Tag: frankenstein

“In His Undead Shoes” pitch

“In his undead shoes” will be a Virtual Reality cinematic experience that makes the viewer see the world as the creature from the novel “Frankenstein” and go through some key moments of his life.

 

I would want to use this app to engage people aren’t really into Frankenstein or weren’t really captured by Frankenstein upon the first read. I would like to capture that audience to get them to reevaluate the novel and reframe their view of the novel into the perspective of the creature. Since this will be told through a different medium than the novel, it will hopefully appeal to a different audience than the book while still getting some of the themes across.

 

This app will use a first person perspective and place the viewer in the shoes of the creature created by Frankenstein. It will include key moments like his birth and rejection from his creator, his learning and observation of society and his exile. We will frame and shoot this in a way where it’s not explicitly known that you are Frankenstein’s monster or that this is the Frankenstein story until the end. When you are exiled, you will find your creator again and he’ll mention that you are an undead abomination he created, wholey unnatural. Then the title will appear “In his undead shoes”.

 

The whole point of this is to show someone what happens when society rejects you for something you can’t control and how that lack of empathy can shape you. This relies on how Mary Shelley breaks down the fact that “sympathy” is deeply rooted in seeing and visual appeal, and that when a harsh “ugliness” is introduced, society will no longer sympathize (Sympathy, Seeing and Affective Labor, Kyung Sook). Once they experience all the things that the creature experienced, that should hopefully give the audience a more clear link to the creature. We can then open a discussion about the experience, ask how it left people feeling and then reflect on some of the actions of the creature. Open ended questions can be asked like “Why did the creature constantly ask Frankenstein for a wife” and “Why did the creature kill Elizabeth?”. After reflecting on these questions, we can open a discussion about how to prevent something like this or how things like this happen in reality on a smaller, more grounded scale.

Kyung Sook, Shin. Sympathy, Seeing, and Affective Labor: Mary Shelley’s (Re-)Reading of Adam Smith in Frankenstein. 2012, http://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/landing/article.kci?arti_id=ART001680132.

The Amazing Odyssey

I believe in the power of empathy to positively transform the teacher and student experience in the classroom. If you’ve been in a school for any length of time, you know that whether you’ve asked for it or not, you’re bound to encounter anything. For example, everyday teachers and students are facing difficult/ complex situations in school – questions about belonging and forgiving, advantage and ability, and conflict and acceptance. These are all themes we can find in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. According to Baker et al., “some elementary school children face constant threats to their academic, social, and emotional growth and development. Equally, in meeting the goal of educating and nourishing the whole child. many schools face threats from unacceptably high rates of school violence, bullying, school dropout, youth suicide and other negative behaviors and psychological health” (209).

The purpose of my game is to teach students the story and themes of the novel, Frankenstein. After the students finish playing “The Amazing Odyssey”, they will gain an understanding of the story and themes of Frankenstein, they will learn more about empathy, and in the end, students will learn why the creature was such an empathetic character. The tagline for this game is #buildempathy. “The Amazing Odyssey” is supposed to be a 10 – week designed journey using the Oculus Rift. Win Smith claims that  “Integrating the VR experiences with lesson plans could have huge benefits for kids who might not typically retain information from a textbook” (Babcock, Stephen. “This edtech startup is bringing virtual reality to the classroom.”  https://technical.ly/baltimore/2015/05/29/alchemy-learning-virtual-reality-classroom-oculus/) 

Using the concept of The Amazing Race TV show, the students will have a chance to become the creature and will be given clues that will lead to a scene or narrative passage in the novel, Frankenstein. Where the player has to complete a task with a character from the book that explores, promotes, or endorses empathy among themselves and the other characters in Frankenstein. According to Cheok et al., “Storytelling is an effective and important educational mean for children. With the augmented reality (AR) technology, storytelling becomes more and more interactive and intuitive in the sense of human computer interactions” (22). One particular theme I found that students can learn from “The Amazing Odyssey” is the unlikely friendships in Frankenstein. For example, in the 1931 Frankenstein film, where the creature meets a young girl. Although a little afraid, she accepts him and plays games with him. After they throw all the petals from a flower into the lake, he looks around for something else to throw. He picks her up and throws her in. In my VR game, this scene can be recreated with the creature and the little girl also having an unlikely friendship, but with him learning how to be a gentle friend.

One cool thing about this game is that ”the creature” will be able to collect books each time the player and character accomplishes a task. The more books the creature collects, the more he learns about his human nature. So, in the end, the students should have an empathic creature. Also, the more books you earn, the more levels up you go which creates a cool gaming aspect for the students. I have not found a virtual reality game like this. This game is for fifth grade – twelfth grade. Principals will definitely purchase this game for his/her teachers.

Baker, Jason, et al. “Teaching Social Skills in a Virtual Environment: An Exploratory Study.” THE JOURNAL FOR SPECIALISTS IN GROUP WORK, Vol. 34, No. 3, Sept. 2009, pp. 209-226 https://ezproxy.stevenson.edu:2101/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=6dcb2500-927a-4261-9933-59ce08a3b58d%40sessionmgr104

Cheok, David Adrian, et al. “Virtual reality and mixed reality for virtual learning environments.” Computers & Graphics 30 (2006) pp. 20-28 https://ezproxy.stevenson.edu:2106/S0097849305002025/1-s2.0-S0097849305002025-main.pdf?_tid=e1b51003-a517-48ce-911a-6b8a7ef8c5ef&acdnat=1542724968_d5eea48f1db6bb365e924cb5a4500301

Stephen Babcock. “This edtech startup is bringing virtual reality to the classroom.” Technical.ly. May 29, 2015. https://technical.ly/baltimore/2015/05/29/alchemy-learning-virtual-reality-classroom-oculus/

 

Final Project

For your final project you will use all of the readings and discussions we have had throughout this semester to inspire your own creation: a virtual reality (VR) experience that evokes empathy inspired by Frankenstein. The goal is to teach your audience about the novel, and particularly to explain why the creature is an empathetic character. You should draw on your own personal experience, criticism of the novel, and other reliable, scholarly sources to write a pitch – and ultimately a formal proposal – for this short VR application.  Again, your VR experience must be both educational and intended to induce empathy in your audience. You will design this simulation as an entry to the competition being held by Mosaic Learning:

http://www.mosaiclearning.com/

To accomplish this task, the project will be broken down into steps:

  1. Individual pitches: each student will conceptualize and present their idea for a project in 3 minutes. The class will vote on the top 4 projects. You should use multimedia and evidence of research in this pitch.
  2. Group contracts: in small groups of 3-4, students will outline their plan for this project and assign roles and responsibilities for each student to accomplish. A timeline and due dates will be established. This will be submitted via Google Doc to Dr. L.
  3. Formal proposals: each group will compose a 3-5 page proposal for their project meeting the criteria of the competition. The proposal will include outside research, citations, and a bibliography.
  4. Prototype: each group will create a demo of the simulation by making script and either storyboard or short video using our Richo Theta cameras or StoryBoardTHAT.
  5. Final presentation: this is your presentation to Mosaic Learning. You will present all of your research and your prototype in a formal presentation including all of your group members. You have 15 minutes plus 3 minutes for questions. The final presentations are during the final exam period.

Each proposal should include the following elements:

  • Intro/Purpose – a thorough description of your application, your inspiration, and your intended audience. In this section describe how this application will evoke empathy, and why you think it will aide in the audience understanding the themes in the novel Frankenstein. 
  • Learning Outcomes – what will your audience learn and how can this learning be assessed?
  • User Experience/ User Interface – how will your audience use this application? Explain what device (Google Cardboard, HTC Vive, Oculus Go) you intend this to be for and why, describe the interactive elements of the application, and demonstrate the visual appeal of this experience. This is where your storyboard and script should appear in your final proposal.  
  • Implementation Strategy – who will you market this toward and how will you reach them? Consider what your logo, motto, and or/tagline might be. How will this be implemented by teachers into classrooms? How will educators measure the impact of this experience?
  • Long-term Vision – how can this be expanded into a series of applications? Can their be more chapters? New editions? New features? Can you expand this to new (secondary) audiences? How can you reach new markets with this application?

You will post your final proposals to our course blog using the category and tag “Final” the day before our final exam period.

Have fun! Be creative! Be inspired!

Would the monster have followed his promise?

Victor starts thinking in the lab one day about the creation of the monster’s  mate. What if the monster and the mate didn’t get along? What if they could have children? Questions like these lead Victor to abandon his promise with the monster. This makes the monster greatly upset causing the monster to kill victor’s close family and friends.

If Victor had made the monster a mate do you think they would have gotten along? Do you think that the promise would have been kept by the monster if they didn’t get along?

The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

In Volume 2, Chapter 8 of Frankenstein, the creature is retelling his story to Victor, and filling in accounts of events during gap of time from his creation until the present moment in the story. He makes mention of two specific incidents that he believes made him the way he was. Upon revealing himself to the De Lacey family, the creature was met with horror and abandonment. When the creature saved the girl, he was met with reproach, and subsequently was shot in the shoulder. In both cases the creature merely wanted to interact with humanity and try to save it, but was literally demonized due to his appearance. The creature goes on to cite these incidences as the fuel for his vengeful nature and attributes the murder of William to his specific hatred of the Frankenstein family. In our society there are plenty of cases in which children who have been abused or abandoned rise above their situation at home and become inspirations to those around them, offering help and support to children in similar situations.

Why do you think the creature when to such an extreme length as to murder the family member of a father who was not in his life? How does this reflect Mary Shelley’s own relationship with her own Father?

 

Losing your humanity through isolation, or never having it at all

Throughout Frankenstein, we see what isolation and loneliness can do to someone. This whole novel is filled with characters who either isolate themselves or are shunned by society and we can see what it does to their emotional and physical state. When we are introduced to Robert Walton, he is writing to his sister about how pained he in by his lack of friends. When Robert finally meets Victor Frankenstein, he is incredibly emaciated, his limbs frozen and he is nearly dead. Not only that, but when Frankenstein is telling Walton his tale, he talks about the isolation that came from his dark secret and how that separated him from his family during a time of need, which caused great anguish. The creature also suffers from these woes of isolation. The creature mentions to the old man that he is “an unfortunate and deserted creature; I look around, and I have no relation or friend upon the earth.” (102, Shelley). He tries hard to gain the trust of the blind father, but once the rest of the family comes in, they are disgusted, beat him and cast him away. Instead of retaliating, the creature retreats as his “heart sunk within [him] as with bitter sickness”(103). Instead of trying to meet others, the monster gives up and vows revenge on humanity.

Is loneliness this detrimental to someone? What about introverts, or people that prefer to work alone? Why do Walton, Frankenstein and the creature all seek to isolate themselves when it could cause all this pain? Society does reject them at points, but some of their isolation is self-inflicted. Is community essential to humanity?

Paradise Lost in Frankenstein

So, Frankenstein’s monster frequently compares himself to Satan as he is depicted in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. I found this to be an extremely interesting comparison. Both the creature and Satan are typically considered the antagonist of their respective story, but both seem to make this an extremely gray area. Milton was criticized for making Satan too sympathetic. While Satan clearly commits evil acts, his motivations are not entirely unreasonable. For one, Satan allowed humans access to knowledge that God would not allow them. Satan’s line “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” echoes the human notions of freedom and individualism, as well as free will. These are not inherently evil ideas. The creature identifies with Satan, recognizing that he is flawed and that he is banished from ever reaching acceptance into society.

Is the creature identifying with Satan meant to convey that the creature is evil, or is it meant to display the complexity of the creature’s morality? Also, is it really better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven?

A Child In Disguise?

In the seventeenth chapter of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the creature, after being sent off in disgust by Victor, faces the world alone. He finds himself in a village of cottages, learning the ways of humans and experiencing their interactions. He learns the names of “the cottages themselves” (Shelley 83) and of a specific family; their names being “Father”, the sister “Agatha”, and the young brother “Felix” (Shelley 83). Although the creature was unable, at first, to understand the communications between humans and apply it, he was able to “distinguish several” (Shelley 83) words. After an encounter Felix has with an Arabian, female stranger, “Safie” as he calls her, she is instructed by him the book, “Volney’s Ruins of Empires” (Shelley 89). The creature learns through the continuous explanations Felix gives to Safie; he obtains “a cursory knowledge of history” (Shelley 89) and an “insight into the manners, governments, and religions of the different nations of the earth” (Shelley 89).

In our world, when a child first learns about history and the matters of the nations of earth, some find interest in it, and others do not. The creature’s reaction to learning these topics was sadness and concern. For when he learned about the “American Hemisphere” (Shelley 89), he cried with Safie over the fate of the Native Americans. The creatures learning styles and reaction to the topics he learns, leads me to ask the questions:

  1. Although the creature is made-up of full-grown human parts, how can he be compared to a child, or a being who is not fully intelligent just yet?
  2. How does his current lack of understand towards communication affect his intelligence of understanding ideas?
  3. Do you feel that his reaction to the discovery of the American Hemisphere is appropriate in this time?

What has he done?!

In the novel, Frankenstein, the scientist Victor has finally achieved his lifelong dream of creating new life. He of spent years of hard work and obsession to bring his ambitions to fruition. But when he laid eyes upon his creation he was overcome by feelings of disgust and regret. Victor had said, “For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 42).  Victor rushes to the room in fear of his creation, but the creature only affection from its creator. This could lead to the creature becoming bitter and spiteful.

There are new methods of creating new life happening every day. Such as cloning. Some may argue that artificially created life does not have a soul. Do you think it is ethical to artificially create new life? Why or why not?

Are Your Dreams Worth the Price?

I noticed a parallel while reading. Often times, people are faced with a choice that questions their values. The specific values I am referencing are personal relationships versus dreams and goals. It is sometimes very difficult to maintain and actively pursue both. Sometimes we must focus on our education or our careers, meanwhile our relationships take a hit. This is often discussed by the very successful, athletes, business people, performers, etc. There is a seemingly universal struggle between ambition and relationships.

Our main character has made his choice, “I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my nature, should be completed” (Shelly 30). He has been consumed by the desire to accomplish his dreams, so much so, as to wish away the distraction of emotion.

Do you find yourself solidly on one side of battle, or are you in a constant struggle? How do you think this internal conflict, or lack thereof, will come into play as the story unfolds?