Mary Shelley’s monster in her novel, Frankenstein, demonstrates John Locke’s theory of tabula rasa– no innate principles in mind. Rather the knowledge of the monster builds from the sensations and reflections he experiences in his striking journey.
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What’s good:
1- You have a literary text and a theory text.
2- You make a claim that is about those texts.
Concerns:
1- You need a “so what.” What does your claim say about how we read Shelley or Locke or both?
2-Watch your language. Don’t just load up a sentence and rush through ideas. You say “…tabula rasa– no innate principles in mind. Rather the knowledge of the monster …” Why are you trying to tack on the definition of a whole theory with just a hyphen. Add a whole other sentence or two explaining what tabula rasa means literally, to Locke, and to you. Then move into Shelley’s novel. You’d have to say: BECAUSE WE HAVE ACCESS TO THE MONSTER’S FIRST LIVING THOUGHTS (UNLIKE WITH BABIES OR VICTOR), we can see that he comes into the world with no innate principles. It is only through his experience with sensation and reflection on the various sensation and ideas he experiences that he comes to his understanding of the world. Do you see how much more you need to articulate?