Ranking Monsters

Here’s a fun list of monsters from The Hairpin. Do you agree with their ranking? Check out the links if there are monsters you’re not familiar with.

You might think of this list (and other Halloween content on your favorite blogs and websites) as a push to brainstorm a bit about what you’d like to write about for essay 3. As we’ll discuss, this essay is pretty wide open, so you can write about a topic you’re already familiar with (even obsessed with) or you can use the essay to research a topic you’d like to know more about.

Bigfoot sighting

A bit closer to home, here’s a post about a monster just across the Hudson: the Jersey Devil. Of course, your essay will have to be grounded in credible sources—and purportedly real monster sightings are NOT credible—but you could definitely look into, for example, the history of cryptozoology (the study of mythical animals) or you could analyze representations of famous “real” monsters like Bigfoot.

The Elephant Man (1980)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVgZaIxNIBI

Here’s the link to the film so that you can rewatch scenes or catch up. We stopped at the 40 minute mark in class on Thursday, and we’ll finish on Tuesday. Remember to keep an eye on the film handout (also here on the blog) so that you can be precise in your observations.