User:Stevenarntson/humanitiesii/monsters

Reading Assignment

 * Bluebeard
 * Pages 70-72 of Through the Looking-Glass: And What Alice Found There.
 * Pages 64-66 of Euripides' The Bacchae.
 * Pages 152-156 of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.

Media

 * The Wolf Man
 * Joseph Merrick AKA the Elephant Man

Discussion

 * Brainstorm a list of monsters, from movies, literature, etc.
 * Having looked at some different kinds of monsters, what sorts of categories emerge?
 * Discuss the theme or cultural significance of a monster, as we did in class with The Wolf Man.

Homework Assignment
Design a monster of your own, and include the following:


 * 1) A picture.
 * 2) The story of its origin.
 * 3) A short interview with the monster to be presented in class, featuring Steve as the interviewer and you as the monster.
 * 4) An explanation of your monster's cultural significance—its theme.

Consider some of the facets of what makes a monster that we discussed today. Is the monster ugly or beautiful? Evil, good, or neither? What created this monster (if anything)? How does the tale you tell about your monster illustrate some fact of human existence?