English Composition

Topic Proposal for the Writing Project on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Please answer the following questions:

Q 1: What is the theme that you are interested in this book?

            Elaborate why you are interested in this motif.

Q2: Can you identify some special symbols or structure <Letter> that make the story appealing?

Q3: Find three journal essays or book articles that you are most interested in? Make some brief comments about each essay.

Q4: What is your tentative title?

Q5: Do you have any questions while preparing for this assignment?

Example:

Please see below as rubrics for completing this assignment.

Dominique Lamas  (Your name)

English Composition/ or English Literature

24 March 2011  (Due Date of this assignment)

Topic Proposal of Mid-term 

MLA format

1.  I will be using the movie Vitus for my paper.

2.  The structure is mainly in sequential order, but there is foreshadowing in the beginning of Vitus flying an airplane.  I also find it convenient that the character of the father does not exactly have his career together, making Vitus more eager to follow his dreams.  The character of the mother is also intriguing as she is a complete push over and tries to be a complete controller of Vitus’ life.  I also find symbolism in the fact that Vitus’ dream is to fly an airplane, and airplanes are flown in the clouds, representing dreams. J True

3.  The theme that I am mainly going to focus on in this film every human being’s desire to become independent and confident in themselves.  Despite the “leash” that Vitus’ parents try to keep on him, he still finds a way to discover his true self.

4.  When I typed the previous sentence and mentioned the word “leash” it made me think that maybe I could compare Vitus to a dog.  As crazy as it might sound, I see a dog being trapped in his cage or on his leash and think of Vitus.  Both want to be released and discover what is out there in the world.  So for the title of my paper I was thinking about “Who Let the Dog Out?” and in the introduction I would explain the comparison between Vitus and a dog, then in the conclusion I would answer the question, that Vitus let himself out. Ha! Very creative! Love it! (But perhaps a BAT would be even better? After all, he flys? So I would say perhaps A Bat-dog? Something monstrous but extremely creative?)

5.  With a cynical mood, symbolism of dreams, and a common theme of self-fulfillment Vitus is a movie that every dreamer would enjoy. (I am not sure about “cynical” either.)

6.  Question(s): Although I’ve already written my topic proposal, will it be possible for me to change my thesis or any other ideas I already mentioned after I watch the movie a second time?  (mainly because I’m not sure if “cynical” is the word I want to use for the mood.)