Travel literature/writings is, “A genre of writing in which the author describes places they have visited and their experiences while travelling.” This type of writing is when someone explains their journey or traveling through their writing. They will take their adventures, beautiful sights they saw and put it in writing, it is very similar to a documentary. “The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs.”

In Letters written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. By Mary Wollstonecraft writes about her journey through many places. This book is a journal entry on her travels and Mary Wollstonecraft goes into great detail about everything she saw. You can tell in her writings she really had a passion for traveling. While reading her book you felt like you were sitting there with Mary Wollstonecraft looking at the mountains, water, landscape, etc. That is exactly how a travel writer should write. Someone reading a traveling book wants to feel like they are with the person, and it should make you want to go with the person. Mary Wollstonecraft writings can put images in your head as if you are actually there. She focused on the people, cultures, nature and the life of all the people she met. Mary Wollstonecraft always dove into any of her experiences in her travels, and then used that to write a book where people can appreciate the travels.

Wollstonecraft, Mary, et al. Letters written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Oxford University Press, 2009.

“Travel Writing | Definition of Travel Writing in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries | English, Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/travelwriting.

“Travel Literature.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 May 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel_iterature.

The Uncanny

According to Merriam Webster, Uncanny is defined as “seeming to have a supernatural character or origin. Another definition is “being beyond what is normal or expected”. The word uncanny relates to Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. This is mainly because of Frankenstein’s creation, at the hands of Victor. From the beginning of the novel, we can consider Frankenstein’s creation to be uncanny. This is because he is made from an assortment of deceased human body parts, giving a supernatural aspect to his existence.

Aside from the fact that Frankenstein is made from the limbs of deceased humans, his disturbing appearance lends to him being considered uncanny. Generally, we can look at something as uncanny when it is beyond the scope of our wildest imagination. I am huge comic fan, and one of my favorite teams of super heroes are considered uncanny by the “normal” human population in their comic universe. This team is the “X-Men”, often being called “The Uncanny X-Men” The X-Men are referred to in this way because they possess the appearance of a human, however they possess abilities that a “normal” person in their comic cannot begin to comprehend. Each member of the X-men has a specific ability that allows them to be distinguished from the other members. The members who possess a human appearance include but are not limited to: Wolverine, Cyclops, Professor X, Storm, and Jean Grey. These characters relate to Frankenstein because they bear a strong sense of familiarity, yet surpass the scope of human compression. These characters are all uncanny.

Uncanny.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uncanny.

“Uncanny.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, www.dictionary.com/browse/uncanny.

Definition of doppelgÃnger

The Cambridge Dictionary in his English version has two meanings for the word Victorian. The first one defines it as “belonging to, made in, or living in the time when Queen Victoria was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland (1837–1901).” For example, A Victorian house. The later one defines it as “Victorian ideas, beliefs, etc. are ones considered to be typical of the time when Queen Victoria was queen, such as a belief in strict moral and religious rules and the importance of family life.”

Referring to the literary period, the Victorian era was a period of time in England when individuals didn’t want to be involved in scandals or disreputable topics and to do so, they tried to follow a pattern of high morality and values. In the text, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson, it was very noticeable that the author was used the characters of Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, and Mr. Utterson to depict this era. For instance, Dr. Jekyll represents a moral and respectful English man. However, he is hiding his evil personality and transforms into another person to be able to be himself. Nobody would suspect this gentleman and a horrible evil man can be the same person. Furthermore, we have Mr. Utterson who represents the society because he knows the truth; however, he doesn’t want to say a word because he doesn’t want to be related in a scandalous situation. 

The Victorian era is depicted directly in this book because of the repression of violance, sexual desire, expression of feelings before society. Dr. Jekyll was repriming and resisting himself to be what he is, an aggressive evil man.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/victorian#dataset-british

https://www.newhistorian.com/strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/3788/

According to The Oxford Dictionary, the word Romanticism has two meanings. The first definition says that it’s a movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual. The latter one defines it as “the state or quality of being romantic.”

Many of the reading text in the class were from authors inspired by Romanticism. For instance, Mary Shelley with “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus”, her mother Mary Wollstonecraft with “Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark”, and her father William Godwin with “The Adventures of Caleb Williams” were some of them.

The Oxford Dictionary states that the Romanticism was originated in the late 18th century. However, I disagree with this statement. “Caleb Williams” was published in 1794, a year after of his other book “Enquiry Concerning Political Justice.” Both books are directly related to the Romanticism because they were based on the importance of equality of rights, rejection of unfair governments, worth of an individual before society, and the imposition of an ideology related to moral and ethical values.

Romanticism also encloses heroism, sense and sensuality, sensitivity to nature, sublime and redemption.   For instance, Mary Wollstonecraft in “Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark”, was trying to find herself and this was only possible by making a journey to a far-away place with cold and dark scenarios. Also, her daughter Mary Shelley in “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” showed how society judges other individuals by their appearance. In this novel, the main characters scape and went to cold places to find a solution for their problems.

It’s noticeable that the definition of Romanticism is very broad. However, the main characteristic is the interest and importance of men before society.

Works Cited:

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/romanticism

http://www.academia.edu/29648933/In_what_ways_does_the_literature_of_the_Romantic_era_reflect_the_broader_social_changes_of_this_historical_period

Deconstruction is the term when one does an analytical examination of something such as theory in order to reveal its inadequacy (1). Deconstruction often appears contradictory because contradiction is at the heart of its philosophy. Deconstruction means “breaking down” works of fiction or non-fiction to discover its true significance (1.) This true significance in deconstruction analysis is almost never exactly what the author intended (1.) An example of a deconstruction analysis would be a feminist may show that an old innocent story depends on the oppression of women. Deconstruction can help us to question and revise everything we’re told about the world our received ideas. So it can make us more critical citizens as well as more critical readers of literary texts (2).

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (3) the term creation can be deconstructed. Creation is meant to be joyous like the birth of a newborn child, but the creature says to Victor, “my form is a filthy type of yours.” Victor’s creation is not, happy and prosperous” such as God’s creation, Adam, in Paradise Lost. As creature develops and learn about human society, he begins to realize his utter isolation. Creature learns that there is nothing else like it, and when Victor will not create a mate for Creature, Creature becomes violent and destructive, killing Victor’s family and eventually destroying Victor’s life. Victor’s creation becomes his destruction, and the clear distinctive line between creation and destruction is blurred. Deconstruction theory then adequately explains Frankenstein, in that absolute meaning is indeterminable. Shelley’s novel contradicts traditional thinking, which seems appropriate considering the grotesque, monstrous nature and subject of the novel (2).

Works Cited

1.)Deconstruction | Definition of Deconstruction by Merriam-Webster

In one of the many tales of human inception Prometheus, a Greek God, was our creator.  There are other versions where he did not actually create us but rather just gave us fire which enabled our creative thinking.  This fire was stolen from the Gods and given to humanity.  The crime sparked vengeance in Zeus, the Greatest Greek God, and subsequent punishment to Prometheus was delivered in the way of hurting humanity through illness as well as a separate punishment which Prometheus himself was to endure.

The dictionary version of Prometheus is

This has a direct correlation to the story of Victor Frankenstein and his creation of the creature as well as Crake and his creation of the Crakers.  It is more closely related to Frankenstein because the punishment for his creation was, in fact, torment and death.  He was tortured emotionally by the deaths of his loved ones and each new death renewed his grief and torment.  In either case both scientists used the gift given to them by Prometheus to create that which should never have been created.  They defied the laws of nature and committed a crime just as Prometheus had when he stole the fire.  Their love of the intellectual journey, just as Prometheus seemed to love the scientific experiment of humans, resulted in emotional agony and death.  While Prometheus may have been seen as defying his own kind to help ours it cannot be forgotten that we must remember all actions have consequences.  As nice as it is that we have creative thoughts, medicine, writing and technology would we have been happier living in simple bliss?  Maybe there would have been no wars and a lack of creative thought means no foundation for deceit.  If one is not careful those consequences may not be worth whatever the action is.  Had Victor Frankenstein started with a mouse maybe he would have lived a much happier life and his family would have not died as a result of his actions.

http://crossref-it.info/textguide/Frankenstein/7/337

Archetype is an original model that is emulated or copied by others. It is a typical or the conservative ideal from which all others imitate or duplicate. According to Jung’s theory of neurosis, the archetype is a basic conceptual image hereditary from the most primitive human dynasties and thought to be existing in the collective unconscious. These two meanings create an image of a prototype that is used as an example by the rest of the creations as the ideal shape, size, and the appearance.

A perfect example of archetype can be seen in Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. Victor Frankenstein was striving to give life to dead bodies with the hope of creating his own person. This makes human being to an archetype to Victor. It forms the original model that he is emulating to try and produce a similar being. In the event when it didn’t work to his expectations, he decided to abandon the creature since it didn’t resemble the archetype. He was heard lamenting by saying “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavored to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!-Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; “(Shelley 83).

The only word in the glossary that is almost related to archetype is Doppelgänger. According to Merriam-Webster.com, doppelgänger means a ghostly counterpart of a living person. It might not be clear in Frankenstein, but if Victor would succeed in making a normal human being it would form a Doppelgänger. This word is perfectly clear in the novel “Never let me go”, where we see clones moving about in town looking for their lookalike human beings.

Work cited

“archetype”. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 9 May. 2018. <Dictionary.com       http://www.dictionary.com/browse/archetype>.

“Doppelgänger.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 9 May 2018.

Shelly, Percy Bysshe. “Mont Blanc.” Frankenstein: the 1818 Text, Contexts, Criticism. J. Paul       Hunter. 2nd ed. W.W. Norton & Co., 2012.295-9

Sympathy

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, Sympathy is defined as “feeling pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune”. Other definitions of the word sympathy include: “an affinity, association, or relationship between persons or things wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the other”. Another definition of sympathy is “an inclination to feel or think alike”. The novel in which sympathy becomes very important is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Frankenstein is an interesting novel, one which shows the importance of sympathizing with and loving an individual. As we analyze the relationship between Victor and his creation, we notice that the Frankenstein yearns for love. At times, it seems that he wants this love in any way, shape, or form that it can come.  However, the main thing that Frankenstein desires is to be accepted. Once he reached his lowest point, he proceeded to ask Victor to create a mate for him. Frankenstein makes this request because he feels that no one would understand and accept him better than a creature similar to himself. Victor begins to sympathize with Frankenstein, and considers creating a female creature to alleviate the feeling of loneliness that has plagued him for so long. During the creation process, Victor decides against his prior opinion and destroys the mate of Frankenstein. He does this because he realizes the potential effects that two monsters of this nature can have on society. After this action, it is established that Victor doesn’t have sympathy for Frankenstein.

Works Cited

“Sympathy.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, 2 May 2018, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sympathy.

“Sympathy | Definition of Sympathy in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries | English, Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sympathy.

Jharol F. Aguirre

May 8th, 2018

Glossary Entry

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Posthumanism in relation to “Frankenstein”

As defined by the Merriam dictionary and Wikipedia, posthumanism has many different definitions but the one that’s used the most associates posthumanism with anti-humanism. This joined definition is the opposition or rejection of the beliefs, principles, and assumptions of humanism. Posthumanism is evident in countless works of literature, but the one piece of literature that can be said to be based on posthumanism is Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”. This horror story questions some of the key principles of humanism, principles that state that humans need to be born from another human and that humankind cannot act as god. The creature in “Frankenstein” was not born but assembled by a mad scientist, but we still witness how it’s able to develop human characteristics to an extreme level. The careless creation of a mad scientist pushes us to question what we as a society can and cannot consider human.

   In our time, we have started to also question the very definition of what it means to be human because of our ever advancing technology. As the story of a living being created not by conven­tional reproductive means but by scientific endeavour, Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” stands as one of the classic representations of the fears and hopes brought forward by humanity’s harnessing of technological power, and the notion of artificial intelligence, genetic modification, stem-cell research, prosthetic surgery and other interventions. All of these are connected to the modification of the definition of humanity and to the creature in some way, so much that the creature is now even considered a myth or a modern-day Prometheus. The creature has strong traces of posthumanist impulse that may have been inspired by Mary Shelley’s own upbringing. William Godwin was a political radical and free-thinker who took his daughter to many public demonstrations of scientific techniques such as Galvanism. Mary’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, wrote: “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” (1792), now regarded as a founding text of modern feminism. Shelley’s depiction of the creature as the outcast, abandoned by his creator, is designed to excite the reader’s sympathies and challenge the conventions which separate the ‘human’ from the inhuman, or the ‘natural’ from the ‘unnatural’.

   The creature may not be a myth in the conventional sense, but it nevertheless addresses primal and fundamental themes about what it means to be human and pushes the idea of posthumanism forward. It may be more appropriate to think of the creature in “Frankenstein” itself as a modern myth in its capacity to generate a wealth of inter­pretative themes in relation to science, technology, and the posthuman condition.

Work Cited

“Posthumanism”, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posthumanism

“Antihumanism” Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antihumanism

“Core principles of Humanism”, Victor A. Gunasekara, http://www.vgweb.org/manussa/coreprin.htm