Monstrous Humanity? Monstrous Culture? Monstrous Nature?
Choose a book from this list & post your choice in the comment box.
Read the book.
While you’re reading write down notes and questions, especially concerning the monsters and the themes related to monstrousness.
Who is the monster or who are the monsters in the book? How do you know? What makes the character a monster? Physical deformity or difference? Inhuman or inhumane behavior? Both? Something else? What is the relationship between physical monstrousness and moral monstrousness in your book? (Some possibilities: Does physical monstrosity mask moral beauty? Does physical monstrosity lead to alienation which leads to monstrous moral choices? Etc.)
What seems to be the cause of the monstrous behavior in your book? (Is it in the monster’s nature as with the Grendel of Beowulf? Is it chosen by the monster as a response to radical alienation and rejection as with the Grendel of Grendel? Is it learned by the monster? Is it taught to the monster?
What seems to be the author’s purpose in portraying a literal monster (or monstrous behavior)? What is the author trying to show about human beings and the human condition?
(l=literal monster: a not-quite-human but human-like beast of some sort or a significantly physically deformed human)
(f=figurative monster: a human who behaves monstrously)
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, (1999) by David Foster Wallace (f)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson (l?/f?)
Metamorphosis, (1915) by Franz Kafka (l)
Frankenstein, (1818) by Mary Shelley (l)
Freddy’s Book, (1980) by John Gardner (f/l)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, (1831) by Victor Hugo (l)
In Cold Blood, (1965) by Truman Capote (f)
Native Son, (1940) by Richard Wright (f)
The Picture of Dorian Gray, (1890) by Oscar Wilde (f/l)
The Tempest, (1610-11) by William Shakespeare (l)
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28 comments:
heyy Mr.Cook wats up. I think I am going to read a picture of dorian gray.
I'm reading the picture of dorian gray
I would also like to read "A Picture of Dorian Gray".
This is Cam C and I would like to read The Hunchback of Notre Dame
i would like to read "In Cold Blood"
Hi Mr.cook I would like to read Dr.Jeckle and Mr. Hyde and Metamorphasis.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
I would like to read "A Picture of Dorian Gray"
Picture of Dorian Gray
"Frankenstein" is my book!
I'll read The Hunchback of Notre Dame:)
nicole lane
im going to read in cold blood
hey i would like to read a picture of dorian gray
This is Tom M. and I will be reading "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".
I will read "In Cold Blood".
I'm reading "Frankenstein"
I'm going to read Frankenstein
a picture of dorian gray
I am reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde :)
kevin hurd wants to read a picture of dorian gray
Hey Mr. Cook. I'm going to read Frankenstein. -Jeremiah
hey this is Hannah, I am going to read A Picture of Dorian Gray
Cameron C
I used http://literaturepage.com/read/hunchbackofnotredame- to read “the Hunchback of Notre Dame”.
Book 1
It is January 6th 1482 and there is to be a “Festival of Fools” show which is more modernly called a freak show in the Grand hall in the streets of Notre Dame, France. There seems to be a play in which the fool is picked from the group of fools. The play is taking a while to begin and people are yelling at the creator of this named Pierre Gringoire. The crowed is threatening him and his play by saying “The morality this very instant!" repeated the crowd; "this very instant! the sack and the rope for the comedians, and the cardinal!” Finally the show begins where to actors talk about ..well honestly I have know idea. It was a boring and difficult to understand what they were talking about however it was good to now that the audience was just as pleased and maintained focus as me. Not long after the show began a beggar jumped onto the stage asking for alms and money for the poor. A little girl asked him if the play was going to drag on and he was offended and this is where the reader learns about Gringoire attitude toward children when he says,” stupid and dull-witted little girl!” I was under the impression that the play was going down fast and the people wanted on with thee election of the fools. Now the freak show has began it is unde4rstood that there are some foul looking people in the town. The contestants were to put their head in the hole and the people would decide the ugliest. Some of them their ears wouldn’t fit and others were just plain hideous. This is where Quasimodo is introduced and from pass references to the book I know that Quasimodo is the main character. Then somebody yells, la Esmeralda! La Esmeralda in the Place.” And ever body abandons Gringoire’s shows he calls this situation Egyptian I’m guessing in relationship to the deserted place they are in and how they were alone with out a crowd is somehow Egyptian.
Nicole Lane
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a very interesting book. All the characters seem to have their own opinion and interest in different things than each other, and often have different beliefs in things than each other, a major one being love. Basil Hallward meets Dorian Gray and is fascinated by him, and it’s almost as Dorian made a huge impact on Basil, positively and negatively. Basil feels like a coward and felt like something bad was going to happen in the future but he didn’t know why. He talked to Lord Henry about him and Lord Henry had the impression that Dorian was going to have a negative effect on Basil and tries to convince him that he is no good. The funny thing is though that when Lord Henry meets Dorian, he is fascinated by him also and they become really good friends. Dorian really loves to hear Lord Henry talk and spends a lot of time with him, going to lunch and dinner with him at his aunt’s house. Dorian says that even if he didn’t want to tell him something he feels like he has to, even if he was to commit a crime he would tell Lord Henry. Dorian Gray has the beauty everyone dreams of and everyone is jealous of. Everything is about physical appearance. That is why Dorian falls in love with an actress named Sibyl Vane. He watches her act every night and is in love with her, but with the women that she plays at night. They get engaged not long after meeting. Her mother thinks it isn’t a good idea but then she thinks if he is rich then why not get married to him. Lord Henry talks about a lot of stuff that I really don’t understand but the characters in the book seem to either agree or disagree but still love to hear what he has to say about anything.
i am reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well as metamorphosis.
Emily P.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
In the novel “In Cold Blood” Capote doesn’t give an in depth description or portrayal of the killers in the first 50 pages. There are two monsters, that only the readers know about, they are not monsters in a physical sense, but are morally monsters in that it is already known that they will brutally kill an innocent family. The two monsters in this book are Perry and Dick, two “small men” that Capote seems to represent as not as tough as they try to be. The cause of this brutal killing is not expressed in the first 50 pages, and in the future is probably shown as an un-substantial reason. The first 50 pages are more like a description of each of the victims showing them as an innocent human being. By doing this it seems as if Capote wrote the book in order to show the pointlessness of unneeded violence. Also because he uses cold humor such as saying “little did she know it would be the last pie she ever made” Capote establishes the dark irony of the situation that only the readers know what is going to happen and the victims are helplessly clueless. Thus showing that he thinks random violence is ridiculous and stupid although it is in human nature in some people. Along with showing that random violence is stupid Capote seems to be trying to say that the monsters that commit the crime are not as tough as they seem, and that the reason for the murder was to try and prove their masculinity or toughness. He shows this by both men being small, and especially by Perry having messed up legs by a motorcycle accident, and furthering this by emphasizing certain times when Perry has to go to the bathroom and find a way to deal with the excruciating pain. Capote uses this weakness to show that the monsters are not as tough as they want to be, and to show the stupidity of their crime.
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