For this assignment, you will write a thesis-driven research essay in which you make a claim about a primary text, Frankenstein, and support that claim using argumentation and several secondary texts. Here is the prompt: “What is the main insight that Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein has to offer to our own contemporary world and why?”
Your first task for this assignment is first to consider several of the issues raised in Frankenstein and choose one of those to focus on. Here are some possible issues/topics to emerge from the novel:
Remember that you should pick a topic with the prompt in mind. Your paper needs to try to make a claim–that Frankenstein is especially suitable to addressing one of these topics/issues, and then you’ll need to explain why. Once you pick an issue, you are going to have to do some research related to this topic. You will of course want to do some research on Frankenstein as well, but supplementing that will be topic research—research that focuses primarily on the issue you’ve chosen to focus on. That means that picking a topic is also about picking something that you are interested in researching or knowing more about (You might even consider your choice in light of your major, or your other academic interests. For instance, if you are interested in science, you might want to discuss something related to science, or if you are interested in criminal justice, you might want to pick something related to crime/law/justice.
After picking your readings, it’s time to start thinking about developing a thesis, which is the central claim of your essay. Your thesis needs to respond directly to the prompt, “What is the main insight that Frankenstein has to offer our world now, and why?” You need an answer to that question, which requires that you are focused, and that you make an arguable claim:
At this stage in your writing, your argument will be called a “working thesis†because it is likely to change, as you write and develop your essay. Basically, what you have in a working thesis is a placeholder that may or may not look like the final product, but will give you permission to continue in one direction, in support of one argument.
When it comes to writing a thesis, there are a few things to keep in mind, so I’m going to list some of those here:
Once you’ve gotten your working thesis down, it’s time to do some research. For this essay, you will need to directly quote from at least four sources within the body of your essay. Two of these sources should be about Frankenstein itself and two should be about the issue or topic that you are addressing. So for instance for my sample thesis, I would find two useful sources that address loneliness/isolation in Frankenstein and then I would also find two more useful sources that address the topic of online loneliness/isolation in the modern world. ALL of your sources should be from the HCC library, and ALL should be scholarly sources. We will review the criteria for a scholarly source in detail in the upcoming week 4 unit, so you do not need to worry about knowing that now.
Once you’ve gotten your working thesis down, and have done the research, start writing the essay, developing several body paragraphs in support of your thesis. This doesn’t mean that you have to start every body paragraph with a direct declaration of how it will support the thesis, but each paragraph should play a role in developing or explaining that main argument/idea you’ve started with. As you write, you may change your mind about the thesis, or you may need to revise in order to better support the thesis—either way, this period of writing is the most exploratory, and it is where you get to “test†your argument against your analysis of the text.
Typically, body paragraphs begin with a topic sentence that clarifies in some way what the paragraph will be about. Then, you can use the paragraph to make your point or your claim. You might do this by citing a passage or an argument from the secondary text, explaining how it helps the reader understand the primary text, but you might at times also focus on one or the other of these, without discussing both. Write as you see fit—there are rules of the road in writing, but inspiration also plays a big role. We can make those two imperatives meet when you’re working on the final draft, if they don’t yet in the rough draft.
As you write in support of your thesis, employ the following basic steps of analysis:
–Look for moments in Frankenstein that are most closely related to your chosen topic. These may be related to the behaviors of the characters, in the ways the story is written or in the themes that it deals with.
–Do the same thing with the research. Your research should help you think about some of the bigger issues in Frankenstein, but you don’t need to have them mastered. It is better to simply have a sense of those passages/ideas in the research that are most useful to you in your goal of applying these ideas to the primary text.
–Try to make sense of the connections you find, both in the primary text you choose and in the secondary material. Ask yourself what they mean and why they occur.
Here’s another example of a sample thesis. This one is focusing on creation/creativity but also raising the issue of solitude/isolation:
“In Frankenstein, both Walton and Victor measure accomplishment largely as a lonely enterprise. Walton is not interested in sharing in the glory of discovery with his fellow crew members; Victor is only concerned with creating life if it is something he has figured out on his own. Nevertheless, their storytelling is a profoundly collaborative act. It is only through their communication with each-other that the novel is born. While neither Victor nor Walton is able to fully mend the rifts caused by their individualism and ambition, this is a novel that poses storytelling itself as an effective antidote to modern self-involvement.â€
Requirements:
Attached the e-book for reference.