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Nine American Women poets
1ST BACHILLERATO C students are delighted to introduce you to
the exhibition entitled "Nine American Women Poets." Reading
from Emily Dickinson to Sharon Olds, audiences can have an idea
of the literary history of the United States in what poetry is
concerned. From the Transcendentalists to mother-daughter
relationships through the opression of the black race and the
extraordinary sensibility of a depressing young lady, "Nine
American Poets" is a good opportunity to discover how American
thought has evolved from the nineteenth century to nowadays. You
can visit it at the High School Library.
“Frankenstein: The Creation of a Modern Myth”
On February 3rd 2011 IES Cervantes was honoured by Professor
Antonio Ballesteros from the Department of Foreign Languages at
the National University of Distance Education in Madrid, who
delighted us with a plenary session entitled “Frankenstein: The
Creation of a Modern Myth.” The venue, chaired by Professor
Teresa González Mínguez, took place at the imposing atmosphere
of Aula Magna, so very Ingolstadt-like. Mary Shelley, the author
of the novel, her husband Percy Shelley, Peter Godwin and Mary
Wollstonecraft, her parents, Lord Byron, John Polidori, the
Villa Diodati, Geneva and the inspiring “dream vision”
contributed to create one of the most tantalizing terror stories
in history. Professor Ballesteros’s exploration of the literary
sources which inspired the work, the study of its meaning and
structure, its influences on other novels, and its
representation in cinema and the arts provided our 2nd
Bachillerato students with a remarkable study of one of the most
intriguing pieces in Western literature.
Interesting
quotations written by 2nd A, C, and D Bachillerato students in
their essays on the plenary session can be read below (Thanks to
Ms. Mary Kate Murphy for proof-reading):
“It is not true
that Mary Shelley´s husband, Percy Shelley, helped her write
Frankenstein.”
“Frankenstein is a portrait of human
cruelty.”
“Frankenstein is one of the first myths that
does not come from folklore.”
“All of us know the story
of Frankenstein, but not as well as we think we do because
Frankenstein was the scientist, not the monster.”
“It is
important to emphasize that the novel was addressed to female
readers, particularly to Mrs Saville, a terribly normal woman.”
“The novel represents the irony of nature because in all the
stories, their creators are female figures representing the
land, not like here where the creator is man.”
“The
monster is not a natural creation; it does not come from God or
a woman. It is made in a laboratory.”
“Frankenstein is a
contemporary modern novel based on the story of the man of
science who rivals the divinity and creates a new life.”
“The monsters we create, sooner or later, return to us as a
responsibility. Therefore, we are responsible for what we
create.”
“The moral of the story is that our monsters
always come back.”
“The invention of this monster,
according to Mary Shelley, comes from one of her dreams: a
vision of a new human being created in a laboratory.”
“The bioethical component of the novel makes it completely
up-to-date.”
“Frankenstein is also a source of
inspiration for such films as Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. The
movie introduces the Replicants as a perfect robotic
reproduction of a human being that turns into a monster.”
“The novel criticizes science as male property.”
“Films have not been sufficiently faithful to the book. They
describe the monster as a dumb, silly and disruptive being, the
opposite of the literary reality.”
“The literary
representation of Frankenstein is very different to the film
which aims to terrify the audience.”
“Hollywood has made
several changes to the novel, and they are not perfect. Many
actors have performed Frankenstein. One of them is Boris
Karloff. Another is Robert de Nero in Mary Shelley’s
Frankenstein directed by Kenneth Branagh.”
“Polidori’s
novel The Vampyre (1818) was the first vampire story ever
written.”
“Frankenstein eclipsed its author.”
“The
first thing that shocked me was the author. I had read the book
but still I did not remember the name of its author.”
“Mary Shelley’s mother –Mary Wollstonecraft– was one of the
precursors of Liberal Feminism. She died of puerperal fever ten
days after Mary was born.”
“In the novel, the creature -
the monster, is eloquent, but in films he doesn’t even say a
word.”
“In films the monster is quite similar to a
machine with nails in its head and with no capacity to speak.”
“The description of the creature by Mary Shelley is fed
directly from the character of Satan in Paradise Lost by John
Milton.”
“A possible interpretation of the name Victor
[Frankenstein] derives from Paradise Lost by John Milton. The
monster’s name was never heard; it was only described as ugly,
gigantic and lonely, in lust for a female companion.”
“Mary Shelley took the figure of Satan from Paradise Lost and
the monster’s faculty to get his ideas through impressions from
Enquiring Concerning Human Understanding.”
“Victor
Frankenstein attempts to create a superman who only becomes an
ugly and pathetic being.”
“Frankenstein cannot be
considered an automaton.”
“In the novel there is not an
accurate description of the monster. This is a common feature
between Dracula, Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Grey.”
“The creature that Dr Frankenstein built was made of the
most beautiful parts from dead bodies, but when he put them
together, he became horrible.”
“Frankenstein’s creature
was born innocent and people’s rejection of him makes him brutal
and cruel, later becoming a murderer.”
“With the story,
Shelley warns us about how our very actions will finally catch
up with us, leaving no room to escape and make a fierce
criticism toward male-dominated science.”
“The novel
makes the reader think about the dangers of an emerging
technological society.”
“The structure of the novel is
circular and has three narrators: Walton, who tells the story to
his sister, Frankenstein, and finally the monster.”
“The
novel starts a new literary genre―science fiction.”
“I do
not belong to the category of teenage girls who love Twilight. I
respect them, but frankly, it makes me laugh to see a teenage
vampire who does not want to bite humans and instead, puts
glitters in the sunlight. I think it has destroyed the myth of
vampires that I used to like so much.” |
