All posts by j.lin1

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Importance of Nature

In “The American Scholar”  by Ralph Waldo Emerson, this particular quote stood out to me: “The first in time and the first in importance of the influences upon the mind is that of nature” (Emerson 2). In this quote, Emerson places a strong emphasis on nature, and how it shapes our thoughts.  He states that the problem is that people only try to understand the world through theories, history, and studies. Emerson further states, “Hence, instead of Man Thinking, we have the bookworm. Hence, the book-learned class, who value books, as such; not as related to nature and the human constitution, but as making a sort of Third Estate with the world and the soul” (4). Emerson is not devaluing the importance of books, rather, books are “nothing but to inspire” (Emerson 4). Emerson offers a solution to this problem by suggesting direct contact with nature as the best option to gain better insight for the present day world.

Personally, I agree with Emerson’s thoughts on nature and how our energy is subdued because of our reliance on facts, theories, and histories, rather than observing nature.  Consequently, Emerson states, “The hour is too precious to be wasted in other men’s transcripts of their readings” (5). Rather than reading other people’s ideas and thoughts, people should gain inspiration from nature and then, they can eventually write their own book as well.

Brainstorming Exercise #1

3 Perspectives comparing Locke and Frankenstein

Describe it:

  1. My subject is about how in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein is abandoned by his creator, Victor. He is left to survive by himself in the harsh cruel world with no knowledge of how society operates and solely through sensations and reflections. My topic is comparing John Locke’s An Essay concerning Human Understanding” to Shelly’s Frankenstein through Locke’s ideology that there are no innate principals in the mind. (All ideas come from sensation or reflection). Our mind is born a blank slate (tabula rasa) and we are educated from experience.

Trace it:

2. The moment Frankenstein was created, his mind was a blank slate as he was filled with many different sensations; “I felt light, and hunger, and thirst, and darkness; innumerable sounds rang in my ears, and on all sides various scents saluted me” (Shelley 57). Frankenstein learned that fire solved the cold as he experienced sensation of joy after building a warm toasty fire. He also learned about the feeling of revenge and anger because of his hatred towards his creator. Victor was the one who brought him into this world isolated and shunned from society because of his monstrous appearance. Over time, Frankenstein learns that rather than hurting Victor directly, he could cause him more harm by hurting Victor’s loved ones. He achieves this by ultimately killing Victor’s brother, William, Justine, and Victor’s wife, Elizabeth. Therefore we can see Frankenstein’s transformation as he is lost and innocent in the beginning, to revengeful and malicious at the end.

Map it:

3. Frankenstein’s experiences were influenced primarily because of Victor’s abandonment which caused him to experience the outside world by himself. One instance which solidified Frankenstein’s understanding of what society thought of him was when he saved a little girl from drowning in the river. The man immediately assumed that Frankenstein was harmful and shot him. After this instance, Frankenstein lost faith in humanity and “vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind” (Shelley 76).

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Tainted by Society

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In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, there are instances where Frankenstein illustrates and revises aspects of Emile by Jean Jacques Rousseau. For instance, Shelley touches upon what Rousseau mentioned in his fifth book, where he discusses about Sophy, the ideal woman and perfect match to Emile. Rousseau stated, “The man should be strong and active; the woman should be weak and passive and it follows that woman is specially made for man’s delight” (35). Rousseau is clearly stating that men are superior to women and women exist merely to please men. Shelley revises Rousseau’s perfect ideal man, Emile, by introducing her own character, Felix. Felix’s face was “melancholy beyond expression” and observes that he has an “air of melancholy” (Shelley 11). However, it is until the arrival of Saphie where Felix “seemed peculiarly happy and with smiles of delight” (Shelley 12). Shelley is showing that Rousseau’s natural man is not sufficient in just himself. He needs a woman to be with him as his equal, not just to please him. Therefore although Shelley illustrates Saphie, she revises women’s role in men’s life that differs from Rousseau’s views.

Another example where Frankenstein illustrates aspects of Emile is when Victor created the monster. Rousseau stated, “God makes all things good; man meddles with them and they become evil” (1). When Victor first created Frankenstein, he was absolutely horrified and disgusted with his creation. Frankenstein was grotesque-like and “his yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath” (Shelley 40). As a result, he was shunned by everyone, including his creator himself. Frankenstein encountered a beautiful child who he wanted to befriend because he was so lonely. However, the child called him an “ugly wretch of a monster” (Shelley 11). All this alienation and misconception accumulated to all the monster’s hatred towards Victor and the society. He responded by lashing out and murdered Victor’s little brother. Therefore Rousseau’s quote as stated earlier is supported. At first, Frankenstein did not have all these malicious intentions but after his encounter with society and man, he became evil.

 

 

 

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Independence Promotes Better Behavior

I like Rousseau’s approach on how to handle children and their habits. He stated, “The only habit the child should be allowed to contract is that of having no habit” (3). I agree with him because often, many parents tend to over dominate their child’s life, therefore spoiling and shielding them from making mistakes. What was thought to protect the child, will eventually end up harming them. Rousseau’s method was to let the child touch, learn, and experience things on their own. Rousseau stated, “Do not check these movements which teach him invaluable lessons” (4). For instance, if they are curious about a hot stove and they touch it, they will burn themselves and therefore learn to never touch it again. However, if the parent constantly warns the child to not touch the stove, they would not know why and the consequences of touching the stove. 

Rousseau continued on to children until the age of twelve. He stated, “The most dangerous period in human life lies between birth and the age of twelve” (9). At this critical period, children are prone to errors so he suggested the mind to be left undisturbed until it is developed. Consequently, Rousseau did not put a strong emphasis on education during this young period of time. He stated, “It consists, not in teaching virtue or truth, but in preserving the heart from vice and from the spirit of error” (9). I agree with Rousseau and believe that education should not be so strongly emphasized in the beginning stages of your childhood. We should not be forced to memorize facts but rather, learn more about ethics and morals to better improve ourselves and become better people. Then, after you have the right mentality, you can learn all the knowledge in school.

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Similarities and Differences of Bach and Descartes

I agree with Jenny when she stated that Descartes both supports and challenges Bach’s belief that school doesn’t designate our future. Bach dropped out of college and strongly believed that we do not need to be confined into an institutionalized setting in order to be knowledgeable and successful in life. All throughout his life, Descartes loved learning and was “ardently desirous of instruction” (Descartes 2). However he completely changed his mind one day and stated that he “had advanced no farther in all my attempts at learning” (Descartes 3). Therefore Descartes and Bach are similar in that they believe there are alternative methods of learning besides at school.

However, their approach to this conclusion differs and this is where Descartes challenges Bach’s belief. Bach dropped out and stayed out of school to gain knowledge elsewhere. Descartes on the other hand,  continued to stay in school despite his earlier doubts and still firmly believed that it was essential. Therefore I agree with Jenny when she stated that Descartes still had hope in the effect of his studies towards his learning but Bach only found enrolling in school any longer to be a waste of his time. Bach left to pursue his passion and learn computer programming.

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Motivation is the Key to Success

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In The Buccaneer Scholar, Bach discussed about his college drop out experience to “at risk” students at a special school. Bach believed that going to school is not equivalent to being successful because he stated, “Education is important. School is not. I didn’t need school. Neither do you” (1).  School is temporary while education lasts for a lifetime. Everywhere you go, there is an opportunity to learn and grow. Therefore, Bach is emphasizing that if you feel going to school does not benefit you in any way, do not feel like you are trapped. You have the option of leaving school and pursuing your own methods to achieve a higher education. After his speech concluded, the teacher claimed that his message was dangerous for children to hear but Bach merely dismissed her concerns. Bach stated, “Your job is not to make them huddle quietly in a corral, but to help them get out there and seek their fortunes” (6).  I agree because I believe that students should be given more options in order to grow and learn, rather than be cooped up inside school. In school you memorize facts while in the outside world, you watch, observe, and learn.

Concerning rapper/artist Kanye West, another successful college drop-out, he proposed a completely different approach from Bach. West stated, “It is true you can be successful without [college], but this is a hard world, a real world, and you want every advantage you can have” (Moss). West advised students to not take his approach and stay in school in order to get every opportunity possible. Although West and Bach’s ideas seem to oppose, there are some overlaps. The first one is that they both believe that education (whether or not it comes from school) is the key beneficial factor to your success. Another similarity they have is that the reason why they are both so successful is because they are pursuing their passion, something that interests them, drives them, and motivates them. While Bach studied software engineering and became a software test manager at Apple Computer, West studied music and became a rap artist. Therefore, although they have opposing viewpoints, they are similar in some ways.