But it has the effect of obscuring from notice certain secondary aspects of the work which did, after all, figure in its history and weigh with its contemporary audience, and which must, therefore, be taken into consideration before either the book or the young mind that composed it has been properly assayed. One such minor strain, not too well recognised in criticism, is a thin vein of social speculation: a stereotyped, irrelevant, and apparently automatic repetition of the lessons of that school of liberal thought which was then termed “philosophical.” In the work of Godwin's daughter and Shelley's bride, some reflection of contemporary social radicalism—crude, second-hand, very earnest, already a little out of date—occurs almost as a matter of course; what deserves comment is
This may be deliberate to highlight Walton and Frankenstein character parallel and both their thirsts for knowledge. Shelley warns the reader that by having such adamant ambitions, although you may achieve them, the aftermath may not always be rewarding, such as for Frankenstein who was viewed as a mad man who isolated himself from society. Walton in the opening letters shows “one man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of knowledge.” This could potentially be intended foreshadow Walton ambition and how he doesn’t get to achieve it. Shelley highlights how both characters use
Censoring a novel because of its use of certain words without examining the context is absurd. Dr. Sarah Churchwell explains, “The fault lies in the teaching, not the book, you can’t say I’ll change Twain because it isn’t compatible with my teaching methods.” When a work contains content that could be considered hurtful it is important to teach the context behind the content, not avoid the work of literature
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
mankind’s experience of evil, experience of guilt and separation. • Psychological study of typically romantic characters, e.g. Victor, Walton, Clerval… • The ‘monster’ himself has been studied in connection with Rousseau’s theory of man’s natural goodness perverted by a hostile environment. • A sociological approach to the novel stresses its importance as a social document, giving evidence of a woman’s role /family ties/ education, etc.. in the first decades of the 19th century. • Feminist critics are especially interested in issues concerning women’s culture.
Epic of Gilgamesh Alternate Perspective Good morning teachers and students, today I will be presenting Gilgamesh’s real perspective of his adventures. The fluid nature of perspective is derived from the susceptibility of information to varied interpretations. This is explicated in the ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’, where the protagonist’s selflessness and love for Uruk and its people is overlooked due to the rigid expectations of modern society. The incongruities between Gilgamesh’s own perspective and a modern interpretation show that society’s perceptions of a ‘hero’ are highly volatile, relying immensely on the innate subjectivity of perspectives. The aberrant perspective of Gilgamesh which I am presenting may seem divergent and atypical when analysed in accordance to our modern values and principles, but to Gilgamesh this would be quite natural.
The Language Police Throughout “The Language Police,” the angered author, Diane Ravitch, speaks her mind on the issue of censorship. Censorship shelters students from the real world and gives them a false sense of reality. Ravitch believes that students are being censored to such an extreme that their freedom is being limited. The goal of the language police is not just to stop us from using objectionable words but to stop us from having objectionable thoughts (Ravitch 158). The language police are restricting what students learn by removing anything that may appear controversial.
A form of civil disobedience that both individuals and a group of rogues practice, reading appears as a subversive act capable of undermining the social order. Thus, for those who fight the totalitarian government seek the healing of the nations and an end to oppression and mass ignorance. Rather than bear arms, they bear books. As a work much like Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience/' which calls for blatant challenging of the status quo, Fahrenheit 451 challenges the institutions that encompass our lives and demonstrates literature's ability to cultivate human autonomy. Criticism of Bradbury's works, specifically Fahrenheit 451 can easily be divided into two categories: criticism of the work as literature and criticism of the work as science fiction.
“The naturalistic novel usually contains two tensions of contradictions… The two constitute the theme and for of the naturalistic novel. The first tension is that between the subject matter of the naturalistic novel and the concept of man, which emerges from the subject matter. The naturalist populates his novel primarily from the lower middle class of the lower class… “(Pizer) Naturalistic novels often try to describe the harsh attempts of human beings to partake in free will, ironically revealing free will as an illusion. (Random House Inc.) In Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, the characters are lower-class characters whose lives are controlled by the forces of heredity and environment. Maggie’s
The Intro of the essay asserts the notion that the English language has been disfigured by the human race and is on the residual decline as a resultant. Mr. Orwell attributes this downfall to politics and economic causes but goes on to outline his remedy to correct what he refers to as a “reversible” process. George Orwell goes on to cite passages from several prominent essays and articles, concluding on the similarities in their staleness of imagery and lack of precision. He criticizes the passages, stating that the incompetence and vagueness of such political writings desecrates correct English prose- construction. DYING METAPHORS.