Frankenstein/Exam essay outline/Essay

Abandonment

- when Elizabeth's family abandoned her by giving her to victor family. His mom said I got you a gift- this caused him to be possessive

- when victors mother died(Caroline),(abandoning him) this caused him to be vengeful land angry towards god.

- when victor abandons the creature because if it's appearance

Obsession

- when victor is creating the creature, he is so obsessed that he will do anything to succeed, like dig people's graves and memorials. 

In this time period, religion is important and victor is so obsessed he doesn't care that he is defeating death/becoming god. 

- his obsession causes him to pull away room his family.

Selfishness

- victor wants to keep his project a secret so he lies and deceives his family and friends

-victor leaves the creature because he doesn't want anyone to know he created him, this caused the creature to be mad and kill William. If victor didn't keep Frankenstein a secret, Will probably would have never been killed or could at let be warned to watch out.

- victor want this creature to be kept a secret so bad that he lets an innocent person, Justine, take the blame for Will's death even though he knows it was his creation. 

Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world.(Shelley, p. 38). Victor, in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, is a man who is more of what he thought he created, than a man at all. Victor is more of a monster than the monster he created. To begin with, he isolates himself from society essentially abandoning his own life. He then becomes obsessed with making himself God, even to the point of disrespecting burial grounds. He is selfish, he deceives society and doesn't take the blame for something he created. Victor is causing the problems in this novel, not the monster he created.

Victor's constant abandonment is his monstrous way of thinking that if he's away from society, that he can be resistant to the feeling of loss. Because he had loss in his life (is mother dying when he was young), he is caught up with the thoughts of abandonment. He doesn't want to get too involved with anyone so he doesn't have to go through the stage of heartache and loss if they die in his lifetime. He turns his grief into anger with God for making death something humans have to go through. He enables himself to believe that he can bring dead spirits back to life. He wants to do this because he wants his mother back. He creates a human out of other human body parts, thinking the creation will be an amazing accomplishment and will be a beautiful and amazing creature. What happens instead is that the creation he made he believes to be a monster because of it's hideous appearance. In reality, it just has baby thoughts and emotions, it doesn't know how to behave or what is going on. Instead of nurturing the newly formed human, Victor rejects him in utter repulse. He recreates the abandonment that his mother had put him through, but in a different way, Victor had the choice to reject his creation. Leaving the monster alone and scared in a strange world, like leaving a baby out in the streets alone, this is a horrible thing for Victor to do. To create a life and then leave him to fend for himself. Everything he does is in a very inhumane way.

When creating the monster, he becomes obsessed with it. He redraws from society to create this life and only goes out to dig body parts from graveyards. He studies the course of human's decay so he can accurately build his (thought to be) monster, "Now I was lead to examine the cause and progress of this decay and forced to spend days and nights in vaults and charnel-houses.”(Shelley p.36). This is not a normal thing to do, religion was thought of highly in this time, and to dig up graves is a monstrous thing to do. He is disrespecting the burial service held for the person, and he is disrespecting God and his act to end the person's life. Victor is so obsessed with creating the monster, he goes against the thought that there is and can only be one God. He wants to become God in his obsession. This is not normal for a man like Victor to want to do. Many people would love to have those to passed away, still alive, but Victor goes to the extreme and it is not something people would want to perfect. He has a deranged obsession that causes him to act in a way that normal men would not.

This leads him to become selfish in the sense that he is risking others lives instead of his own. The monster was his plan and accomplishment and he won't take the blame for it even though it causes Justine's death. Realistically, Victor killed his own brother by not warning the country about his creation that had escaped. If he had told someone of the monster, they could have went though precautions to protect themselves. Victor also caused the death of Justine, he got a second chance (maybe from God) to tell everyone about the monster he created but he didn't tell and Justine was accused of murder. He kills his best friend Henry by continuing to let the monster be unknown by humanity. Victor then causes the death of his cousin and wife on their wedding day. If he hadn't been so selfish and told people about his creation, he wouldn't have had to relive all of the grief, heartache, and loss that comes along with the death of someone close. He's selfish by thinking of his own feelings, thinking that if he told someone of what he had done they wouldn't believe him, or they would reject him as well for making something so horrifying. Although what they think of horrifying isn't his personality, they would label him as that because of how he appears. They believe that if you look ugly, that you are a bad person, that you could never need love or feel love or be a successful member in society. Victor fears this for his own gain, in doing so, he hurts himself and ultimately kills himself for resisting to share his mistake with his friends, family, and country.

Victor is the actual monster he had thought he created. He abandons his life to become God-like person to try to make his mother live again. He actually becomes obsessed with this creation and goes to extreme unnecessary measures to create him. Because of his selfishness, he causes the death of four innocent people not including himself. Victor goes to through all of this to defeat death, and then life (of his creation) and it ultimately does more harm than it does good. Now you're left to think, what makes a monster? How they appear to society, or how they appear to themselves?

Frankenstein Questions

1. Briefly summarize what we learn about Victor’s family and background. Remember, we are trying to see how things from his childhood would affect him to build the man he becomes.

Victor grew up in a rich family with his politician or lawyer father. His mother was poor when she was young, but she loved to help people. She helped people because her father died in her care and she knows what it's like to feel loss.Victor's father's best friend(and his mom's father)was a very wealthy merchant but lost all of his wealth, he then became depressed. Victor, knowing of this, could have been influenced by it. He could have wanted to shut himself away from everyone so that he wouldn't have to feel the loss that his parents had felt. 

Victor was a spoiled by his parents when he was young. His parents decided to adopt an orphaned girl named Elizabeth. His mother gave him Elizabeth as a 'gift'. When Elizabeth contracted the scarlet fever Victor's mother tended to her and contracted it herself causing her death. When he's older, Victor goes against his father's wishes and studies thinkers. People like Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus.

2. We see some immediate evidence of this old concept that people ARE their looks, or rather, that their looks are their personalities. Look for this in these chapters and evaluate.

Elizabeth is considered a sweet and innocent girl because she is young and is beautiful. Victor's mother adopts Elizabeth in hopes that Victor and Elizabeth would wed. She doesn't have much thought on what her personality is. This shows that they think only in respects to looks.

3. Compare the personalities and essential nature of each of the three young friends - Victor, Henri Clerval and Elizabeth. A chart would be handy for this.

Henry had a single talent. He loved danger and enterprise and romance novels. He wrote songs and tales of knightly adventure. He always tried to make Victor pretend he was part of the round table or other tales. He hoped of becoming someone famous that would be in a story. He was full of kindness and tenderness. 

Victor explain Elizabeth to be sympathetic, loving, and gentle. 

Victor had a very happy childhood, his parents were very kind. He was sometimes violent, and always wanting to learn. He wasn't interested in government, language structure, or politics. He wanted to know about metaphysics and secrets of the world.

4. Do some research and give me a brief outline of the three thinkers whom Victor studied in his youth: Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus.

Cornelius Agrippa was an alchemist, astrologer, and a magician. 

Paracelsus was a botanist, alchemist, astrologer and occultist. 

Albertus Magnus found the philosophers stone, so he could turn metal into gold. 

5. Describe Victor’s interest in these thinkers and consider why they appealed to him.

Victor wanted to study these thinkers because it was going against his father. His father was one who believed in law and things that he thought were real/the truth. It was also a way for Victor to go against the church. The church believes that there is only one God, and that he mad everything. To believe that you could take God characteristics (bringing life to dead corpses) was unheard of and disapproved as it goes against the religion. Victor wanted to challenge this and that's why the thinkers appealed to him. He wanted to prove others wrong.

Birth of Monster

After the long journey of building the monster, this is it. I'm going to make him come to life. I can finally be able to see my creation live! I found out that the electricty could bring dead body parts back to life. I decided to use amnionic fluid and the electricity combined to make him stay alive for longer. I mimicked a uterus to put the amnionic fluid and the creature inside. Then I sent electric current through the fluid to reach the creature. I looked into it, his eyes opened! I ripped the container open and lifted him out. His body is weak. Ah! He's hideous! This can't be the person I created. No, this did not happen. He didn't come alive, he's not here! Get out of my head! You weren't suppose to look like this!!

Macbeth Questions

The MISSING Macbeth assignment! 


In Act 2, how does Macbeth attempt to get Banquo’s support? How does Banquo respond?

Macbeth tries to get Banquo to talk to him about the witches' prophecies. Macbeth tells Banquo that he wants to see what else will come true of their predictions. Macbeth tells him that he will get something out of Macbeth being king, if it happens. Banquo then responds with,
"So I lose none
In seeking to augment it, but still keep
My bosom franchised and allegiance clear,
I shall be counselled."(II.i.26-29)
 He is saying that he will do it as long as it is nothing he should feel guilty for. Banquo is accepting of Macbeth's desire to become king, and collecting the royalties that come with being a close friend of the king.
 
 

Compare how Lady Macbeth and Macbeth react to the king’s murder. Why are they so different in their responses? (Act 2)

Their responses are so different because Lady Macbeth wanted the king dead and doesn't really feel remorse, she is more outwardly upset about the fact that the king was murdered in her house. Whereas Macbeth is horrified at what he did and the decision is haunting him. Macbeth pretends to be angry and out of love for the king, he kills the two chamberlains. He could have done this because he was afraid that they would remember what happened, and that he would be accused of murdering the king. Lady Macbeth pretends that she is mortified that the king was murdered in her house and 'faints'. 



In Act 1, Duncan is established as the king. What kind of a king is he, based upon how he interacts with his thanes? Be specific and give references where possible.

I feel that Duncan is a harsh, but devoted king. In this time, he probably wasn't considered harsh, but in this age sending people to be killed is not a good thing. He's harsh and devoted because he has a thane killed for helping the enemies. He is very devoted to his own country and will kill anyone who goes against him. He is very kind to the men who are devoted to the country as well, he treats them with kindness and respect. He calls on Macbeth and says that he loves him, "Conduct me to mine host. We love him highly / And shall continue our graces towards him." He is kind to the people that he knows and can trust. This makes him a good king. 


After reading his letter, how does Lady Macbeth describe her husband? Why do you think she describes him this way? (Act 1)

After reading Macbeth's letter, Lady Macbeth describes him to be gentle, weak, and afraid. She describes him this way because he wants to be the king but doesn't want to do the dirty work to be king. She feels, and is more courageous than he is, she is more willing to kill people and she's not very concerned with what happens after. Lady Macbeth knows that Macbeth doesn't want to go through with a murder. Because Macbeth doesn't want to kill the king, Lady Macbeth thinks that he is childish and weak. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth exchange their stereotypical personalities, she is more masculine in the sense that she doesn't seem to have feelings, where as Macbeth is timid and wants the reward for doing no work. 

Now let’s dig a bit deeper:
What appears to be motivating Macbeth the most? Figure it out and show some evidence from the play.

Lady Macbeth is motivating Macbeth the most. you can see this clearly when she says, " When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man." She is calling him womanly for not wanting to kill the king. This influences Macbeth's decision because he doesn't want to be seen as a weak person for not killing him. Lady Macbeth is telling him that if he did murder the king, he would be much for manly and powerful than if he didn't. If Lady Macbeth did not know of the witches' prophecies, Macbeth would most likely not have murdered the king. Macbeth wants to be king but will not make the effort to kill the king. He is more in touch with his feelings than he appears sometimes. Lady Macbeth forces Macbeth to bring out his more masculine side when she judges his power.

Make a list of reversals or paradoxes from Acts 1 and 2 that show how “fair is foul and foul is fair”.

The witches prove that "fair is foul and foul is fair" as they are women, but have the characteristics of men. They commit evil and violent acts. They use spells and manipulate people as they are powerful and strong. The three witches plot, which is more masculine in these times because they thought that women didn't have brains. These are true for Lady Macbeth as well. She is plotting to kill Duncan, but Macbeth is worried about it, he doesn't think they should. In these times, this wouldn't have been normal. Normally the man would want to kill ( maybe not to that extreme) and the women would be afraid to do it. Lady Macbeth also plots to kill the king, she has a plan all ready for when Macbeth and Duncan get to their house. These reverses of the gender roles show how "fair is foul and foul is fair".

Macbeth Essay (Copy 1)

People all over the world are faced with consequences for choices they made. Macbeth, in Macbeth by William Shakespeare, has to make decisions only criminals would make. He chooses to kill the king, Duncan. This choice leads to his downfall following many choices before this decision. Macbeth is truly evil. This is clearly seen when he is speaking with the three witches. He chooses to believe what they say as fact, and go to all lengths to make it so. When he gets back to his castle, he chooses to make sense of his wife's reasonings to kill Duncan. He knows deep down that to kill the king is morally corrupt, but ultimately decides to kill him anyways. The choices Macbeth makes in the play reflect the evil inside of him.

During the first scene Macbeth is in, he comes to face his first decision of the play. The witches approach the two friends Macbeth and Banquo with foreshadowing of their life's events. Macbeth, being greedy, commands them to tell him more. They disappear without sharing more information. Macbeth questions them as they are departing,

"Say from whence

You owe this strange intelligence? or why

Upon this blasted heath you stop our way

With such prophetic greeting?"(I.iii.77-80).

He is demanding to know where they got their information and why they told them about it. Macbeth becomes ecstatic after Ross comes to give him the news that he is now Thane of Cawdor. This gives him reasoning to believe the witches, even though he knows believing them is crazy. Banquo says soon after they disappear," Were such things here as we do speak about? / Or have we eaten on the insane root / That takes the reason prisoner?"(I.iii.85-88). Banquo clearly joking at the matter, Macbeth seems intensely interested in the thought of becoming king. He makes this conscious decision to believe every word they say and tries to bring Banquo into his obsession with him. Even though Macbeth knows that believing the witches fore-tellings is crazy, he makes the conscious decision to believe anyway. He believes them because of Ross and Angus come and tell him that he is now the thane of Cawdor (which was one of the witch's predictions). He thinks that since they were right about the first two pieces of information, that they would be right about the third.

Macbeth writes a letter to his wife, Lady Macbeth, about the witches predictions coming true. A messenger walks in on her reading the letter. He tells her the news of Duncan coming to stay that night. Lady Macbeth thinks this is a perfect opportunity for Macbeth to become king. Macbeth must kill Duncan. She clearly states that the king will die in her house," The raven himself is hoarse / that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan / Under my battlements."(I.v.39-41). Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth, "Never / Shall sun that morrow see!"(I.v.62-63), referring to Duncan. Macbeth replies that they will speak about it later. Macbeth does this because he was unsure about whether or not he should go through with the murder. If he does, he will be king, and thinks he will be happy, but oppositely he will always have the thought in the back of his mind. If he decides not to kill the king, he assumes he won't reach his full happiness, and Lady Macbeth will be ferocious at him. Although, He won't be second guessing his choice as he won't be committing a sin against hospitality. Macbeth knows, and states that you have to protect guests of your household, "As his host, / Who should against his murderer shut the door, / Not bear the knife myself."(I.vii.14-16). Macbeth second guesses himself a few more times during the play, but he ultimately makes the decision to sin.

Although Macbeth knows it is extremely wrong to kill a guest, especially the king, he chooses to anyway. This is a very hard choice to make, but he seems to make it with a certain ease one wouldn't except. The next morning the chamberlains were accused of the crime, Macbeth, 'in rage' kills the two men. He did not need to do this, but did anyways. This makes him evil, he just killed them for no reason. Since Lady Macbeth got them drunk to the point of passing out the night before, they wouldn't have remembered anything. Macbeth acts in suspicion and fear killing the two chamberlains. After this, Macbeth decides to hire people to kill Banquo and his son. He does this so that there's no way Banquo's sons can take the kingship away from him. Macbeth is greedy for power, he is evil when he chooses to kill these innocent people in his quest for control. This ultimately results in the death of Macbeth, by Macduff. This wouldn't have happened if he had made different decisions in the months before his demise.  

Choices Macbeth made throughout the play contribute to the evil inside of him. Even though Macbeth thinks over and wondering about doing the right thing, he still goes through with the horrible action. Because he chooses to believe the witches prophecies he gets obsessed with making them facts. Lady Macbeth adds to this want to be king when she is insisting on Duncan's death be that night. The most important reason why Macbeth is evil is when he goes through with killing the king, and his best friend. Consequences for choices should be well thought through, Macbeth clearly didn't do this. Choices made in life could defiantly make for life or death, or good and evil.  

Macbeth Poster

I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so.. here's four.

Macbeth Character Sketch

Macbeth is a man who is very easy to manipulate. You can see this well when the witches foretell his future ruling. The witches know that if they tell him he will become obsessed with the thought of becoming king. They are manipulating him into believing he has to do something drastic to make their prophecy become reality. Macbeth says to the witches, "Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more."(I.iii. 73). This is where you see that he is starting to become obsessed with the prophecies and wants to know more about his life. From that, you could also say that he is a little selfish because he's not caring about what they want or feel. With this quote from Macbeth, "Speak, I charge you."(I.iii.80). You can assume that he is powerful and demanding. He is used to getting what he wants and not settling for anything less. He is astonished when they ignore him and disappear. When he says, "Your children shall be kings."(I.iii.88) to Banquo, you could interpret that he is a very good friend of Banquo's and that he is happy his children shall be kings, or he is confused and realizes that if he becomes king, it won't stay in his blood line. It could also be a mix of the two, he's happy that he can become king, he's upset that it won't stay in his bloodline but he has a bit of happiness knowing that it will go to Banquo's children. He could also wonder about how Banquo's children are going to be kings. 


When he tells his wife about the witches insight, she makes him kill Duncan because that is the only way he could be king. Lady Macbeth firmly states, "The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements." (I.v.39-42). She won't stop pressuring Macbeth to kill Duncan until he agrees. Although, Macbeth is having second thoughts. After Lady Macbeth talks about how Duncan will not be alive to see the next day he replies, "We will speak further." (I.v.72). He doesn't want to talk about killing the king, he is worried about the consequences of the deed. Lady Macbeth threatens Macbeth's masculinity by saying, " When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man." (I.vii.49-51). This makes Macbeth want to kill the king because if he didn't Lady Macbeth would think he wasn't as good as a man. Macbeth is known for being a great fighter and if he doesn't do this he would be considered afraid by Lady Macbeth. He wants to prove that she isn't stronger than him and to do that he has to put his emotions and conscious aside and kill Duncan. This is proved when he states, "False face must hide what the false heart doth know." (I.vii.82). Macbeth puts up a strong and fearless front, but when faced with a conflict of morals, he is cowardly and more realistic to the matters. During this part, you get to see the scared emotions of Macbeth. I think deep-down Macbeth is a good friend and a truly caring man, he is just easily manipulated into doing things that are out of his character. 

Frankenstein Technology

Siri.
Siri is an intelligent software assistant that Apple developed. It enables you to speak to your iphone to set appointments, get directions, send texts and calls, and finds contacts. Some positives to this would be if you were driving you could just ask your phone for directions, or send text messages without taking your eyes off the road. This is useful because texting and driving is illegal, this is a safe way to send texts if you really need to. It also helps you keep focused on the road and not on the machine. Another good thing about Siri is that it's assessable to people who are vision impaired. This helps because they would be able to use most parts of the iPhone. Some negatives to this software is that it doesn't recognize some voices. If someone has a strong accent it doesn't work. An example is in the video below.



This is an unfortunate disadvantage for people in countries other than Canada, United States, and Britain. Personally I would not buy an iphone 4s. Simply because I don't think being able to talk out commands is that much less time consuming. Especially if it takes more than one try to get it to figure out what you are saying. I think it's easier and much faster to just tap instead of talking to it.

Ignorance is Bliss?

Between reading Frankenstein and Macbeth, and sitting in Mr. Lobb's class, I do believe that ignorance is bliss. By that, I mean that if you don't know something, you are better off, or more at peace than people who know a lot. For example, if someone was on your computer and ended up breaking it, and you were away from home and didn't know, you would be happy. Whereas, if you did know that your computer was broken, you would be upset and angry. Macbeth was better off not knowing he was going to be king. If the witches hadn't told him that news, he wouldn't have wanted to kill the king, and Macbeth wouldn't have been killed. Again, was where he was told that no man woman born, would be able to kill him. This gave Macbeth a large amount of courage and will to make impulsive decisions which ultimately results in his death. He had so much confidence that he was going to take on Macduff. It hurt him to know that he would be hurt by no person born by a women, but what hurt him more was knowing that Macduff was born by c-section. This made him lose the confidence and power that he had and made him more cautious in the battle. I think this made Macbeth lose in the battle - him knowing that he could be killed by Macduff. If he didn't know that Macduff was born by c-section, he could possibly have won the battle by pure confidence and courage.

In Frankenstein, the monster was at peace when he was just "born" or created. He didn't know about the harshness of the world. When he learns language and can read he is brought to know all of the dangers and cruelness he has been facing. He begins to understand why people would run from him and exclude him, he probably hadn't even known that they were doing that at the time. He becomes hurt and upset at humans and that's when he starts to kill. This wouldn't be this way if he didn't learn. Learning is what causes pain and confusion. 

In Mr. Lobb's class, we are constantly faced with new knowledge of the world. As this is done, there are many people who are upset at the end of the class. They come to realize that the world isn't how they thought it was. Before this English class, those girls were happy only knowing what they had been taught by guarding parents and friends. After they found out about what was really going on in the world, they think about how awful it all is. They say things like, "This is terrible", "Why would you show us this!" and other comments about their confusion and realizations. This is why ignorance is bliss. People feel better when they don't know about things that are happening, when they do know, they become upset and overwhelmed. 

Soliloquy #5 Act 3 scene 1

To Be thus is nothing. 

But to be safely thus.--Our fears in Banquo
Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature
Reigns  that which would be fear'd: 'tis much he dares;
And, to that dauntless temper of his mind, 
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear: and, under him,
My Genius is rebuked; as, it is said,
Mark Antony's was by Caesar. He chid the sisters
When first they put the name of king upon me,
And bade them speak to him: 
then prophet-like  
They hail'd him father to a line of kings:
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,
And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,
Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding. If 't be so,
For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind;
For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd;
Put rancours in the vessel of my peace
Only for them; and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!
Rather than so, come fate into the list.
And champion me to the utterance! 

To be this is nothing, but to be safely this. I fear Banquo, and that he will have royal sons. He is daring, and thinks all of the time, he has wisdom that guides him safely. I fear no one except Banquo. When I am around him my guardian is scared, as Mark Antony's was afraid of Caesar. Banquo got angry at the witches when they told me I would be king. He begged them to tell is future. Prophet-like they told him he would be the father to a line of kings. They had given me a crown that I couldn't pass onto my children (They told me I would be king but my children wouldn't). If it was true, Banquo's children will take my place in royalty instead of my own. If it is true, then I have killed Duncan for Banquo's children, and put my conscience out of peace for them. I handed my soul to the devil for Banquo's children to be kings. Rather than this happen, i will fight for my sons to be king.