Every Trip Is A Quest

The next thesis proposed by Cohen is that a monster is the harbinger of category crisis. In order to feel comfortable about places, people, and things in the word, we tend to group things into categories. All of these are placed in categories typically by physical appearance and certain traits that tend to stick out. Well, what’s scary about monsters is that they tend to be unnatural and not just fit into one category, but rather many different categories. One of the most common characters described by this thesis is Count Dracula, a monster that is neither dead nor alive. When one cannot be distinguished into a basic category this tends to frighten us because it goes against one of our common norms. He breaks our human-made laws of nature. Along with the violations of our norm groups, monsters also tend as an act to forewarn our cultures of crisis. The creator of Frankenstein can be seen as an act to

The idea of what a monster is and how it pertains to modern day society has fascinated readers and writers for decades. Before taking this class, I was aware of what a monster is and the function it served in today’s society. Furthermore, after taking this class, I am now aware of what a monster truly is, and what really separates a monster from a regular person. The piece of text that I mainly chose to focus on and elaborate closely to demonstrate the aspects of a monster is appropriately named, Monster, by Walter Dean Myers. The reason I chose this piece of literature is because, Monster thoroughly elaborates what a monster is in todays society and how it functions in the modern day world. In this essay I will elaborate on

Social Vampirism is a branch off of Vampirism, which represents modern social concepts such as corruption, exploitation, and more. This

Monsters are challenges that the human race must overcome. In Jeffrey Cohen’s essay “Monster Culture,” Cohen reasserts the presence of the monstrous within society, and its relation to different cultures in a specific time period. All of Cohen’s seven thesis makes sensible arguments that gives the audience a glimpse on what his purpose is. Each thesis are presented differently, but Cohen correlates his ideas to explain the monster’s true existence. The convergence of intellectualism makes a strong connection between Cohen’s appeal to pathos. Cohen utilizes emotion in his writing to mainly appeal to his audience, and give them an idea on what goes on behind the monster’s identity. The final thesis “The Monster Stands at the Threshold of Becoming”

Many timeless novels have impacts on our everyday culture, not only as a book, but also through music or movies. Many popular novels have multiple adaptations, which shape how we approach their interpretation, in ways we may never even notice. In some films, humans are depicted as monsters, whether through their actions, or through the thoughts of other beings. In these films we find issues with our own society, and in turn see ourselves as monsters, and look for ways we can change, for the better. One particular novel that influences this side of Hollywood is Mary Shelley's “Frankenstein”. The ways Frankenstein influences pop culture can be seen in science fiction films in which humans are depicted as monster, and “monsters” are seen as

4. The next key words were identified in the chapter and serve as an informal outline of the chapter. At the beginning of the chapter, Foster gives a brief example of a quest: a knight (Kip), a dragon road (German shepherds), Holy Grail (wonder bread), one dragon (’68 ‘Cuda), evil knight (Tony) and a princess (the laughing girl). In other words, each story has a quester, a place to go to, along with stated reason to go there and unknown challenges and trials en route; however, at the end there is a real reason for the whole trip - self-discovery (Foster 3). The stated reason is

To be a vampire, you have to take something from someone else to benefit yourself, whether that be anything from blood to money. Vampires weren’t always what we see today in “Twilight. Vampirism does not always have to do with vampires but selfishness, exploitation, and refusal to respect.

-Exploitation: using other people to get what we want, placing our desires above others. Vampires and other figures are used where someone grows by weakening someone else.

The first chapter of Thomas C. Foster’s guide to finding symbolism and motifs in literature, How To Read Literature Like a Professor, details the literary plot device of a quest and how to identify one in a novel. He introduces the chapter by explaining how a seemingly normal trip to the grocery store is a quest because it is structurally a quest. The hero, a boy named Kip, like every other hero in a quest, confronts various trials (his jealousy of another boy and his rejection by the girl he likes) in search of a “Holy Grail” (a loaf of bread). According to Foster, there are five components of a quest, all of which can be found in Kip’s story. The first structural component is the quester, or the character who is undertaking the quest, consciously or not. This character is known as the hero or heroine of the story, which in this case is Kip. The second and third elements are the “declared” purpose of the quest: a location that the hero must travel to and a reason to go there, which would be Kip’s search for a loaf of bread at the grocery store. Sometimes,

In the first chapter of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, every trip a protagonist takes becomes a quest in the story. These quests often entail a Quester (the protagonist), a specific place to go, a reason to go to a said place, obstacles, and challenges on the way, and the Quester’s real reason to go to said place. Whatever is gained from this quest can vary from unlimited wealth to a whole lot of nothing, but the Quester seems to always be guaranteed to receive one thing: self-knowledge. In chapter 2, Foster emphasizes the point that whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion. Basic survival states that people need food to be able to live.

Chapter 1 - Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It’s Not) The five aspects of the quest are: a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges and trials en route, and a real reason to go there. In Matilda, this can be seen: Our quester: 6 year old girl, quiet, obedient, doesn’t like her family, very smart. A place to go: The library is a sacred place for Matilda.

George Foster wrote a book that further helps the analysis of texts; titled How to Read Literature like a College Professor. In his book, the first chapter is titled “Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It’s Not)”. This chapter explains that every journey is important to the story. He writes that a “quest consists of five things: (a) a quester, (b) a place to go, (c) a stated reason to go there, (d) challenges and trials en route, and (e) a real reason to go there.” Now, in The

Secondly, vampirism typically represents selfishness and exploitation which Meyer Wolfsheim displayed numerous times. Thomas Foster explained how vampires prosper from their victims and how “when he gets them, he grows younger, more alive (if we can say this of the undead), more vile even. Meanwhile, his victims become like him and begin to seek out their own victims” (Foster, 16). Exploitation is by definition treating someone unfairly and benefitting off of it in some shape or form. Humans, like vampires take advantage of others in various ways. This carries on in the butterfly effect and those who are treated unfairly typically take advantage of even more people until everyone is on a path that is only going further and further into darkness

During an Odyssey trip of my own, I will be travelling to three different countries doing different things while I am there to visit. My first destination is London, United Kingdom while there I will be visiting the London Eye, Tower Bridge, and Trafalgar Square. My second place of interest for travel is Paris, France. While there to contain the boredom I will be a part of the tourist attractions such as the Eiffel Tower, Canal Saint-Martin, and the Place des Vosges. Third in my plane route is Barcelona, Spain. There to experience the beauty of their country, I will be looking at the Magic Fountain of Montjuic; Placa de Catalunya and the Sagrat Cor.

Throughout history, cultures and societies across the globe have used monsters or any sort of creature to exemplify anxieties and fears that they have. The same can be said for works of literature and art. These authors use these anxieties, personify them, and use them to exaggerate the fears of the readers. In short, the monsters/creatures that are created in each literary era depict and personify the biggest fears and viewpoints of the society that it was written in. In the case of the Victorian/Romantic era in British Literature, many authors discuss the many different feelings about science and the role of women at the time.