Monster Book Comments #3 Due by midnight Wednesday 1/7Three sections
* Label your response to this section 3a
Briefly explain any changes in the monsters, beast, or demon since your first comment. How are the changes in the monster, in the monster's experiences, or in the monster's situation significant? (A paragraph: 7+ sentences.) I'm not looking for plot summary; I'm looking for connections to and development of the monster theme. Along the way convince me that you understand how the monster's situation has developed since "Comments #2" which were due before the holiday break.
*Label your response to this section 3b
Respond to someone else's comment about the book. If no one else is reading your book then compare your thoughts about your monster to someone else's thoughts about the monster in her or his book. Write at least seven sentences.
*Label your response to this section 3c
Write another journal entry as if you were the monster of the book. Write in the monster's voice about the monster's experiences and situation. Convince me that you understand the monster's situation and feelings about the situation. Use at least three details from the last section you have read. Mark the details (1), (2), (3). Write at least seven sentences.
Monster Book Comments #2 Due by midnight Wednesday 12/11
Three sections
* Label your response to this section 2a
Briefly explain any changes in the monsters, beast, or demon since your first comment. How are the changes in the monster, in the monster's experiences, or in the monster's situation significant? (A paragraph: 7+ sentences.) I'm not looking for plot summary; I'm looking for connections to and development of the monster theme.
*Label your response to this section 2b
Respond to someone else's comment about the book. If no one else is reading your book then compare your thoughts about your monster to someone else's thoughts about the monster in her or his book. (A paragraph.)
*Label your response to this section 2c
Write a journal entry as if you were the monster of the book. Write in the monster's voice about the monster's experiences and situation. (A paragraph.)
Monster Book Comments #1 (300+ words) Due by midnight Wednesday (12/10)
Using the definitions of “monster,” “beast,” and/or “demon,” explore how the theme of monstrousness is developed over the first 100+ pages of the book you have been reading.
You might begin by showing how a character or entity fits a particular definition or set of definitions. But do not limit yourself to proving that so-and-so is a monster. Also, do not merely summarize all of the “monstrous” or “beastly” or “demonic” events in the book. That is plot summary. Instead, write an exploratory, explanatory, expository essay.
Show how the author explores ideas about monsters. Here are some possibilities:
- physical monstrousness can be used as a (false?) projection of man(un)kind’s internal monstrousness,
- external beauty (or success, or noble words, or other facades) can mask monstrosity,
- humanity’s inner nature can be seen as naturally and unavoidably “beastly,”
- our intellect (theory-making, pattern-making, meaning-making, civilization-building) can be seen as the source of monstrousness,
- fictional monsters can be interpreted as projections of human fears (about scientific or other progress, about our own inner desires, about nature’s senselessness, about the fragility of our existence, etc.),
- monsters can be used as a way of defining what is human (humane) and what is not-human (inhumane, beastly),
- overcoming monsters (or monstrousness) can be used as a way of defining human heroism, nobility, and even goodness,
- monsters (or monstrous behavior) can be used to explore the issue of nature (innate characteristics that humans are born with) versus nurture (learned behavior): is the monster born or made?,
- monsters can be used as a way to explore the effects of isolation, rejection, exclusion, etc.,
- monsters can be used as a way of exploring whether good and evil are absolute or whether they are only a matter of perception (Hamlet says, “nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so,”
- and on and on and on…
13 comments:
Now, I’m not that far in the story of dr.jekyll and mr.hyde but from what I have read so far it seems the monster is Mr. Hyde. It’s not that hard to see with the crimes he has committed (the murder of Danvers Carew and when he maliciously ran over the little girl). His appearance also fits the monster stereotype. Mr. Hyde is very mysterious and suspects of his crimes cannot describe him in detail but they all agree on his general evil appearance. As we already know (or what I already know from hearing about the story) Dr.jekyll (generally viewed as a normal person) and Mr. Hyde are the same person. So, if I am saying Mr. Hyde is a monster then in a way I’m saying Dr. Jekyll is a monster as well and perhaps he is. Mr. Hyde is the evil side of Dr. Jekyll , Jekyll tells utterson he could dispose of Hyde, but as we see Hyde commit more crimes it seems he cannot rid himself of the alter personality, Mr. Hyde. Now, Hyde is the monster in this story but the question I’m asking is, is Jekyll a monster as well. Perhaps what Robert Louis Stevenson is saying is that there is an evil and good side to all of us. I’ll most likely learn about this situation as I read more of the storey.
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the character Hyde is displayed as the monster. No one knows he is a monster except Utterson and Dr. Jekyll because Jekyll is the only one who really knows Hyde. Utterson discovers who Hyde is by solving a mystery about him having to do with Dr. Jekyll. Hyde has something to do with Jekyll, that Jekyll puts up to give everything in his will to Hyde and Jekyll forged his signature to give money out of the bank to Hyde. Hyde is displayed as an evil person right from when he is brought into the story running over a little girl, lives in the poor/scary part of town, has something on Jekyll that makes him grant money or valuables to Hyde, information about Hyde is very limited, few people know him, and suddenly disappears when tried to be contacted. Whatever Hyde has over Jekyll, Jekyll is even scared to tell Utterson about it. Since we think that Hyde makes Jekyll do stuff for him for a reason that we don’t know Hyde is assumed to be evil and monstrous. One year later in the book Hyde beats someone to death and leaves a note on the body about Utterson on the body which shows how insane Hyde is and again for a reason we don’t know. Hyde has mysterious reasons for everything he does.
The perfect character that fits the particular definition of evil would in fact be Mr.Hyde
I think that Mr.Hyde is a mysterious, dark violent man who fits the profile of sinister actions throughout the srory.
From the beginning to the end Mr.Hyde was described as "pure evil" He went from running over a girl to murdering a highly respective member of English society(Sir Danvers Carew).
Leaving Mr. utterson, the narrator of the book to pick up the pieces of the puzzel and further investigate the relationship between the two men.
As the story progressed i began to realize that Dr.Jekyll was caught somewhere inbetweeen good and evil wanting only to be only one. but little did he know that his expierments would change his life forever.
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the monster jumps out at you right off the bat. The monster is Mr. Hyde due to his running over of a small young girl on a late night on the sidewalk. Only a monster could commit such a crime. So in that aspect he fits the "monster" or "beast" mold. Another thing that is very monster like about him is his appearance. One instance of this is in the book it says "just by the look of him, many of the witnesses despised him." This means he is obviously a very grotesque looking man. Enfield also described him in the following phrase: "I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why." Which basically means he's never seen such an ugly person in his life. There is also something else about Mr. Hyde, the fact that it is so hard to describe his looks due to the horridness of his appearance. There is a good instance of this when Utterson says "I can't describe him. And it's not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment." Utterson later sees how ugly Hyde really is when he runs into him outside of the sketchy house and is appalled by Hyde's ugliness but can't tell exactly what makes him so ugly. Finally Utterson gets to speak with Dr. Jekyll about the case of Mr. Hyde. Utterson thinks Hyde is black mailing Jekyll for something wrong in the past. But Jekyll tells Utterson "The moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde.
The main change in the monster that I see is that not only that the monster is Hyde, but its also Jekyll. Jekyll explains in a letter to Utterson that turning into Hyde started as just a means of fun and getting able to be careless. In Jekyll's real life he had a lot to worry about so he would metamorphe into Hyde to let loose. Jekyll's changing starts as a fun thing, but ends up becoming the death of him. After the accidental murders of Carew and Lanyon, Jekyll decides he must displace himself from society to not harm anyone else. Jekyll's changes start happening more frequently and unexpectedly, leaving Jekyll to believe he will one day turn into Hyde and not turn back.
As i read on in this novel i learn more and more about the mysterious character of mr. Hyde. If you recall i mentioned the previous encounter of mr. Hyde and the young girl, but that past event can not compare to mr. Hyde's upcoming vicious mauling. Later on our main monster of the book, mr. Hyde, has a strange late night visit with the man who goes by the name of danvers acrew. It was described by an old lady as a usual conversation when things started to turn ugly. She reported that mr. Hyde beat this man to death with his wooden cane. As a matter of fact he beat this man with such rage his cane snaps and is left behind at the scene of the crime. This bit of evidence later pins the murder on dr. Jekyll who now has possession of the other half of this weapon. As you can see our monster or mr. Hyde if you prefer has taken these monstrous encounters to a whole new level. I wonder what cruel thing mr Hyde might do next...
2b
Hyde has now left and gone somewhere away and is out of Jekyll’s life. The letter to Jekyll from Hyde telling him of his departure seems to be in Jekyll’s handwriting showing that the murderer(Hyde) got Jekyll to forge a letter. Now that Hyde is out of Jekyll’s life, Jekyll is very healthy and social. Soon later Jekyll returns to staying home, says he will receive no visitors as he is deathly ill. I believe this has happened because Hyde has returned and is controlling Jekyll more than he did before. Hyde has some kind of affect on Jekyll that brings him down emotionally and physically. I think Hyde has also affected or did something to Lanyon as now he is very sick and has a frightened look in his eyes. This monster is still working threw people by controlling them and not being seen, keeping a low profile. He has such a controlling factor over Jekyll as when Jekyll was talking to Utterson and Enfield out of his window Jekyll suddently got a scared look in his face and shut the window. I believe he shut the window because he saw Hyde. Hyde has the power to control.
2a
I don’t agree with what Nick said saying that Jekyll is also a monster. I don’t think he had fun at all. When did Jekyll start to have fun? Jekyll only becomes like Hyde because Hyde is controlling him. Jekyll doesn’t let loose too, he stays very conservative by not speaking to any visitors and not wanting to come out of his house. And the murders of Carew and Lanyon were because Hyde was controlling him. Hyde is making Jekyll a monster by controlling him.
3a.
The ending of this book reveals why Jekyll did so many weird things and shows who the monster really is. Hyde did keep a low profile and didn’t control Jekyll because they were the same person. Jekyll created a potion that changed him into another person so he could show his evil side in which he changed into Hyde. Jekyll did this because he wanted to bring out a different side in him that no one would know about. All the times that we thought Jekyll was being controlled by Hyde it was really Jekyll. The times that Jekyll was sick were because he had been changing into Hyde in which the potion made him sick. The time that Jekyll suddenly shut the window on Enfield and Utterson were because he was changing into Hyde. Lanyon was murdered because Hyde use the potion right in front of him and because he saw the transformation Hyde who turned into Jekyll had to kill Lanyon. Jekyll went through stages in the book where he wanted to stay like Hyde like when for weeks Jekyll denied any visitors and where he wanted to stay like Jekyll like when he became very healthy and had dinner parties. The last potion that Jekyll took, Hyde killed himself. The monster in this story was two-faced by good and evil.
3a. After finishing the story of dr. Jekyll I now know many of the mysteries of the story and how dr. Jekyll‘s evil half dr. Hyde was born. He was born from jekyll’s curiosity in the in his good half and evil half. He claims there is and evil and good half in everybody and when Jekyll gets interested in science he is devoted to finding a way to separate his good and evil half. He eventually creates a potion which when taking he knew he was risking his life be he believed it was worth the risk. When he takes the potion he becomes Mr. Hyde. At first he only had to take the potion to become Mr. Hyde but suddenly he starts to become his evil half without the potion. As Mr. Hyde he feels no remorse in the murders he commits but when he later becomes Jekyll he feels terrible guilt and prays to god. Jekyll soon realizes that he will soon permanently become Mr. Hyde. So he creates a potion to kill himself, but before he takes the potion he writes a letter to mr.Utterson explaining his alienation from the world and strange behavior. So, Dr. Jekyll’s evil half, mr.Hyde eventually was the end of him. That is how the monster was created and destroyed
3b. What Brett said is basically the same as what I said, talking about how the end of the book reveals jekyll’s strange actions and sudden disappearance. But I disagree with the point he makes that Hyde doesn’t control Jekyll because it seems in some instances that Hyde takes over Jekyll such as Jekyll’s sudden disappearance.
3c. 1) I cannot handle this anymore. I can’t handle turning into Hyde out of nowhere. I must find a way to stop this transformation even at the risk of death.2). what started as a experiment, is becoming the end of me. This has gone terribly wrong and I cannot find a way to fix this. 3) The only way out of this I now learned is making a potion to poison myself. This is the only way to remove Mr. Hyde from this world.
As I read on in this book we learn to discover a bit more about the character of Dr. Jekyll. This mysterious figure that we read about in the past chapters was vaguely mentioned and almost unheard of. Throughout the chapters we learn more about how Utterson has many strange encounters with this spontaneous man. I would almost say he’s unpredictable. Jekyll shows up in a few stories and encounters but his personality mostly stays the same. He’s a down right jerk. He talks to no one with a sense of happiness and has no real friends. For example, when Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield are taking and everyday Sunday stroll, they encounter Mr. Jekyll from a window in his boring brick home. Mr. Utterson yells up to Jekyll to come take a walk with them. At first Jekyll seems somewhat sensitive, with no wise or ignorant remarks. The three talk on while Mr. Utterson tries to persuade Jekyll into meeting with them, possibly coming into his house. Jekyll tells them his place is in no shape to hold company. As my mind is slowly becoming to think of Jekyll as a nicer person than the recent chapters, he mumbles, “that is just what I was about to venture to propose.” And viciously slams the window shut with an expression of terror and despair. As far as I can tell Dr. Jekyll is still the cold hearted jerk he was in recent posts.
3a. Since I’ve last read this book, the monster theme of it overall has greatly been raised. I’ve found out that Jekyll can no longer contain Hyde with in himself, so in that way he is the monster. Both parts of him are responsible for what have happened. Dr. Jekyll is as much as a monster has Hyde is for creating him. Some might disagree, because that Jekyll woudn’t know what would happen after the experiement, but I believe he was just looking for instant gratification by creating Hyde. His situation is different from that of Grendel’s, because he wasn’t looking forward to be evil, he created the evil inside of himself. Also, you just don’t do experimentation on yourself without testing it first on something else. Murphy’s Law.
3b. I’m not completely finished with the book, but in english classes I know it’s good to find out the ending while reading it and doing projects. I agree with what Brett said about the sudden disappearance of Jekyll. Unfortunately, the back of the book tells you all about the identity of Mr. Hyde. Also it is an old book, so as a younger kid, I remember watching some TV shows that use that basic theme. For example, the musical episode of Arthur. So all considered, it would have been more interesting of a read if very little was known about the book or plot in the first place.
3c. 1. I’ve just transformed, like I believed this potion would do! Hmmm, maybe in this form I can have some fun. I can go all around town without anyone knowing its me, and I can be rude all the time! 2. Bah, respected my foot! This Carew fellow got in my way, so he had to die. I unleashed my strength on him and left him in a pool of his own blood! 3. I can’t believe this, I’m so much weaker than Hyde, and he just keeps on getting stronger. I have to end this before anything worse happens. Ill take this last bit of potion and write my final thoughts for old friends.
2A. After Mr. Hyde murders Carew he suddenly disappears. Utterson checks the address Hyde has given him but all that is there is the murder weapon and burnt remains of a checkbook. Utterson then confronts Jekyll about the incident and Jekyll shows utterson a letter from Hyde saying not to worry about him and he is unworthy of Jekyll generosity. Jekyll, writing this letter seems to be a way of Jekyll to rid of his other personality of Hyde. As time goes on there is no appearance of Hyde and Jekyll seems more social and healthy Jekyll has a dinner party and utterson him and Lanyon seem to be great friends again. Then a few days later, utterson calls on him and he is not available and this keeps going on. So just as you thought Jekyll has rid himself of his inner monster Hyde it seems to reappear again.
2B.responding to nicks second response, I now can see that Jekyll has created this monster to “let loose”. But little did Jekyll know that this form of relief would turn him into the monster he now is. It also seems this way of letting loose would be the death of mr.jekyll (and death of Carew and Lanyon). I thought he was starting to get better as Hyde has disappeared but as it appears he has gotten worse and more secluded fearing he would become the monster of Mr. Hyde and starting killing more people.
2C. I’m not sure how I have gotten here. I just absolutely can’t kill any more people. What I thought would be a form of relief has turned me into a monster .I must remain secluded so I’m not to harm another. I’ve killed one of my good friends Mr.Lanyon and cannot allow myself or Mr. Hyde to harm anyone else, Poole I need you to tell any visitors, even Utterson that I am not accepting visitors. I need to sort this out with myself before I actually become the monster I’ve created, Mr. Hyde.
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