Essay Two: What Today’s Young Inventors Can Learn from Frankenstein
The Situation: Just like in your first “think on your feet” essay assignment, in this assignment you aren’t writing a traditional essay, exactly. Imagine that you are presenting at a conference of young inventors on why the story of Victor Frankenstein is relevant to their work. Your job is to write a speech that will convince these young inventors that the story of Frankenstein is a cautionary tale (like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” – a story which gives a warning) to which all of today’s inventors should pay attention. Because this is a speech you are writing, imagine how you’d set it up to engage your audience. You may want to use “I” and at times you may want to speak directly to the audience, just as you would if you were making a presentation in class. You should assume your audience has read Frankenstein and you just need to remind them of key moments in the text.
Please note: in your first think on your feet assignment you were meant to write your assignment within a two hour window. There is NO TIME LIMIT that you can take to write this assignment (other than making sure you turn it in by the due date. Your completed essay should be around 3 double spaced Times New Roman pages in length, but it could be longer.
Start off your speech with an introduction, welcoming your audience of young inventors and thanking them for doing the required reading for the conference, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. End your introduction with a claim (a thesis) about why you think every young inventor could benefit from reading Frankenstein.
The body of your speech should have three main parts. Each part could be anywhere between 1 to 3 paragraphs long.
First, you will need to show that Victor Frankenstein is very much a product of the Age of Enlightenment. That is, he is someone who has great faith in the ability of knowledge to make the world a better place. To prove this, you should select at least one quotation (probably from early in the novel before the Creature is created, but it might be from later) that shows the immense faith Frankenstein has in science (which he sometimes calls “natural philosophy”). One good way to show his faith is to look for places in the book where he describes what he hopes will happen when he creates a human being. What are his expectations and goals? Then show that Frankenstein’s attitude toward science and knowledge is typical of Enlightenment thinkers by including at least one quotation from any one of the Enlightenment thinkers we read from this class that reflects a similar attitude towards science and learning as Frankenstein’s.
Secondly, show how Frankenstein’s view of knowledge and science changes as a result of his experience with the Creature. What specific details from the story can you give to show his experience of creating life is nothing like what he expects and ends up, instead, being a nightmare? You might write 5-10 sentences giving these details. Then select one or more quotations from Frankenstein that show how specifically his view of knowledge and science has changed. It will probably be easiest to find these quotations in the section of the book towards the end where Frankenstein is talking with Walton. You might, for example, consider why, at the end of the book, Frankenstein refuses to tell Walton how he found the secret to human life. Why does he refuse to share knowledge at this moment? You could even say something about what an Enlightenment thinker like Diderot would have to say about this refusal to share knowledge.
Third, in the final section of your speech, relate what Frankenstein has learned about the potential dangers of science and the potential unintended consequences of scientific advancements to one or more specific advancements we have today. At the bottom of this page, you will find links to a number of examples of advancements in science and technology which have had unintended negative consequences. You may use any of these examples or find your own. Just be sure to cite your sources (you can do this informally by just including url’s or article titles in parentheses).
Finally, in your conclusion, articulate what you believe the “take-away” is from Frankenstein for your audience of young inventors. Should they stop striving for new scientific and technological advancements altogether? What precautions should they take, if any? How might reflecting on the story of Victor Frankenstein make them better inventors and better members of society?
Here are some specific examples of sources on contemporary scientific or technological advancements which have had unintended negative consequences. You should incorporate at least one or maybe more examples of these types of advancements in the third section of the body of your speech.
Doctor’s Plan for Full-Body Transplants Raises Doubts Even in Daring China https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/world/asia/china-body-transplant.html?module=inlineLinks to an external site.
China’s CRISPR twins: A time line of news https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613007/chinas-crispr-twins-a-timeline-of-news/Links to an external site.
Building a Better Human With Science? The Public Says, No Thanks https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/upshot/building-a-better-human-with-science-the-public-says-no-thanks.html?module=inlineLinks to an external site.
Articles about genetically modified foods
Articles about specific examples of animal and human cloning
Articles about automobile emissions and their contribution to global warming
Articles about nuclear weapons
Articles about the internet and the role it has played in spreading information and fomenting violence
Articles about the potential negative effects of cell phone use among young people
