Frankenstein Literary Analysis Papers: Avoiding The Horror of Bad Writing

Look at your initial thesis statement: Does the author’s name appear in the thesis? It should. Do you have any “valuable” words? Are you sure you’re using them correctly? Have you used too many big words? Do you specifically refer to a literary technique or device in the thesis or just to ideas about the text? Have you appropriately capitalized and punctuated? Have you underlined or italicized the book title?

Before you even start writing: Titles: Make sure your title is not too vague Never use a semi-colon in a title- they’re only for sentences Capitalize all key words

Functional Less Functional Frankenstein and His Creation Humanity and Monstrosity Frankenstein and Prometheus The Peril of Ambition Creators of Life Frankenstein and his Monster Distorted Mirror Images Frankenstein Living with Regret A Lens into the Romantic Era [No Title] Too Long: Frankenstein’s Negligence of Love and his Monster’s Rejection of Society Too Obvious: Why Frankenstein is Subtitled “Modern Prometheus” Using just the title of the book Too Vague: Acceptance; Valued by All, But Given By None Romanticism in Horror Natural Reverence Natural Disaster Opposite Yet So Similar Parenting; knowing what enough is Master and Servant Being “The Other” Tale of Two Opposites

Before you even start writing: Block opening quotes and cite with speaker’s or author’s name Don’t use a definition as a hook anymore on a formal paper. We’re past that. Get more creative.

Advice about Evidence: Lead-Ins: Lead-ins still are a challenge for many. Here are the stages of a developing lead-in: Not Getting It: “Just starting the sentence with a quote and using no lead in.” Starting to Get It: Using the number of the scene to give context: In Act one, scene two, lines 25-30, “A pair of star crossed lovers take their life.” You Get It: Using textual details and a “said word” to integrate the quote fluently When Friar Lawrence asks Romeo in the garden, he argues “blah blah blah.”

Advice about Analysis: Avoid Absolutes “Restrictions are enforced by all members of society.” “In the darkest of times, when all hope is lost, there is always one person that tries to save the day and fix everything.” “Britain truly was the supreme country; therefore, they were the only people who mattered.” “Victor Frankenstein in the novel Frankenstein never lived in the moment either.” “Everyone has a double.”

Advice about Analysis: Don’t generalize about “society” or “the ages” or “everybody” or “anyone” “Life is all around us and is constantly sprouting up from the strangest of places.” “Imagery about nature has been used throughout the ages …” Avoid Understatements: “The monster only causes mischief …” “The death of many characters led to gloominess …”

Advice about Analysis: Avoid speculation by not using would, could, should “Foil” as a verb doesn’t work well in formal analysis because characters can’t foil each other. They are fictional and don’t exist. Authors create characters as a foil for other characters, so we should always use it as a noun. “Shelley creates the monster as a foil for Frankenstein showing …”

Ways to be more specific: Use transitional phrases to clarify to introduce characters To shift between texts if you’re comparing two texts Dependent clauses offer a wonderful format for transitions: they should feel natural and -- dare I say – simple. Use proper nouns instead of pronouns whenever reasonable