David's Online Journal

In this essay I am going to be exploring the way in which monstrosity Is presented within the two books ‘The Tempest’ by William Shakespeare and ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley. Monstrosity is a thing that is outrageously evil or wrong. In The Tempest monstrosity is mainly explored through a character called Prospero (Ex Duke of Milan). Instead Prospero went to focus on magic and studied his books. Antonio (Prospero’s younger brother) steals the title of Duke of Milan from him and now Prospero is seeking revenge on him using his two slaves, Ariel and Caliban. Frankenstein is about a doctor called Victor Frankenstein and his search for power. After witnessing the power of lightning obliterate a tree, Victor had a spark of inspiration. This leads to Victor searching for power and trying to create life. He does this by obtaining body parts from dead people and attaching the body parts together. Eventually due to his knowledge of science he was able to reach his goal and bring the body to life. But he soon regrets this as he soon realises that he created a monster. Victor Frankenstein abandons the monster fearing what he created. The monster felt abandoned and decided to take his revenge by killing all of Victor’s loved ones.

Monstrosity is a thing which is outrageously evil or wrong. Revenge is the action of hurting or harming someone in return for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands. Both of these texts are very different but they are also similar as they explore the same theme of revenge even though they was influenced by different things. Frankenstein was influenced by multiple things, these include the time Mary Shelley went to spend at Lake Geneva in Switzerland, the reading of a collection of ghost stories. But I believe the most inspirational thing for Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein was the Romantic Period. The Romantic Period was an artistic movement that began in Europe at the end of the 18th century, it emphasised intense emotion such as apprehension, horror, terror and awe. It was shown in visual arts, music and literature. The tempest was written by William Shakespeare and influenced by an English fleet which crashed into an island due to a tempest. At the time everyone knew about this and it was the basis of conversation. Shakespeare was influenced by this and wrote the play.

In Volume 1, Chapter 2 of Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is a spectator to the monstrosity of nature itself. He witnesses the wrath of the lightning take down a tree during a dreadful storm. Victor Frankenstein was astonished by the power of lightening and wanted to harness it. “The thunder burst at once with frightful loudness from various quarters of heavens. I remained, while the storm lasted, watching its progress with curiosity and delight”, this experience inspired Victor in his thirst for knowledge. He was then inspired to use the monstrous power of electricity to create life instead of destroying life. “To an eager to learn…possessed attraction for me”. Victor Frankenstein now set his goal on creating life and to disobey the laws of nature. He wants to be able to defy the laws of physics and play God by creating life. He wants to be able to control the link between life and death which is naturally evil and morally wrong. At this time, Shelley may have been influenced to write about electricity creating life through The Aldini Experiment. The Aldini experiment is when a doctor called Giovanni Aldini managed to get hold of a dead body and used electricity to make certain parts of the dead body move. To do this he used galvanism, this is when you make muscles move with electric currents.

In Act 1, Scene 2 of The Tempest, Prospero speaks to one of his slaves named Caliban. You can see the lack of respect Prospero has towards Caliban and can be considered as a monster towards him. This is because Caliban doesn’t fear the power Prospero has over him. “Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself. Upon thy wicked dam, come forth”. This highlights the anger and hatred Prospero has towards Caliban. This is shown in the use of the violent and negative words, such as ‘poisonous slave’. Shakespeare could have used the word ‘poisonous’ to suggest that Caliban plagues everyone around him. This could be seen as describing Caliban as a monster because of his physical features. “Come forth” is a very aggressive command which could be seen as Prospero behaving as a monster towards Caliban.

In Volume 2, Chapter 8 of Frankenstein, the monster tries to befriend a young boy. But after discovering the true identity of the young boy (Victor Frankenstein’s little brother) the monster brutally murders the young boy. “Monster! Ugly wretch!”, “You are an ogre”. These descriptions are of the monster’s hideous and monstrous appearance. All these words are very negative and can bring rage to another individual. The fact that the monster was called “an ogre” emphasises the little boys terror of the unknown as ogres are mythical beasts that do not exist. The murder of the little child was done in a very monstrous way. “The child still struggled…I grasped his throat to silence him, and in a moment he lay dead at my feet.” This shows that it was a brutal death as the child was struggling for his freedom but the monster snuffed his life out.

In Act 4, Scene 1 of The Tempest, Prospero has just found out about Caliban’s plan to betray him. Prospero then gets very angry and says monstrous things about Caliban. “A devil, a born devil, on whose nature, nurture can never stick”. Prospero emphasizes the devilish nature of Caliban by repeating the word devil. Also then goes on to say that no matter how well he raised Caliban he will always be a devil and a monster. Prospero also then goes on to mention other monstrous physical features of Caliban, “with age his body, uglier grows”. This shows that Prospero believes that as Caliban gets older he is getting uglier in physical features and in his personality. Prospero then goes on to say, “I will plague them all”. This shows that Prospero is also a monster in some aspects as he wants to plague the people who oppose him.

In Volume 1, Chapter 9 of Frankenstein, Victor travels to the Swiss Alps presented as ‘Mont blanc’ in the text. He travelled to the Swiss Alps in pursuit of rehabilitation and recuperation. Whilst analysing and interacting with many different sceneries that the Swiss Alps had to offer, Victor was able to experience the Sublime. The sublime is the feeling of very great excellence or beauty which has the ability to numb any other emotion or mental state. This shows that the theme of monstrosity can be numbed by other aspects to such as beauty and love. “These sublime and magnificent scenes afforded me the greatest consolations that I was capable of receiving”. The word ‘sublime’ allows the reader to understand the heavenly outstanding sight he was seeing. This then allowed Victor to recuperate. I believe Mary Shelley is trying to portray the sublimity of nature through the Alps and how this has the power to nullify monstrosity. Mary Shelley was inspired to write this chapter by ‘The Romantic Movement’. She portrays The Romantic Movement in this chapter by portraying it’s power through the sublimity and how it enabled Victor recover from creating a monster.

In Act 3, Scene 2 of The Tempest, Caliban starts describing the island. “Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.” This gives the reader a very positive view of the island. The fact that Caliban says it gives delight and not hurt could show that he is trying to convince the others that the island is a very beautiful place and not monstrous despite the evil works of Prospero. “A thousand twangling instruments”, the fact that Shakespeare has said there was a thousand instruments puts emphasis on the wonderful sounds that were in the island and how overwhelming the sounds were. “The clouds methought would open and show riches ready to drop upon me.” This shows that the island was so wondrous even in Caliban’s dreams the island was dropping riches and was not a monstrous place.

All in all, monstrosity is presented in a contrastive way within The Tempest and Frankenstein. In both texts monstrosity is presented very negatively as both texts have mention of a monster or someone doing things that are outrageously evil. But in the texts there is also mention of very positive aspects that overcome monstrosity. In The Tempest it was the sublime effects of the Swiss Alps whilst in Frankenstein it was the description of the island. This shows that William Shakespeare and Mary Shelley both present monstrosity in very similar ways.

Xavier Williams was a 14 year old who lived in South London. He loved life and made his family smile all the time. But this soon changed as he had to move to a new school. He left all his old friends behind and was not welcomed warmly. He used to be called chubby and fat by the other student’s on a daily basis, this led Xavier to stop eating and he ended up in hospital.  Xavier’s family was worried to death about him. He was my cousin and his story has inspired me to speak out against bullying.

Imagine someone constantly trying to make your life a living hell. I doubt anyone of us would find this acceptable if this was happening to us or to someone whom we loved. Bullying happens daily but not enough people recognise it to stop it. Most people don’t even care as it is not affecting their lives.  How many of you have called someone a name? How many of you have treated someone poorly? How many of you have judged someone on who they are or what they have done? Bullying is so common in modern societies that people don’t even recognise it anymore. People believe it is a normal everyday activity. Calling someone stupid, is bullying. Hitting someone, is bullying.  Intentionally causing pain, is bullying. This is wrong!

So what is bullying? According to leading bullying expert Dr.Haber, Bullying is when you intend to harm someone repeatedly to make yourself more powerful. There are four different types of bullying. Relational, verbal, physical and cyber bullying. All four of these are different but at the end of the day they all have the same effect. Hurting another individual!

Bullying causes so much damage that people who have been bullied tend to end up committing suicide. Four hundred and ninety six. That’s the number of people who have felt so insecure about themselves that they have taken their own life, this year. Four hundred and ninety six. That’s the number of people who are no longer with us, this year, because of someone else’s actions. Four hundred and ninety six. That’s the number of bullies, this year, who can now be considered as murderers…

Bullying is witnessed by people every day. But either they are too scared to stop it or they don’t even realise it is happening.  Victims of bullying would go to adults for help but the common response is, “Kids will be kids” or “They are just playing”. The bully would then think it’s acceptable to bully and they won’t stop. This is the reason why adults need to come down hard and stomp out bullying!

One of the reasons why bullying needs to be stopped now is because of the negative impact it is having on people’s life. In Lancashire, April 1967, the first recognised death due to bullying was Steven Shepherd. In April 1998, Brian Franklish also died from bullying. In Yorkshire, twelve year old Debbie Shaw stood up to the school bully to try and end her suffering and died of her injuries. Thirteen year old, Roger Hillyard was found dead near his home after a lifetime of bullying and teasing. Sisters Samantha and Michaela Kendal were mocked so much about being overweight, that they went on a hunger strike, sadly both died from malnourishment. Fifteen year old Darren Steele was found hanged in his bedroom after a life of being a victim at school. In West Midlands, twelve year old, schoolboy, Stephen Woodhall hanged himself with his brother’s school tie. “He must have been going through hell,” his father, Ken, said. Later, forty-seven-year-old Kenneth Woodhall also hanged himself. In September 1997, 13-year-old Salvation Army girl Kelly Yeomans took a fatal overdose after months of tormenting. Her bullies were given a slap on the wrist. This is wrong and you know it!

With technology becoming more advanced, bullying has become easier and easier. This is because more and more people are signing up and using social networking sites. For example the most common are ‘Facebook’, ‘Twitter’ and ‘Ask.fm’. Cyber bullying is probably the most common out of the four types of bullying, the reason for this is because bullies feel safe to bully because they have a screen to hide behind and because on many of these sites they have the choice to be anonymous.

Different people bully for different reasons. Jealousy, popularity and personally issues are the main reasons.  Bullies will even bully to follow the others. This is because in society today nobody wants to feel left out or isolated. Also people pick on others because they are different and weak. Nine hundred thousand people suffer, or have suffered from bullying in Canada. This means that one in every five people have experienced what it’s like to be in fear of someone because they are basically manipulating and controlling your life. Calling someone fat doesn’t make you any skinnier. Calling someone stupid does make you any smarter. Calling someone ugly doesn’t make you any better looking. This is why we should put a stop to bullying for once and for all. Let’s bully bullying!

The big, bright, bodacious sun had finally peaked and now towered over all living things below. The scorching sunlight caressed the little boy as he frolocked about in a nearby forest. The trees stood as tall and strong as sacred pillars. The grass danced merrily as the wind blew ever so softly. The birds sang ever so beautifully, as the leaves on the trees were blossoming. Then at once a loud shriek of joyful laughter could be heard.

It was the young boy speeding around without a care in the world. He was enjoying a good game of Pirates, influenced by a television show he used to watch when he was younger. The boy loved this show as he loved the fact Pirates were free and did not abide by the rules of society.

Deeper and deeper. Darker and darker. This was no longer the safe, warming and welcoming forest the boy knew. The forest had now transformed into something less safe, more dangerous. Something less warming, more cold. Something less welcoming, more hostile. The further and further the boy went into the forest the more and more terrified and worried he became. Instead of turning back and running, it was if a strange and ominous force was pushing him insisting he should carry on. Until he hit it.

A fence. It stretched for miles and miles and it had barbed wires on top. It was a metallic grey and it had a sign on it which meant anyone who dared to touch it would get a nasty surprise. The boy stood and watched it, daring not to take his eyes off it for a second, He was worried that if he wasn’t sharp or alert he might regret it. All life on the other side of the fense was deserted and derelict. Then almost instantaneously there was movement. The little boy darted for cover but never took his eyes off the fence. The boy watched in amazement as he saw figures flood out from a distant, old, aging, worn down building.

The boy stayed hidden but now watching the figures in the distance as they got closer. The boy could now see them clearly, in their striped clothing. Then a wave of excitement slid across his face. He had found someone who looked his age. As the idea of making a new friend was the only thought capable at the time,  he stepped out of hiding, got as close as he could to the death trap without touching it and called over to the boy in stripes in the quietest squeak anyone could manage. He did this to make sure he didn’t catch the attention of anyone else. Luckily the little boy in the striped clothing heard him first time.

The boy in stripes walked over and they both stared at each other, not letting one intimidate the other. They both looked so different compared to each other.  On one side of the fence you had one boy who had a soft face, neatly groomed hair and big round belly from all the pampering he had received. The other, so skinny that you could see his bones with ease. The silence was strong and no one dared to fill it. Then finally, “What’s your name”, said the little boy bravely. “I’ve forgotten”, whispered the boy in stripes slowly starting to get his courage. “How can you forget your own name, mine is Steve”, chuckled the little boy. “They just call us by our numbers now, i am number 5.6.2.”, proclaimed the boy in stripes. “Ohh…. I like stripes it matches what you are wearing, I shall now call you stripes”, Stevey proclaimed with a wide grin, he was proud of the name he had thought of.” The boy in the stripes quietly repeated, ”Stripes, stripes…. Yeah stripes thank you I really like it.” “By the way, why are you wearing striped pyjamas?”, Stevey questioned. “ I don’t know, all i know is that they came and took me and my family and brought us here where we was made to work and were given numbers”, Stripes sorrowfully said. “That’s unfair!”, Stevey said regretfully. There was a long pause and nobody said a word. The silence grew stronger and stronger enhancing the tension and making it more powerful. “Would you like to play with me? I’m playing pirates”, Stevey asked innocently. “Maybe tomorrow”, Stripes replied. “Why?”, Stevey looking more and more depressed. “it’s going to rain soon”, replied stripes wisely. Almost instantaneously rain started to pitter down from the sky above. within 10 seconds it was now raining heavily. It almost felt like rocks were coming down from the heavens to punish the two boys. “ I have to go now, sorry”, Stripes said sadly. “okay but you have to promise to play with me tomorrow”, the little boy exclaimed happily, glad he had found a friend. “I promise….”. Stripes ran off into the distance and as soon as he was out of sight, lightning hit.
The next day Stevey travelled again through the forest, less scared than he was the first time. He reached the fence which was now familiar to him and he waited. 8 hours passed, yet Stripes never returned…

The big, bright, bodacious sun had finally peaked and now towered all living things below. The scorching sunlight caressed the little boy as he frolocked about in a nearby forest. The trees stood as tall and strong as sacred pillars. The grass danced merrily as the wind blew ever so softly. The birds sang ever so beautifully, as the leaves on the trees were blossoming. Then at once a loud shriek of joyful laughter could be heard.

It was the young boy speeding around without a care in the world. He was enjoying a good game of Pirates, influenced by a television show he used to watch when he was younger. The boy loved this show as he loved the fact Pirates were free and did not abide by the rules of society.

Deeper and deeper. Darker and darker. This was no longer the safe, warming and welcoming forest the boy knew. The forest had now transformed into something less safe, more dangerous. Something less warming, more cold. Something less welcoming, more hostile. The further and further the boy went into the forest the more and more terrified and worried he became. Instead of turning back and running, it was if a strange and ominous force was pushing him insisting he should carry on. Until he hit it.

A fence. It stretched for miles and miles and it had barbed wires on top. It was a metallic grey and it had a sign on it which meant anyone who dared to touch it would get a nasty surprise. The boy stood and watched it, daring not to take his eyes off it for a second, He was worried that if he wasn’t sharp or alert he might regret it. All life on the other side of the fense was deserted and derelict. Then almost instantaneously there was movement. The little boy darted for cover but never took his eyes off the fence. The boy watched in amazement as he saw figures flood out from a distant, old, aging, worn down building.

The boy stayed hidden but now watching the figures in the distance as they got closer. The boy could now see them clearly, in their striped clothing. Then a wave of excitement slid across his face. He had found someone who looked his age. As the idea of making a new friend was the only thought capable at the time,  he stepped out of hiding, got as close as he could to the death trap without touching it and called over to the boy in stripes in the quietest squeak anyone could manage. He did this to make sure he didn’t catch the attention of anyone else. Luckily the little boy in the striped clothing heard him first time.

The boy in stripes walked over and they both stared at each other, not letting one intimidate the other. They both looked so different compared to each other.  On one side of the fence you had one boy who had a soft face, neatly groomed hair and big round belly from all the pampering he had received. The other, so skinny that you could see his bones with ease. The silence was strong and no one dared to fill it. Then finally, “What’s your name”, said the little boy bravely. “I’ve forgotten”, whispered the boy in stripes slowly starting to get his courage. “How can you forget your own name, mine is Steve”, chuckled the little boy. “They just call us by our numbers now, i am number 5.6.2.”, proclaimed the boy in stripes. “Ohh…. I like stripes it matches what you are wearing, i shall now call you stripes”, Stevey proclaimed with a wide grin, he was proud of the name he had thought of.” The boy in the stripes quietly repeated, ”Stripes, stripes…. Yeah stripes thank you i really like it.” “By the way, why are you wearing striped pyjamas?”, Stevey questioned. “ I don’t know, all i know is that they came and took me and my family and brought us here where we was made to work and were given numbers”, Stripes sorrowfully said. “That’s unfair!”, Stevey said regretfully. There was a long pause and nobody said a word. The silence grew stronger and stronger enhancing the tension and making it more powerful. “Would you like to play with me? I’m playing pirates”, Stevey asked innocently. “Maybe tomorrow”, Stripes replied. “Why?”, Stevey looking more and more depressed. “it’s going to rain soon”, replied stripes wisely. Almost instantaneously rain started to pitter down from the sky above. within 10 seconds it was now raining heavily. It almost felt like rocks were coming down from the heavens to punish the two boys. “ I have to go now, sorry”, Stripes said sadly. “okay but you have to promise to play with me tomorrow”, the little boy exclaimed happily, glad he had found a friend. “I promise….”. Stripes ran off into the distance and as soon as he was out of sight, lightning hit.

The next day Stevey travelled again through the forest, less scared than he was the first time. He reached the fence which was now familiar to him and he waited. 8 hours passed, yet Stripes never returned…

Dear Ms Samantha Taylor,

I have recently read your view on teenagers and their interactions in the digital world and I strongly agree. As a teenager myself I believe we don’t all depend on social media. In your article you mentioned how people think teenagers are unable to socialise face to face and how teenagers leave themselves prone to attack over social networking. Although I believe this to some extent I am writing this letter in response to your article and hopefully you will see things from my point of view.

In your article Johnathan Franzen said that we teenagers spend countless hours glued to Facebook and it has turned us into screen – enslaved social inadequates”. I believe that this description of us is cruel and harsh because even though we might text a lot on our mobile phones or spend hours on social media, we are still able to have physical relationships with others around us. This view is supported by Shira Lee Katz who stated that “Teenagers feel that social media has a more positive than negative impact on their social and emotional lives. It helps their friendships, makes them more outgoing and boosts their confidence.” A research study consisting of more than 1000 teenagers (13-17 year olds) showed that 28% believed that’s social networking made them feel more outgoing vs the 5% who made them feel less so. It also showed that 29% believed that it made them feel less shy vs the 3% who believed it made them feel more introverted. When it comes to relationships with friends, more than half (52%) of teens said social media has made them better versus just 4% who said it has negatively affected those relationships. However I do agree with the fact that us teenagers use social networking religiously; that can be seen as a positive as well as a negative because it will mean that we would be able to meet new people and expand our friendship groups. If anything I believe that teenagers spending a lot of time enables them to strengthen their more important relationships instead of weakening them as they will be able to keep in touch and speak even when they aren’t together.

In your article you mentioned that Jonathan Franzen said social media was creating a “uniquely shallow and trivial culture”. Shallow is defined as being superficial and not capable of serious thoughts. Trivial is defined as being of little value or importance. From these definitions it can be seen that you perceived teenagers relationships to not be deep and meaningful also that the relationships that social media is creating is of little value. I disagree with this because if you are far away from someone social media helps you stay connected with them meaning your relationship won’t weaken.and this is supported by a research that was conducted with teens whereby nearly 9/10 teens say social networking helps them keep in touch with friends they can’t see regularly. About half of all teens believe that it helps them stay more connected with  family and friends. 57% of teens have said that it has connected them with new people with whom they share a common interest or hobby. On a whole although it can be seen that teenagers can spend an endless amount of time on social media, the overall impact of social networking outweighs the negatives impacts.

Empathy is the capacity to share or recognise emotions experienced by another person or fictional being. In your article you said some parents fear that giving their teenagers mobile phones would stop them from developing empathy. Others believe that giving teenagers mobile phones could lead to the raising of a hedonistic generation who live only in the thrill of the computer generated moment and are in distinct danger of detaching themselves from what the rest of the world would consider the real world. By this I mean that teenagers who enjoy the thrill created on social media would

I believe that these statements are incorrect as social networking is part of the real world and in fact it actually benefits the real world on a huge scale also social networking actually improves empathy to some extent as you can tell the way someone is feeling by the way they text or by the emoticon they send. But equally you can say that a teenager wouldn’t be able to tell how someone is feeling by their facial expression but I believe that’s not true as this is a skill you grow up with and won’t be able to lose, no matter how much you text.

As you know already there are negatives to social networking such as cyber bullying and the underdevelopment of relationships, however research has shown that there are many positives such as teens being able to stay  touch with relatives e.g. cousins or siblings in a different country or friends who have changed school also it has allowed teens to meet with people who have the same interests as them which builds on their confidence.In my opinion I believe the pros outweigh the cons and i hope you can see this too.

Yours Sincerely,

David Ndanema

In this essay I am going to be exploring the way in which monstrosity Is presented within the two books ‘The Tempest’ by William Shakespeare and ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley. Monstrosity is a thing that is outrageously evil or wrong. In The Tempest monstrosity is mainly explored through a character called Prospero (Ex Duke of Milan). Instead Prospero went to focus on magic and studied his books. Antonio (Prospero’s younger brother) steals the title of Duke of Milan from him and now Prospero is seeking revenge on him using his two slaves, Ariel and Caliban. Frankenstein is about a doctor called Victor Frankenstein and his search for power. After witnessing the power of lightning obliterate a tree, Victor had a spark of inspiration. This leads to Victor searching for power and trying to create life. He does this by obtaining body parts from dead people and attaching the body parts together. Eventually due to his knowledge of science he was able to reach his goal and bring the body to life. But he soon regrets this as he soon realises that he created a monster. Victor Frankenstein abandons the monster fearing what he created. The monster felt abandoned and decided to take his revenge by killing all of Victor’s loved ones.

Monstrosity is a thing which is outrageously evil or wrong. Revenge is the action of hurting or harming someone in return for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands. Both of these texts are very different but they are also similar as they explore the same theme of revenge even though they was influenced by different things. Frankenstein was influenced by multiple things, these include the time Mary Shelley went to spend at Lake Geneva in Switzerland, the reading of a collection of ghost stories, a vision, etc. But I believe that that the thing that inspired Mary Shelley the most to write Frankenstein was the romantic period.The Romantic period was an artistic movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, it emphasized intense emotion such as apprehension, horror, terror and awe. It was displayed in visual arts, music and literature. The tempest was written by William Shakespeare and influenced an English fleet crashing into an island due to a tempest. At the time everybody knew about this and it was the root of conversation. Shakespeare was majorly influenced by this and wrote the play.

In chapter 2 of Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is a spectator to the injurious power of nature itself. He witnesses the wrath of the monstrosity lightning take down a tree during a dreadful storm. Victor Frankenstein was astonished by the power of lightening and wanted to harness it. “The thunder burst at once with frightful loudness from various quarters of heavens. I remained, while the storm lasted, watching its progress with curiosity and delight”, this experience inspired Victor in his thirst for knowledge. He was then inspired to use the monstrous power of electricity to create life instead of destroying life. “To an eager to learn…possessed attraction for me”. Victor Frankenstein now set his goal on creating life and to disobey the laws of nature. He wants to be able to defy the laws of physics and play God by creating life. “The mysterious soul of man that occupied me”. Victor believes that a “mysterious soul” had power over him because he did not know why Mary Shelley suggests that Victor wants power over nature. He wants to be able to control the link between life and death which is naturally evil and morally wrong. At this time, Shelley may have been influenced to write about electricity creating life. The Aldini experiment is when a doctor called Giovanni Aldini managed to get hold of a dead body and uses electricity to make certain parts of the dead body move. To do this he used galvanism, he made muscles move with electric currents. Shelley heard about this and decided to use that idea to bring Frankenstein to life (using electric currents).  

Dear Ms Samantha Taylor,

I have read your view on teenagers and their interactions in the digital world however I strongly disagree. As a teenager myself I believe we don’t all depend on social media as you say we do. In your article your two main points were how teenagers are unable to socialise face to face and how teenagers leave themselves prone to attack over social networking. Although I believe this to some extent I am writing this letter in response to your article and hopefully you will be able to see things from my point of view.

“All those countless hours glued to Facebook has turned teenagers into screen – enslaved social inadequates”. I believe that this description of us is cruel and harsh because even though we might text a lot on our mobile phones or spend hours on social media, we are still able to have physical relationships with others around us. This view is supported by Shira Lee Katz who stated that “Teenagers feel that social media has a more positive than negative impact on their social and emotional lives. It helps their friendships, makes them more outgoing and boosts their confidence.” A research study consisting of more than 1000 teenagers (13-17 year olds) showed that 28% believed that’s social networking made them feel more outgoing vs the 5% who made them feel less so. It also showed that 29% believed that it made them feel less shy vs the 3% who believed it made them feel more introverted. When it comes to relationships with friends, more than half (52%) of teens said social media has made them better versus just 4% who said it has negatively affected those relationships. However I do agree with the fact that us teenagers use social networking religiously; that can be seen as a positive as well as a negative because it will mean that we would be able to meet new people and expand our friendship groups. If anything I believe that teenagers spending a lot of time enables them to strengthen their more important relationships instead of weakening them as they will be able to keep in touch and speak even when they aren’t together.

In your article you mentioned that social media was creating a “uniquely shallow and trivial culture”. Shallow is defined as being superficial and not capable of serious thoughts. Trivial is defined as being of little value or importance. From these definitions it can be seen that you perceived teenagers relationships to not be deep and meaningful also that the relationships that social media is creating is of little value. I disagree with this because if you are far away from someone social media helps you stay connected with them meaning your relationship won’t weaken.and this is supported by a research that was conducted with teens whereby nearly 9/10 teens say social networking helps them keep in touch with friends they can’t see regularly. About half of all teens believe that it helps them stay more connected with  family and friends. 57% of teens have said that it has connected them with new people with whom they share a common interest or hobby. On a whole although it can be seen that teenagers can spend an endless amount of time on social media, the overall impact of social networking outweighs the negatives impacts.

Empathy is the capacity to share or recognise emotions experienced by another person or fictional being. In your article you said some parents fear that giving their teenagers mobile phones would stop them from developing empathy. Others believe that giving teenagers mobile phones could lead to the raising of a hedonistic generation who live only in the thrill of the computer generated moment and are in distinct danger of detaching themselves from what the rest of the world would consider the real world. By this I mean that teenagers who enjoy the thrill created on social media would

I believe that these statements are incorrect as social networking is part of the real world and in fact it actually benefits the real world majorly also social networking actually improves empathy to some extent as u can tell the way someone is feeling by the way they text or by the emoticon they send. But equally you can say that a teenager wouldn’t be able to tell how someone is feeling by their facial expression but I believe that’s not true as this is a skill you grow up with and won’t be able to lose no matter how much you text.

“Digital communication is not just prevalent in teenagers lives but it is teenagers lives”, “Social networking sites are changing teenagers brains”.

As you know already there are negatives to social networking such as cyber bullying and the underdevelopment of relationships, however research has shown that there are many positives such as teens being able to stay  touch with relatives e.g. cousins or siblings in a different country or friends who have changed school also it has allowed teens to meet with people who have the same interests as them which builds on their confidence.In my opinion I believe the pros outweigh the cons and i hope you can see this too.

Yours Sincerely,

David Ndanema

During this essay I am going to discuss how The Tempest and Frankenstein use ways in which their characters exercise power and control. The tempest was written by William Shakespeare, its about Prospero (who was once the duke of Milan) seeking revenge on his younger brother Antonio because he stole the position of Duke of Milan from him. Prospero and his daughter have been banished to a remote island which they live on with two slaves (Caliban and Ariel). Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley, its about a Victor Frankenstein’s pursuit for knowledge and how it leads to him making a terrible mistake of trying to recreate life. But the monster he created had betrayed him and started to murder Victors loved ones.

Power is the ability to influence or control the behavior of another individual in a particular way. Control is the power to influence or direct people’s behavior or the control of events. Revenge is the action of hurting someone physically or emotionally because they had previously done something wrong to you. Both these texts are very similar as they both explore the subject of revenge but they were written at different times and influenced by different things. Frankenstein was influenced by multiple things. These include the time Mary Shelley at Lake Geneva in Switzerland, the reading of a collection of ghost stories, a vision , etc. But i believe that the thing that inspired Mary Shelley the most to write Frankenstein was the romantic period.The Romantic period was an artistic movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, it emphasized intense emotion such as apprehension, horror, terror and awe. It was displayed in visual arts, music and literature. The tempest was written by William Shakespeare and influenced by

Frankenstein and The Tempest are very similar texts

Revenge is a a very i

• How is power and control present in Frankenstein