Summary Of Parasites And Perverts By Jill Halberstam

Jill Halberstam in her essay Parasites and Perverts takes everything that we believe about the monsters of today and flips it and displays their lack of creativity compared to Gothic Monsters She references other analytical pieces, such as “The Censorship of Fiction”, to help her explain thesis connecting the two types of horror fiction and the recycled fear tactics used in today’s horror genre. Overall Jill Halberstam does an exceptional at persuading the audience of her thesis showing the migration of monsters of the Gothic era to the monsters of today, with evidence from professional journals, structuring, and the works themselves.
Halberstam utilizes quotes from various journals including one written by Bram Stoker, the writer of Dracula. Stoker in this essay examines what makes monsters scary and how censorship of
This choice helps build the thesis, and make sure that she gives enough explanation to all the points that she wants to convey. The sections flow together, connecting to the previous passage, but clearly separate the main points in her thesis. The first section, “Skin Shows”, focuses on the shallowness of the monsters of today, and the subsequent sections dive deeper into what makes the monsters of today shallow. “Gothic Gnomes” and “Perversion and Parasites” focuses on race themes and how they manifested, while the sections “The Power of Horror” and “Return of the Repressed” dive deeper into fears inspired by gender and sexuality. The separation of the themes again helps convey a united and organized argument to her thesis and makes sure that all major points are considered. Unity throughout a piece contributes, along with the evidence the author presents, to the credibility of the author. If this essay had been unorganized, without sections, it would be very hard to follow and would not be as convincing as it