A Bit of Progress

I chose the word "progress" because of its many applications and meanings. It's a term that would be more effectively defined in the dictionary by use of a bubble chart with various definitions extending off of the word and overlapping one another. It's exactly that multifaceted versatility which makes the word "progress" so interesting to me. I'm curious to learn more about "progress" because it must have broadened into such a wide expanse of applications somehow, but I'm not sure how that occurred over the course of history. To me, in a nutshell, the word progress means "to move forward". It possesses a positive connotation in both the literal and figurative use of the word. I see it as a word generally applied to a journey or process that is advancing in the ideal direction, towards a goal. As I research, however, it becomes clear that the word not only reflects advancements in a journey, but can be used as a word for the journey itself. I am hoping that my progression towards understanding the dimensions of the word "progress" will continue to make progress through these discoveries of new meaning.

Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein

• Victor's underlying desire to create a society for men is indirectly revealed in his construction of the creature. By becoming a "father," he renders the ultimate purpose of the female being null and void. He then proceeds to create a male being in his pseudo-fatherhood and later, refuses to create a female. 
• Masculine power and feminine affection being further divided by males being public figures (doctors, scientists, explorers) and women only being private, domestic figures (housewives, servants, care-takers) serves to show that women cannot function effectively in the public realm (example- Elizabeth is unable to save Justine). The monster reads selected works and learns of the viciousness of man/suggestion that separation of female affection from the public realm has yielded to much of the cruelty that ensued.
• Shelley uses the De Lacey family to embody the virtues, as well as Mary Wollstonecraft. The symbolic names of the characters are that Felix means happiness, Agatha means goodness, and Safie means wisdom. Safie, like Wollstonecraft, traveled alone through Europe and Scandinavia, and had a mother that instructed her to seek independence and wisdom, and advocated women participating in the public realm.
• Frankenstein is driven by a great internal fear of female sexuality. To rationalize the destruction of his female creature, he uses fear of her: asserting her own existence, being unattractive, finding herself drawn to human mates, and reproducing. These fears defy the norm that women should be small and delicate, or acquiesce to demands. 
• Nature is personified as a female throughout the novel because Frankenstein robbed Mother Nature of her purpose of creating life. After Victor creates the monster, his encounters with nature and the creature are generally dangerous. Example: In the Alps (also described as female) heavy rains pour as he meets with the creature (one of Victor's punishments for transgressing nature's boundaries).

(Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) || (Moses and God)

Any challenge proposed to man by a supernatural being will inevitably expose the faults of humanity.  These quests are designed to test morality in such a way that success can only be achieved by surpassing innate human tendencies. Essentially, the Gods set us up to fail. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain assumes the role of fallible human while the Green Knight plays God using magical, immortal abilities. This plot and character pair parallels the journey of Moses accompanied by God in the book of Numbers. In both tales, a man with a mission that is bestowed upon him by another, embarks on a successful journey, only to be permanently shamed at the culmination of his travels for a miniscule slip up amongst otherwise consistently honorable behavior.

As one of the more humble members of King Arthur's round table, Sir Gawain sacrifices himself without second thought when met with a mortal challenge from the Green Knight. Sir Gawain beheads the Green Knight, only to discover his immortality, and that in a year and a day Gawain must come find the Green Chapel to receive his payback. The date approaches, and Gawain travels through harsh conditions, stopping only due to starvation, at a castle where he is welcomed with open arms. Gawain agrees to a game in which he promises to give the King whatever he receives during the day while the King is out hunting, and in turn, the King will give Gawain his yield from the day's hunt. Gawain spends his days resisting the beautiful Lady Bertilak, Queen of the castle, in her attempts to seduce him. Each night he gives the kiss Lady Bertilak bestows upon him to the King, in an attempt to keep his word. On the last night, however, the Queen insists that Gawain accept her girdle, as it will protect him from physical harm. When the King displays the day's hunt for Sir Gawain, he gives the King the kisses he received, but keeps the girdle in an effort to preserve his own life. He sets off to face the Green Knight, claiming that he must go through with the challenge, even when given the opportunity to retreat. Gawain prepares for death, but the axe-wound delivered consists only of a nick on the neck. The Green Knight reveals himself to be the King; the nick was a punishment for not presenting the garter at the end of the day. Sir Gawain returns home alive, but doomed to bear the scar forever and wear the Lady's girdle as a reminder of his shame.

Moses, a man chosen by God (and consequently obligated) to lead the people of Israel, was thrust into his mission by interruption of a higher power in his everyday existence, much like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. He then carried out God's lengthy quest in an honorable and obedient manner, save for one minor mishap with major consequences. When instructed to speak to a rock in order to draw water from it, he instead hit the rock, which also yielded enough water for the Israelites to drink. However, because of his deviation from command, the final chapter of his quest became bitter instead of rewarding. Upon arrival to the promised land, Moses was forbidden to enter and died without ever setting foot inside. Sir Gawain's inability to follow command also concluded his journey in lament, even thought he'd completed the rest of his mission with diligence. Riding back to Camelot, tail between legs, Sir Gawain's attempt to protect himself from death instead of upholding his agreement yielded him a scar and girdle of shame to remind him of his inherent weaknesses.

Just Short Words/Exclusively Monosyllabic Diction

Kate looked up; more glared than looked, really. Scorn spilled from her aged, dull, blue-green eyes, up and through the smoke-hued, dense clouds. Her right knee ached, which meant there would be a storm that night. Not just a hard rain, no, she could not dare dream of such luck. It would be full-force rain that stung as it hit and the winds would howl (to let each thing so blessed with ears know that the gods were to spew clear drops down on the earth for what would feel like years). Of course this would take place now, here. Not that rains were rare, but the ones that seemed as if they were shot from a sky-gun and would belt and slash and freeze and crush the frail life they struck? Those came once or twice a year.

She knelt and stroked a pale bud that sat on top of a rose bush. Her blood pulsed in the roots that fed it- each step toward life brought hers back, piece by piece. It was the one thing raised by, and shared with, no one else but her. That plot of earth, lush with young plants, placed in the back-right patch of their not so grass-filled lawn had kept her sane for the last four months. Kate heard Dan call her back to the house; he said it was late, and that there was a storm. She hushed the urge that welled up from her throat to swear at him and called back, “Be there in five.”

Since John died in May, Kate had not said a phrase to Dan that was more than five words in length. Was he not to blame for all of this? When Dan fought, boys still came home. Things changed. It was far from the same war when John left, and she knew it. But, it was too late at that point – the boy had been brought up to think that real men fought, killed, and proved their strength in such a way. So he went. And that was it. Now here she was, in the same trap of self-hate. Her hands grew these plants; her whim brought them to life- these blooms, these leaves, and all when, deep down, she well knew that fierce rain would strike them down at some point. And so it goes, she thought. Then, in a voice too void of life to sound sad, said to no one but the grass, “God I need a drink” and went in through the side gate, filled with angst at the thought that she’d dream of John dressed in that brown-green, in worn boots, a dead rose in hand.

Etymology Sampler:

Grass - Old English græs meaning “herb, plant, grass"

Bloom – Old Norse blomi meaning, “flower, blossom”

Hand - Old English hond, hand, meaning "hand; side; power, control, possession"

Void – a late 13^th century Anglo-Frisian word meaning, “unoccupied, vacant” and the Old Frisian voide meaning, “empty, vast, wide, hollow”

Swear – Old English swerian, meaning “take an oath”

Hate – Old English hatian meaning, “to hate”

Drop – Old English dropa meaning, “a drop of liquid”

Spew – Old English spewan meaning, “spew, spit”

Throat – Old English prote, implied in protbolla (Adam’s apple) literally “throat ball”

Brown – Old English “dark, dusky”

Sky – Old Norse sky meaning, “cloud”

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

After thorough plot research, I chose The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for my summer reading assignment. I felt confident that I'd enjoy the book because after describing a bit of the story line to my mother, she was so intrigued that she bought it, read it, and told me I'd love it, all before the half point of summer. After that, any inkling of desire I had to pursue further novel researching went out the window. In a matter of 24 hours, I laughed, I teared up once, and I got irritated a few times; I absorbed the book. The unique style of storytelling, from the perspective of a teenage boy with Asperger's, is the guiding factor that evokes the greatest emotional response, whether it be positive or negative.


The strength of the story, gained from such an unlikely narrator, includes the ability to express profoundly basic pieces of knowledge, so obvious that they are bypassed during the course of the 'normal' human thought process. When the protagonist and narrator, Christopher, is musing on the concept of mysteries, he explains how although many things are considered a mystery, it doesn't mean that there's no answer; all it means is that the solution is just waiting to be discovered. "Eventually scientists will discover something that explains ghosts, just like they discovered electricity, which explained lightning, and it might be something about people's brains, or something about the earth's magnetic field, or it might be some new force altogether. And then ghosts won't be mysteries. They will be like electricity and rainbows and non-stick frying pans" (Haddon 100). This method of storytelling comprised the most engaging parts of the book, simply because it told a tale that served as a means of entry straight into the mind of an otherwise confusing, generally misunderstood subject. Through these inklings of insight from Christopher's perspective, his other actions throughout the course of the story came to make more sense, and his personality developed a pattern that made him less unpredictable and more quirky but lovable.


Ironically, the same characteristics I love about Haddon's storytelling from the viewpoint of Christopher were the ones that drove me insane. The greatest weakness of choosing a narrator that's so unconventional was the fact that his thought process led him off on irritating, extended tangents in behavior and thought. While on a train to London, Christopher is being escorted by a policeman, but his idiosyncrasies lead him to abandon the only person trying to help him and recoil into his own mind:
"So I climbed onto the middle shelf and I pulled one of the cases across like a door so that I was shut in, and it was ark and there was no one in there with me and I couldn't hear people talking so I felt much calmer and it was nice.
      And I did some more quadratic equations like
      0 = 437x^2 + 103 x + 11...." (Haddon 163).
Dealing with page after page of what I considered to just be superfluous, redundant writing after a certain point caused a lapse in the storytelling; it lost its grip and intrigue during particular chunks of this nature. The first lengthy description of a similar scenario was frustrating, but necessary for a dynamic comprehension of Christopher. However, the repetition of such instances told in great detail, regardless of how real they may be for someone with Asperger's, do not make for an engaging read. Paradoxically, the greatest strengths of the storytelling in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time were also responsible for the greatest weaknesses.

Top 10 Most Memorable Reads

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
I rarely read a book twice until I encountered this novel in the fifth grade and devoured it in order to reach my AR goal, then fell in love and read it again as soon as I felt I'd forgotten the bulk of the story line at age fourteen. I'm looking forward to reading it again next year.
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chobsky
 Charlie is the most honest and lovable protagonist I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, and this book is responsible for some my favorite profound-yet-obvious quotes. From "We accept the love we think we deserve" to Charlie's description of the paramount of what it means to be a teenager -  "I feel infinite," there are so many words, ideas, and events that manage to untangle the convoluted feelings every teenager has in a sentence and really hit home.
3. Nine Stories - J.D. Salinger
"A Perfect Day for Bananafish" was my first taste of a short story that had as much psychological dysfunction going as did many full-length novels. I loved it. After Nine Stories, a desire for more short stories (about mentally unstable characters, of course) led me to the next book on my list.
4. The Best of Roald Dahl
Twisted, sick and filled with fantasy, I love how much each story in this collection makes me think. In fact, it's one of the only books I've read where I prefer to take a hiatus after each section, rather than being unable to put it down. I can't move on to a man accidentally betting his daughter away to an undesirable suitor before I'm done pondering the idea that trees can scream... there's just so much to chew on in each little chunk.
5. Deadline - Chris Crutcher
I read this book while shadowing PCDS last year. It's the reason I got in a bit of trouble for going 'missing', because I was holed up in the library crying over the ending... and it was totally worth it.
6. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
As far as a book I had to read for school, I'm generally pretty good about pacing myself through the duration of the unit by reading a few chapters a night. I didn't go to bed until about 5:00 a.m. so that I could finish The Kite Runner in 24 hours. I laughed, and I cried a lot more than I laughed, but the ending was so beautiful that I didn't even care whether I was crying over the book or just due to pure exhaustion.
7. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keys
This book combines the best of #1 and #2 and #5 on my list. I've read Flowers for Algernon multiple times with pleasure, and it's another book with a lovable, innocent and honest protagonist named Charlie, who will at some point in the story undoubtedly make me cry.
8. Bossypants - Tina Fey
It's incredibly rare that I laugh out loud while reading, but I couldn't stop while reading this recount of Tina Fey's life. It's sad, it's hilarious, and it's raunchy at times, but it all comes together to make for a comically real, relatable story that's worth a lot more than a few cheap laughs.
9. Why I'm Like This - Cynthia Kaplan
I read this book twice- once when I was far too young to understand a lot of the themes, and again when I could not only understand, but connect with many of them. It's served as a marker in the progression of my life and has some sentimental value when I think of it on an individual level. Other than that, it's just a great collection of stories.
10. The Watsons Go To Birmingham - Christopher Paul Curtis
This was the first book that I ever read at school and absolutely adored, ravaged, and cried over. I still remember tearing up over the part where Byron, the older brother, has an emotional breakdown when he knocks a pigeon off of a telephone wire with a cookie and kills it... and I haven't read this book in 7 years. I consider that staying power.

Entry 1: An Example of Excellent Storytelling

"Lots of things are mysteries. But that doesn't mean there isn't an answer to them. It's just that scientists haven't found the answer yet.

For example, some people believe in the ghosts of people who have come back from the dead. And Uncle Terry said that he saw a ghost in a shoe shop in a shopping center in Northampton because he was going down into the basement when he saw someone dressed in gray walk across the bottom of the stairs. But when he got to the bottom of the stairs the basement was empty and there were no doors. When he told the lady on the till upstairs, they said it was called Tuck and he was a ghost of a Franciscan friar who used to live in the monastery which was on the same site hundreds of years ago, which was why the shopping center was called Greyfriars Shopping Center, and they were used to him and not frightened at all.

Eventually scientists will discover something that explains ghosts, just like they discovered electricity, which explained lightning, and it might be something about people's brains, or something about the earth's magnetic field, or it might be some new force altogether. And then ghosts won't be mysteries. They will be like electricity and rainbows and non-stick frying pans" (Haddon 100).

- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time


This passage immediately comes to mind as a prime example of excellent storytelling not only because of the way the account ties back into itself, but because the voice of the speaker emanates so clearly from each sentence that one can actually feel a connection to the character. The main character in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Christopher, is a teenage boy with Asperger's who's considered to be an idiot-savant. From this passage alone, the speaker evokes a childish tone, using diction such as "Uncle Terry" and beginning sentences with "But" and "And." However, by the end of the story, as he explains the logic behind his trailing recount of his uncle's experience with ghosts, Christopher reveals a sense of insight about the world and a knowledge of science that well exceeds his story-telling abilities and backs up the initial claim that "scientists haven't found the answer yet." From this short section alone, the protagonist of the novel can be almost fully characterized, which makes for some excellent, purposeful storytelling.

P.S. - Yes, the passage is slightly longer than requested, but I don't believe it could be trimmed without losing its full effect... I apologize for the overabundance of words.