Spring 2013
Essay #2:
“Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” Application
Now that you’ve composed a comparison essay, it’s time to move and sharpen your analytical skills. For this new essay, you are being asked to apply the ideas from one text to two other texts. As you break down the texts into their component parts and pieces – the analytical process – you will be able to understand each one more fully. You will need to be familiar with Shelley’s Frankenstein, Cohen’s “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” article (starting on page 11), and the excerpts from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (in the Monsters anthology, pages 79-93).
Prompt: Using your understanding from “Monster Culture (Seven Theses),” apply three or four theses to Shelley’s Frankenstein and excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Explain how the application of this information furthers understanding in both texts.
Choose three or four theses from the following list and apply them to the two literary texts. (You will notice that not all seven show up here – select only from this list.) * Thesis II: The Monster Always Escapes. * Thesis III: The Monster is the Harbinger of Category Crisis. * Thesis IV: The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference. * Thesis V: The Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible. * Thesis VI: Fear of the Monster Is Really a Kind of Desire.
You’ll need to apply at least two theses to Frankenstein using examples from two different volumes of the text. You’ll also need to apply at least one thesis to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. For the entire essay, the minimum number of theses to discuss is three (three different theses), but you are welcome to go beyond that number and include an additional thesis that apply to the novel or the excerpt. Keep in mind that you need to demonstrate your reading of the entire novel Frankenstein, so the examples need to come from different volumes.
Your discussion of the applications should focus on providing insightful connections between texts. Most importantly, each body paragraph must use clear references, quotes and details from the text as support. A successful paper will cover issues like the ones that follow in each body paragraph, but they might also address additional topics as well:
* deciding on the theses that are most relevant for the portions of the texts you’ve chosen to explore * explaining how the literary texts are made more clear through the application of the theses * choosing details from the “Monster Culture” article to demonstrate a full understanding of the ideas in that text * providing relevant information from the two texts (the article and the literary texts) to support each thesis * explaining how the text examples apply to the thesis * show parallels between texts (without becoming a comparison discussion) * explains how those parallels and associations are significant
Your final paper should be three to four pages in length, typed and double spaced, using MLA formatting. That length will not include your Works Cited page, and you must also include in-text citations for any quotes, paraphrases or summaries of the books.
Cited: page, and you must also include in-text citations for any quotes, paraphrases or summaries of the books.
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