Thursday, 26 November 2015

How does Shelley evoke feelings of sympathy for the monster?

Shelley uses a string of questions near the start of the extract to create feelings of sympathy as they show the Monsters struggle and confusion which his own 'father' left him to deal with by himself. Shelley also creates a semantic field of destruction which in turns creates sympathy for the Monster. She does this by using words such as "bleak", "whirlwind", "condemned", "evil", and "wretchedness". Also this is when the Monster confronts Frankenstein and finally realizes what he thinks of him, for example Shelley uses the word "wretchedness", when the Monster is describing himself, this creates sympathy as all the way through the book so far, we have heard Victor Frankenstein called the Monster a "wretch", and it is the Monsters way of accepting that he isn't what his father wanted, this makes you feel sorry for him.
Shelley also uses commanding sentences to create sympathy; The Monster is constantly asking Frankenstein to listen to him, "But hear me", "listen to me", "Listen to my tale", this creates sympathy because we can see as the reader that all the Monster wants Frankenstein to do is just listen to what he wants to say, this is because Victor abandoned him and before he kills his own creation, the Monster wishes for Frankenstein to what he has done to him and take responsibility for it.

"How can I move thee? Will no entreaties cause thee to turn a favourable eye upon thy creature, who implores thy goodness and compassion? Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity: but I am not alone, miserably alone? You, my creator, abhor me; what hope can I gather from your fellow-creatures, who owe me nothing? they spurn and hate me. The desert mountains and dreary glaciers are my refuge. I have wandered here many days; the caves of ice, which I only do not fear, are a dwelling to me, and the only one which man des not grudge. These bleak skies I hail, for they are kinder to me than your fellow-beings. If the multitude of mankind knew my existence, they would do as you do, and arm themselves for my destruction. Shall I not then hate them who abhor me? I will keep no terms with my enemies. I am miserable, and they hall share my wretchedness. Yet it is in your power to recompense me, and deliver them from an evil which it only remains for youto make so great that not only youu and your family, but thousands of others, shall be swallowed up in the whirlwinds of its rage. Let your compassion be moved, and do not distain me"

Wednesday, 11 November 2015

Lynn Weingarten, Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls.

This book is an emotional story about 2 friends who reconnect with each other once one was found to be dead. One girl finds out about her once, best friends death and struggles to believe that she would've committed suicide. She delves into her friends hellish past and never stops to grieve, which makes it harder when she discovers much about her friend which she never knew. She became doubtful of the trust from others and made it her job to uncover the truth behind her friends death in an attempted apology for her not being there for her best friend for so many years.

I really enjoyed reading this book as it addresses the problems within friendships, relationships and death. It is very hard to decipher who the main character actually is, because although you follow one girl through the entire book, the focus and mystery is within the death of the other girl who you learn a lot about through conversations with other people. June, the girl alive, can be quite difficult to understand at first and actually this carries on throughout the book because she is fed shock after shock which constantly changes her thoughts and feelings, so you never quite know who she was before she found out about Delia's death. Although on the surface this book can look like a typical high-school mystery book, it really reaches into the psychological factors of a deep-rooted relationship. All the way throughout the book, Lynn Weingarten piles the pressure on June and her journey to the truth, and this makes it all the more confusing when it comes to the ending; The story messes with your head all the way throughout, but at the end you are delivered with something that is just as much of a shock as it is expected. It will leave you questioning everything that you had previously read and it leaves it up to you as to what happened, why it happened, whether it happened and where does it leave the main characters.

This is a great book to read as it starts off light but soon releases a storm of emotions and questions.

Monday, 2 November 2015

Epizeuxis
------------
The repetition of a word or phrase in immediate succession for emphasis.

Example:
-----------
There was hurt. Hurt, in every one, every smile, every tear. Nothing she could do could ease her pain or soften the blow. It was a constant struggle to plaster a brave face on and emerge through the gates of hell into everyday life. Nobody could help her. It was inside. Inside her mind, where nothing was safe.

Frankenstein Venn Diagram

Here I have made a Venn diagram to show the similar and dissimilar characteristics between  the 3 narrators in Frankenstein: Walton, The Monster and Victor Frankenstein.
This shows how all 3 narrators share a lot of characteristics, but how Walton and Frankenstein have more in common than the Monster. Walton and Frankenstein both share a close relationship with their sisters but also both want to be the 'first' person to find or complete something and because of this they end up sacrificing the lives of those around them.
All 3 narrators are determined; The Monster is determined to get revenge, Frankenstein is determined to find the secret to immortality to avenge his mothers death and Walton is determined to be the first to the North Pole.
All 3 narrators are level-headed but sinister as surrounding all 3 of them are deaths whose fault is their own. Although the Monster is the only being who physically killed people, Frankenstein and Walton let their fellow friends, crew and family members die because of their dream to succeed.

Wednesday, 23 September 2015

Antithesis

Antithesis 
> a phrase using opposite or contrasting ideas.

The use of antithesis gives a sense of balance between two different ideas or elements.
A famous example is:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way"

I personally think that the best use of antithesis within this quote is "we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way" because the mention of 'the other way' ends the section on an unnerving feeling. Dickens never actually mentions 'hell' but instead implies of a darker version of heaven, this makes the reader question what they naturally think especially because heaven and 'the other way' are so opposite.

1950's Adverts.





This is an advert from the 1950's which is encouraging people to buy a new electric cooker. This is a really good example of gender stereotypes within the 1950's as it is directed towards women, who were seen as being domestic and the person within the household who would use the kitchen most. I can see that it is directed towards women because there is a woman who is almost in the center of the advert and it the biggest thing, its even bigger than what they are actually advertising! They have also used a 'feminine' color to show how they are wanting to appeal to women within families.









This is an example of a sexist advert for beer which in
the 1950's was mainly seen as a mans drink. It shows
the man in the foreground of the picture with the woman
behind him pouring his beer for him. It also shows the man
holding tools such as a hammer, this is presumably to create
an effect of hard working and dominance surrounding the
man whilst the woman is there to comfort his needs, which
includes getting him his drink. The use of the positioning
within the advert shows the male figure as being more important which was often how they were viewed in
households because they were thought to be the main bread
winner.

Sunday, 13 September 2015

Reading Autobiography

New Reads
My Target for October will be to start reading a biography book. I usually read crime and drama books so it will be different to read something more lighthearted and factual compared to a fiction. For November I would like to start another series of books, as I really enjoy them but never read them much..Then in December, I would like to try to read an older novel since most of what I read has been written and published recently.

Least Favorite Book:

Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House, Viking/ Penguin books, 1959
The Haunting of Hill House is regarded as being one of the best literary ghost stories published within the 20th century, however I personally didn't find it as gritty and unnerving as I thought I would. This is because whenever I have read a paranormal book before they have been quite intense and chilling, such as The Small Hand by Susan Hill. Surprisingly enough this book came across as a bit to timid and confusing. The paranormal occurrences weren't given in detail but were vaguely described and the focus was more on Eleanor's mental health. It was confusing because there were quite a few people involved and a paranormal book loses its chilling and scary edge when too many people are introduced because it takes away from the isolation that the reader can feel whilst reading this book. As much as I didn't like how the actual book was written, I did like where the author was going with the story line by showing an inhuman presence taking over somebody's mental state and almost completely changing them as a person. This is a very unnerving thought and personally I think that if the author went into more detail about the occurrences then I would've really enjoyed reading this book.

Favorite Book:

Adams, Richard, Watership Down, Rex Collings, 1972
One of my ultimate favorite books has to be Watership Down. It is simple yet incredible beautiful. You can really start to feel connected to the animals by the way Adams uses short and sweet sentences to deliver some more slightly negative news. The way the book itself is written is very beautiful however the story line becomes even more beautiful as it moves along. Through the use of such an innocent creature, the author makes you feel sympathy and hope for the animals and you find yourself holding your breath when they are put in dangerous situations. I read this book as a child and no matter how  old I am, I will always go back to reading this book because of the way you build a connection to the characters. As a child reading this book all I really understood was that some animals were in danger but as I have re-read it at an older age I started to see to more intricate details behind the book of protecting the creatures of the world.

Books I have read:

Wilson, Jacqueline, Hetty Feather, 2009

Wilson, Jacqueline, Cookie, 2003

Wilson, Jacqueline, The Lottie Project, 1997

Wilson, Jacqueline, Lola Rose, 2003

Wilson, Jacqueline, The Illustrated Mum, 1999

Collins, Suzanne, The  Hunger Games Series, Scholastic Press, 2008

Priestly, J.B, An Inspector Calls, 1945

Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House, Viking/ Penguin books, 1959

Adams, Richard, Watership Down, Rex Collings, 1972

Shakespeare,William, Macbeth, Folio, 1623

Lee, Harper, To Kill a Mocking Bird, 1960

Steinbeck, John, Of Mice and Men, Covici, Friede, 1937

Dickens, Charles, A Christmas Carol, Chapman and Hall, 1843

Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, 1818