine continues to remind him of the creation he has made and further more blames it for the deaths. Nevertheless, on the flip side the "Demon", also feels as though he is trapped having to hide from mankind and their discriminating way against the creation, not knowing the true intentions of the being. After being treated so cruelly from the humans the creature has no choice but to seclude itself from man and becomes bitter and the exact horrible thing man has thought all along it was.

http://www.enotes.com/frankenstein

Field of Skulls

Field of Skulls written by Poet Mary Karr gives off much despair and darkness. She likes to emphasize on grim thoughts of obvious reality that anyone could become sadistic or play on evil actions. The whole poem itself is based on death and the poet likes to give you detail in the graphic words that she chooses to use, even if not gory the words themselves in the context have great meaning to them. I would like to try and focus on the theme of the poem, as this is all new to me. Poems are a difficult thing for me to comprehend so I wish to try and get a good handle on my understanding in the simplicity of starting out with just the theme. There are three parts of the poem that I fancy to hit on. They are the most emotional and the most meaningful to the poem.
We shall start right off with our poet speaking of the depths of hell, the forms being the figures of the demons from the afterlife in this particular scene of the poem. The dark of the night is what your lonely imagination turns your eyes to believe what they see. In these three lines of her poem she speaks like you are sitting in a stare, picturing these things coming about to you.
“like your eyes have force, and behind
any night’s taut scrim will come from the forms
you expect pressing from the other side.”
(Karr Line 7, 8, 9).
The second stanza I would like to hit on would be the one where you get to use the dreadful thought of having some mentally disturbed being living or working with you, with having the possible thoughts of wanting to harm or kill you. The poet informing you that you know that these people had existed, that their death is the proof of their actual being.
“You know such fields exist, for criminals
roam your very block, and even history list
monsters like Adolf and Uncle Joe
who stalks the earth’s orb, plus minor baby-eaters
unidentified, probably in your very midst.”
(Karr, Lines 13, 14, 1,5 16, 17)

I think the piece of the poem that truly got to me the most is the part at the end of the poem. She is talking about the skulls that she imagines, how they almost had some bit of life to them. She almost gets annoyed that they could not appreciate the features of mortality. This is also the part of the poem in which shows the greatest bit of emotion and detail with only using simple yet at the same time complex meanings of the wording. In my reading of this I can finally grasp even a tone and image that I could not truly do with the rest of the poem. This was a strong closing to this poem that held great ghostly appreciation.
“- could they not stare
with slack jawed envy at the fine flesh
that covers your scalp, the numbered hairs,
at the force your hands hold?”
(Karr, Lines 30, 31, 32, 33)

The poet writing this gives no regard to fear nor does she allow awkwardness in the

speaking of death, she welcomes it. She lingers on the thought of fantasizing about imagining that someone could have it out for you, hiding in your bushes while you sit there patiently awaiting your destiny. The person who could be speaking in the poem, be it the poet or not, shows loneliness in life with nothing but morbid and criminally dead thoughts. With the way that the poem presents itself I find no better way to represent it than with using the theme as the lens I see this through. When it comes down to it the meaning of the poem. The title of the poem “Field of Skulls” I think is very fitting. A skull represents the obvious image of death but also has a great visual appearance, one more alluring than any other bone in the human body. The skull gives to the imagination a little more to work in terms of being able to use your imagination when reading to poem and trying to fully see what is going on. In this poem the skull is continuously referred to almost as though the poet is trying to get the reader to communicate to the skull in someway. The skull can be symbolized in so many contradictory ways and it is such a worldly known icon that it is easily understood. The author offers up in the poem that there is almost a comforting feeling in the bliss of ignorance. All throughout the poem the writer gives many specifics wanting to leave no room for you to question yet at the same time in a line or two down she leaves you with a feeling of curiosity. Mary Karr gives the impression that death is nothing to be feared but something that is comforting and should not be an apprehension.
In my analyzing of this particular poem I feel as thought this is the best way to represent it. I feel that all the points that I have made are clearly stated in the poem itself with very little room for any other interpretation. The more I re-read the poem the more I could understand what was going on and what the context was trying to express to me. This poem came off difficult to me at first but in the end became something that could become of interest to me. Being able to take in attention to detail was most rewarding to me I would have to say.





Works Cited
Karr, Mary. "Field of Skulls." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 9 Sep 2011. .

Sylvia Plath

Lady Lazarus


I chose to respond to the poem Lady Lazarus, by Sylvia Plath. My reason for choosing this poem is because the author has completely taken my mind and played with it. I took some time to do some research on the author and it gave me a better light to view the poem, as well as making it more interesting to me. Sylvia Plath engaged the poem with her mental illness and multiple suicide attempts. Along with the possibility of using the Holocaust as a theme in the poem, to represent the trauma and pain in greater imagination (because everyone remembers how horrific the Holocaust was) She is, in my opinion, writing about herself. This poem caught my eye because of the detail and the tone that she sets in the poem. She speaks of how many times she has attempted this suicide. It feels as though she is almost bragging on her attempts as well.

“A sort of walking miracle, my skin
Bright as a Nazi lampshade,”

“Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.”

When she speaks of the Nazi lampshade could she be talking about the rumors of the Nazi’s using human skin as a shade? Also when referring to death as an art, could she think that like an artist you can make death a creative beauty? There is so many different ways to look at this poem and that is what amused me. I like to be able to really think of what the true meaning of this could be with the different ways she brings imagination to the table. Her words she uses in this are most interesting as well to me: God and Lucifer in the same line as well as Doktor and Enemy. The way that she brings in a crematory with the details of ash and finding a wedding ring or a gold filling gives the impression that she has succeeded in her attempt.
Works Cited
Plath, Sylvia. "Lady Lazarus." Poetry Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Sep 2011. .

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/11