The Devil In Disguise Summary

Introduction: Haunting Boundaries is the entry to the reader “Monsters” by the editors Brandy Ball Blake and L. Andrew Cooper. In the introduction, they talked about origins of monsters, Western and modern era to be more specific. Their origin reflect on the culture and the time being that they are in. These monsters were warnings, used to scared children and adults off dangerous area. Nowadays, monsters blend in among human, closely resemble a normal person to either further boost their fear factor or give them the foundation to have emotions, depth of character. Example of this given by the authors is vampire. Dracula is an iconic character for modern day literature overall and movie specifically. He is the vampire that uses his charm 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

The characteristics of different monsters from various places and eras, can easily be compared to cultural boundaries among humans being broken, established, accepted, and rejected. The article goes on to discuss the relationship between monsters and cultural lines that in the eyes of many cannot be traversed. Monsters can be considered beings with two purposes, their story, and their function or impact in historical culture (21). Difference, in the world, is often viewed as unacceptable, even at times a form of contamination. Monsters seems to fall right into that topic category when discussing cultural differences and similarities that are often found established. Boundaries such a sexual purity, gender norms, and other lifestyle implications often are crossed by monsters and their roles they take on in media, literature and other forms of entertainment. They are hiding in personal identities, cultural norms, and hidden desires from within. With that being said, perhaps it is necessary to take into account whether monsters not only symbolize differences and boundary crossing in old and existing cultures across the world, but if they also represent the desire behind those differences that influence

In the article “Monsters and the Moral Imagination,” Stephen Asma, a professor of Philosophy and Distinguished Scholar at Columbia College Chicago, argues that the existence of monsters have a purpose in our lives. It is not only to reveal our deepest fears, but to question our moral instincts. Being attacked by fictional monsters seems impractical, however, chaos and disasters do happen and exist in the real world. The creation of monsters is due to our reaction of our fears and the inability to control the world we live in.

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”

In the 2014 article The Devil in Disguise: Modern Monsters and their Metaphors, published by The Geek Anthropologist website, author Emma Louis Backe talks about the “monsters” surrounding pop culture and their hidden significance and meaning. Author Emma Backe an Anthropology and English major explains that explains that with each “monster” we see an underlying threat to human life as we know it. She states that pop culture has taken these images and made them a reincarnation of our fears. That these creatures are symbolic of incurable disease, indestructible beings, the undead, loss of humanity and extinction. Emma claims that we have moved from dismissing and ignoring these fears to confronting them in a more literal and real way. In the

A little girl screams in fear for her parents as she envisions a green, three-eyed monster lurking under her bed, waiting to get her until she finally closes her eyes. A little boy scares fellow trick-or-treaters as he’s dressed as a vampire for Halloween brandishing his pointy teeth with blood dripping out of his mouth. Both of these examples of monsters focus on the physicality of a creature and undermine the weight which the word ‘monster’ actually carries. In Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, and in Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, there are characters that perfectly fit the description of a tangible monster. However, monsters are more than their somatic features. Monsters are created within based on circumstances, decisions that are

In Mary Shelley´s Gothic novel, Frankenstein, the Monster once claimed, “The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” Frankenstein, since the 1910 film adaptation, has known a series of several adaptations that changed drastically, not only the plot but one of the main characters, the Monster, from stealing its creator´s name to being portrayed as a cold villain. Though, in the original storyline, the biggest threat to society is the creator itself, the one pretending to play as God, Victor Frankenstein. This essay will discuss the nature of the main characters of the novel and conclude who is the “real monster” in the end.

Jeffery Cohen’s “Monster Culture” embodies the ideology of the world’s desire to rid it of all outsiders that do not fit within the identity of a western culture, but instead stand out because of their difference. The essay focuses on the contrasts between individual identity and differences that arise from it, along with his seven theses locating and analyzing the variety of monsters that have been in the past, the present, and will continue on to the future. The social tensions that arise lead to the different individuals being persecuted because “the monster exists at the gate of difference” (Cohen 7). The monsters are created as a source of justification for a culture or an action that is carried out. Specifically, Cohen alleges the case of women and those of non-white background being dehumanized as a form of

Carol F. Karlsen was born on December 15, 1940. The location of where she was born is unknown. Karlsen received her B.A. degree from the University of Maryland in 1970, her M.A. degree from New York University in 1972, and her Ph.D. degree from Yale University. She was a professor of history at the University of Michigan and a professor of history and women’s studies in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. She retired from teaching on May 31, 2011. Other books written by Karlsen are The Journal of Esther Edwards Burr, 1754-1757 and The Salem Witchcraft Trials: A History in Documents. The time period of the book The Devil in the Shape of a Woman was during the 1600’s and 1700’s. The

Time Setting: The Devil's Shadow by Clifford Lindsey Alderman occurred in the late seventeenth century from 1692-1693. This is the time period that the Salem Witch Trials occurred. The principle plot of the story rested on the occasions paving the way to the Salem Witch Trials, the trials themselves, and the consequence of the trials. Point by point records of witch executions, the real trials, and the occasions that created the trials were examined in the story.

The generalization for vampires has been displayed in films and literature for hundreds of years. The stereotypical versions of vampires are that they have long fangs, sleep in coffins during the day, and suck the blood out of humans. Both novels contradict those stereotypes in different ways. To understand the diversity of the vampires described in both novels, one must examine the characteristics that the vampires display and the meaning and purpose behind them. David D. Gilmore’s book “Monsters” analyzes monsters and other mythical creatures. Gilmore describes why humanity invented the idea of

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

All too often the gothic literature genre is reduced in its interpretation to gloomy weather and archaic haunted houses. These patterns do exist, but they do not define the genre. Gothic literature found its niche in the 18th and 19th centuries, and during the Victorian era it served a more nuanced purpose than simply to scare readers. Many gothic authors used a monster as a vessel to symbolize topics that the Victorian era sensibilities would label as “monstrous.” They are the incarnation of the taboo subjects society is trying to repress. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Tell-Tale Heart”, the authors use Freudian symbolism along with literary symbolism to demonstrate the repercussions of repressing “id” desires.

villainy in Stoker’s Dracula compare to that of Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This Extended Essay comparing the depravity in nature of the antagonists in these classic literary works will provide a better understanding of what constitutes ‘evil’ in society. Further analysis of the villains will reveal how the authors use them as representations of repressed human nature. My own fascination with the topic, as well as my rapport with gothic classic literature, led me to pursue this research topic.