Critical Approaches - Due Thursday, 2/19

Hi, Class,

By Tuesday, you should have read the assigned critical perspective through which you can examine Frankenstein (feminist, gender, Marxist, psychoanalytic, cultural criticism). The assignment is to provide a basic definition (bullet points are fine) of the critical approach I assigned to you, and extract 3-4 quotes from the essay which you think best explain that perspective.

  Below is the list of critical essays from the Norton Critical Edition for each group to read (for some, I will provide handouts--the handouts are in the pink envelope outside my office--try to retrieve over the weekend), and you should extract a couple of quotes from that as well. When you get together with your group on Tuesday, you will have time to work with them, compare and consolidate your notes into one cohesive sheet for Thursday.

  

(Feminist Criticism) Nicole, Falonne, Pablo

"Mary Shelley's Monstrous Eve" (328-344).
"Female Gothic: The Monster's Mother" (317-327).

(Gender Criticism) Guichelle, Anna, Cesar
"Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, and the Spectacle of Masculinity" (391-403).
"My Hideous Progeny": The Lady and the Monster" (344-355). 

 (Psychoanalytic Criticism) Joy, Malik, Mariana, Terry
"The Monster and the Maternal Thing: Mary Shelley’s Critique of Ideology." (handout)

(Marxist Criticism) Erick, Facundo, Bryam

"Frankenstein, the True Story; or, Rousseau Judges Jean-Jacques." (416-434).
"The Workshop of Filthy Creation”: A Marxist Reading of Frankenstein." (handout) 

(Cultural/Race/Film) Jeremiah, Derrick, Demetrius, Caiu
"Frankenstein, Racial Science, and the Yellow Peril" (482-489).
"Looking at the Monster: Frankenstein and Film" (444-467).
 

·         Each group will focus on the key aspects of one of these critical perspectives and report to the rest of the class. I am doing this mainly for reasons of expediency--you need not stick to that approach for your research paper. 

 

·         Each group will provide 4-5 BRIEF bullet points based upon the reading, and I will ask a representative from each group to briefly explain how its critical perspective can be/has been applied to Frankenstein.

·         Feel free to pull a sample from the critical essay in the edition, if you’d like. I would suggest that you read the opening portion of the critical essay (if you don’t have time to read the entire piece) to understand the author’s thesis. 

·         Don’t overthink the assignment—just think about it as a fellow student asking you, “What is feminist criticism, and how might one apply it to a reading of Frankenstein?” And then…you explain!