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Journals

Journal One

1. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print. 
i. Summary: Shmoop Frankenstein summary. 
2. Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Love in the Time of Cholera. New York: Vintage, 2007. Print.
i. Summary: Bookrags Love in the Time of Cholera summary.
3.Spiegelman. Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began. 1991. Pantheon Books, 1991. Print. 
i. Summary: Shmoop Summary

I am thrilled to read a book dealing with history and mixing it with fiction. I have not read many books so I am excited to expand me readings.

Could you link the summaries here?

Journal Two

I chose the image of the Dido Building of Carthage.  This attracted me instantly because of the imagery.  I absolutely love water, and mixed with a city setting and a sunrise/set is very attracting to me.  I find the artwork very peaceful and sentimental.  After investigating the artwork, evidence proves that it is a sentimental piece of artwork.  Joseph Mallord William Turner, the women artist, has inspirations in this dealing with the tomb on the right of the piece.  The tomb represents her dead husband.   I really enjoy that the work tells a story about her inner deep thoughts. 

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/joseph-mallord-william-turner-dido-building-carthage  

Journal Three

I choose the element of color. I believe the color in the artwork I chose was very well used. I like the settle feel that the colors chosen give off. The sunset and then the darkened water is very appropriate, especially representing the context of her deceased husband. The distance having color fits very well with the theme, with the possibility of representing that things are going to get better. Overall, the color is well symbolized in multiple ways.

Journal 4

The topic of my paper possibly will be the subject of Native Americans "peace pipes".  I saw these pipes at the DIA and they were very interesting.  I found out that they believed the smoke went to the heavens and this how they communicated with the dead.  To know that these pipes were handmade are very interesting to me.  I find the Native American culture very amusing and if I do not pick the peace pipes to write about then I am going to write something about the Native Americans art habits.  I just think the respect that the Native Americans have for nature is amazing, and something I would love to investigate. 

You should post the images here.

Scholarly sources:

Duran Trauma of History.pdf

Book: Meta G. Carstarphen and John P. Sanchez, eds. American Indians and the Mass Media 

31.1.bezio.pdf - this is secondary

Go to LTU Libraries, Humanities, PROJECT MUSE (great sources for scholarly articles).

Rough Draft Outline

Connecting Text with article

http://drbeardmoose.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/whatisfeminism.pdf

http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=wost_ed_materials

http://www2.law.columbia.edu/faculty_franke/Gender_Justice/Dowd%20Masculinities.pdf

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/new_literary_history/v026/26.4rose

.html

Undine Rising from the Waters

Chauncey Bradley Ives
Undine Rising from the Waters, modeled ca. 1880-1882

An undine is a legendary figure, a mortal sea sprite that lacks a soul. She must assume human form and trick a man into marriage in order to gain a soul, and with it, immortality. Once wed, she can leave the sea, but only as long as her husband remains true. If her deception is discovered and her mate deserts her, the undine must destroy him.

Ives chose the moment that this undine rises out of the water, and reaches sensuously heavenward to receive her soul. In his sculpture Ives achieves remarkable naturalism in the depiction of wet clinging drapery plastered against Undine’s curvaceous form.

Frankenstein

“To insist, for instance, thatFrankenstein reflects Mary Shelley's experience of the trauma of parturition and postpartum depression may tell us about women's lives, but it reduces the text itself to a monstrous symptom. Equally, to see it as the product of 'bibliogenesis'--a feminist rereading of Paradise Lost that, in exposing its misogynist politics, makes the monster's fall an image of [End Page 812] woman's fall into the hell of sexuality--rewrites the novel in the image not of books but of female experience" 

“Medical and scientific advances in the sphere of reproduction--so often hailed as the liberators of twentieth-century women--have, in fact, been a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they have offered women a greater technical possibility to decide if, when and under what conditions to have children; on the other, the domination of so much reproductive technology by the medical profession and by the state has enabled others to have an even greater capacity to exert control over women's lives"

>Links to masculinity because a women is in charge of her own reproduction without male source 

>Dadaism- A creature being born without sexual reproduction but with male characteristics/monster characteristics> This is not normal

Connection

Natural idea of being a man> Nudism> Nudism also links to heroine

Sexuality= masculine

Feminism= different factors

Dadaism- A movement in art started in 1914 during World War 1 where artists displayed their disgust at the propaganda being spread and how the public accepted and promted it. They displayed this disgust through disturbing images, or images that dispict no definite object. Different media maybe also be used to shock the viewer.

I will be on bed rest this entire week and will be working on my paper while resting. Look forward to discussing it 12/2. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, thank you for your time!

            Masculinity is defined as the possession of qualities traditionally associated with men.  Feminism is defined as the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.  Masculinity and feminism ideas are intertwined with breaking the idealistic image of expectations.  The idea that questions, “To be a man, I must do: blank.  Additionally, to be a woman, I must do: blank.”  Masculinity and feminism ideas challenges this outlook, and emphasizes on women being able to do whatever men can too, equality. This leads to the aspects of what about the men characteristics that scientifically cannot be equalized.  Reproduction is life’s biggest gift, without it life would stop.  The biggest gift in life, is something shared between men and women; an asset that cannot be equalized because the process is in necessity of each other.  The artist of the The Unidine Riding From the Waters and author of Frankenstein display representation of sexuality and romantic relationships between men and women for procreation.  I am going to discuss how

            The Undine Rising From the Waters, a legendary figure, a mortal sea sprite that lacks soul.  The woman must continue human form and fool a man into marrying her in order to gain a soul, and with it, immorality.  Once they are joined in matrimony, she can leave the sea, but only as long as her husband remains faithful.   The unidine must destroy him if her trickery is discovered and her mate must desert her.  Chauncey Bradley Ives, the artist, chose the moment that this undine rises out of the water and reaches sensuously heavenward to receive her soul. The sculpture captures a moment of the undine as she rises from the fountain and assumes human form. “See-through illusionism” is exhibited in the way her wet and clinging gown almost emphasizes her figure, rather than covering her nudity. The American neoclassical sculpture is indicative to American Victorian taste and was therefore replicated at least ten times by Ives, the original artist.  In this sculpture Ives achieves remarkable naturalism in the depiction of wet clinging drapery plastered against Undines curvaceous beautiful form.  Ives' statue of Undine Receiving Her Soul, remains one of the icons of the American neo-classical movement.  Most of his subjects were either from Greek mythology or romantic literature. A reoccurring theme was the vulnerability of women, a popular 19th-century idea that he expressed through innocent, modest looking female nudes.

            Frankenstein is a novel that was wrote by English author Mary Shelley about unusual scientist Victor Frankenstein, who produces an incongruous creature in an untraditional scientific experiment. Shelley’s novel was published when she was twenty but she started writing the story when she was eighteen. The first version was printed anonymously in London in 1818.  Shelley had an eventful life that was dramatic and scandalous.

            Unfortunately for Shelley, she did not ever know her mother.  She died shortly after her she was born. William Godwin, her father was left to take care of Shelley and her half-sister Fanny Imlay. Imlay was her older sister, a daughter from an affair their mother had with a soldier.  The family soon adapted to different daily routines when Godwin married Mary Jane Clairmont in 1801. Clairmont and Godwin had a son and also brought her own two children into the family. Shelley unfortunately never got along with her stepmother. Her stepmother thought it was pointless to educate Shelley but decided that her stepsister Jane (later Claire) should be sent away to school.  Her father had an amazing library and although she did not have a formal developed education, she took advantage of her father's extensive library. Shelley would sometimes be found reading by her mother’s grave. She was a creative girl, a daydreamer, escaping from her personal and challenging life at home into her own imagination.  Shelley also discovered a creative outlet in writing.  According to The Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft, she once quoted that "As a child, I scribbled; and my favorite pastime, during the hours given me for recreation, was to 'write stories.'" I think that this was own way to cope with things in her household, unknowingly presenting it was about to get worse.  The unfortunate events are a downfall, but also a source of art.  The events led her to open her imagination to her dreams, fantasies, fears and fiction creations.

            Mary began a relationship with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley 1814. Percy Shelley was a fanatical student of her father, but he soon shifted his attentions on Mary. Unbelievable, when he and Mary left for England together in that same year he was still married to his first wife. Mary's stepsister Jane also went with them to England.  Mary's actions withdrew her from her father and he did not speak to her a long period of time. Mary and Percy Shelly traveled around Europe for a while. They struggled financially and faced the loss of their first child in 1815. Mary delivered a baby girl who only lived for a few days. The following summer, the Shelleys were in Switzerland with Jane Clairmont, Lord Byron and John Polidori. The group entertained themselves one rainy day by reading a book of ghost stories. Lord Byron suggested that they all should try their hand at writing their own horror story. It was at this time that Mary Shelley began work on what would become her most famous novel, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus.

            The event of her losing her baby, having her child die after a couple days of living is what I think influenced her writing indirectly. “To insist, for instance, that Frankenstein reflects Mary Shelley's experience of the trauma of parturition and postpartum depression may tell us about women's lives, but it reduces the text itself to a monstrous symptom. Equally, in exposing its misogynist politics, makes the monster's fall an image of woman's fall into the hell of sexuality--rewrites the novel in the image not of books but of female experience." This quote explains that Mary Shelley tragic life event led to the procreation individually done, by Victor. She had a man create another creature, not dependent on another to the reproduce.  I imagine that Shelley had many personal issues, presented because of her past tragic and unfortunate events.  In the novel Frankenstein, she thrills the readers with many personal connections that end in horror, from the monster Frankenstein killings.  The creature that was created from a source of unknown, but certain in singular action, is what ruined his life basically.  These male characters are a source of evidence with her male frustrations in life I believe.  It is monstrous that women want souls and humanity, and that is what connects to the artwork Undine Rising from the Waters. 

            The era that the artwork is presented in is a time of questioning the natural idea of being a man.  Nudism, for men is linked to heroism.  Men who were naked were mighty for much of history, nude men represented power and warriors, emphasizing an active role rather than the passive one assigned to women in art.   When women were naked in art it was a different perspective, a representation that was not positive. 

            The Greek goddesses were initially sculpted with drapery rather than nude.  It was not acceptable for women to be shown completely naked.  They would have a piece of leaf, or clothing covering the female area body parts.  The way society viewed women was overall inferior.  Men had power that they could easily abuse because that is how society was cemented.  I believe Mary Shelley recognized this pattern in history.  This correlates with the unfortunate events that happened to Victor in the story because she was angry at the gender. 

“I began the creation of a human being” – Victor Frankenstein (Shelley 54). This is a short yet powerful statement from the eponymous character of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.  Victor Frankenstein is a man from a privileged family who becomes obsessed with pursuing scientific advancements, and is eventually able to create a living being.  While Victor does succeed at creating a living being, he does not succeed at creating a human being.  The creature becomes excluded from society, and tries to humanize himself through knowledge of language.

The creature tries to use language as a way to relate to humans, thus trying to compensate for his singular appearance.  He uses his acquired language in hopes of making relations, in order to become a part of the human community.  He desires companionship and goes to considerable lengths to be accepted.  The creature recognizes that people communicate through sounds, and that these can result in specific emotions.  The creature desires to use this to make connections that will enable him to live alongside humans in a community.  The creature is intelligent and is able to speak and reason, yet is not recognized as a human by society.  He is able to voice his concerns, but due to the way he looks he cannot be considered human and is therefore denied the rights of man.  This means he is unable to defend his crimes as a human normally would.  He is labeled a murderer, but is not allowed to speak on his behalf despite being quite eloquent.  The creature’s ability to reason and communicate does not allow him to be a part of the human community.  He does not have a being that is similar to him physically, and therefore is excluded.  I feel like this is Mary Shelley trying to explain her emotions through text of how she felt as a women, comparing the events that were happening to Frankenstein through so much judgmental forced abilities.  Frankenstein was forced to try to understand and he did not.  The way he is denied his rights and labeled a murderer may indicate her feelings on how she feels like a murderer to her family because the loss of her child.  The loss of her child, has twisted the image she had about humanity dealing with men and their masculinity traits.  The imagination she correlated with her feelings (possibly) was extremely intense and dramatic but if I am correct with my theory, I think she did an amazing job.

Victor still refers to the creature as “it”.  The creature has now been given life, but Victor’s initial reaction is that the creature is an “it”.  Victor is telling this story to Robert Walton after the events have occurred, but when remembering the moment Victor first saw the creature move, his description uses “it”.  This again implies that the creature is an object, and not a person.  This does not seem intentional on Victor’s part.  It implies that at the initial moment of seeing the creature, there is an instinctual bias against him.  Remembering how he felt in that moment, Victor can only describe his creation as an object.  I wonder if this is a connection with her deceased baby.  Does it become just an object after because it is dead? With certain beliefs, there is a still loving soul left and although the baby is gone it can represent anger from Mary Shelley.  Anger that created a being called creature because it is an image that can be portrayed as evil.

Mary Shelley wanted to make a story about a man procreating and it failing, emphasizing on the inferiority that women have, even with the ability to make children.  “Medical and scientific advances in the sphere of reproduction--so often hailed as the liberators of twentieth-century women--have, in fact, been a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they have offered women a greater technical possibility to decide if, when and under what conditions to have children; on the other, the domination of so much reproductive technology by the medical profession and by the state has enabled others to have an even greater capacity to exert control over women's lives” This is linked to masculinity because a women is in charge of her own reproduction.  A man needs a woman to reproduce, and Mary wanted to indirectly prove how hard that is when it goes wrong, like it did for her.

Scott Final Paper.docx

Scott Final Paper.pdf