Thursday 25 July 2013

A Princess Of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs


Coursera Fantasy and Science Fiction Week 7

 

I struggled to keep reading and only made it about 20% through this book, so the essay tends towards the generic. I can't really argue with the comments.

A Princess Of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs

 

Edgar Rice Burroughs' "A Princess Of Mars" is a prototypical superhero story which bridges the 19th Century western and 20th Century interplanetary science fantasy. John Carter, the lead character is a 19th Century prototype for 20th Century superheroes, who - like Superman - finds his abilities are enhanced to super-human levels when he changes environments. This strength compensates for his outsider status on Mars, providing him with curiousity value and garnering him the respect of the violent Green Martians who are the first race that he encounters.

Transposing the American West to the planet Mars, with the civilised Red Martians in conflict with savage Green Martians, the story follows a narrative popular for over 100 years prior to its publication. The captivity narrative tells how a hero adapts when captured and imprisoned in an unfamiliar society. Carter's outsider viewpoint sees him define each race by the qualities he observes. Like the society from which Carter himself originates, the Red Martians' society is structured around control of resources, in their case the Martian canals. By contrast, the Green Martians are violent, nomadic and communal, in common with many popular depictions of some Native American tribes.

What seems so impressive in hindsight is how Burroughs weaves such familiar, yet disparate elements into a coherent story, writing about things he knew and at the same writing infusing his stories with elements of the fantastic. Anyone attempting the same feat now would find numerous sub-genres into which their tale would fit. Burroughs had very few antecedents and was effectively blazing a trail for a new type of fiction that would come to be one of the most popular and imaginative forms of the next one hundred years.

Responses

 

Form: 2/3


peer 1 → I 'm not a fluent english speaker so i'm not able to evaluate your grammar and vocabulary properly. In my humble opinion you write correctly and use appropriate words. Your argumentations flow from a sentence to another soundly.
peer 2 → The grammar and structure has minor error, but the essays very understanable
peer 3 → "when he changes environments": he did not. "Carter's outsider viewpoint sees him define...": too many words for too little. "What seems so impressive in hindsight is...": "hindsight" may not be a right word.


Content: 2/3


peer 1 → You said A Princess of Mars stays within his time. It trasposes the just concluded American West epic to the red planet and compares savage Green Martians with American Natives and Red Martians with European Colonizers. In my opinion you should better setting out any obiection to this drastic separation right/wrong,
peer 2 → The content make some insight to the reader, but likely lack a clear conclusion as the main ideas about the story
peer 3 → I see you did your homework. A lot of information, unfortunately, not anything new. So, where is your original problem and your thought about it?
peer 4 → Interesting and article is well organized.

Comments


peer 2 → Maybe add more word to make some exploration about the story will make this essays better.
peer 3 → Try to expand your own ideas. That would make your essay more interesting.

Thursday 18 July 2013

The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells

Coursera Fantasy and Science Fiction Week 6


Although I only made it 60% of the way through during the week, I enjoyed The Invisible Man and felt I managed to pull a decent essay together.

The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells


In The Invisible Man, Wells continually shifts the forces of antagonism as the story progresses in order to reveal different qualities of his protagonist, Griffin, through their interactions. He does this by making each antagonist represent a different form of morality.

The landlady Mrs. Hall is a sympathetic woman with a strong personal sense of morality based on traditional values of respect and politeness. She tolerates Griffin's brusque manner for business reasons, but stands up to him when he threatens to transgress the boundaries of politeness: "Mrs. Hall was quite alarmed. But she was a resolute woman." Although volatile, Griffin too has standards and knows he should respect her, despite his exasperation: "And he mumbled at her - words suspiciously like curses." Politeness dictates that Mrs. Hall respect her guests' wishes, but Griffin's abruptness begins to grate on her and she refuses to let him dominate her.

Marvel, by contrast is cowardly, corrupted and co-opted into Griffin's emerging scheme. Marvel's weakness is an inadequate source of antagonism, so the villagers must band clumsily together to form a mass of sufficient volume to repel Griffin. Together, they represent a collective form of morality which emerges through their response to circumstance. As the village's response coheres, its response is personified in the policemen who represent the law as the highest form of social morality.

The calm, rational Dr. Kemp is a voice of reason; a man of science and therefore a fundamental threat to Griffin. Through enquiry and debate, Kemp seeks to understand Griffin's problem from a scientific viewpoint while at the same time wrestling intellectually with the moral implications of helping or denouncing a criminal.

These different levels of morality - the individual strength based on traditional moral sense, the collective knowledge of right and wrong, and the intellectually validated moral response - ultimately combine, the people cooperate and the immoral Griffin is overcome.

Responses

 

Form: 2/3

 

peer 1 → Good use of language
peer 2 → Your essay follows a very clear, logical structure. It's obvious you've thought carefully about how your ideas relate to each other. My only complaint is that the paragraph about Dr. Kemp does not have as much support as the other paragraphs. I did not take off points for this because I realize we are restricted to 320 words, which makes it nearly impossible to provide equal support for each claim.
peer 3 → Very nicely written.
peer 4 → All in all, your essay is well constructed. (Maybe that's why) I think it needs a better constructed bibliography.

Content: 2/3

 

peer 1 → Good argument
peer 2 → The ideas are very illuminating and explore an aspect of the novel that I hadn't thought too much about. My only complaint is with the sentence: "in order to reveal different qualities of his protagonist, Griffin, through their interactions." In your essay you do not explore Griffin's qualities so much as the other characters he encounters.
peer 3 → I really liked the topic you wrote on. It definitely added to my understanding of the reading.
peer 4 → I enjoyed your topic. I think you chose a good one and, somehow, developed it well. This could make a better essay (there is a lot more to be said, I bet). Well done!

Total: 4/6

Thursday 11 July 2013

Twice Told Tales, Mosses From An Old Manse And Other Stories - Hawthorne

Coursera Fantasy and Science Fiction Week 5 

Despite stories from Poe and Hawthorne being on offer, I stuck with Hawthorne. After a bit of digging, this essay the points I identified seemed to cohere around morality and I was pleased with the result.

Twice Told Tales, Mosses From An Old Manse And Other Stories - Hawthorne


As obsession increases we are drawn ever deeper into the world of madness. Hawthorne uses different methods to signpost this by choosing to locate an objective voice differently in three of his tales. In each case, the victim or victims lose their sense of perspective, but a voice of reason exists to define the moral centre.

In "The Birthmark", as Aylmer's obsession leads Georgiana into a madness which will ultimately overwhelm her, the author relects her descent through an ironic lifecycle image system which passes through puberty: "...a crimson stain upon the snow..."; marriage: "...he led her over the threshold..."; procreation: "...a... fragrance, capable of impregnating the breezes..." and finally "...he was as pale as death..." Once Georgiana dies, the narrator's voice returns the narrative to an objective voice.

By contrast, in "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", Heidegger himself appears objective. His four elderly friends who taste the elixir are so seduced by the feeling of youth they momentarily experience, they resolve to dedicate the remainder of their lives to seeking, obtaining and consuming it. The wise Heidegger looks on, apparently remaining the incorruptible and objective scientist, but at the same time responsible as the catalyst of their downfall.

In "Rapaccini's Daughter", one objective voice is the wise protector Guasconti, who warns Giovanni that he has "...fallen into fearful hands..." by coming under the spell of Beatrice and her father. Giovanni is so enchanted, he refuses or is unable to listen, but a second protector in Baglioni provides an antidote which finally results in Beatrice's death.

Ultimately, this makes the latter the more moral tale. Rapccini's transgression is punished, Heidegger is revealed not to be the benign figure he originally appeared, while Aylmer may never escape from the delusion he has fallen into.

Responses


Form: 2/3


peer 1 → Very well written. Excellent use of quotations. Very well structured.
peer 2 → Well written, with clear examples taken from the stories to defend your point. Clear and concise with a very easy-to-follow structure
peer 3 → I like it very much, I would like you to give a title, as I always say, but no matter, the essay is well written and calibrated, everything is clear and the comprehension is fluid and pleasant...
peer 4 → "As obsession increases we are drawn ever deeper into the world of madness." I really liked how this sentence was worded, and that it was the beginning of your essay. You have a very clear beginning that helps the reader know what to expect throughout the beginning. This is a very clear and matter-of-fact form of essay. The grammar is correct and the words are properly used.
peer 5 → very well-structured

Content: 2/3

 

peer 1 → I learned a thing or two from your insightful analysis, and appreciate it very much.
peer 2 → Good insight and comparison among the 3 stories. I like your final summary in the last sentence. It really expresses in a concise way the point you want to make in the essay
peer 3 → Contents are interesting, the question of madness is an important point in Hawthorne's poetics. I like how he/she deals with it, the examples are well explained and the fil-rouge is clear. Bravo!
peer 4 → "Hawthorne uses different methods to signpost this by choosing to locate an objective voice differently in three of his tales." This is a very interesting insight. I was amused reading your essay.
peer 5 → This is so far the best essay I've read this week

Total: 4/6

 

Comment

peer 1 → This is the first score of 6 I have given to any essay so far in this course. Well done!

Thursday 4 July 2013

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Coursera Fantasy and Science Fiction Week 4


I didn't finish Frankenstein, but having read it before I didn't feel I was being dishonest. Maybe a couple of loose points as pointed out in the responses and I was surprised this scored so highly.

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley


Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" explores a man's desire to create life, underscoring the abnormality of this endeavour by emphasising imagery of unconventional relationships. While each relationship seems driven by a desire for intimacy on the surface, the story shows how this is destroyed by an unnatural obsession.

In the framing story, Walton has been driven to explore The Arctic in pursuit of fame. His commitment to this aim leaves him unable to form attachments, as he laments to his sister by letter: "I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy... I have no friend." Although Frankenstein embodies the qualities Walton seeks in a confidant: "I have found a man who... I should have been happy to have possessed as the brother of my heart..." as Frankenstein relates his story, it becomes clear he too is driven by an exigency which precludes the formation of normal relationships.

Frankenstein's mother desires a daughter, but is unable to bear her own and adopts the young Elizabeth from a peasant family. Elizabeth herself is an orphan, whose own mother has died giving birth. This failure to create life - and the strong link made between life and death - foreshadows Frankenstein's own effort: "...so much time spent in painful labour, to arrive at once at the summit of my desires was the most gratifying consummation of my toils." If Frankenstein's own "labour" seems unnatural, it's because the consummation and birth - usually separated by nine months - are conflated "at once" into one, all-consuming act.

Ironically, Frankenstein has what Walton seeks in Henry Clerval. His childhood friend nurses Frankenstein back to health after his breakdown, but Frankenstein's obsession is all-consuming, precluding the possibility of him ever returning Clerval's friendship. Ultimately, it is the desire to create life while failing to form human relationship that destroys Frankenstein.

Responses

 

Form: 3/3

 

peer 2 → Interesting point of view, I came to similar conclusions. It shows a clear understanding of the novel. Arguments make sense, show that you've put a lot of thought into it. Well done, great job!
peer 3 → The theme is laid out well, but there were no supporting examples of "the desire to create life" and "abnormal relationships". Elizabeth is adopted out of kindness; Frankenstein's mom is still able to bear children as seen by his two younger brothers. It can be argued that Frankenstein's consumation and birth happened over a period of time, starting from when he first started the project, until the life was born. "Frankenstein has what Walton seeks in Henry Clerval": but Walton never met Clerval.
peer 5 → The writer clearly understands the literature. Their argument is very persuasive and they did a great job at using references from the book to support their view point.
peer 6 → The theme that you explored was well supported by the examples you chose. Each portion was detailed and relevant to the text. There were parts were it read as if this should have been a longer piece that allowed you a deep analysis of each example.

Content: 2.5/3

 

peer 3 → Each point mentioned in the opening paragraph should be supported with examples. If not, then the ideas must be discarded for another hypothesis. I've had to do that myself even though I really liked the ideas, but they failed to be supported by the text.
peer 5 → Great essay! Loved your argument
peer 6 → This was a pleasure to read and demonstrated excellent thought of the deeper meanings in the text.

Total: 5.5/6

 

Comments


peer 3 → Each point mentioned in the opening paragraph should be supported with examples. If not, then the ideas must be discarded for another hypothesis. I've had to do that myself even though I really liked the ideas, but they failed to be supported by the text.
peer 5 → Great essay! Loved your argument
peer 6 → This was a pleasure to read and demonstrated excellent thought of the deeper meanings in the text.