Homework for Wednesday, 4/1, and Thursday, 4/2

Write one page of your Frankenstein essay. For further information, scroll down or click here for the post that describes the essay assignment in detail. In this page, make sure that you include and analyze a quote from the book or a discussion of a specific scene from one of the movies. Since you have unexpectedly viewed The Bride of Frankenstein, you may also write about it for the essay. 

Homework for Monday, 3/30, and Tuesday, 3/31

In your journal, write a one-page response to Young Frankenstein that focuses on its treatment of themes and characters from Mary Shelley's novel. 

Frankenstein Essay due 4/7 and 4/8

Your essay on Frankenstein is due Tuesday, April 7 (Day 5), and Wednesday, April 8 (Day 6). Here is your assignment: Take one of the themes we have discussed in class, or one of the major characters from the novel, and analyze it across the novel, either the 1931 film of Frankenstein or The Bride of Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein, and one of the reviews you have read. Your essay should consist of at least six paragraphs (an introduction, a paragraph each on your theme or character in relation to the four texts--novel, old movie, Young Frankenstein, review--and a conclusion). 

For example, if you write about domestic affection and social isolation, you can write about how you see this theme in the novel, how it appears in the 1931 film, how Young Frankenstein treats this theme. You may or may not find that this theme is addressed in the review you wish to include. If it is, then you may simply write about it. If it is not, then you should respond to the reviewer's assessment of Frankenstein. (Because it is general in nature, it would be best to put this paragraph right after the introduction or the paragraph on the Frankenstein novel.)

Keep in mind the purposes of the introduction--to introduce your argument, not summarize the paper--and conclusion--to give the reader a sense of your argument's significance by restating (not repeating) your thesis and showing why it matters. You may find materials on the University of Pennsylvania Electronic Edition of Frankenstein helpful to you. (Click on "Contents" and then go to either "Characters" or "Themes.")

Update for Homework due 3/26 and 3/27

For some reason, I can no longer access the desired page from home, either. So, try reading "Frankenstein and Natural Magic," which you can find here in Google Books. Some pages will be omitted; read up to p. 47 of the article (it starts on p. 39 of its book). 

Update (3/26, ~4:00 p.m.): Some students have had difficulty getting access to this page also. When you click on the link, it will bring you to a book titled Frankenstein, Creation, and Monstrosity. Scroll down a little, and you will see a table of contents. In this table of contents, you will see listed the article titled "Frankenstein and Natural Magic." Either scroll down to page 39, where the article begins, or use the arrow just above the table of contents to get there. Now, Google Books does change the pages it makes available. If you cannot read this article, then read seven or eight pages of one of the other articles in this book. In your journal entry, make sure to list the author and title of the article you read.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with me. 

Homework for Thursday, 3/26, and Friday, 3/27

Check back later for the link to the article on the Pennsylvania Electronic Edition of Frankenstein. I cannot access the page from school, so I will have to do it at home later today; check back after 6:00 p.m. If you cannot wait, you may select one of the critical commentaries yourself (click on "Critical Commentary") and write a one-page response to it. (Don't try to access this page on campus because it is denying access from the MPH server.) Once again, this assignment is practice for the final paper, where you will have to engage other critics' responses to your book. Take time to consider what you think of the critic's assessment of Frankenstein in light of your own thoughts about the book. 

Homework for Tuesday, 3/24, and Wednesday, 3/25

First, read the reviews of Frankenstein found on pp. 300-312 of your book. (In class, we read numbers 1 and 3.) Then, in your journal, write a one-page assessment of those reviews. You may write about one of them, all of them, or any number in between. Essentially, you are writing about your thoughts about Frankenstein in relation to one or more of these critics' perspectives on Frankenstein. You may consider the following questions: In what ways do you agree or disagree with them? What do they say that sounds especially true or terribly wrong? Do you agree with them in general but disagree on some specific points?

Précis

The précis is a summary of your argument. It should be no longer than one double-spaced page. In the précis, you should clearly state your main argument and discuss how you will develop that argument. Doing so may involve discussing two or three points related to your central argument.

In discussing your argument, you are writing about the main points you want to address in your essay. In developing this argument, it may be helpful to consider the following questions, all of which may be addressed in your précis: What do you have to say about your book? What key scenes or evidence will you discuss? How did you arrive at your topic?

Be sure to avoid passing off the following sentence as your argument: "In my paper I will discuss the differences between Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby." As we've said from the beginning of the year, this isn't an argument. Instead, you need to make a claim about those differences: "In my paper, I will argue that the differences between Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby reveal the risks and consequences of failing to accept who you really are." Now you're saying something.

Be sure to include three sources that you will potentially use in your essay. Do not stress about the format for these sources. Simply present the following information: the author, the title of the article, the title of the publication (e.g. Time, or The Journal of Contemporary Literature), and the date of the publication. We will use these unformatted listings of the sources as a way to learn how to correctly use the MLA format, which is presented in your Pocket Style Manual.

Remember, this should not be longer than one page.

Frankenstein Online

You will find below the link for the University of Pennsylvania's online hypertext of Frankenstein which I have shown in class. It is an outstanding resource for understanding the book and placing it in its proper context. Within the text, it provides links that illuminate details of the time period and provides definitions for some words that are specific to Mary Shelley's time period. Click on the "Table of Chapters" to get started.

http://www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/knarf/frank.html