“The critic asks “is this believable?” The novelist, “how can I get them to believe this”? In short she argues that a good novelist always has some sort of conflict to tell and it must be suspenseful. “Something other than breakfast”. She uses witty humour to loosen the audience up. Atwood discusses the several genres of fiction that are available in this time and explains how this is not only a time of gender crossover but of genre crossover.
Analysis of Sarah Madsen Hardy’s Critical Essay “Bloodchild” In her critical essay “Bloodchild”, Sarah Madsen Hardy explores the unusual power dynamics between human Terrans and alien species called Talics. Hardy analyzes Octavia butler’s story “Bloodchild” and Butler’s afterword to the story, in order to help the readers understand, what the author intends to convey in her story. The main idea of Hardy’s essay is to rebut common misconception, suggesting that the exploitation is not the main theme of the story. She argues that although the way how Talics deprive humans of their humanity and reduce them to a function may seem like the story about slavery; it is an intimate relationship between Gan and T’Gatoi that complicates this theory. Her analysis suggests that it is the knowledge and acceptance of otherness what helps the relationship between two different races achieve new evolutionary level of social and biological symbiosis.
In Animal Farm Orwell uses a farm and the rebellion of its mistreated animals to symbolize a much more serious issue. George Orwell expresses his own political opinions in a clever and interesting way, that allows reader’s of all ages to understand a complicated situation. In surface George Orwell’s Animal Farm seems to be just a funny fable but we can say that this novel successfully combines the characteristics of three literary forms, fable, satire and allegory. Reading the novel we will come to an understanding that the novel is a political one that has been written intentionally to convey a clear message to readers. This paper examines if there is any relationship between the Russian revolution and this novel or not, and how we can call this novel as an allegory.
Frankenstein was being written in a time when philosophers and writers such as Rousseau and John Locke where developing their ideas on the human condition. Rousseau’s Theory of Natural Human, which acknowledged that morality was not a societal construct but rather “natural” and “innate”, is questioned throughout the novel. Shelley examines the effect of society and knowledge on the innate goodness of the Creature, suggesting that he has become the monster that Victor sees him as because of the unwillingness of his creator to accept him and nurture him. The idea that humans’ innate goodness is tainted and polluted by society is present when the Creature expresses that his “sorrow only increased with knowledge” and this “increase of knowledge only discovered to [him] more clearly what wretched outcast [he] was”. The relationship between Frankenstein and the Creature is also paralleled with that of Lucifer and God and this is shown when the Creature, a symbol of humankind, acknowledges that “I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed”, suggesting that had it been nurtured/educated, it would have become an
Specific topics of interest include the point of view of the narrator, how this influences the way we perceive the stories, and why the authors chose these ways of telling their stories. A good way to begin is by considering the general effects of the point of view of the narration on literature. Ignoring the very rare second person point of view, novels are either first or third person. First person viewpoints tell the story as the lead character sees it. This may introduce a question of reliability, since their perception of reality may be tainted or their knowledge may be limited.
This goes on throughout his paper. Shortly after this first example, in an inartistic appeal he refers to an article written by a feminist that discusses similarities of genetics between men and women. It is important that he finds a feminist stating this to be the most credible source. In his mind, statements he can use to support his argument made by feminists are more credible than ones made by geneticists when discussing genetics because he sees feminists as his opponents. More than looking for the cause of rape, he feels insulted by feminists.
First, she points out an essay that she wrote previously in footnote three. “On Feminist Utopias” explains that feminist theory itself is inherently utopian. It pushes for equality among genders and offers three general ways in which this can happen: “an all-female society, a society of biological androgynies, and a genuinely egalitarian two-sex society” (243). She also describes how Frankenstein’s creation perpetuates the possibility of a world populated by maliciousness and monsters – a dystopian society. This essay is important to look at in conversation with the critical essay because it sheds light on Shelley’s vision of the socially unbalanced world she is attempting to depict through the
Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein (1818) reflects the concerns of society through the values and morals that are explored. The role of the creative genius in forwarding humanity is challenged through the novel demonstrating the anxieties of over-reaching. Nature as a guiding force resonates throughout the text but the consequences of upsetting this harmonious balance are also explored. These themes serve as the foundation of Shelley’s novel whilst, indicating the concerns and values of society. Man’s liberal rights and the nature of humanity are also prevalent and are further reflective of the issues concerning society at the time.
Unfair Representation During the formation of my essay on Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, I will examine the foundation on which the novel explores the representation of sex of an individual. Some questions kept in thought during the progression of the novel were why Hurston portrayed the representation of women in such an under mining way. Though she herself could not be taken as a sexist person rather a writer connecting her characters to a time when women weren’t considered as self-dependent or dominant. The representation of gender in a part of the novel comes back to the idea that men are the superior breed and women should just follow their dominance and not voice their opinions. The representation of gender in the novel represents how the cultural antics were back in those days, it was custom for a woman to marry, bear children and take care of the house, while the man was out providing for his family “bringing home the bacon”.
Robert Prendergast Dr. Cherukuri Response Paper 1 9.20.11 This section of the reading dealt with how scientific research and science in general has shaped the way people in societies perceive women. Each reading brought another argument on the table, which had a direct correlation to science and women but were all viewed from different standpoints ranging from the connection between magic and science to scientific research about women’s brains. Throughout the readings my reoccurring thought was the interesting juxtaposition that played between the ignorance of western science when dealing with topics of scientific research on gender studies and the clout that western science still holds despite their biases and sheer favoritism to one sex. I found the reading on “Women’s Brains” by Stephen Jay Gould the most intriguing because it dealt with all the factors of scientific research on a specific gender, partiality to one sex, and ignorance boosted by falsified research in the past. I find this research to have many holes and extremely ignorant when considering the simple biological idea that since women have smaller brains than men