english literature

Sample writing assignment: Frankenstein’s Conversations with William Godwin. The following is an example of the kind of response you should be looking to provide for the writing assignment for this module. As before, note how the piece sets out a clear response to the prompt in the opening sentence and how it goes on to support this argument with evidence from the novel. In your own responses to the prompt for this module, you should similarly look to offer a clear and reasonable argument and to provide strong support for your claim. Please note, too, the way in which the Writing Assignment is set out. Please make sure your own response is similarly formatted and that it, too, is clear of grammatical, spelling, or syntactical errors. I will be looking for a clear argument, strong textual evidence, and a well-formatted and written response. Please be sure to provide a Works Cited. This can be in any form you are most comfortable with (AP, MLA, Chicago, Oxford, etc.), but should make it clear what is being referred to and where that item can be found. Please note: the 250-word limit (plus or minus 10%) applies only to the text of your argument. It does not include the works cited or the heading information. Sample question: To what extent can Frankenstein be considered a conversation with William Godwin? A. Student Writing Assignment, Module 3 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is an extended conversation with her father William Godwin. From the opening dedication, which alludes to two of his most famous works, to the Creature’s final speech and suicide, the novel interrogates Godwin’s ideals of rational benevolence, suggesting that his philosophy overlooks the importance of domestic affections in the decision-making process. In particular, the novel’s depiction of Victor’s rational brilliance but limited emotional maturity reveals the extent of Mary Shelley’s conversation with her father. Godwin argued that humans should rely solely on reason to determine their actions. Every action, he argued, should be judged by its potential benefits to society. He set this out philosophically in Political Justice and then in the novel Caleb Williams, which tells the story of two men locked in a battle for dominance. Frankenstein borrows much from the plot of Caleb Williams, but Mary Shelley’s main purpose in mirroring her father’s work is to show the limitations of a philosophy based solely on the dictates of reason. Victor is the embodiment of reason: he is a groundbreaking scientist, able to resurrect dead bodies. His rationality, in other words, could produce great benefits to society. He is, however, fatally flawed: he does not pay enough attention to his own feelings, nor to the feelings of others. Instead of reflecting rationally on his achievement when he sparks the Creature into life, “breathless horror and disgust filled [his] heart” (36). The emphasis on heart, here, suggests that what he is missing is the ability to feel. As the novel reveals, the consequences of this lack of feeling are fatal: everyone Victor loves dies. [268 words] Works Cited. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, ed. J. Paul Hunter, second edition (New York: Norton, 2012).