Sydney Shulman; Blog Post #9

  1. Introduction:
  2. Background information about Gary Shteyngart’s novel, Super Sad True Love Story, published by Random House in 2010
  3. Establish the dystopian universe as entirely dependent on technology (society has been completely shaped by it)
  4. Identify parallels between SSTLS society and current world
  5. Introduce Lenny and Eunice
  6. Two people that are completely different: Age, intelligence, race, lifestyle, etc.
  7. Emphasize the difference in Lenny and Eunice’s dependence on technology as a life supplement rather than a distraction from the real world
  8. Their relationship has helped them find happiness in their screwed up society
  9. Make claim that Lenny and Eunice’s relationship was completely fabricated by the technology available in their era, followed by summary of departments that will be used to prove this theory
  10. Influence of technology on social interactions and relationships in the real world, and how Lenny and Eunice’s relationship was created as a manifestation of technology
  11. How the SSTLS universe shapes individuals to be defined by technology, how Lenny and Eunice’s relationship was controlled by technology and authority figures from beginning to end
  12. Influence of technology…
  13. …On social interactions
  14. Alač, Morana. “Moving Android: On Social Robots and Body-in-Interaction.” Social Studies of Science4 (2009): 491-528. JSTOR. Web. 24 Oct. 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27793307.
  15. Lenny and Eunice’s relationship was both developed and destroyed by technology, and that even their most intimate moments were nothing but technological creations.
  16. …On relationships
  17. Technology inhibits our ability to form intimate relationships.
  18. No relationship formed in this society can exist without being influenced by technology.
  19. Lenny and Eunice’s relationship was created as a manifestation of this Lenny and Eunice are very different people.
  20. Quotes from SSTLS
  21. “…He would get all intro on me…but he couldn’t.” (pg. 44)
  22. Ben and Eunice went to Lucca. Whenever Eunice insulted Ben, he turned off his äppärät community so she couldn’t see what he was thinking, and after hooked up, Eunice had a breakdown and Ben tried to calm her down by saying she looked slutty and had a high fuckability ranking. Technological advances hinder even simple social interactions between humans.
  23. “I still have…for easy reference.” (pg. 50-51)
  24. Lenny is old school, as he prefers paper lists to technology
  25. “Eunice Park is sitting…close to her.” (pg. 99)
  26. Even though this is the first time Lenny and Eunice have seen each other since Rome, they are not interacting with each other. Lenny is writing in his diary about Eunice and Eunice is shopping on her äppärät. Here again we see the age/technological difference between Lenny and Eunice

III. How the SSTLS universe shapes individuals to be defined by technology

  1. Technology plays a key role in the dystopic society’s everyday life
  2. From constant äppärät interaction with total strangers to credit poles displaying financial information on city streets (pg. 54-55), it is impossible to escape the wrath of technology. It isn’t unusual to wonder how anyone can form truly meaningful relationships in a world filled with public “fuckability” rankings and where people have their heads in their äppäräts.
  3. Behe, Rege. “Gary Shteyngart’s ‘Super Sad True Love Story’ Matches Low-Tech, Digital Age.” ProQuest. McClatchy-Tribune Business News, 22 Aug. 2010. http://search.proquest.com.proxy.library.emory.edu/docview/746340947/fulltext/D947BCDCED2041A0PQ/3?accountid=10747. 24 Oct. 2015.
  4. This article briefly elaborates on society’s view of books in comparison to technology, and how Lenny and Eunice’s relationship has been impacted by these views. This article can expand my argument that the relationship between Lenny and Eunice was created by technology. By showing that all of society is implicated in the web of technology too thoroughly to form lasting relationships, it will prove that Lenny and Eunice are no exception.
  5. Lenny and Eunice’s relationship was controlled by technology and authority figures from beginning to end
  6. Quotes from SSTLS
  7. “I was looking for clues…savior of a beaten girl.” (pg. 37-39)
  8. Lenny’s detailed internet stalking of Eunice
    2. “By reading this sign you have denied existence of the object and                                    implied consent.” (pg. 43, 81)
  9. This common saying is everywhere. At the end of announcements and bulletins, this commandment from the                                                          American Restoration Authority is just another way of reminding                                       individuals who is in charge.
  10. Staten Island Bar scene (pg. 81-94)
  11. Closing
  12. Reiterate that Lenny and Eunice’s relationship initially appeared to exist despite the wide and far reach of technology, but in truth simply a product of the dystopic society’s technological advances.
  13. The influence of technology on social interactions and relationships was unavoidable
  14. “So What”: The shortcomings of this dystopic universe, as far as technology is concerned, are not imagined, but emphasized issues that are present in today’s society.

daniela lopez blog post 9

Daniela Lopez
Research Paper Outline Rough Draft

(PS. sorry its so long. I got a bit carried away)

Shelly’s Effort to Subvert the Patriarchal Hierarchy in Frankenstein

  1. Introduction (includes thesis)
    1. This research analyzes Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, written in 1831 and published by the small London publishing house. This research draws upon primary and secondary sources, including peer-reviewed journal articles, dissertations and book reviews. Previous research focuses on Shelly’s undermining of women through the representation of female characters such as Caroline, Justine, Elizabeth and Safie. This papers further investigates Shelly’s criticism of the limited role of women in nineteenth century England in effort to subvert the patriarchal hierarchy in regards to family structure. (THESIS NEED TO INCOOPERATE THREE THINGS BELOW).
      • Social construction of gender that values men over women (public vs domestic sphere)
      • Female characters portrayed as submissive
      • Men’s action on women? (how do I say that better)
      • Subverting hierarchy by creating awarenes
      • Also, show how Shelly uses the failure of men in Frankenstein to encourage the use of the feminine voice in the actual world
        • “their virtual exclusion of female characters and perspectives purposefully enacts in the novel’s form the misogyny that dooms the male characters to failure.” (Davis) The idea that the exclusion of women is what led men to failure in the novel can be used to argue that Shelly uses the failure of men in Frankenstein to encourage the use of the feminine voice in the actual world.

 

  1. Background information on women in the 19th century? ß is this necessary?
    1. Use Hughes, Kathryn. “Gender Roles in the 19th Century.”
    2. Emphasizes the sharp definition between the roles of women and men at this point in history
    3. Marriage, sexuality, education, and rights and attitudes toward gender

 

  • Social construction of gender that values men over women (public vs domestic sphere)
    1. Society founded on rigid division of sex-roles: the man inhabits the public sphere; the woman is relegated to the private or domestic sphere (mellor)
      • The men work outside the home
        • Alphonse Frankenstein = public servants
        • Victor = scientist
        • Clerval and his father = merchants
        • Walton = explorer
      • Women confined to home
        • Elizabeth cannot travel with victor (meller)à “regretted that she had not the same opportunities of enlarging her experience and cultivating her understanding” (Shelly ??)
        • Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein=housewives
        • Elizabeth=child care provider
        • Margaret =nurse
  1. Masculine work segregated from domestic sphere (Mellor)
    • Victor Frankenstein cannot do scientific research and think lovingly of Elizabeth and his family at the same time

 

  1. Female Characters portrayed as submissive
    1. demeaning characterization of females
      • Objectified, used, abused, and easily discarded
      • “serve a very specific function and impact a man’s life” (Haddad)
    2. Women are not completely passive victims. Instead, they stand in an in-between position in society, with only partial rights. (hodges proves this… go to annotated biblio) à should I include this? How can I integrate this?

 

  1. Caroline
    • dies unnecessarily because she cannot restrain herself from taking care of Elizabeth, even thought she knows she is contagiousàIncarnates patriarchal ideal of female devotion and self sacrifice (mellor)
    • devoted to her father (nurses him until he dies) + marries his best friend
  2. Justine
    • Given no justice. Inactive passive in her trial “speech and actions demonstrate passivity” (Haddad)
    • “But I have no power of explaining it…I am only left to conjecture concerning the probabilities by which it might have been placed in my pocket” (shelly 66??)
    • As a young girl, Justine loses one of her parents and is mistreated by the surviving one, in this case her mother. The emotional and financial poverty of her situation moves the Frankenstein’s to adopt her, and Justine’s gratitude and the combined tutoring of Caroline and Elizabeth make her into yet another adoring and gentle female (davis 13)
    • Monster frames Justine bc of hatred for women (davis 5)
      • “all that she could give me,”à language showing his belief that women should satisfy him (shelly…)

 

  1. Safie
    • Safie may share Shelley and Wollstonecraft’s values, but she is still in the hands of a tyrannical father, the Turk who offers her hand to Felix to repay him for his working to free the man from his unjust imprisonment. At first, Felix is “too delicate to accept this offer” (123), but he looks forward to marrying her anyway, and he remains with them “in expectation of the event” (124). Once again, a woman is offered to a man as a reward without her being consulted; and once again, a genuinely caring man falls into behavior that discounts the will of a woman (davis 15)
  2. Elizabeth (davis 12) (p36ish)
    • Caroline regards her as “a pretty present for my Victor,” to which Victor replies, ” I . . . looked upon Elizabeth as mine — mine to protect, love, and cherish” (36-37). Elizabeth therefore becomes a corn- modified form of reward for Caroline’s charity and for Victor’s possession.
    • When Elizabeth is killed by the monster “Elizabeth has become another inert victim in this game of insanity and male-centered mayhem. She has been demeaned and reduced to a simple tool of revenge, along with the other female characters appearing in Frankenstein.” (Haddad)
  3. Margaret
    • “She is useful to us as an audience because without her, there is no reason for Walton to relay his story. Yet, we never meet this character nor do we know if she really exists, if she ever reads the story and gets the letters, or if she has anything to say about it. She is the most distant and passive female character in the novel and also the most necessary to the novel as a whole.” (Haddad)

 

  1. Victor’s / Men’s action on women
    1. Victor hypothesizes the action of female monster (davis 5)
      • “she might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate, and delight, for its own sake, in murder and wretchedness She also might turn with disgust from him to the superior beauty of man; she might quit him, and he be again alone, exasperated by the fresh provocation of being deserted by one of his own species.” (shelly 166ish
    2. Victor feels the threat of female reproductive powers, which his earlier experiments had sought to subvert. The possibility that his female monster might reproduce moves Victor to destroy her: (Davis 5)
      • “one of the first results of those sympathies for which the daemon 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 man a condition precarious and full of terror. Had I a right, for my own benefit, to inflict this curse upon everlasting generations?” (shelly
    3. Victor desires the company of a man (Shelly 4)
      • “I desire company of a man” àWomen are not meant for the public sphere
    4. Victor equates sexuality and death, but also confuses his fiancé with his mother, showing a dangerous tendency to consolidate the women he knows into one loathsome form. Such are the psychological consequences to him of his efforts to subvert maternal reproductive power. (Davis 6)
      • Find when he has dream of Elizabeth turning into dead mom

 

  1. Other stuff I can put (probably will take out but extra research)
    1. Each of these three digressions dramatizes the compounding of women’s problems by inherited ideas of courtship and women’s roles (davis 13)
    2. They stress the inter- generational transmission of ideas that render women mute and powerless and that subtly corrupt even the best intentioned of the men (davis 13)
    3. women in the interior triptych and the men in the exterior one are also literary legacies (davis 13)
    4. Shelley subverts the exclusivity of the masculine voice, revealing it to be monstrously destructive of men, women, families, and children (davis 16)
    5. systematic exclusion of women’s voices as the three men narrate their tales

 

  • Conclusion
    1. Talk about 3 things in thesis
    2. Shelly uses the failure of men in Frankenstein to encourage the use of the feminine voice in the actual world
    3. Shelly subverting hierarchy by creating awareness

 

 

 

Noah Apter: Blog Post 9

Working Title: Frankenstein: The Effects of Isolation from Society on Psychological Well-being

Working Thesis: Shelley argues through “Frankenstein” that an individual’s connection or lack there of to a society retains an essential role on the psychological well-being of a person.
–This is subject to be pushed further when I continue to research, begin to create analysis.

Intro: I need to briefly discuss each of the three main characters (Victor, Walton, creature) and mention their relationship to society/ isolation without giving too much away. I have to define the meaning of “society”, as well as “psychological well-being” in order to fully explain my thesis. Additionally, I should mention what it means to have a connection to society and be able to obtain a sense of happiness as a result of true compassion, sympathy from society. The thesis will come in at the end of the into to bring these points together.

Body Paragraphs: I want each part of the body to represent the experiences of a different character. The first paragraph will discuss Walton’s longing for compassion and his near death as a result of his craving for intellect and solitude, using quotes from his letters at the beginning and end of the book to discuss his emotional state and desires. The next paragraph or two will be focused on Frankenstein. Within them, I want to discuss his paralleled desire for intellect and how this lead to his imminent death through his creation. I also want to talk about the effect of his self-destruction through isolation as well as the effect that forcing the creature into isolation has on him. I can use multiple paragraphs to describe the creature in order to focus on both his downfall as a result of his forced isolation, but also juxtapose that with the potential he retained to have some sort of connection in his life and the outcome that could have arisen from an opposite experience. Additionally, I want to include images of the isolated setting’s that Shelley proposes during my analysis to emphasize the notion of the solitude each of the characters have created for themselves.

Passages from secondary sources.
–Victor: “”Frankenstein” and “Caleb Williams”” (25-27), “Moral and Myth in Mrs. Shelley’s “Frankenstein””(31-33)
–Creature:”Monstrosity, Suffering, Subjectivity, and Sympathetic Community in Frankenstein and “The Structure of Torture””(206-207), “Moral and Myth in Mrs. Shelley’s “Frankenstein”” (34-37)
–Walton: “Moral and Myth in Mrs. Shelley’s “Frankenstein””(29-30)

The conclusion will summarize the importance of societal connection and will readdress the fate of the character’s following their decisions in and outside of solitude.

Jonny O’Brien Blog Post #9

My essay will surround Frankenstein’s story as a way to leave a legacy, especially showing him as an unreliable narrator. In the introduction, I will open with how Frankenstein hides facts and weaves a story around them, as well as contradictions between the monster’s appearance and Frankenstein’s descriptions of it. I will declare him an unreliable narrator and define what that means. Then, with swift observations of him acting unreliable, I will switch from how he is unreliable to questioning why he acts that way, saying others have only done the former but I intend to discuss the latter. To finish this off will be my thesis, that his purpose is to tell the story itself, thus leaving behind his mark on the world in the way he wants as opposed to, in his eyes, his previous failure.

In the body paragraphs I will discuss three major subtopics: the perceived “failure” of reanimating life, the true meaning of Victor’s subtext, and how meeting Walton allows him the perfect opportunity for this story to be told. In the first subtopic, Victor’s lack of success in his life’s goal is seen to affect him negatively: he is visibly ill and mentally focused only on the creature/wretch. Also in this section is a discussion on why this failure is so tremendous (his mother, god complex), utilizing Eleanor Salotto’s paper. This all makes him want to leave his legacy in some way and finds it when he tells his story to Walton. The next subtopic, focusing on Victor’s subtext, will start by revisiting the aspects of Victor’s story that makes him unreliable. With affirmation that these are false or surreptitious details, I will explain their meaning. For example, Victor did not want to marry Elizabeth but did anyway, but his eloquent language and storytelling make it seem selfless instead of selfish. By presenting himself in such a way, Frankenstein believes he is leaving his best possible image in his story, despite the truth in the subtext. Lastly I will discuss why he could not have had this legacy before meeting Walton. I will analyze the foils of Walton and Victor, leading to Victor’s own description of seeing himself in Walton. The particular absurdity attributed by others to Victor’s story had not allowed him to confide in a person to trust in his character. But with Walton acting as his nurse and showing similar characteristics, Victor understands Walton as the perfect individual to understand his story and take it to heart.

As a rebuttal to potential arguments, I would suggest that Frankenstein’s storytelling is separate from gender arguments. While using Paul Sherwin’s article, I would argue that Frankenstein’s story is not told because of existing gender roles because Walton, the recipient of the story, also holds the same feminine characteristics found in Frankenstein, allowing him to be the most suitable confidant for Victor. Instead, a non-gendered argument provides a more suitable reason that Victor keeps certain details hidden: he wants the best version of himself the way he thinks of himself to be kept in Walton’s mind forever.

In conclusion, I will quickly summarize the arguments I have made. I will link these back to the overall question and show how it is important to analyze the character of Frankenstein on his underlying intentions and not just his hidden attitudes in order to have a more complete understanding of the book.

Mirdrina Dulcio Blog Post #9

Frankenstein’s Creature and Martin Luther King Jr’s Way of Defying Unjust Societies: Outline

  1.  Introduction
    1. Discuss Just and Unjust Laws
    2. Connect Frankenstein’s creature’s speech with MLK by expressing how they are similar in their intentions and actions
    3. Thesis and Research Argument
  2. Structure of the Speeches
    1. MLK
      1. King expresses how he is an outsider
        1. Pathos: Sympathy
          • (use secondary sources to quote for evidence)
      2. King suggests they should compromise (negotiate the law)
        1. Logos: negotiation is an easier option than demonstration
          • (use secondary sources to quote for evidence)
      3. King says Birmingham police deserve praise
        1. Ethos: Giving police credibility to make whites as well as blacks more likely to read the letter
        2. Logos: Red Herring
        3. Pathos: Getting influence from whites
          • (use secondary sources to quote for evidence)
    2.  Monster
      1. Discusses his journey before the moment that he is speaking
        1. Pathos: Get sympathy out of Victor
          • (use primary source to quote for evidence)
      2. Expresses how he is an outsider
        1. Pathos: Sympathy
          • (use primary source to quote for evidence)
      3. Persuades Victor to create a companion him
        1. Pathos: uses what Victor can relate to (desire, companionship)
          • (use primary source to quote for evidence)
  1. Language of the Speeches
    1. MLK
      1. Sermon Voice (Homily)
        1. Christianity used as an authoritative figure
        2. Gives emotional power in his letter
          1. (use secondary sources to quote for evidence)
      2. Direct Address
        1. Speaking directly to audience in response to the clergymen’s letter who was addressing to no one in particular
          • True audience not just the clergymen, but African Americans
        2. Call to action to African Americans
      3. Repetition
        1. Repeated ideas, imagery, arguments
          • (use secondary sources to quote for evidence)
    2. Monster
      1. Sophisticated Word Use
        1. Ethos: making himself credible by using sophisticated language
      2. Exaggerated Language
        1. Logical Fallacies: Hasty Generalization, Slippery Slope, Hyperbole
        2. Imagery
  2. Effectiveness of the Speeches: Violence vs. Non-Violence
    1. MLK
      1. Short Term Outcome
        1. Gave African Americans a reason to demonstrate civil disobedience
      2. Long Term Outcome
        1. Important milestone in the fight for civil rights
        2. Proved to be successful (civil rights act)
    2. Monster
      1. Short Term Outcome
        1. Was able to convince Victor to create the monster
      2. Long Term Outcome
        1. Violence leads to his downfall (will kill himself in the end)
  3. Relation to Today’s Society (US)
    1. Unjust Laws still seen today
      1. Voting rights
        1. The interpretation of the law
        2. The war on drugs
  4.  Conclusion
    1. Restate Thesis
    2. Briefly discuss different rhetorical strategies
    3. Relate it back to the real world

Lucas Richard-Carvajal blog post #9

The myth of Prometheus, as discussed by Aeschylus, and the novel Frankenstein share many similarities. In my essay I will be exploring how both consider the hubristic nature of discovering information about the world around us. When writing this essay I will first have to give some basic background information around both sources. In ancient Athens when Aeschylus wrote Prometheus unbound, the Hellenistic world was in a time of great discovery. From a major shift in views on cosmologies to rapid discoveries in the sciences, it was a time of great academic change. Likewise when Shelley wrote Frankenstein English society was facing similar advances in knowledge. In both chosen texts we see a reflection of the same anxiety. That this newfound information shall prove dangerous to humanity at large. This is something I will need to explain as soon as possible, potentially even in my introduction. From there I will consider Hubris as I have defined it, before finally approaching the essay proper.

While from Frankenstein I shall primarily pull from the chapter surrounding the monsters creation, I plan on using quotes from throughout the remaining texts of Prometheus unbound. This is because I want the essay to focus on Frankenstein and for Prometheus to augment my argument.

My secondary sources serve a variety of purposes. The first by Jennifer Forrest will be used to give additional information around the industrial revolution and how it is portrayed in Frankenstein. Goldberg will be a foil, offering an alternative perspective for me to consider then dismiss. Raggio is included primarily for information on Prometheus. In her discussion of it she brings up similarities with Frankenstein that I would like to draw attention to. Finally, Helen Haste will be used in my conclusion to support my argument about the cautionary purpose both these stories serve

Favour N- Blog Post #9

I am undergoing a topic change. My new working topic (as of now) is an evaluation of how lack of privacy stifles individuality along with other harmful effects through the use of Super Sad True Love Story.

Introduction:

I will begin with a brief inclusion of background information as pertains to the book, followed by my thesis. Then my research question will come next along with a ‘they say, I say’ statement.

Body:

I will now include more background information to further establish a foundation for the paper. A lot of my body will focus on the passages where Lenny changes his behavior and likes to assimilate into the new digital culture. Namely, hiding his books when others are around, reading in secret, etc.

I will incorporate studies that have been done that link lack of privacy to conformity, depression, anxiety, etc. I will include examples from the book that demonstrate conformity such as everyone having an apparat and being looked down upon if you don’t have one or have an outdated one. The scene of the FAC will be evaluated to show the negative effects in had on Lenny’s self esteem. The governments privacy invading measures, such as the credit poles, will also be looked at along with the negative consequences it has.

I plan to use quotes from the studies relating to privacy, including the one i discussed in blog post 5. Ultimately I will relate the occurrences in the book to the real life occurrences of similar nature to bring the fictional book into today’s reality and create a ‘so what’ factor.

Conclusion:

Clearly answer my aforementioned research question with the evidence I have gathered.

Satty Poetry Reciting

Last Thursday, I attended the Literature Is Alive event presented by OOMPH! This poetry recitation was interesting for several reasons, the main one being that the poems were in Spanish. Having not taken Spanish since the fifth grade, it was at first very disorienting. While there were English translations, it was not easy to follow along while listening to it in Spanish. I soon realized that it was better to just skim the English translation and then just listen to the Spanish reciting. Because these poems were written in Spanish, it is difficult to capture the melody and harmony of the poetry in English and thus the true meaning of the poems can only be captured by being recited in the language it was written and produced in. Despite not understanding most of the meaning of the poems it was still interesting to hear the poems recited. One thing I realized that was really interesting was that even though I could not understand the meaning, just by hearing someone recite the poems aloud allowed me to differentiate between the tones and moods. Each author recited his/her poem in a different fashion with a different tone of voice and just from this I could detect the tone/mood of the poem without even knowing what the poem was about. I thought at the beginning that because I had no idea what they were talking about I would not be able to really detect a difference, but I was very wrong. I realized how similar it is to hearing a poem in English and detecting the different ways a poet recites it. I also thought the conversation at the end about translation was really interesting. Especially with poetry, I realize how difficult it must be to translate between two different languages and having to decide whether to try to translate word for word or try to capture the meaning. Overall, this presentation was really interesting and I’m glad I had the experience of going and listening to everyone’s commentary as well.

 

Stephanie Pish Post 9

In my research paper, I plan on showing how Shteyngart’s ideas of seclusion and isolation due to overuse of technology in Super Sad True Love Story are echoed in today’s society. In the introduction, I would briefly discuss how the characters in the novel, specifically Lenny and Eunice feel a sense of seclusion, and how this could be connected to the abundance of technology and social media. I would then introduce some of my sources, which consist of multiple studies that show how social media and technology can create lack of self-confidence and retract from face to face interactions among those who use it most. My thesis is built around Lenny’s privacy and his being harshly judged by the information available to others due to the technological advances, as well as Eunice’s lack of normal relationships and inability to connect to others without technology.

I think that it is important to first explain the real life evidence that technology is damaging the communication skills of the younger generations, as this will allow me to then show how Shteyngart highlights these occurrences in SSTLS. In order to do this, I will quote Margie Warrell’s article, ”Text or Talk: Is Technology Making You Lonely?”, which explains how people who are more active on social media have a harder time forming close relationships with others. I would also quote “The Social Media as Echo Chamber: The Digital Impact”, which talks about the effects that technology and social media use have on students in particular. Quoting these articles will give me a basis to build upon and explain how these effects of social media are seen in SSTLS.

After discussing some of the studies that show how technology can affect our intimate relationships in real life, I would then show how this is seen in the novel. I plan to focus on instances when Lenny is ostracized for being different through the use of social media. For example, when he is in the bar with Eunice and she is overall rated high based solely on what the information that others can see about her, while Lenny is rated extremely low. Also, I would reference the entries where Eunice and Lenny cannot connect with anyone because none of the apparats are working. These scenes in particular portray the damaging effects that reliance on technology for communication can have on personal relationships with people.

 

Steven Cao Blog #9

In my research paper, I would like to demonstrate how Mary Shelly teaches people to master technology through humanity via the novel Frankenstein. My main theme is humanity, and my thesis statement is also built around that theme. I would like to give a brief introduction about how people generally view this book as an “anti-technology” novel. After that, I will bring in the scholars’ ideas and indicate the difference. I will then implement my thesis statement in order to show my perspective.

After the introduction, I will first talk about how the monster is driven by Victor’s personalities and characteristics in order to show how humanity can lead artificial intelligence. I will choose a passage from the novel which I haven’t decided which and analyze it. Furthermore, I will quote from Vargish’s article to introduce the idea of seeing the monster as the extension of Victor’s core values. By fusing Vargish’s article and the novel, I will conclude that technologies are only aids to extend humanities instead of eliminating. However, I will mention that the public usually see technologies as potential dangers which contradicts most of the scholars’ ideas.

I will explain why public and scholars think differently by quoting from Nerlich’s article about how fictional works foster the fear among public. In order to support this idea, I will quote the passage about the appearance of the monster from the novel. I will mention how people judge the monster by its appearance instead of its characteristics to create a parallelism between people in the novel and in our society. In order to further emphasize how fictional works cause people panic about technology, I will quote from Orlin’s essay and criticize some points he made by referring to Nerlich’s article.

Last but not least, I will quote from Julian’s article and point out that the lack of humanity is the major issue that causes artificial creatures to become rampage. I will also use Victor’s story and show how his lack of responsibility and humanity causes the monster’s rage and thus leading to destruction.