APEngLangper711-12

"will acquaint readers with Mary's parents, her own troubled childhood, the circle of people with whom she and her husband associated, and the hardships she experienced throughout her widowhood as a result of her liaison with Shelley and other Romantic writers"

This source takes a detailed look at Shelly's life. Her upbringing and other events both in her childhood and adulthood, suggest why she wrote with romantic values and help to understand her authorial purpose better.

overview and review of frankenstein. literary criticism

The article discusses the hypocritical nature that surrounds people telling their children that plastic surgery is bad after having it done themselves. The one uniform agreement is that children can tell when somebody looks different, and because of how society portrays the importance of beauty children at a very young age develop very vain perceptions of people based off of their physical appearance, as seen through the monsters struggles to find human companionship

"Self-confinement exacerbates Victor's bizarre tendencies. Like the house bound heroine of domestic fiction, he retreats into an emotion-free state while dabbling in forbidden secrets in "a cell, at the top of the house, and separated from all the other apartments by a gallery and staircase"

This source again identifies the main themes of isolation and the lack of human connections in Shelly's novel. They help to highlight the basis of these themes and how they reoccur in the novel.

What is unique about Frankenstein is that it represents and almost foreshadows the romantic disillusionment with the established order. After the French Revolution, liberalism and nationalism were at all time highs. But with the response by the monarchies (e.g., the wars of 1848), romantic ideals were spurned. The effect this had was an increase in disillusionment among romantics. The possibility of a society transformed by individuals seemed less believable The divide between romanticism and realism during the period that the novel was published.

Mary Shelley used science as a metaphor for any kind of irresponsible action and what she really was concerned with was the politics of the era and the way the monarchy was operating in the interest of relatively few people.

This source relates Frankenstein to contemporary times, discussing the theme of social responsibility that scientists have, both to their experiments as well as to humanity. It discusses the manner in which Victor overstepped his boundaries, and resultingly was punished and suffered for it.

This source discusses several themes of the novel, including isolation, death, sanity, and identity. Without the role of any decent parent, most of the children evolve into isolated, uncaring characters, who only seek their own self interests. This contrasts sharply with Jewel, who has a caring mother, and ends up sacrificing all that he cares about in order to respectfully (in his opinion) bury his mother.

"Faulkner's use of multiple narrators underscores one of his primary themes: every character is essentially isolated from the others. Moreover, the characters in the novel do not communicate effectively with one another"

This source outlines the themes in As I lay Dying, as well as giving examples. This quote provides an overview of Faulkner's style of using the different characters as narrators in order to further emphasize that the characters do not communicate well.

This source compares Anse and Addie to Adam and Eve, and also explores the ideas that poor parenting leads to poor children behavior. Like Victor, Anse and Addie really don't fulfill the roles of decent father/mother figures. As a result, most of the children go astray (Vardaman is clueless and baffled, Darl starts to lose his grip, Dewey Dell is left pregnant and alone)

"Adding to a child's shock and confusion at the death of a brother, sister, or parent is the unavailability of other family members, who may be so shaken by grief that they are not able to cope with the normal responsibility of childcare."

"Parents should be aware of normal childhood responses to a death in the family, as well as signs when a child is having difficulty coping with grief. It is normal during the weeks following the death for some children to feel immediate grief or persist in the belief that the family member is still alive. However, long-term denial of the death or avoidance of grief can be emotionally unhealthy and can later lead to more severe problems."

This article explains how children react and deal with grief over the loss of a loved one. This article relates to the confusion and angst Vardaman experiences after the death of Addie. Vardaman experiences shock and confusion over the substantial matter of death and how it applies to his newly deceased mother. No one in the family bothers to explain to him the finality and irreversibility of death. Without guidance, the Bundren family leaves Vardaman to stumble around and form false conclusion such as the belief Peabody killed Addie.

or writers in the 1930s stories about the poor were seemingly mandatory, but "Faulkner presented his characters from a much larger perspective than did most fiction writers of the time. He placed them in a context that demanded that they be seen in a history and a locale, not merely as victims of a flawed economic system"

Unlike Grapes of Wrath, As I Lay Dying shifts the focus of the novel away from the Great Depression although it is still a significant part of the book. Many writers of the time period were expected to write about the depression, yet Faulkner's authorial purpose leaned heavily towards showing the satire in a family experiencing adversities.

"aulkner's use of multiple narrators underscores one of his primary themes: every character is essentially isolated from the others. Moreover, the characters in the novel do not communicate effectively with one another. Although the reader is privy to the characters' thoughts and emotional responses, none of the characters adequately express their dilemmas or desires to others."

Part of the satire Faulkner uses to describe the Bundreon family, is their lack of communication, typical in a family experiencing extreme hardship. They all have feelings that is shared with the reader while being kept from all members of the family, ironically while they spend immense amounts of time with each other on their journey.

Herald Hellwig finds the similiarities between the members of the Bundreon family and the Greek Gods. Like within the networks of mythological characters, there are divisions and multiple miscommunications.

Both Darl and Jewel struggle with their own identity. And the death of their mother at the time of the largest development of their identity makes it even harder to discover who the are.

Kovesdy argues in this article that Dewey Dell follows in her mother's footsteps in small acts of rebellion towards the stereotypical matriarchal role that is forced upon her. By loosing her virginity before marriage, she shows protest towards the traditional role society has set for her. And by being unable to master household chores, she denies the expectations set for her.

This article explains the importance of the multiple narrators. Within each narrator lays a different perspective. And within each narrator, lays both a textual voice, unbiased and the voice of the author, and a mimetic voice that describes the feelings of the particular narrator.

Robert Sutton remarks that as time has progressed, dying ceremonies are not for the well-being of the deceased but as an emotional clutch for the loved ones of the deceased. What is ironic about As I Lay Dying is the family goes through all of the motions of the typical dying ceremony, yet they do not use each other in their grieving processes.

"It gradually becomes clear that each member of the family has an ulterior, selfish motive for wanting to get to Jefferson."

"Irving Howe has pointed out that the novel's central theme is the tension between individual self-definition and the contingency of selfhood upon others, particularly parents and family."

This article is a general overview of As I Lay Dying and the main theme of identity and identity within the family structure. Throughout As I Lay Dying, the selfish motives of each family monopolize the characters' attentions. The characters struggle to find their place within the family and how to communicate their feelings with each other. The most disturbing effect of this inability to form an identity results in the incarceration of Darl in a mental institution.

"Psychological factors that may contribute to mental illness include: Severe psychological trauma suffered as a child, such as emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, An important early loss, such as the loss of a parent, Neglect, Poor ability to relate to others"

"Certain stressors can trigger an illness in a person who is susceptible to mental illness"

This article discusses mental illness and its causes. Mental illness can result from physical, biological, and psychological factors. Extreme emotion circumstances can also trigger mental illness. This relates to Darl's mental illness in As I Lay Dying. Addie's death triggers Darl's mental illness.

"The fact is, many mental disorders have their beginnings in childhood or adolescence, yet may go undiagnosed and untreated for years."

"Mental illnesses are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character, or poor upbringing. Mental illnesses are treatable. Most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan"

This article discusses mental illness, its causes, its effects, and its treatment. Mental illness often results in a person's inability to cope with normal situations like Darl who is not able to cope with Addie's death in an acceptable way. Darl inability is most likely caused by a poor upbringing from parents like Addie, who hates children, and Anse, who views children as a labor force. Also, Darl's situation is treatable, however no one in the Bundren family bothers to try and help him opting instead to send him to a mental institution, against Darl's will.

I can't copy and paste direct quotes, but the article talks about the irony in the journey they are embarking on, including how the burial is being thought of as a "quest", while there is no ultimate prize nor joy in what they are doing.