I’m working on a english question and need guidance to help me learn.

This project is based off of your response to the first chapter of Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s book, Monster Culture (seven theses). Provided below a crib sheet for understanding the seven these. Feel free to use my notes to your advantage DocViewer

1. Crib Sheet for “Monster Culture”

Thesis 1: The Monster’s Body is a Cultural Body
o monsters correspond with a culture at a particular moment
fear, desire, and anxiety all revealed
o monsters are always symbols and representations of a culture.
o they are brought into being because of certain places or feelings of a time period.
o monsters are “an embodiment of a certain cultural moment.”

Thesis 2: The Monster Always Escapes
o
monster is never truly destroyed/defeated; something is always left over
monsters = fear; fear cannot be physically conquered/literally killed
o monsters always get away.
o they can never be caught or if they can, they will return. It may change form or
dress, but it will come back.
o when a monster is “killed”, there is always some remnant, some talisman, of it left
behind.
o if there is no physical element left behind, there is at least a small glimpse of the
monster or footprints, something that makes people uncertain of its death and
ultimate destruction.

Thesis 3: The Monster is the Harbinger of Category Crisis
o the monster threatens conformity
the monster is in 2 categories at once (or… none?)
o monsters cannot be assigned to a specific classification of animals or people.
o their physical, psychological, or social characteristics cross the lines of
classification.
o monsters can be half human, half animal, not fitting them into either category, or
they may have some sort of other deformity or social characteristic that prevents
them from being defined as a specific species.

Thesis 4: The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference
o the monster is an “outsider”
o we create monster to “other” people that are different from us
outsiders not the same; depends on culture/society/era (race, religion, ethnicity,
sexuality, etc)
o monsters are comprised of the things that are perceived as different.
o they are different culturally, sexually, racially, economically, or politically. They
have aspects outside “the norm” of general thought.

o when the majority of people believes one idea or holds something to be true, the
monster always believes the opposite.

Thesis 5: The Monster Polices the Borders of the Possible
o monsters make sure we don’t cross the line; they keep us back from breaking the
rules
“curiosity killed the cat”
o monsters exhibit our hidden desires.
o we create monsters so that we can explore what would otherwise be taboo.
o they embody strange ideas about gender roles, sex, aggression, location, or
domination.
o they can freely destruct and harm, and not feel repercussions or guilt from
authority.
o monsters enable us to play the role of things we would normally not claim as our
identity, like small children dressing up in costumes of demons and witches for
Halloween.

Thesis 6: Fear of the Monster is Really a Kind of Desire
o monsters represents both fear and attraction (stands in both categories)
monsters are a power fantasy… they do what we want to, but can’t
o we get a sort of desire out of being scared (by monsters)
o monsters are warnings of the unknown.
o they embody the ideas that scare us so that we won’t look deeper into them.
o when the ocean was being explored, serpents were created to live at the ends of
the earth, so that people would be warned and not want to explore further what
may be beyond their understanding of the ocean.
o monsters keep us away from the unknown.

Thesis 7: The Monster Stands at the Threshold… of Becoming
o monster makes us re-evaluate culture assumptions; brings out flaws in society
o monsters exhibit our hidden desires.
o monsters invoke us to examine our culture and the assumptions we make about
other peoples and ask us to ponder why we create them.
o they invite people to explore their minds and find our true beliefs

2. When you have finished reading “Monster Culture,” please fill out the following PACES Worksheet. When the worksheet references strategies, it is asking you to write down how Cohen is connecting or not with his audience. How do you think he is connecting with his audience? Through examples, language, etc? Is he successful at it? Consider ethos, pathos, and logos.

3. Breaking down “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)”

Overall argument:

Audience:

Purpose:

Tone:

Thesis 1:
Main Claim:
Evidence (2 important examples):

Strategies:

Thesis 2:
Main Claim:
Evidence (2 important examples):
Strategies:

Thesis 3:
Main Claim:
Evidence (2 important examples):
Strategies:
Thesis 4:
Main Claim:
Evidence (2 important examples):
Strategies:
Thesis 5:
Main Claim:
Evidence (2 important examples):

Strategies:
Thesis 6:
Main Claim:
Evidence (2 important examples):
Strategies:
Thesis 7:
Main Claim:
Evidence (2 important examples):
Strategies