Month / June 2018

by toddm

Part 1: Writing Portfolio

The Enlightenment Task-

“I have always thought the actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.”


I will be writing a response understanding how John Lockes theory, ‘Concerning human understanding’ relates to concepts in Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein. How knowledge is obtained has been the question everyone has been trying to understand for hundreds of years. John Locke has been one of the few philosophers who’s has foundered a theory around this. I have noticed that the creature in Frankenstein seems to be an example of Lockes works, that the mind begins as a blank slate or tabula rasa. Only our experiences shape our personality and how and what we become. 

English man John Locke lived from 1632 to 1704, he was one of the most famous philosophers and political theorists in the 17th and 18th centuries. John Lockes major contribution to the enlightenment period was foundering the tabula rasa theory, publishing the essay of ‘concerning human understanding’. The tabula rasa theory states that at birth the mind is born as a blank slate and that your knowledge comes form experience through out your life. He is also considered to be the ‘father of liberalism’ which comes from his other theory, based on the principle of liberty and equality foundering the U.S declaration of independence and constitution.

Locke believed that every human was born with their minds completely empty, this went against the philosophical tradition that at the very lest we are born with some rational understanding and desirers/intentions, referred to as human nature. Locke believed there was no human nature and everyone of us are the author of our own character, all men are created equal. This idea first came about when Locke meet Anthony Ashley Cooper who grew his career, Locke followed him to holland where he wrote his first book ‘concerning human understanding’, he then moved back to write many more books about government and human rights. He states that no knowledge is placed on us by god and there can be no innate ideas. He accepts that we have innate ability – like humans have the ability to speak, whereas animals don’t – but nothing else.

In the novel Frankenstein, Victor creates a large creature for a scientific experiment he has been working on for years. Once his work is finished the creature is left to fend for himself in the world, as Frankenstein immedity regrets creating him, hoping he will die out there alone. The creature not knowing any English or any of his capabilities, has the mind of a newborn child. Because of his differences (looks), society treated the creature as horrible as ever, forcing him to live in isolation to others and fight for his life. He taught himself everything about survival, also how to read and speak, by spying on a family that live in the woods and coping there actions. He later turns into a monster, killing all of Victors loved ones, payback for creating him and leaving him for dead.

Everything that goes on around the creature relates to John Lockes theory, his mind being a blank slate from the moment he was created, having to learn everything on his own out of the experiences he went through. Locke states that ‘No man’s knowledge can go beyond his experience.’

An example of how he develops understanding from his experiences comes though this quote from Frankenstein, “I began to distinguish my sensations from each other. I gradually saw plainly the clear stream that supplied me with drink, and the trees that shaded me with their foliage.” he goes on to say he learns that these things are good and he will go back and experience them again, as he’s gaining knowledge. When he was first created he didn’t understand what water or trees were used for, it only because if his experience with them he has figured out what their purpose is. 

An example from the text “I felt light, and hunger, and thirst, and darkness; innumerable sounds rang in my ears, and on all sides various scents saluted me”. This quote is said by the creature when his is figuring out his senses, he learns that he can solve the problem of being cold by building a fire, he experiences the joy and warmth from the fire, building his knowledge.

The creature created by Frankenstein says that ‘misery made him a fiend’, as he believes that the people who hurt him made him they way he is.  Locke believes that the way someone is treated by society determines the way someone becomes, good or bad. The creature had to learn the hard way that society didn’t like him as he was different, in one part in the text he saves a little girl from drowning in the river. The father saw the creature taking his daughter, the man immediately thought that he was harmful, the one who was drowning her, so he shot him in the shoulder. Once the creature went through this horrible experience, he lost all faith in humans and “vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind”. Because he thought he was being kind and he got hurt for doing what was right, so he only learnt not to trust humanity. He goes on to hunt down Victor’s family to get revenge on him and other humans, as his knowledge around what to do came from the bad experiences he had had “My feelings were those of rage and revenge”. From this novel we notice that the way society treats us has a massive impact on the person we become. 

From this report I have discussed Lockes theory and how Mary Shelley reflects his ideas though her text Frankenstein. Hopefully from this report you have gained some understanding about how knowledge is obtained and how our experiences teach us how to act/think. The creatures experiences were influenced because of Victors abandonment towards him, because of this the creature experienced the outside world by himself. He had a lot of negative experiences with society, forcing him to hate mankind, all he had ever known was pain and hate when he interacted with humans. If Victor had looked after him and showed him society from a different point of view his experiences would have been different, mabye the creature would have turned out much better off.   

by toddm

Wide Reading – Ruined

“The past doesn’t go away. You just can’t see it anymore.”

Ruined is a gripping gothic novel written by Paula Morris, a story about a young girl who goes to live in New Orleans with her Aunty and Cousin as her Dads away on business. Rebecca (the main protagnist) has to attend a new school, without any friends. She decides to go to cemetery at night to spy on the cool kids from the year above, on her way out she runs into a mysterious girl who gives her directions home. Rebecca visits the cemetery often and learns more about this girl, finding out that she is a ghost. Learning that Lisette, murdered over 150 years ago by a member from one of the most important families in New Orleans (Bowman family), Lisette is destined to roam the grounds of the cemetery until the curse has lifted and she is set free to heaven. Rebecca is only to find out that she is a bowman girl by blood and her father has been lying to her all these years to try and keep her safe from the curse. She could be the last of the bowman daughters to die on her 17th birthady and take the curse with her, with help from her friends Lisette and Anton she makes it out alive but its Lisettes time to move on.

I believe that this novel shows a lot of gothic elements, the setting that is described in this text holds common features that are displayed in gothic fiction. When reading Ruined we see that Rebecca has a strong attraction to the nonhuman/supernatural world and that her emotions and curiosity override reason and what is right. Because of her curiosity to the supernatural world she gets herself into dangerous situations. These elements will be discussed in my report and I will explian how I feel about this novel.

There is tendency to keep looking over your shoulder throughout this read, making you feel cool and sense everything around, feeling as if we are in Rebeccas shoes. New Orleans is described as a gloomy, rundown town with grey skies. We feel cool when settings in this book are explained as its not very comforting to be apart of. There are many old houses that play a part in this read, adding to the spooky feel of New Orleans. Rebecca explains the Bowmans house as a mansion with lots of hidden secrets, when she visits the house in the book, Rebecca is not feeling very comfortable, she feels exposed like eyes are watching her from in the walls, she has to go outside to escape the unsettling feel of the Bowmans house. The cemetery is a main scene in this text, filled with tombs and graves, Rebecca spends a majority of her time in the cemetery during the night which adds extra tension to the story. A dark setting is described when ever Rebecca is in the cemetery, arced entrances, crows flying around, narrow alleys, shadowy corners and we are told that the cemetery has a large steel fence around it, Rebecca get stuck in the cemetery a few times as she dose not escape before the gates are locked. The fence around the cemetery acts as a cage in this story, a trap that people are frightened of.

During the whole of this text we see that Rebecca is driven by passion and emotions rater than reason. If Rebecca listened to her aunt, not visiting the cemetery she wouldn’t have meet Lisette, then Rebecca wouldn’t have learnt about the curse on the Bowman family. Because of her curiosity she was put in harms way just about getting herself killed.

“‘That cat is setting a very bad example,’ sighed Aunt Claudia, shaking her head. She seemed to have forgotten about making Rebecca promise things, which was just as well. Rebecca was hoping to follow Marilyn’s (the cat) lead sometime soon. She was from New York, after all. A small cemetery in a tiny city like this didn’t frighten her.” Throughout this novel Rebecca is determined to avoid what her Aunt says, because of her curiosity of what on the other side of the cemetery gate, Rebecca does not think about the consciences her actions could have. Putting her life in danger and changing the future for Rebecca.

Rebecca is badly influenced by her past, and it effects her future. Rebecca is put in danger, nearly getting her killed because her father lied about her past, the curse that was put upon the family. Rebecca not knowing about the curse set upon her family adds more tension to the story as it is just as much a shock to the reader as it is to Rebecca.

The main element in this novel is Rebecca’s easy assertion to the supernatural (nonhuman) world. Through out the text she is always hanging out with her ghost friend Lisette, Rebeccas curiosity plays a major role with her interactions with the supernatural world. Rebecca forces Lisette to tell her more and more about her life and the curse, as her obsession with the supernatural world is growing. Rebecca wants to meet other ghosts and know what happened to them, even thought she is frightened by the idea her mind does not let her give up until she knows everything.

During this read I felt as if there was some uncertainty to what was going to happen, at times the book felt as if it was about to end as every thing had been explained that we new of. But then there would be a ‘plot twist’ and something else would come up, e.g finding out that Rebecca is apart of the bowman family. I think that the author of this book made us think as if it was all over on purpose as it made me feel doubtful and uncomfortable kepting me on edge as I wasn’t to sure on what was in the next chapter.

When reading Ruined the attraction to the supernatural world and Rebeccas curiosity really makes the book interesting to read, as we are not sure what is around the corner. The setting in this book plays a big part in making the reader feel uneasy and on edge, I really enjoyed reading this text because the way that Paula describes settings in this book makes it exciting and adds another spooky layer to Ruined. I really enjoyed this book and I think Paula Morris wrote it very well, she let some gothic elements show in this text but I think it should have been worked on a little more to make the reader uncomfortable like gothic fiction should. Even though the story was spooky at times I never wanted to put the book down and stop reading because it was to much. I think Morris wanted to let create a spooky story in New Orleans after the storm as it makes the text more real, as it is a real setting which adds tension to the reader.

by toddm

John Locke

  • Who are they?

John locke was one of the most famous philosophers and political theorists in the 17th and 18th centuries. He lived from 1632 to 1704, an English philosopher and physician. He is know as one of the most influential thinkers in the enlightenment and commonly know as the ‘Father of liberalism’.

  • What were their major contributions to the 18th centre philosophy

John Lockes major contribution was foundering the modern philosophical empiricism finding out that the mind is born at a blank slate and that knowledge is based on experience. He is also considered the ‘father of liberalism’ which is based on the princible of liberty and equality, he helped founder of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution, human rights.

  • Explain their most successful and well recognised theory.

His most important work was the essay concerning human understanding. This was a book published in December 1989 based on the the knowledge and understanding of the human mind.

  • How was there theory related to Frankenstein?

John locke theory about human understanding relates to Frankenstein as Locke states that the mind is a blank slate, this relates to the creation that Frankenstein creates as he was born not knowing any of his body features capability’s or surroundings. The creature acted like a new born baby, having to learn everything over again from how to speak to how to survive. A quote for out of Frankenstein said by the creature “A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and smelt at the same time; and it was, indeed, a long time before I learned to distinguish between the operations of my various senses”