Monstrous Humanity? Monstrous Culture? Monstrous Nature?
Choose a book from this list.
Read the book.
While you’re reading write down notes and questions, especially concerning the monsters and the themes related to monstrousness.
Who is the monster or who are the monsters in the book? How do you know? What makes the character a monster? Physical deformity or difference? Inhuman or inhumane behavior? Both? Something else? What is the relationship between physical monstrousness and moral monstrousness in your book? (Some possibilities: Does physical monstrosity mask moral beauty? Does physical monstrosity lead to alienation which leads to monstrous moral choices? Etc.)
What seems to be the cause of the monstrous behavior in your book? (Is it in the monster’s nature as with the Grendel of Beowulf? Is it chosen by the monster as a response to radical alienation and rejection as with the Grendel of Grendel? Is it learned by the monster? Is it taught to the monster?
What seems to be the author’s purpose in portraying a literal monster (or monstrous behavior)? What is the author trying to show about human beings and the human condition?
(l=literal monster: a not-quite-human but human-like beast of some sort or a significantly physically deformed human)
(f=figurative monster: a human who behaves monstrously)
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, (1999) by David Foster Wallace (f)
Dracula, (1897) by Bram Stoker (l)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson (l?/f?)
Metamorphosis, (1915) by Franz Kafka (l)
Frankenstein, (1818) by Mary Shelley (l)
Freddy’s Book, (1980) by John Gardner (f/l)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, (1831) by Victor Hugo (l)
In Cold Blood, (1965) by Truman Capote (f)
Native Son, (1940) by Richard Wright (f)
The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890) by Oscar Wilde (f/l)
The Tempest, (1610-11) by William Shakespeare (l)
"Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" ^^
ReplyDeleteI'll get the note ASAP since my parents work. I doubt they'd care, however.
Cassie Fosberry
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein
Randy Sweet
ReplyDeleteIn Cold Blood
Ryder Mustone
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein
Tyler Abegg
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein
Oh btw,
ReplyDeleteKatt Guyer. =D
But you probably knew that cause its my email.
Nick Laurie
ReplyDeleteIn Cold Blood
Justin Lane
ReplyDeleteIn cold Blood
Melissa Palazola
ReplyDeleteIn Cold Blood
Geoff Kennedy
ReplyDeleteThe Picture of Dorian Gray
Andrea P
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein
Sam Ornstein
ReplyDeleteIn Cold Blood
Maggi Silva
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein
Will Macdonald
ReplyDeleteFreddy's Book
Dracula
ReplyDeleteCaterina S
ReplyDeleteThe Picture of Dorian Gray
aj p
ReplyDeletein cold blood
Matt Bammarito
ReplyDeleteBrief Interviews With Hideous Men
Maddie Gallant
ReplyDelete*Frankenstein*
Sarah Gaynor, Frankenstein
ReplyDeleteThere are some ways that Frankenstein is viewed as a monster, physical deformity and difference is one of the reasons. Frankenstein is 8 feet tall, who is hideously ugly and many people that have seem him would not accept him by society. Not only is his appearance one of the things that makes people stay away from him but the way he was created too is very unusual. Imagine someone created with the mix of body parts and all different kinds of chemicals. Many people would say that Frankenstein was the monster of the novel, because of his appearance and they way people react to him but I personally think that Victor is the monster. Victor is the monster mostly because he is the one that created Frankenstein... he's very secretive and isolates himself from society as it is. He eventually has this strong hatred for what he created.
ReplyDelete*Physical deformity or difference?
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein is look at as a monster because of his physical appearance (8 feet tall and ugly) which is why he is rejected by society. He is very different because he was created from stolen body parts and strange chemicals. His deformity is what makes him a monster the most because that’s what everyone in society views him as (like in Grendel, no one in human society accepted him because of his physical appearance).
The monster in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a monster that the main character, Victor Frankenstein creates. He takes old body parts and chemicals. The monster comes to life from a mysterious spark. The monster has strange qualities. The monster is 8 feet tall and enormously strong but it also has a mind of a newborn baby. He is shunned by society because he does not look or acts like a normal person. Victor Frankenstein abandons the monster. In some ways Victor himself is the monster. He created the monster. The monster killed his best friend, his brother and his wife. Victor is responsible for creating it, therefore Victor must not abandon the monster, but help destroy it.
ReplyDeleteJ.Lane
ReplyDeleteThe monsters in the book “In Cold Blood” are Perry Smith and Richard Hickock. What makes Perry and Richard monsters is their ability to kill. The fact that Perry and Dick killed innocent people that were not threatening to Perry or Dick with a shotgun and knife makes them monsters. In my mind that is what can classify someone as a monster, some one that does not think twice about killing another human. Being a monster means you posses qualities that make you inhumane. So the monsters in this book are not actual beasts or dragons but they are figurative monsters who display the characteristics of monsters which in this case is the ability to kill another human being with no defense of them self in cold blood. Another disturbing fact that makes Dick and Perry monsters is that they killed children and not just a single child but two children. If I was ever to commit a crime so horrible as this I would probably not be able to live with myself knowing that I killed others. These are the reasons why I think Perry and Dick are the figurative monsters in the book “ In Cold Blood”.
So far in the book I’m reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, its not Dorian that’s the monster but Lord Henry. Not a physical monster but an eternal monster who seems to criticizes Dorian about not living a fulfilled life and that looks aren’t all what life’s about because they eventually fade. However, it seems as though lord Henry was partially right cause Dorian does seem to dwell on his outer appearance. Later in the novel Dorian claims that Sibyl is more important to him the his outer appearance but I’m not so sure I believe him.
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