M. NourbeSe Philips’ reading of “Discourse on the Logic of Language” greatly relates back to Douglass’ own relationship to language. The first part of the poem sets up a connection between language and anguish, which parallels a slave’s experiences: their usage of language is limited as they must censor themselves when speaking to their masters and even strangers. An example is when Captain Lloyd asks one of his slaves whether his master treats him well and the slave, without knowing that it is Lloyd who is asking, says no. Weeks later, the slave is sold to another state. There is no truth for slaves since truth could mean consequences like the one this slave faced. Language can also be used from the side of the owners as a means of oppression and exploitation, which Philips mentions in her poem. Douglass first realizes the power language has when Hugh Auld, his master after Captain Lloyd, tells his wife to stop teaching Douglass how to read. Auld discovered what his wife was doing and ordered her to stop, saying that teaching a slave to read would make him “unmanageable.” It was in this moment that Douglass understood the importance of language to freedom. As Philips said in the poem, owners would buy slaves from different ethnic groups so that they could not communicate and thus plan a rebellion. Douglass ended up utilizing his language to write down his story and help the abolitionist movement through both writing and speeches. Without language, he would never have been able to achieve freedom and work to rally against slavery.

Listen to M. NourbeSe Philips read her poem “Discourse on the Logic of Language” and comment on how her explanation of language and slavery contributes to your understanding of Douglass’s slave narrative. Think about how she “performs” language to make it strange and how it bends words to create meaning. If there is a moment of Douglass’s autobiography that this poems reminds you of, please include that in your comment. (250 words)

From what I have experienced in life I only know one thing for certain, It is what it is.

Lamb (Aaron Walker)
I have to say my feeling are mixed about Frankenstein by Mary Shelly.
It was hard to decide between the two poems in which the creation
resembles. In my opinion, I thought the poem was very interesting and
related more the Lamb. When William Blake stated He is meek & he is
mild, and He became a little child this is the monster personality and
how he acts in many situations. Monster doesn’t have any family or
friends to experience or learn anything. The monster created by
Frankenstein’s was assembled from old body parts and strange chemicals
by a mysterious spark. He was brought to life eight feet tall and
enormously strong but with the mind of a newborn baby. He was
eventually abandoned by his creator and confused when he tries to
integrate himself into society. He was always shunned away by society
due to his physical features. Looking in the mirror, he realizes his
physical deformity, an aspect of his personality that shields society
to his initially tender and kind nature.

Tyger (Marcela Corro)
The Blake poem, Tyger, can be compared with Frankenstein in numerous ways. The Tyger is perceived to be horrible. A creature without a functioning heart, one that cannot feel emotion (“And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart?). Similarly, the creature is seen this way by Frankenstein. After his initial excitement, he believes the creature to be a horrible thing, capable of the worst actions. I think the line “In what furnace was thy brain?” may refer to the Tyger having been created in the depths of Hell. For only a creature created in hell could be so dreaded and horrible. The hammer, the chain, and the furnance remind me of a laboratory and therefore remind me of Frankenstein. Certainly, neither of these creatures were created in a natural, Earthly way. It’s also interesting to note that “what immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful summetry?” alludes to an all powerful being that created this monster. Frankenstein in some ways, does become the only man to have created life and in some way, he does become God-like.

Rebecca Vicente:

The Lamb (Rebecca Vicente)- The term “Frankenstein’s Monster” is the common way to refer to the creation of Dr. Frankenstein. But that connotes something far more intrinsically malicious that what the creature actually is. The creature’s actions are such due to the neglect and utter rejection from humankind. In many ways the creature retains innocence in the same way that a child with a neglected upbringing can be sympathized with after acting out. It is in these ways that the creature serves to resemble the lamb from William Blake’s poem. This poem has an obvious light tone to it and almost seems to speak from the perspective of a child. In the opening line it asks the lamb, “Little Lamb who made thee, Dost thou know who made thee”. In the case of the creature, the answer is Frankenstein. From Dr. Frankenstein’s perspective the birth of the creature terrified and disgusted him as well as haunted him for ages. But to think of it from the monster’s perspective can completely change the feeling. Imagine waking up in a lab, with a body sewn together, and you are alone. You have the capacity of a child and the body of a man, and nothing known of the world yet. In this moment, the creature is as innocent as the lamb, and as harmless as a child. It is not until the cruelties of the world are exposed to him that a change begins to occur. The poem also references God as the creator of the lamb. God is representative of heaven, and in heaven the angels which God casts out become “fallen angels”, yet they were still angels to begin with. In the same sense, the creature begins its life in innocence and if Dr. Frankenstein is the God figure then the creature is arguable an angel figure in creation. The casting out of the creature begins it’s fall into what becomes an attempt to understand the world alone. Before that, the creature is vulnerable with not harmful intentions to speak of. As the lamb is vulnerable, so is Frankenstein’s creature.

Daniel:

In William Blake’s poem, “The Tyger”, we see a creature (Tiger) being portrayed similar to the monster Frankenstein creates. The first stanza of the poem reads “…burning bright, In the forests of the night…” bringing us to the understanding that this creature stands out from the average being. Frankenstein’s monster like appearance stands out so much to the point that he is unfairly judged, and considered an evil creature only because of his looks. The poem then refers to the creature as “…fearful symmetry…” implying that it is not too happy looking. Much like the Tiger, the monster is also not too happy considering that he is neglected by everyone he confronts. In summary, we see how Frankenstein’s creature and the the tiger in Mary Shelley’s novel share characteristics such as being unique and scary.    

The Tyger (Richard Schweky)

Mary Shelleys depiction of the creature created in Frankenstein and the aftermath, can be compared to William Blake’s the Tyger in a few ways. Blake’s poem expresses a creation that is regretted in the world. As if to say its existence should not be. “And when thy heart began to beat, what dread hand? & what dread feet?”. This quote from his poem shows a similarity to that of Frankenstein. When Victor creates the creature, at first he is filled with emotion and excitement for bringing the creature to life, but soon he becomes fearful of his creation. Further to prove this point, later on in the poem Blake states, “In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? What dread grasp, Dare its deadly terrors clasp!”. This is describing how the being brings upon terror and instills fear among the one who created it. A similar story is told in Frankenstein where the creature haunts Victor after he creates it. I think the final similarity in this piece is when Blake talks about the creator seeing his work to see if he appreciates the “Fearful symmetry” that was brought about. In Frankenstein, this theme is also brought about. The fact that Victor spent his time in the study of science to find a way to reproduce life which can be analogous to the symmetry Blake was talking about, ends up leading him to fear his creation more than appreciate his work.

The Lamb(Sandy Cheng)

In Mary Shelley’s work Frankenstein’s monster is more like the Lamb that is being portrayed in in William Blake’s poem.  The lamb is being described as an innocent creature that is created “Gave thee life.” Also the lamb is born to be gentle and has “a tender voice”. “He became a little child.” I believe that Frankenstein’s monster was born like the lamb, an innocent child or blank slate. If Frankenstein were there to nurture him, to love him and to feed him he would have become like the lamb. Unfortunately he was abandoned by Frankenstein and was rejected by everyone even when he saved people with good intentions. That’s why he became a revenge seeking individual not because he was born evil.  Another moment Frankenstein’s monster was like an innocent child is when he described his encounter with fire. He had burned himself and he was mad but then he was delighted when he found out fire made food taste so much better.  Additionally in the poem by William Blake, the Lamb was asked do you know who made you. Whereas in the tiger was asked what could have made you. The lamb knows that god made him and likewise Frankenstein’s monster knew Frankenstein made him and abandon him. Another similarity is “Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright,” god gave the lamb the best wool to grow and keep himself warm. Frankenstein also chooses the best features, making him strong and fast to protect himself.  I believe Frankenstein’s monster was born innocent but due to the circumstances he became evil or revenge seeking.

Frankenstein’s monster is like a little lamb because he is a gentle creature that is brought up to this world alone. He has no family and siblings and his creator Victor acted like a bad parent when he abandoned him as soon as the Monster was born. William Blake’s poem “Lamb” resembles Monster, because lamb is a symbol of innocence and pureness. “He is called by the name,

For he calls himself a Lamb:

He is meek & he is mild,

He became a little child:”

Monster is in away a child brought up to this world lonely. Monster does not have friends to play, neither parents to learn about the world. Monster is pure sole whose heart was broken when he was left alone after his birth. His creator, Victor, was terrified of him when the Monster opened his eyes, because it did not turn out to be as he wished. He was working almost two years on this project to make the most beautiful creature of human parts. Victor describes the monster being proportional with black hair and pearl white teeth, but his watery eyes and black colored lips revel contrast or maybe inner struggle. Monster is outcast from this society, because it is very different from humans, and people are scared of him everywhere he goes. He is ugly to the human eye, but his soul is tender as a little lamb. He wants to learn from other people and he wants to have friends, but everything he does human takes as something bad.

Marija Krasojevic

Reading William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” I instantly see a resemblance between Frankenstein’s Creature and Blake’s Tyger. Blake’s Tyger is a metaphor for a creation that has been made by supernatural powers which seem to derive from the underworld while Frankenstein’s Creature has been created by a man at the time filled with the unknown obsession with death and the act of stealing which is a sin also derived from the underworld.

“What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp,

Dare its deadly terrors clasp!”

This stanza is describing how the Tyger was created but also hypothetically asking in what state was it created, as we can already see from the text the Tyger was created to bring deadly terror. By the use of words such as ‘dread’ and ‘dare’ and ‘fearful’ used throughout Blake’s poem we are instantly given the visuals of a creation similar to Frankenstein’s described as “the miserable monster whom I had created.”. Both creators had regretfully created monsters.

The Tyger and the Creature not only share the same purpose but they share the same physical features such as immortal hands and eyes as described by Blake. The Creature is made up of body parts found in the charnel-houses as well as the dissecting room and the slaughter-house, they are of course parts from many different bead bodies. Close to the end of Blake’s poem, he asks a question which could still be asked today “Did he who made the Lamb make thee?”, he is questioning how God could create both good and bad implying that humans will never understand the mind of God. As the Creature was not created by God we understand that man does not posses the same powers as God therefore it is no wonder the Creature displayed signs of evil right up until his creator had died.

Sarah Boateng

The Tiger- Beatrice Margolin

I would argue that the Creature is much more representative of William Blake’s “The Tyger” than “The Lamb.” The Creature, like the Tyger, is set up as fearful being, especially considering the circumstances around his birth and the murders he later commits. The first two lines, reading, “Tyger Tyger, burning bright / In the forests of the night,” set up the Tyger as a fascinating and awe-inspiring being, which I believe the Creature to be. The Creature is a man-made human, who resembles a monster but develops a personality through observing its surroundings, which sets him up as an interesting figure. The following lines read, “What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” which shows the duality behind the Creature’s existence: his creation is a marvel, but there is also a frightening aspect to the implications that life could be artificially created by man. After the first stanza, the poem turns much darker, especially with the lines, “On what wings dare he aspire? / What the hand, dare seize the fire?” In the context of the novel, this evokes the image of Frankenstein as God, which follows the narrative since Frankenstein is trying to create life through science instead of letting nature create it. It raises questions about his intentions and alludes to the fact that they were not good or pure. This allusion is continued with the lines, “And what shoulder, & what art / Could twist the sinews of thy heart?” These lines ask once again about the intent behind the Creature’s birth and apply negative connotations to it, questioning what kind of being Frankenstein is to create something like the Creature. Frankenstein is someone who appreciates the beauty of nature, so the question posed by the poem, “Did he smile his work to see? / Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” asks how Frankenstein can enjoy nature but try to defy it with the Creature. As the novel progresses, we see the much darker sides of the Creature appear, from his anger to his violence, and it is all spurred on by Frankenstein and his rejection of the Creature, which is why I believe “The Tyger” better embodies the Creature throughout the story.

The Lamb-Hannah McQuaid

After reading the two poems by William Blake, I believe that the Lamb most resembles the Creature from Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein. I believe this for the following reasons. Although at first the Creature is portrayed as this “grotesque,” “horrid,” and “disgusting” being, he is given these names solely due to his physical appearance. Frankenstein had different expectations for his creation, and once he saw his finished product, he was mortified. In a way, this idea makes a monster of Frankenstein for being prejudice based on appearance. Frankenstein’s intolerance for his own creation based on its appearance makes me, as the reader, sympathize and feel compassion for the creature. Blake repeats, “Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee…” This sense of abandonment is depicted within Frankenstein through the Creature. The Creature is not loved by his own creator, instead he is condemned by his creator. In a similar way, Blake asserts, “For he calls himself a Lamb: He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child…,” in regards to the creator of the lamb. In this way, a parallel can be drawn between the creator of the lamb and Victor Frankenstein. Although Victor Frankenstein is ambitious, he is deeply flawed and a coward for not being able to meet the responsibilities that a creator has to its creation. All Frankenstein had to do was feel a sense of pride and compassion for his creation. He fails to do this on every ground, therefore the reader tends to feel sorry for the Creature, or the mistreated “Lamb.” There is innocence somewhere deeply rooted within the Creature for he is only “vengeful” because he is not loved by his own maker. Victor’s cruelty towards the Creature is the only aspect that drives the innocence of out of the Creature. For these reasons, I believe that the “Lamb” is more illustrative of the Creature’s nature based on the context of the novel.

The Tyger (Sheila Hua)

The tiger in Blake’s poem seems to bear more likeness to Frankenstein’s monster. Frankenstein’s monster is not a purely evil being. From the scenes of assisting a group of poor peasants and saving a girl from drowning, we can see that the monster initially has gentle and kind nature. However, when he is abandoned by his creator and shunned by the society only because of his outward appearance, he begins to seek revenge and show his destructive evil nature. Similarly, the tiger is like Frankenstein’s monster in how it is feared and dreaded by man. Additionally, the tiger also has two-dimensional natures, it is beautiful, but also horrific in its capacity for violence. Both characters are symbolic center to express the idea of undeniable existence of evil and violence in the world besides beauty (or good). Blake uses plenty of questions to demonstrate how fearsome the tiger is and wonders once the horrible heart “began to beat”, how would the creator feel, “Did he smile his work to see?”, and whether its creator would have the courage to continue the job. It reminds me how the creator of the monster, Victor, feels and reacts to his creation. Victor is horrified by his fearsome creation, which leads him to flee instantly and refuse to make further contact. He feels immediately regrets as the creature comes to life, and feels guilty for the deaths due to the monster. In conclusion, both the monster and the tiger are formed in a terrifying way in use of questioning the world by their authors.

The Lamb (Morris Khafif)

I believe that the Lamb in William Blake’s poem resembles the Creature in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein more than the Tyger in Blake’s poem does. The question if the Lamb knows its origin directly relates to Frankenstein’s creature and if it knows where it came from. The phrase “Gave thee life” (line 3) in the Lamb poem can also be the dialogue between Frankenstein and the Creature since Frankenstein gave the Creature life. Also in the poem the creator of the Lamb says “Gave thee clothing of delight, softest clothing, wooly bright (5,6). This is comparable to how Victor Frankenstein created the creature with all the best body parts and features for the creature to utilize, just like the Lamb is created with optimal features like growing wool to keep itself warm. Another key comparison of the Lamb to the Creature is the line “He became a little child” (16) in Blake’s poem. Frankenstein’s creature was also like a little child. When the creature came to life, even though it appeared like a fully grown person, it was like a child inside. It didn’t know much about the world or why it was brought to it, just like a child doesn’t know or think about that either. I believe that even though from the outside it seems like the Creature resembles the Tyger more, it really resembles the Lamb more on the inside, which is where it really counts. If you would just look at the inside of the Creature you would see that it is really innocent and does not really want to cause harm to anyone, which could also be applied to a lamb. A Tyger however is a mean looking animal and you wouldn’t identify it as being innocent.

The Tyger (Daniel Kennedy)

I believe that the monster in Shelley’s Frankenstein is most like the Tyger. First of all, the Tyger’s body is made of “fearful symmetry” and “dread hand,” similar to the way that Frankenstein’s monster is a fearful creature. Immediately after its creation, Victor Frankenstein lives his life fearing the deadly effects and possible actions that could potentially be taken by the monster. The Tyger, with its “deadly terrors” and “the anvil” is also a frightening creature that can kill someone. I believe that the anvil seen on The Tyger is something that could kill someone. This makes the monster similar to the Tyger because the monster ends up killing multiple family members of Victor Frankenstein, including his own bride. Being something feared by everyone who sees it is a quality shared by both the Tyger and the monster.

With its “clothing of delight” and “tender voice,” the Lamb is least like the monster because it is not instantly feared by those who see it. Instead, the Lamb appears to be very likable and looked up to upon its creator, as one of his own. This is demonstrated when the poet says that the lamb “became a little child: [him] a child & thou a lamb.” This shows that the lamb is treated equal, as a human, because the creator is a person, and the lamb is considered to be a person, as well. As such, although the monster was created with intentions of making it as close to resembling a person as possible, it was instantly feared by Victor Frankenstein from the moment he laid eyes on it.

The Lamb (Alan Hagerty)

            I for one believe that the the lamb more resembles “The Lamb” more. Though the fact  the monster might first seem to be a more perfect fit to the tyger with descriptive words like “fearful symmetry” and others frightening words, “The Lamb” has a strong tie to the books idea of man being unfit to create life. Throughout the book Frankenstein is shown in a weaker state from the months of obsessive work that drove him to have a physically unhealthy state to the overwhelming guilt of creating the monster which goes with the creator of the lamb. In the poem the creator reveals to the lamb that he is the creator in, in my opinion, one of the more painful reveals stating “Little Lamb I’ll tell thee! He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb: He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child: I a child & thou a lamb”. This shows that the creator of the lamb is flawed, weak, and unremarkable much like Victor is and they both are in fact incredibly crewel to their creation. In the book Victor completely rejects his creation that he made and allowed it to escape but instead of taking responsibility and finding the monster he hopes the problem just goes away. I disagree that the lambs “clothing of delight” are not representative of the monster for if i recall right the monster was made with various handsome parts like white teeth, dark hair, fine eyes though it did not add up to looking beautiful at the end. Frankenstein’s monster also showed many soft and caring moments from his regret to stealing from a poor family to his udder misery to realizing he is alone on this earth and wants confort.

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