My congratulations to all the students who worked on these presentations: their scope and inventiveness was impressive. As you will see (those of you who have yet to pick up their reports) none merited a grade less than B. In assessing the presentations I took into account such matters as a) the significance of the ideas that motivated the work, especially how far they illuminated Gothic themes, b) the coherence of the presentation overall, c) its clarity, including whether an accompanying Powerpoint was well-designed, d) verbal contributions that were timely, audible, well-focused, and not too lengthy (reading out an essay wasn’t always very effective). And in assessing your individual reports (and none of these fell below a B), to some extent I was influenced by how far you made clear why you chose the topic you did, including whether this was modified as you worked on it; some sense of the collaborative process; how much you were aware of the audience you were aiming to reach; a critical approach to the ideas you developed.
There are thus two grades on each report: the circled one is for the report, the other for the Project itself which all participants receive. They are weighted equally in arriving at the overall project grade (which is worth 15% of the course grade).
Reports can be collected outside my office on Tuesday, December 8th, 9:30-4:15 and Wednesday 10:00-10:50. This is the last week in which I will be available during regular office hours.
1. Jacki, Casey, Stephanie, Amanda. Frankenstein: the timeless Gothic text
Four sections of the presentation focused on Frankenstein: the image, the scientist, the uncanny and the doppelgänger, and the function of the image of Frankenstein and its lasting effects. The first section reviewed images of Frankenstein from the 1820s onward, mainly films; the mad scientist, as consumed and destroyed by hubris; this was followed by a detailed Freudian reading of the novel, suggesting that the monster evokes the uncanny; a study of the doppelgänger image, raising questions of identity -- the monster as Victor’s repressed desires; the castration (or Oedipal) complex as evoked by the creature with his disabilities. There was a good deal more here than could be presented within the time-limits. Overall, the timeless theme was persuasively demonstrated.
2. Iris, France, Divna. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
The presentation consisted of three sections: a discussion of how Coleridge’s life related to the figure of the Mariner – e.g., the Albatross symbolizing his father, the figure of Life-in-Death perhaps standing for aspects of his mother, evoking guilt and fear; second, a study of images of stasis in the poem, such as the ice-fields, or the ship becalmed under the sun; and third, a set of possible forebears for the Mariner, such as the Wandering Jew and the Flying Dutchman, and, post-hoc, the figure of Frankenstein (who cites the Mariner as a reflection of his predicament). The question of stasis is, of course, closely related to the concept of the Gothic trap; it would be worth asking whether fear of stasis is an innovation in the Romantic period, and if so, why. (A reverse of the contemporary discovery of progress, perhaps?)
3. Jesse, Matthew, Gynger, Sylvia. Riding the Gothic Merry-Go-Round: The moral message of the Gothic, 1798-1818
The primary focus here was the moral lesson encoded into several Gothic novels. Three novels were examined specifically: Udolpho, Zofloya, and Frankenstein. Among the points made: that the aesthetic aspects of the Gothic castle distracts the protagonist from the underlying conspiracy against her. That education is proposed in Zofloya as a guard against depravity. Frankenstein demonstrates the abuse of the social limits of science – with Frankenstein playing God. The moral issues were referred to in all three sections, but no overall conclusion seemed possible, given the three rather different novels analysed, not to mention the ambiguity of the moral issues themselves. As Matthew suggested: is Ambrosio’s libidinous passion a warning about the failure of education, or a recommendation to the Catholic church to abolish celibacy? The merry-go-round reflects the ambiguity: an argument for religiosity that undermines religion. I wasn’t too sure where else the merry-go-round was intended.
4. Daina, Marissa, Jillanna, Caitlyn. History and modern psychology of 3 Gothic characters (Victoria, Ambrosio, the Creature)
A two-part presentation that managed to offer a good number of enlightening ideas in the short time available. First, Dr. Freud (with a fetching German accent) sees his patients – Victoria, Ambrosio, and the Creature – for two minutes and diagnoses their different psychopathologies. Second came a Powerpoint review of the symptoms of each patient, relating each to theory from the period and from modern psychiatry. This showed Victoria, seen in her own time as a nymphomaniac, to be a sociopath; Ambrosio, in the light of Kant’s religious theory, to be trapped by a self embroiled in radical evil, or hypersexuality in modern terms; and the Creature, as seen by Rousseau corrupted by his contact with human society, and defined by his body image, as Lacan’s mirror-stage suggests. This was suggestive, in demonstrating that the insights of the three authors do, to some degree, anticipate modern insights, as well as drawing on the understanding of their own time. There are anomalies to be noted, of course – e.g., that Freud didn’t have the conception of a sociopath (the word doesn’t occur in his writing). But overall the presentation was very well designed and executed, and the humour of the interviews enhanced our understanding.
5. Cole, Carole, Lauren, David. Dramatic presentation: "Failure of the family"
The centrepiece of the presentation was a movie of some 7 minutes in which Frankenstein meets Ambrosio. The failings from which both suffer – Frankenstein’s nerdy isolation and Ambrosio’s hypersexuality are played off against each other with unpredictably comic results; underlying this was the idea that in each case their predicament stemmed from failed families, although neither is able to recognize this problem for what it is in himself. In a brief last scene they meet in Hell. The dialogue of the video was a little hard to hear (a fault of the room facilities). The commentary reviewed some relevant Gothic themes, such as setting, characters with hidden vices, anti-Catholicism that calls the good/evil distinction into question. This part of the contribution seemed a little hesitant at times, and could have enabled us to relate to the theme of the video more clearly.
6. Ryan, Amanda, Kelin. Negative capability and "The Eve of St. Agnes"
The presentation offered a dramatic reconstruction of the source of Keats’s poem in the martyrdom of St. Agnes, and several of the central scenes from the poem; this was interwoven with analytical commentary; and the presentation as a whole was accompanied by a Powerpoint that mixed visual materials (appropriate Gothic scenes) with verbal. The dramatic part, much enhanced by a blond wig and other props, ended several times in a freeze-frame which was followed by analytical discussion. While the presentation was said to be on negative capability, this theme disappeared at times in favour of reflections on religion, the meaning of Porphyro’s name, whether the ending is tragic, etc.; the suspension of the drama sometimes seemed too long. But overall the presentation offered some thoughtful suggestions for understanding Keats’s poem and its background.
7. Keltie, Celine, Ashley, Lisa. Roles of women in the Gothic: dramatic presentation
This presentation focused on a TV game show entitled Sublime Date. The drama took up the idea of woman being either virgin or temptress. Our protagonist was the monk Ambrosio, required to choose between the virginal Antonia and the sexy Matilda. He was able to ask questions of each to help him decide between them, and both were played within the character represented in The Monk but brought into our own time, where Antonia simpered over her vision of domestic bliss and Matilda’s husky voice underlined her insistence on taking control in any relationship. The presentation was supported by a Powerpoint that briefly outlined the nature of the two women. The show was halted at mid-point to allow an analysis of the gender issues at stake, and to argue for Judith Butler’s position that gender is performed, that it imitates the models available in the culture. The surprise reserved for the end: Ambrosio asks if he can choose both women; the reward for that is to go to hell. The presentation was well organized, and clear in its aims, illuminating the position of women in a witty and informative way, and even enabling a brief exposition of Butler’s controversial ideas on gender.
Document created December 4th 2009