Frankenstein and Julius Caesar Exam Notes

Tragic Hero

• Character who struggles to see their own flaws.
  • These flaws are known as fatal flaws.
• They usually think they're doing the right thing, but it leads to something bad.
  • Victor thinks overcoming the boundaries of life and death is the right thing.
• Examples of Victor's fatal flaws:
  • Pride
  • Selfishness
  • Inability to see past himself
  • Ambition
• End for the tragic hero:
  • Death, tragedy, lives ruined.
  • In Victor's case, it's ironic because the very thing he was trying to do (go beyond the boundaries of life and death) is what killed him, or indirectly killed many others.
• The tragic hero also pushes the plot forward.
  • Their decisions are what pushes the plot forward in a tragedy.

Frame Narrative

• How it's set up in Frankenstein:
  • Walton writing letters to his sister, explaining the story that Victor is telling.
  • Then it goes back to the Monster telling Victor his story.
• Effect on the reader:
  • Gives different points of view.
  • Allows for some perspective, but there are layers of credibility or incredibility.

Frankenstein Characters

Delacy

• Blind
• Monster watches him and his family
• Initially wealthy
• From France
• The only human that is nice to the monster.

Mr. Kerwin

• Irish magistrate
• Shows empathy for Victor
• Believes Victor is innocent of Clerval's killing
• Sends a letter to Alphonse, Victor's father, so Victor can go home.

Elizabeth

• Orphan
• Fiancée to Victor
• Killed on wedding night
• Of Arabic/Turkish descent

William

• First victim of the monster
• Youngest Frankenstein
• Innocent and sweet, beloved by his family

Clerval

• Victor's best friend
• Travels with Victor
• Loyal
• Takes care of him when he's sick
• Interested in art.

Justine

• Housekeeper/nanny for the Frankenstein family
• Accused of killing William because she possessed the locket, but framed by the monster.

Victor

• Created the monster
• Likes science
• From Geneva

Walton

• Captain of a ship
• Wants to go to the Arctic

Julius Caesar Characters

Flavius and Murellus

• Tribunes
• Denounce the people in the street for celebrating Caesar
• Took decorations off of Caesar's statue
• They felt like it was dishonorable because they were celebrating Caesar after previously being loyal to Pompey.

Casca

• Conspirator
• First to stab Caesar

Cinna (the conspirator)

• Delivers Cassius' letter to Brutus
  • Cassius writes a letter pretending to be concerned Roman citizens, and Cinna has to deliver it to Brutus' home.
  • This convinces Brutus to be a part of the conspiracy to kill Caesar.

Decius

• Conspirator
• Convinces Caesar to go to the Capitol.
• Decius is Brutus' brother-in-law (Caius is Cassius' lineage name)

Rhetoric

Ethos

• Appeal to credibility or using credibility.
• Celebrity endorsement, a doctor saying "trust me on this treatment", using credentials to prove something is true.

Logos

• Appeal to logic, using specific examples, data, statistics to prove a point.
• Anthony brings up Caesar's will and Caesar's accomplishments.

Pathos

• Appeal to emotion.

Hyperbole

• Obvious and intentional exaggeration; things that are obviously not true used to the point of emphasis.
  • "It's raining cats and dogs", "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse", "I've been waiting a million years for this today".

Rhetorical Question

• Doesn't require an answer and are used to make a point.
  • "Who here is so base that they would be a bondman?", "Is the sky blue?", "Is the Pope Catholic?", "Is the grass green?"

Verbal Irony

• Sarcasm, saying one thing but meaning the opposite.
• Anthony continuously mentions how great Brutus is, even though he doesn't believe it.

Similarities Between Queen Elizabeth and Julius Caesar

• Neither married
• Neither had children
• Both died in March
• Both involved in civil wars
• Both had a complex relationship with the common folk (were popular but also feared).

In-Text Citations

• Paraphrase the quote and provide a proper in-text citation.
• Two ways to do an in-text citation:
  • (Last name, page number).
  • According to [Author's last name] on page [page number].
• If you don't have the author's last name, use a short title in the parenthesis.
• The period always goes on the outside of the parenthesis.
• If you have two authors: (Last name and Last name, page).
• If you have more than two authors: (Last name et al., page).

Traits of Romanticism

• Emotions
• Hopeful outlook on life
• Respect for natural things, like death
• Simplicity/the ordinary man (seen in the cottagers of Frankenstein).
• Reason over logic.
• Nature-focused, fascination with nature, nature as a solace, nature versus technology.