Primary Blog Expectations (respond to the ONE of the prompts below): 200-250 words, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the scientist's name that you selected in class as your nom de plume and be sure to add word count. Due by 11:59 PM on Saturday, November 14th. Secondary Blog Response Expectations (read everyone's primary responses, select two that answer one of the OTHER prompts and respond to their ideas): 100-150 words EACH, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the scientist's name that you selected in class as your nom de plume and be sure to add word count. Due by 11:59 PM on Monday, November 16th.
29 Comments
Fanny Rysan Mulford Hitchcock
11/14/2020 07:06:15 pm
Victor Frankenstein achieved his "impossible" dream of creating life. This was after the unbearable loss of his mother, the primary reason he went to focus on his studies. He felt numb after his mother passed, leading him to concentrate solely creating this monster to fill the void in his life. He mentioned that he had an overall positive childhood experience, but he lost himself after his mother died when he was only seventeen. He went to Ingolstadt and met Krempe, who told him that everything he thought he knew about alchemy was wrong. Professor Waldman, who taught chemistry, was going to teach Frankenstein science, encouraging to achieve his goals as a scientist.
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Eliza Walker Dunbar
11/16/2020 12:54:36 pm
I disagree. I think the reason Elizabeth was adopted was not because she was perfect in general, but because Frankenstein's parents thought she could be perfect for their son. I think the motive behind Frankenstein's mom asking him to marry Elizabeth was less about them having the "perfect grandchildren", and more about her being the perfect wife. So while Frankenstein may have felt like this request was out of dislike for him, I think they wanted what they thought was best for him. I think that Frankenstein's interpretation of his mother's comment did lead him to create his monster, but I think he interpreted her comment wrong.
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Bessie Dowse
11/16/2020 06:34:50 pm
I disagree, as well. His parents didn't adopt Elizabeth for them; they wanted him to be as happy as possible for the rest of his life and they figured she was the best option. They chose her because they thought she'd be perfect for him, not necessarily for the entire family. It's clear they had an immediate connection from the start, so the parents accomplished what they were trying to do.
Sofya Kovaleskaya
11/19/2020 10:40:45 am
I agree with the idea that Frankenstein's desire to give life to lifeless matter stems from the lack of compassion or love in his life after the death of his mother. By losing his mother, he sort of lost a part of himself, causing him to obsess over the idea of creating life. I also think that this obsession could be due to the fact that he had gained so much interest in alchemy. Could it be that he was actually infatuated with the idea of possessing so much power, so much so that he tried to create life to establish this authority or power? I also think that Mr. Krempe shutting Frankenstein out and completely dismissing Frankenstein's research hurt Frankenstein, causing the latter to be more motivated to prove Mr. Krempe wrong.
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Bessie Dowse
11/14/2020 07:27:04 pm
Victor Frankenstein made it very clear from a very young age that he was extraordinary in multiple different ways. One of which was his interest in science beyond himself. He always wanted to know how and why things were the way they were in his life. He knew from a very early age that he wanted to make a difference; be known beyond his time. Figuring out what he wanted to learn and do was where he struggled. After a thunderstorm in his hometown, Victor witnessed a tree get struck by lightning and explode into pieces. He said he wanted to make change. This foreshadowed his future because soon after, he met a college professor that especially interested him in natural sciences. This drove him to do the impossible: make a living creature from dead body parts. Doing this illuminated that part of the novel from his childhood when he wanted to find the “secrets of the world” (Shelley). This mindset and dream was very similar to what happened in the next years of his life. He wanted to fix his pain and learn so many different things. He did this, obviously, like he always wanted to do as a kid.
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Maria Gugelberg von Moos
11/14/2020 09:52:10 pm
Victor Frankenstein 's desire to learn "the secrets of heaven and earth" aided him in believing that he was able to transcend the physical boundaries that was, in a sense, set by impossible means. He wanted to discover how to build a bridge between life and death in order to figure out the physical secrets that the world kept from him. This foreshadowed his future endeavors as he wanted to learn those secrets.
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Sofya Kovaleskaya
11/16/2020 01:55:30 pm
I agree with the idea that Frankenstein’s desire to learn “the secrets of heaven and earth” doesn’t mean he was destined to create the monster. This is because his desire was from personal ambitions, and not an outside force. I also agree with the fact that Frankenstein would have blamed himself less if he believed that the creation of the monster was his destiny. This is because Frankenstein would have believed there was a purpose for creating the monster. This would have caused him to maybe take better care or even pay more attention to his creation.
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Anne Elizabeth Ball
12/8/2020 11:36:30 am
I agree that victor Frankenstein believes that by creating the Monster, he can build the bridge between “life and death,” creating a “new species,” and learn how to “renew life.” He is motivated to attempt these things by ambition. He wants to achieve something great, even if it comes at great cost. He gives several different accounts of where his ambition comes from, reflecting his rigid attitude toward it. After the Monster’s creation Frankenstein dreams about Elizabeth turning into his mother’s corpse, which could be seen as Frankenstein’s recognizing that he has failed to create life in a way which could bring his mother back.
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Eliza Walker Dunbar
11/14/2020 11:26:07 pm
Knowledge and wisdom are not the same. In public schools, many are taught knowledge. They are taught to memorize definitions and formulas so they can simply regurgitate these on the test rather than actually understanding the material. Knowledge is plainly knowing something, you can have knowledge without wisdom. You can be knowledgeable about a topic by simply reading about it, but that does not mean you possess wisdom on that subject. In order to gain wisdom you cannot just know the topic, you must also have a deep understanding of that topic. While knowledge can be gained in a couple of minutes, wisdom takes more time to acquire.
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Fanny Rysan Mulford Hitchcock
11/15/2020 05:13:41 pm
I completely agree that Frankenstein's naivety is responsible for his reaction to his creation, but did he really perceive his knowledge as wisdom? To me, he couldn't think about the consequences because it would be difficult to be wise about something that has never been done before. There is no way to weigh the risks and rewards of something foreign to the entire world. Even after he created the monster, he was not overly concerned with the consequences, and he was confident enough to compare himself to a god.
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Eliza Walker Dunbar
11/16/2020 11:26:37 am
I think because of his narcissistic personality Frankenstein really did perceive his knowledge as wisdom. He believed he unlocked the "secrets of heaven". He felt like he had done what others in the field could not, he felt like he was superior. Yes, there is no way to know exactly what you're getting into before you start, but with the knowledge he had he should've erred on the side of caution.
Cloltilde Tembrani
12/8/2020 11:59:10 am
I think that Frankenstein thought that his knowledge was wisdom, not due to his narcissistic ways, but due to his upbringing. I know that it kind of seems cliche to talk about how his experiments were caused by his upbringing and his weird childhood, but I truly believe that is that reason for his experiments and trying to gain “wisdom”. I also agree with the fact that schools cannot teach wisdom. I disagree however, that people can gain wisdom through schooling experiences. I think that wisdom is gained way after school and those experiences from schooling help aid in further wisdom but I don’t think those experiences directly cause wisdom.
Gertrud Woker
11/17/2020 12:08:43 am
I agree with the notion that knowledge and wisdom are not the same. When Frankenstein created his monster. He was just trying to test whether it was even possible to bring inanimate objects to life. He ran an experiment, it worked, and he succeeded. How could wisdom and knowledge be interchangeable when Frankenstein didn't have the wisdom to know that carrying out such a dangerous endeavor could only ensue horror? He had no way of knowing this. Only his knowledge of his studies which have no bearing in wisdom whatsoever.
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Huang Lü
11/14/2020 11:44:13 pm
The difference between knowledge and wisdom is a major theme in the book Frankenstein. As the story progresses, the differences between the two quickly become apparent to readers and characters in the story.
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Fanny Rysan Mulford Hitchcock
11/15/2020 11:11:47 pm
Because this was an unprecedented event, the consequences are unpredictable. He wanted to discover the "secrets of heaven," but what could those secrets be? Is creating life truly the secret that needs to be unlocked? Are the secrets of heaven different for everyone?
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Bessie Dowse
11/16/2020 06:16:36 pm
I completely agree. Victor Frankenstein had this priorities straight, but did not execute them well. He had the right intentions and dreams, but didn't go about making them a reality in the right way. Many examples of this showed up in just the first few chapters. Many of which are listed above. Another example of this is his attachment with his cousin, Elizabeth. He loved and cared for her deeply, but completely ignored her and the rest of his family once his life took off. This shows that he was very knowledgeable and had the right idea, but was not wise while handling his situation.
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Mercy B. Jackson
11/18/2020 07:47:10 pm
I agree completely.
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Gertrud Woker
11/15/2020 12:10:50 am
In the excerpt, Frankenstein explained to Walter that he's had many misfortunes as a result of placing his faith in the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. And he lets Walter know that he hopes by telling him his story, he will gain some semblance of wisdom that will help him on his journey.
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Maria Gugelberg von Moos
11/16/2020 07:15:55 pm
I agree that knowledge and wisdom are not the same. Through his various scientific endeavors, it never occurred to me that he was becoming any "wiser." That new information that was being absorbed by him was known as knowledge because wisdom isn't something that is gained from reading a book.
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Gertrud Woker
11/16/2020 11:07:09 pm
I agree with the notion that the creation of the monster helped Frankenstein in his journey towards true wisdom. It was only through creating the monster and truly seeing it for what it was did Frankenstein gain the knowledge that his creation was vile, creating a path for his journey towards wisdom. Now, not only does Frankenstein have the knowledge about what messing with the natural order of things can bring, but he has the experience to support it as well.
Mercy B. Jackson
11/18/2020 07:56:26 pm
I agree with the claims you have made when it comes to the events with Frankenstein, but not with Walter.
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Sofya Kovaleskaya
11/16/2020 01:15:06 pm
Knowledge and wisdom, in my opinion, go hand-in-hand. This is because on the quest to gain knowledge, most people also gain wisdom. Knowledge is directly derived from “knowing” or being aware of a topic. An individual can be knowledgeable of an academic-related topic or social issue; however, wisdom is gained through their experiences and understanding of life. Therefore, one can gain wisdom through the failures they experience while gaining knowledge.
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Maria Gugelberg von Moos
11/16/2020 07:27:16 pm
I completely agree that knowledge often leads to wisdom and wisdom is only attained if there is a basis of knowledge. Frankenstein's failures shaped him to be the person he was when he was talking to Walton. Without those failures, all he would have is existing knowledge on the subject of science and not actually how his application failed. This could easily be compared to modern science experiments today. One could completely understand a concept but the real test is taking that knowledge and using it to find a conclusion through trial and error.
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Sofya Kovaleskaya
11/16/2020 01:17:21 pm
Word Count: 223
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Anne Elizabeth Ball
11/17/2020 11:18:39 am
So, let me start with saying this character Victor seems to have some sort of motivation behind his experimentation and fanaticism. He is acting in the way where his main motive is to go on a quest for knowledge. Back to when letter 3 was written, Walton tells of Romantic sentiments, for instance, how the stars, or nature, will witness his success and how he can keep going over the untamed and yet obedient region of the North Pole. This puzzling and mystifying questions' topic may be different from character to character. Ultimately, quench of knowledge is the driving force behind experimentations and fanaticism. Victor's childhood might have affected his choices by making him more mature and thrive to seriousness and romanticism.
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Clotilde Tembrani
12/8/2020 11:33:00 am
I completely agree with you when you say that Victor has some kind of motivation behind these experiments. I feel as though that there is a quest for not only a greater knowledge like you mentioned, but there is a quest for wisdom too. I feel as though that the fanaticism that he shows is a way of showing that the way he is going about this quest for knowledge is a little unethical. He is trying too hard to quench that quest for knowledge like you said and I completely agree with the fact that his childhood may have been a factor in the weird choices that he makes.
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Mercy B. Jackson
11/18/2020 07:33:42 pm
Knowledge and wisdom are not the same.
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Anne Elizabeth Ball
12/8/2020 11:25:31 am
Yessss! I totally agree with the fact that Knowledge is facts and experiences passed down from generation to generation, and can include facts and experiences discovered by someone themselves. Wisdom is applying these facts and experiences to real life-situations (and learning from them) to influence future decisions. The main focus of Frankenstein is the power of knowledge and how dangerous it can be. Because it can be used to perform very non-human activity but then again, it can be used to make folk’s life way easier than you might expect. This power is portrayed very often in the main characters of the novel, Victor Frankenstein and the creature. Their obsessions of knowledge are mirrored in one another through the journeys they take until their paths cross.
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Clotilde Tembrani
12/8/2020 11:23:42 am
The statement that knowledge and wisdom are not the same is a statement I agree with and seems to be a major theme in Frankenstein. Frankenstein created this monster with the intent to experiment with bringing lifeless objects to life. He had the knowledge to be able to bring the lifeless object to life, but he didn't have the wisdom to be able to see that doing these types of experiments could only bring harm to others. He is a very knowledgable person which we have seen so far in the book, however his knowledge outweighs his wisdom by a long shot. While I agree that wisdom and knowledge are not the same thing, I also agree that someone has to have a deep understanding of a topic to be able to have wisdom on that certain thing. I think that wisdom comes from years and years of working on something and training on that topic. Someone can't work lightly on something and have wisdom just because they are knowledgeable of that topic. Wisdom comes from years of experiencing many different things, which Frankenstein clearly did not have.
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