We wrapped up Frankenstein over the weekend ((right?? if not, you have some reading to do!)) and began outlining the essays in class today. The prompt is straightforward:

Is Frankenstein a Romantic work according to the Romantic sources we read earlier? Use at least two sources and the book to support your argument.

The trick is to look at how each presents its worldview or ethos: what does Prometheus seem to value in Byron’s poem? What does Victor? As statements of morality, do they align?

We will continue to work on these through the week, turning them in on Monday.

…probably enough of the Franken[portmanteaux], yes?

Just a quick overview of our process from start to finish:

1. Read and journal
2. Find patterns and group quotations underneath
3. Make meaning of these patterns
4. Find how these patterns connect with one another
5. Compose thesis
6. Polish outline, ensuring that each point (from thesis to the most basic) is an argument and all arguments are supported with quotations or paraphrasing
7. Begin rough draft

Here’s a diagram of our process showing how each step contributes to the bottom-up creation of your paper:

We’ve set tentative deadlines as follows:

• Outlines should be wrapped by Tuesday/Wednesday of this week
• Final drafts on Monday of next

If you can, please compose your outline and paper in Google Docs, as you can share the live document with me for questions/editing.

Excellent discussions over the past few days! Glad to see we’re back in the swing of things. Below is a short overview of our goals this week and how they tie into the ultimate goal: writing the final paper. If you have questions, post them below, send me an email, stop me in the hall, or ask in class. This is confusing because it is new; don’t be ashamed if you feel like you aren’t getting it. That’s a sign that you’re learning. Keep asking questions until it clicks.

The assignment, as mentioned previously, is to write an essay answering the following question: In what ways is  Frankenstein a Romantic work?

In other courses the teacher may lecture over the Romantic Era and ask you to apply your notes to the novel. ((FYI, this is an example of a deductive exploration/explanation. The teacher gives you a definition, you assert whether or not an example (the novel) matches that definition.)) This is all well and good, but you guys need a challenge. Rather than providing you with a definition of Romanticism, I am asking you to note the themes of a number of Romantic works (the “Frankensources” packet) and use those to come up with a working explanation of the Romantic ethos. ((This is informal inductive reasoning; those who have played with the scientific method before will recognize the pattern.)) You will then use those to support your claims about Frankenstein‘s romanticism.

Today we began with very basic patterns—assertions of mankind’s apparent greatness, the importance of creativity, light-as-knowledge imagery, etc.—and played with how we could tie them together. It is important to realize that there aren’t any “wrong” answers here, just poorly supported ones. You can check the validity of your pattern by finding it elsewhere in the packet, or by finding other symbols arguing something similar. If all signs are pointing to the importance of a person’s humility and you find arguments in favor of man’s godlike nature, go back through your notes to see if you missed something. Or ask during class. Asking is always good.

We began writing our first essay on Friday, spending most of the hour bringing ideas together into outlines, troubleshooting thesis statements, and collecting evidence. Our endeavors were focused on one of two questions:

• Why does Victor react to his creation the way that he does?
• Why is the novel’s subtitle “The Modern Prometheus”?

You should finish this essay this weekend and read through chapter 14 of the novel.

As you work on this essay this weekend, remember that this is not meant to be a final draft. In fact, we won’t be making a final draft of this essay at all; it is your first major step in answering our overall question: What makes Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Romantic?

As you begin writing, keep in mind three questions:

• In one sentence, what do I want my audience to understand/believe after reading this? That’s your thesis statement. It will change as you write your paper—don’t worry about that.
• What things do my audience need to know in order to understand/believe my thesis? These things are your topic sentences, and they usually come from your “Literary Connections” in your journal. If they are things you merely pulled from the text, like “Victor is afraid of his creation,” it is not a topic sentence, but a quotation or paraphrase. Couple it with one or more quotation or paraphrase (like “Burke argues that the root of the sublime is fear”) and bring them together: “Victor’s reaction to his monster’s awakening seems to illustrate Burke’s understanding of the sublime.” That is a topic sentence.
• What bits of information from the text do your audience need to support your topic sentences? These will be your quotations and paraphrasing (cite both).

An outline of the above would look like this:

Thesis: Frankenstein’s reaction to his creation can be better understood in the context of Edmund Burke’s beliefs about the sublime and the beautiful.

I. ((One of my answers to the second question above; note that in an actual outline there must be more than one major point.)) Victor’s reaction to his monster’s awakening seems to illustrate Burke’s understanding of the sublime.

A. Victor is afraid of his creation (Shelley 42).
B.  Burke argues that the root of the sublime is fear (13).

II. [Another argument in support of my thesis; likely something about the beautiful.]

This is a very simple outline, but follows the rules we discussed in class:

1. Cited material is located only at the lowest level. (The rightmost indentation.)
2. The points of higher levels are arguments (things that someone may disagree with), not synopses or restatements of plot points.
3. Every level has at least two points. (Every “I” has a “II,” every “A” has a “B.”

All of the above may be a lot to take in, but we will discuss your process and ideas on Monday. If you have a question in the meantime, post a comment below or send me an email.

For all your bibliography needs:

The trick is to move your indentation markers all the way to the left (make sure your margins are set to 1″!), then, with the cursor on the citation you want to change, move the bottom marker (looks like a little house) over 1/2″.

Note: This assignment called for an annotated bibliography, so there is a sentence or two between the citations explaining how the source was used. Check your assignment instructions (or ask your teacher) if this is necessary for your assignment.

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