As I type this, I see that my Google Drive is 75% full: all of my work, whether it be creative or academic, is done on the computer. I love typing. I journal my days on my laptop, begin creative work, take notes for class, do homework, write assignments, create outlines, or simply practice free-association. Today, I decided to hand-write a creative piece, then edit, and re-write it. I expected myself to write without referencing the online dictionary or un-typing a word I didn’t like. When I use a computer, I always have a few tabs open, and also find myself distracted when writing. I never am fully 100% in the moment of just writing. I used a pen and a notebook I use on a daily basis (although, I typically use the notebook for scheduling and planning), put away my laptop and my phone, and sat down in the quiet corner of JFT. Here is the first page:

I had some working ideas coming into writing, so I started off with some words that were bouncing around my head. “Tomorrow, I tell myself, is better suited for not knowing.” I had begun with that phrase but realized I didn’t like how long the sentence looked (aesthetically), so I moved it down a line. This act influenced the form of the poem. As I wrote, I read the words out loud (something I typically do not do). The break between “better suited for” and “not knowing” started to shape the tone I was going for. Recently, I had a dream that my body parts were being moved around by my girlfriend while she was gardening inside my childhood home. When I recall the dream, I remember bits and pieces at a time, and I have to pause when I recall the dream; allowing myself time to think. I wanted the poem to reflect that uncertainty.

The words then began to flow naturally. I went to the next line as I recalled more details. The middle section of the poem beginning with “Tough and callous” and ending with “doorway,” is the actual dream I had. Afterward, I paused again. The dream was over; summarized in a few short lines. I spent some time recalling my feelings after the dream, and also at the moment that I was writing. “My instintual [sp.] tendency to remind myself that this right now, is passing.” As I am analyzing my page of writing, I cannot recall the inspiration for this line. Part of me imagines it was my desire to stop writing by hand, and the other part of me knows I was referencing the nightmare the dream became. I know this because I became a little more literary and careful with the next few lines.

The ending of the poem has more emphasis on form, as I struggled to find words. Many of my words are references. “Dreams into reality” is a phrase I know I have heard; perhaps read on an inspirational classroom poster. “Loyal to my nightmare of choice” is a direct reference to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. For some reason, the quote was bouncing around in my head when recalling this dream. The quote from the actual book, according to Goodreads is “It was written I should be loyal to my nightmare of choice” (Conrad). I was pretty close. The temptation, however, to look up the quote and make sure I had remembered it correctly (as in, remembered it was from Heart of Darkness and that it was the correct word choice) was insatiable. The literary reference, on the other hand, inspired me to become more poetic, hence the phrase “advertised uncertainty.” 

Once I had gotten all of the words down, I began to do some editing. Whenever I was writing and couldn’t think of a word I would write “[??]” or “(?)” in place. I went in, removed some commas, changed some wording (“childhood memories” to “a childhood that burned” to “burned childhood”). Unlike when using a computer, I had to look at my big ugly mess. There were markings everywhere. I was also made hyperaware of my cursive-print hybrid handwriting. My “a” switched from the double-storey to the single-storey “a” as I switched from print to cursive. Then, after reading the poem aloud, I asked myself: When did I wake up? “I awaken.” This line was added in afterward. I also noticed, in my cursive-print hybrid, that the last line looked like “I left my eyes to the mountains,” which I had not intended to. Yet for some reason, I almost sort of liked it. I ended up adding the dot above the “i” as I had intended.

Instead of typing the final product, I rewrote it as neatly as I could:

The disappointment I felt when I made an error and had to scribble it out on line 11! As I review the final product, I also realize I have completely forgotten finger spacing as a rule of thumb (pun unintended). The phrase “dug holes” looks like “dugholes.” This is also true for “wastebags.” As I rewrote the poem, I also gave myself the liberation of adding more lines and phrases, changing the order of some words, and editing the punctuation. I found it incredibly frustrating to flip back and forth from the original to the rewrite. I also found it difficult to figure out how I wanted the form of the poem to look: rewriting the poem caused me to forget how I had intended the poem to look. When I type, I can easily change the order of the words. For example, I am typing this after I wrote the final line of this paragraph since I find it laughable. I am reminded that hand-writing is difficult.

With some reflection, I learned that there is some peace in hand-writing without the use of technology. I let myself just think. It was me, a paper, a pen, and the environment I put myself in. I just had to think. I found that in comparison to some of my typed writing, this poem was pretty honest. I didn’t exactly care about having the right words, or if they were aesthetic enough. It was for me. On the other hand, I know that my goal in life is to write for other people to read. Some things are quite nice when kept personal, but I know that one day these words could become alien to me too. I am ever-changing, and so is the world. I still find myself embracing the technological world.

Even now, as I type this response, I am actively hitting the backspace key, changing my phrasing, and undoing my initial, authentic thought. The act of my fingers hitting the keyboard is so raw and natural to me at this point that I find it easier to be authentic in my writing followed by seamlessly editing my words without hesitation. Even Grammarly assists me in the act of clarification. My concluding thoughts honestly relate back to my embracement of the cyborg. While I am terrified of technology in many ways, I find that technology is not an “other” to me. It is integral in my experience as a human being, and I enjoy it. I must admit that I am heavily influenced by Donna Haraway’s essay “A Cyborg Manifesto.” She argues that embracing the cyborg lifestyle allows women (especially oppressed women of color) to seize the circulation of male-dominated writing. She writes, “Cyborg writing is about the power to survive, not on the basis of original innocence, but on the basis of seizing the tools to mark the world that marked them as other” (Haraway 55). While I do not have the intellectual capability nor space to break down her entire argument, I find that digital writing offers many powers that are silenced by the hidden notebook. Even now, anything is possible: I have the ability to take this entry and post it on a blog page. I think I just might.

References:

Haraway, Donna J. “A Cyborg Manifesto.” Manifestly Haraway, University of Minnesota Press, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Introduction

Addressing the historical accounts of New Paltz, including the document “Estate Inventory of Cornelius Dubois, 1816,” feels somewhat mundane in comparison to my English college education. I have always found my education and relationship with SUNY New Paltz to be vital in my understanding of the town, which I have called my home for three years. Studying English literature, in any case, has always caused me to think about the novels written at the time when discussing history. What is history without art? Cornelius Dubois’ Estate Inventory feels monotonous without considering the wide-eyed, ambiguous, unknowing literature written at the time period, such as Robert Montgomery Bird’s Sheppard Lee: Written by Himself. Within my research, I found that looking at the “Estate Inventory of Cornelius Dubois,” through a literary lens offers insight into the nature of life on a farm, as well as the related objects at the time period. I found that the setting and narrative within Sheppard Lee illuminates life in New England America in the 19th century, especially in relation to the paramount moral issue of slavery. As the future of New Paltz pushes on, twenty-first-century dwellers are asked to re-evaluate our understanding of privilege, literacy, and race within New Paltz.

History through the Lens of Literature

I began my education at the State University of New York at New Paltz in Spring 2019 as an English Literature student. I became heavily involved with the English department and began my education as a graduate student in English, which has allowed me to enhance my understanding of literature, particularly in certain time periods. This semester (Fall 2021), I took my first graduate class, “Studies in Nineteenth-Century American Literature” concurrently with “The Materials of History, Thought, and Art.” As we began discussing the historical objects of New Paltz, I couldn’t help but implore my knowledge as an English student, a graduate student, and an honors student. The humanities, and in my personal experience, literature, attempts to answer ‘What does it mean to be a human? What are the fundamentals of our humanity?’ In this case, I would add ‘historically’ to the beginning of these questions.

This semester, Professor Christopher Link offered “Nineteenth-Century American Literature,” and teaches his version of the course to reflect “the era’s national preoccupation with self-identity and questions of one’s responsibility toward the other” (“ENG 579 – Syllabus”). The first book we explored was Sheppard Lee written by Robert Montgomery Bird. The book focuses on the life of Sheppard Lee, who laments about his laziness, inability to find love or happiness, and his lack of wealth. Eventually, he discovers he has a mystical ability to migrate into other people’s bodies. He satirizes the radical different subjectivities he becomes, including a physician, a philanthropist, a money-lender, and most significantly, a slave. The narrative that Sheppard Lee offers reflects the nation’s own inability to have a unified existence, as well as the asymmetrical values that separated America in the 1800s.

When the novel was written in 1836, Sheppard Lee was fairly popular; Edgar Allen Poe even reviewed the book and commended it for its artistic profoundness. Because the novel takes place in close proximity to New Paltz (New England area), I found that the values must align in some ways. While the document that listed Cornelius Dubois’ possessions did not reveal much of his attitudes and beliefs, it did reveal his lifestyle: pages five and six of the document largely contain tools that are used to farm. Here is where I made the connection: Sheppard Lee also owned a farm, and like Dubois, also owned slaves.

Similarities between Cornelius Dubois and Sheppard Lee: Farm Maintenance

The Estate Inventory is documentation of the location and how it operated. I see quite clearly that Cornelius Dubois listed slaves as one of his assets, meaning that slaves were determined by their capital value. However, I cannot capture the essence of the list: how were the tools used? How did Dubois feel about farming? Was he a good farmer? Was he a moral man? These things remained unanswered. With some research, however, I was able to discover much about the Dubois family that cannot be understood from the Estate Inventory. The Dubois family was a “prosperous middle class” family, in a similar way to Sheppard Lee (“Dubois Family Association”). Upon reading Historic Huguenot Street’s “Dubois Family Association,” I found that many similarities tied together Sheppard Lee and Cornelius Dubois. Both of them were middle-class, white land-owning men, slaveholders, farm owners, inhabitants of New England, and from nineteenth-century America. The only difference that separated them was that Sheppard Lee is fictional, while Cornelius Dubois is real. Both, however, reveal truths about a society I am a part of.

In a similar manner to Cornelius Dubois, Sheppard Lee (and previously his father) lives on a farm with his slaves during the early time period of America. This observation led me to ask if the slaves assumed the maintenance of the farm. Lee, in reference to his slaves Jim and Dinah, claims: “What labour was bestowed upon the farm, was bestowed almost altogether by him and his wife Dinah. It is true he did just what he liked, and without consulting me,—planting and harvesting, and even selling what he raised, as if he were the master and owner of all things, and laying out what money he obtained by the sales” (Bird 21). Immediately, I found my question answered through exploring nineteenth-century American literature. On page twelve, the Estate Inventory lists his slaves, human lives, as an asset (“Dubois State Inventory”). I imagine that the slaves Dubois owned most likely performed a majority of the farmwork. While I am uncertain how Dubois conducted his slaves, I can imagine it was with cruelty and force. Again, I contemplated the list of farm tools I had, and asked myself: how much of this stuff is technically, really Cornelius Dubois’?’ I was doubtful that Cornelius used the tools with his own hands frequently, given the implications within Sheppard Lee.

Although the Estate Inventory of Cornelius Dubois detailed his assets, it was overwhelmingly true some of these assets, regardless of their title and value, were not truly his. On pages 5 and 6, the author of the Estate Inventory details what appears to be many farm tools, machinery, and materials. The list includes items such as a “steel shad,” “small hand cart,” “waggon,” “tar bucket,” and other items along those lines (“Dubois Estate Inventory” 5-6). Upon first glance, these items are not much different from items I find in my grandparent’s shed. According to Eric J. Roth, a scholar who reports on the history of New Paltz, New Paltz was once an “isolated, conservative, tightly-knit farming community” (Irene qtd. in Roth). Roth’s research on New Paltz, however, focuses primarily on its history of slavery, and thereby brings cognizance to the townsfolks of New Paltz in the twenty-first century. Roth quotes historian William-Myers when he writes, “Slaves were involved in the production of almost every item used or consumed on the farm: from such simple items as brooms, ladles, and cords of firewood for use year-round to more elaborate ones such as barns and Dutch cellars” (qtd. in Roth). Just like Sheppard Lee, Cornelius Dubois was not essential to the production or maintenance of his farms.

Similarities between Cornelius Dubois and Sheppard Lee: Anti-Abolitionism

With further analysis, I found that Sheppard Lee perpetuated anti-abolitionist standards at the time period. Lee claims, “I resolved to set [Jim] free, and accordingly mentioned my design to him; when, to my surprise, he burst into a passion, swore he would not be free, and told me flatly I was his master, and I should take care of him” (Bird 20). Because most of the readers at the time were white men, I am inclined to believe that the perpetuation of slavery was reinforced by the literature predominantly read by men. When Lee enters the body of the slave Tom, he writes, “the reader, who has seen with what horror and fear I began the life of a slave, may ask if, after I found myself restored to health and strength [. . .] I found myself, for the first time in my life, content, or very nearly so, with my condition, free from cares, far removed from disquiet, and, if not actually in love with my lot, so far from being dissatisfied, that I had not the least desire to exchange it for another” (Bird 341). Considering the popularity of the novel at this time, I am certain Sheppard Lee was meant to be a character his readers could sympathize with, as he migrates to different bodies, lamenting the struggles he feels in each subjectivity. Altogether, it is obvious that the attitudes at this time did not align with the misleading notion that New England and the Northern United States were moved by abolitionism.

Although the “Estate Inventory of Cornelius Dubois” does not reveal much about his anti-abolitionism, I am aware he possessed slaves up until at least 1816 (when the document was created). According to the “Hasbrouck Renaming Report,” created by the Diversity and Inclusion Council here at SUNY New Paltz, “the state [of New York] approved legislation in 1817 to totally abolish slavery as of July 4, 1827” (11). Up until Cornelius Dubois’ death, there was no legislation that prevented him from owning slaves, hence why they were listed as an asset on his document. Even so, many loopholes were used to perpetuate the possession of slavery and utter disenfranchisement of black people in the area. The same document claims that “The disinterest of white New Paltzians regarding their black neighbors was vividly evident in the outcome in the town of a statewide referendum that would extend suffrage to all black men. The measure failed in New Paltz 204 against to 32 in favor” (12). Even if white men could not own slaves, it was of no interest to the majority of them to integrate rights for the black people in the area.

To reiterate, Sheppard Lee: Written by Himself was written in 1836, meaning that slavery persisted in the New England area for years to come. In addition, I was a student here at SUNY New Paltz when the Building Complexes were named after slaveowners, including Dubois. I distinctly remember the shift in language the community had in 2019 when the Residence Halls were no longer referred to as “Bevier” or “DuBois.” Even centuries later, New Paltz’s history of slavery was overlooked in light of honoring the slave owners who disenfranchised them and denied suffrage to them. I am a true believer that literature, art, and texts in their entirety, when not read with a careful eye, can perpetuate a certain paradigm. In the town of New Paltz that would be the ignorance of anti-abolitionism in the area, as well as the false pretense that New Paltz is entirely socially liberal. Literature, I am led to believe, shows real truth about my own location and how it once operated.

Similarities between Cornelius Dubois and Sheppard Lee: Literacy in Nineteenth-Century America

My first question in regards to the Estate Inventory was ‘who wrote this document?’ I never considered the level of literacy in America in the nineteenth century. According to a review of Kenneth Lockridge’s Literacy in Colonial New England, “Lockridge’s raw data for New England show a rise in male literacy from 60% in 1660 to [. . .] 90% in 1790” (Katz 459). Katz implores Lockridge’s belief that “the rise in male literacy primarily in terms of the emergence of effective compulsory public schooling” (459). However, it is important to note that black slaves and women were unable to read because of the “deliberate exclusion from the public education system” (Katz 459). While I was surprised to see such a high literacy rate of people in New England by 1790, I was thoroughly unsurprised, yet unsettled, to find that this was exclusionary of black people. Upon further research, I found a study done by Tom Snyder, which was later used by the National Center for Education Statistics to capture the literacy of America from 1870 to 1979. Because the nation had grown, it was clear to me that the numbers may have some disparity. Regardless, the numbers were fairly similar. According to Snyder, the percentage of people who were fourteen years or older in 1870 was 20% (NCES). Furthermore, of that 20% of people who were illiterate, 79.9% of those people were black (NCES). In relation to my document, I had thought to myself that most anyone could have written up an account of Cornelius Dubois’ assets, but it was most certainly a white man.

According to the “Hasbrouck Renaming Report,” the 1812 “Act of Establishment for Common Schools” required children to attend school and become literate, which Kenneth Lockridge agrees was vital to the literacy of men in New England (13). However, the same document claims, “it is not clear if, in the wake of the 1810 law requiring enslavers to educate their enslaved children, school authorities admitted black children to the new school” (13). Under my current understanding of New Paltz, the university is the second college to have ever implemented a Black Studies Department, yet much of the school has avoided the history of New Paltz’s slavery and the blatant oppression black people faced in the area.

Sheppard Lee succeeds in proving how white men had the privilege of literacy, as confirmed by the National Center for Education Statistics. While Lee inhabits the body of a black slave in the presence of other slaves who find a pamphlet, the following interaction occurs: “‘Let me read it,’ said I. ‘You read, you n—-! whar you larn to read?’ cried, my friends. It was a question I could not well answer; for, as I said before, the memory of my past existence had quite faded from my mind: nevertheless, I had a feeling in me as if I could read; and taking the book from the parson, I succeeded in deciphering the legend” (Bird 350). Because Lee had the advantage of being able to read as a white man, he, in the body of a black slave, could read while none of the other slaves were able to. All in all, my understanding of how disparate those who could read, write and understand language was confirmed through exploring this document. This document, on the surface, appears to be just a list of items in someone’s house; but it has so much more significance. The list represents one’s ability to have money, property, privilege, and especially access to intellectual property. While it represents the agricultural state of New Paltz, it also emphasizes the misleading idea that the North was anti-slavery; it emphasizes the privilege of reading and writing; it emphasizes privilege. When readers interact with this document and its contents, more truths are revealed; even within the simplicity of farming items.

I felt uncomfortable dealing with this knowledge; my ability to read and write defines me. Without getting too personal, I am reminded that I came to New Paltz in the pursuit of education; to further my ability to use the English language in a meaningful, open-minded, and liberal way. I, like many other students, feel conflicted in appreciating an education that was founded in a town that relied on slavery; in appreciating an education that honored six names of slaveholders (including the Dubois’); in appreciating an education that was founded on the basis of making only white men literate. I hold true to the idea that I am an integral part of New Paltz, and my very attendance affects the course of education and how it will later be perceived. Knowing that my ancestors were denied education makes me feel both grateful for my privilege, and angry from the lack of equality in history.

Conclusion

In deep reflection, I found that I approached the “Estate Inventory of Cornelius Dubois, 1816” with prior assumptions: that there was nothing I could learn from this list. After I read through the document thoroughly and noticed that slaves were listed as an asset, I couldn’t help but impart the knowledge I have gained through my years here as an English student. Studying literature without outside information and historical context becomes flat, and novels become totally autonomous and lose their meaning. However, when looking at a novel alongside historical documents, so much truth is revealed. I thought of Sheppard Lee, and how Robert Montgomery Bird portrayed this character to find contentedness in bondage, and justify owning a slave. I was finding parallels between the lifestyles exemplified in both Dubois’ life and Lee’s life. My understanding of both Sheppard Lee and the “Estate Inventory of Cornelius Dubois, 1816” has grown to consider my experiences in New Paltz, particularly when it comes to racism, slavery, and the privilege of my own education and literacy. I revere historical documents as coloring book pages, and literature as crayons, and the “Estate Inventory of Cornelius Dubois, 1816” remains blank unless filled in.

Works Cited:

Bird, Robert Montgomery. Sheppard Lee: Written by Himself. New York Review Books, 2008.

Diversity and Inclusion Council. Hasbrouck Building Complex Renaming Dialogue Report and 

Recommendation. SUNY New Paltz, 1 May 2018, 

https://www.newpaltz.edu/media/diversity/Hasbrouck%20Renaming%20Report-Web.pdf.

“Dubois Family Association.” Historic Huguenot Street, https://www.huguenotstreet.org/dubois.

Katz, Stanley N. American Journal of Sociology, vol. 82, no. 2, University of Chicago Press, 

1976, pp. 458–60, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2777113.

“National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL).” Edited by Tom Snuder, National Center for 

Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a Part of the U.S. Department of Education, 

https://nces.ed.gov/naal/lit_history.asp

Roth, Eric J. “‘The Society of Negroes Unsettled’: a history of slavery in New Paltz, NY.” 

Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, vol. 27, no. 1, Jan. 2003, pp. 27+. Gale 

Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A128705774/AONE?u=newpaltz&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=356acd41. 

How much of a human is Frankenstein’s monster? Is he a pseudo-human? Does Frankenstein’s monster contribute to our understanding of what it means to be a human? These questions floated around my mind as I read Frankenstein. Immediately, I was fascinated by the Monster’s interest in books, specifically when he reads Paradise Lost, Plutarch’s Lives, and Sorrows of Werter. The Creature’s reaction to the books, however, I think is similar to my own reaction to novels in general, which somehow both complicated and reassured my understanding of humanity throughout Frankenstein. The humanity the readers perceive within the Creature raises an epistemic question: What constitutes a human? In Chapter 7 of Volume II, The Creature laments,

I can hardly describe to you the effect of these books [. . .] as I read, however, I applied much personally to my own feelings and condition. I found myself similar, yet at the same time strangely unlike the beings concerning whom I read, and to whose conversation I was a listener. I sympathized with, and partly understood them, but I was unformed in mind [. . .] what did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them.”

(Shelley 142-143).

To react with honesty, I frequently ask myself these questions. I don’t think people can deny their own feelings of alienation, isolation, and difference; at least I certainly can’t. These books and their relation to the reader, in any case, highlight the conflicting feelings the creature feels about his own humanity– and has the readers question how they belong in a world that frequently rejects them based on differences. In relation, an essential feature of Romanticism, as I’ve learned in Professor George’s “The Romantics,” is its reaction to the Enlightenment period. The Enlightenment Period is characterized by its limitations of freedom, industrialization, and organized authoritative attitudes; examples include Rousseau’s The Social Contract and Hume’s “Of the Origin of Government.” Much of the Enlightenment Period attempts to create an organized society with societal roles and stricter ways of thinking, while the Romantic Period reacts with rebellion, rejection, individualism, and the freedom of each person

Moreover, the characteristics of each novel that the Creature listed reflect the historical impact on Romantic ideals. According to Romantic-Circles, Plutarch’s Lives was praised by Rousseau in his book Confessions. Additionally, the footnotes in Romantic-Circles note that “the accounts draw [the Creature] forth from his own isolation to imagine a larger cultural sphere of action in which he might participate.” Just as with the Enlightenment period, Plutarch’s Lives draws the Creature to think about the societal significance of individuals at a large scale since the book tries to compare Roman and Grecian leaders in order to bring the two empires together (Briticanna, “Parallel Lives”). Ultimately giving the Creature an understanding of humanity at a societal level, and as Frankenstein later reveals, begins to resent for rejecting him.

Sorrows of Werter, on the other hand, brought new ideas to the Creature. According to Briticanna, Sorrows of Werter is about “a sensitive, artistic young man who demonstrates the fatal effects of a predilection for absolutes,” showing the philosophical endeavors of Geothe. The Creature claims that he was moved by the philosophical endeavors of Geothe, but in the end, the Creature says “I did not pretend to enter into the merits of the case, yet I inclined towards the opinions of the hero, whose extinction I wept, without precisely understanding it.” (Shelley 142). Here the readers are introduced to the Creature’s understanding of sympathy, where he does not understand the hardships of Werter, but feels bad for him for suffering and eventually committing suicide. 

The most profound book that the Creature read, however, would have to be Paradise Lost. Not only was the book well-known and well-read at the time of Shelley’s Frankenstein, but Paradise Lost captures the Romantic period ideals because of its heavy religious and individualistic characteristics. Percy Shelley, for example, wrote The Necessity of Atheism, which highlights how humans unwillingly, subconsciously follow organized religion, and he himself cannot help but be an Atheist and resist religion. In a similar manner, the cover of Frankenstein quotes Paradise Lost: “Did I request thee, Maker from my clay / To mould me man? Did I solicit thee / From darkness to promote me?” (qtd. in Shelley 47). The imposed existence of man in Paradise Lost reflects the rebellious nature of the Romantic Era, hence why Mary Shelley quoted John Milton in her story. Paradise Lost captures the uncertainty of existence, how it is sprung upon each individual and how conformity attempts to shape our understanding of the world. In a similar manner to Percy Shelley, the Creature feels as if his own existence was forced, and that he did not choose to be the being that he is. As it seems, there are references to books within a book in comparison to another form of literature written in the Romantic Era. In the end, Paradise Lost, The Necessity of Atheism, and Frankenstein share a similar characteristic: rebellion against conformity. 

Because the Creature feels so isolated, it is obvious why he might feel comforted by Paradise Lost. As stated before, reading Paradise Lost lead the Creature to ask many questions about his own existence, why he was there and what his purpose was. The Creature also states, “Like Adam, I was created apparently united by no link to any other being in existence,” followed by “Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition” (Shelley 143). Here, the Creature relates to the characters, such as the isolation Adam feels and the outsider, outcasted feelings that Satan expresses as he watched Adam and Eve. Additionally, the Creature states, “Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and detested’” (Shelley 144). In contrast to Satan, Frankenstein is reminded of his isolation. Naturally, the readers have empathy for his unfortunate, forced creation, followed by his isolated state and undesired intellectual abilities.

All of these books are much more complex than the understanding Briticanna, Romantic-Circles and Sparknotes provided. However, with a simple understanding of each novel, the Romantic period, and its influencers, it is clear how the Creature gains a sense of humanity through books. In its own way, the novels reflect the way that humanities can intensify our own understanding of humanity: there is a reason why English is a Humanities rather than a science. Just as Frankenstein grapples with the question of ‘What does it mean to be a human?’ it’s important to remember that we, as readers, do as well. 

Works Cited:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Parallel Lives”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Feb. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Parallel-Lives.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “The Sorrows of Young Werther”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Oct. 2013, https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Sorrows-of-Young-Werther.

“Paradise Lost.” SparkNotes.com, SparkNotes LLC, 2005, https://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/paradiselost/summary/.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Edited by D.L. Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf, 3rd ed, broadview editions, 1818.

Wollstonecraft Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Romantic-Circle, Edited by Stuart Curran, Published by Romantic-Circle 2009, https://romantic-circles.org/editions/frankenstein.

Atheism/Religion in the creation of man/it’s own existence

“The other argument which is founded upon a man’s knowledge of his own existence, stands thus. — A man knows not only that he now is, but that there was a time when he did not exist; consequently there must have been a cause. But what does this prove? We can only infer from effects causes exactly adequate to those effects; — But there certainly is a generative power which is effected by certain instruments; we cannot prove that it is inherent in these instruments, nor is the contrary hypothesis capable of demonstration: we admit that the generative power is incomprehensible, but to suppose that the same effect is produced by an eternal, omniscient, Almighty Being, leaves the cause in the [same] obscurity, but renders it more incomprehensible.”

http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/PShelley/atheism.html

I typed up a document of the work we did on the “Overseers of the Poor of Town of New Paltz”

For this assignment, I choose my book collection. I began with approximately 131 books. The idea of getting rid of books, however, troubled me. I came in with a handful of books I know that I actively no longer want. I have a collection of books by Lois Lowry, which creates The Giver Quartet. I have never read past The Giver, and I have never planned to read past The Giver. However, this set was a gift, so I feel sort of guilty giving it away. I had this experience with several other books as well, such as Megyn Kelly’s book Settle for More.

It was a gift from my grandmother, but I have never been interested in autobiographies, especially about people I am completely unfamiliar with. I flipped around the book, read some of the language and felt it was not of interest to me. On the other hand, the book gave me some form of joy, almost like it could spark joy. So, I held onto it a little longer. I began researching the book, and discovered that the book “discusses the unwanted sexual advances she received from Roger Ailes while working at Fox News” (“Settle For More”). I had found this interesting, then began reading some of the reviews on Amazon, and found that she said quite a lot of things that I could not find myself agreeing with. I had mixed feelings about this book; it was a gift from my grandmother, but I didn’t have any desire to read the book. This book was the beginning of my “unsure” pile.

Recently, I found myself going to a couple bookstores in Kingston. I have a friend who started going to SUNY New Paltz, and she had never been to Kingston before, so I took her to Rough Draft: Bar and Books, and Half Moon Books. At Rough Draft, Gabby recommended to me How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America by Kiese Laymon, so I bought the book. This, however, is a habit of mine. A lot of the books that I purchased that are in my bookshelf I haven’t gotten around to reading yet. These books include Closing Time by Joseph Heller, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, and so many more. I suppose part of the “joy-sparking” pleasure in collecting books is the anticipation to read them. Something that sparks joy for me personally, is having someone share their favorite literature with me. Siddhartha was given to me by my girlfriend because she wanted me to have read her favorite book. Knowing that these books were given to me because people I love want me to experience something personal, that is both intangible and tangible, to them makes it more special. Therefore, all books that were gifts/recently purchased absolutely sparked joy in me.

Some books, such as the series including The Giver, were easily removed. A few other books I couldn’t remember where I got them. May I Kiss You? By Michael J. Domitrz, my double copy of Where the Girls Are by Susan J. Douglass, The Virgins by Pamela Erens and my double copy of Sheppard Lee, as well as two other books that I couldn’t recall buying/receiving made it into the “discard” pile. For this experiment, I also pretended like I could “discard” my copy of Franklin Evans or The Inebriate by Walt Whitman, which I read for class, because I disliked it so much. All together, I removed ten books. I was surprised I couldn’t get myself to remove more, and ended up putting Settle for More by Megyn Kelly, making it eleven.

All together, I left feeling pretty emotional. For a period of time, I flipped through Salman Rushdie’s Shame and re-read all of the little notes I left for myself. I read this book at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown, and felt that heart-racing and butterfly-filled stomach-aching (like the original meaning of “tokimeki”). The book was so difficult for me to read at first; I felt so unfamiliar with the language, and there was so much dissonance from myself and the author. Now, I have a tattoo for the book. In class, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about tattoos and how they memorialize objects, experiences and moments as a piece of art.

I also felt a little bit of pride when I was looking at my collection of novels by Angela Carter, which of course sparks joy in me. One of them isn’t featured in the picture since I am currently reading it, but I remembered the excitement I felt upon my attempt to collect all of her books. The book titled Honeybuzzard is a first-printing from 1966. The book is now called Shadow Dance, so it feels heart-warming to own the novel with its original name. 

At the end of this experiment, I still had over a hundred books, which came to no surprise. This particular collection is the most valuable to me. I know that reading and literature holds a special place in my heart, so making room for more books (both on my bookshelf and in my heart) is always possible. Something I noticed was how the books that sparked the most joy were also the books that I had written in and highlighted. Maintaining the pureness and integrity feels unimportant: I want them to be specifically mine, with my own thoughts and notes inside of them. 

Upon my recent resignation from Starbucks, I realized I would not be permitted to free coffee any longer. Unfortunate. And so, on Wednesday, September 29th, I ordered a reusable cup.

I went to Amazon, where I am embarassingly an avid shopper, and found this cup listed for $15.99. Amazon’s 1-Click Buy feature couldn’t have made it any easier to make the purchase. Because of Amazon’s naturally prosaic manner, I didn’t think too hard about making this purchase. I am an avid coffee-drinker, I love espresso, and I have my own espresso machine. I thought a reusable cup would be the perfect oppurtunity to keep making coffee at home.

The cup consists of three features: a straw, a bamboo lid and a glass container which is protected by a silicone sleeve. The straw is plastic, the lid is made out of bamboo and the cup is glass. This tumbler appealled to me because it was made out of glass, and in my experience plastic reusable containers get moldy much faster than glass containers. Something that interested me were the selling-points listed on the Amazon ad above, such as “Natural Bamboo,” “Food Grade,” “BPA free,” and “Easy Visibility.” What are the benefits of these selling points? What exactly do they mean?

I started with “Natural Bamboo.” One component of the cup, the lid, is made out of bamboo. The major pro that I found the most appealing to me is the fact that natural bamboo is a renewable source. Synthetic/faux bamboo is not, and therefore has detrimental effects to the enviornment. Next, I inspected the “BPA free” feature. BPA is shorthand for bisphenol A, which is a chemical added to many food containers in order to make a more resilient plastic. What I found interesting in my research was the following, “However, even small concentrations of BPS and BPF may disrupt the function of your cells in a way similar to BPA. Thus, BPA-free bottles may not be an adequate solution” (Healthline). In short, BPA-free is not entirely effective as a selling point, given that there are other bisphenol chemicals that could be incorporated in this product. “Food Grade” simply means that the product is safe to make contact with food, which I would hope this reusable cup could do. Food Grade is necessary for a product to be FDA-approved (ISM).

As for “Easy visibility,” I am not sure what this means. Is it indicating that the cup is easily identifiable, or that the glass is transparent? I was not sure why the advertising of this product included this feature.

I included the above image, which I also found on the Amazon listing, because it said that “1 reusable cup = 500 coffee cups.” It included this, however, I was not sure exactly what that meant. Does this reusable tumbler lose it’s integrity after 500 uses, or does the making of the product use 500 cups? I wasn’t sure. In a similar remark, I attempted to look where the company was based, but the Kodrine website did not list it’s origin/where it’s products were made. However, Kodrine has a partnership with Amazon, and there are Amazon warehouses everywhere. I am assuming, given that I was able to recieve the object in less than 48-hours, that it must have been shipped to me from somewhere relatively local to New Paltz. All in all, the tumbler is relatively vague in it’s origins, where it is shipped from and how it got to me.

Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-bpa#where-its-found

https://www.industrialspec.com/about-us/blog/detail/fda-compliant-food-grade-food-safe-meanings

October 26th, 1936: Helen Margaret Kotur purchased Symphonic Masterpieces. Sixty-three years later her great-grand-niece, Abigail Dentico, would be born on the same day. I found it sort of comical that Helen would have never guessed that Abigail Dentico’s college roommate would do a deep-dive on the internet, and dig up old records all because Abigail inherited three books from her great-grandmother’s sister.

Helen Margaret Kotur, later Helen Hunter, was born in Austria, Hungary in 1915, but very quickly her parents Anna and Andrew Kontur fled to Yonkers, New York. Shortly after, her sister, Yolanda (and Abigail’s great-grandmother), was born. Helen’s family then moved to, and continued to live in Buffalo for the majority of her life. Her sister Yolanda eventually moved to Rockland County, where Abigail’s family resided (and still resides now).

Abigail Dentico is a music major at SUNY New Paltz, and while she has an extensive knowledge on music, she is an alluring Celloist. I consider myself lucky to share a space with someone who brings a powerful energy into the house. Abigail’s talents extend beyond her. Her father, David Dentico is a musician himself. And Abigail’s grandparents, Sheila Dentico and Michael Dentico, are lovers of music too. In Sheila’s obituary, she was claimed to adore music, especially going to her husband and son’s bands. And of course, Abigail’s great-grandmother (Yolanda Kotur), and great-grandaunt Helen Margaret Kutor had a love for music. Above I have pictured Helen as a violinist in 1932 at her high school Hutchinson-Central High School.

Abigail provided me with three books: Symphonic Masterpieces, The Lure of Music and Beloved Friends: The Story of Tchaikowsky and Nadejda Von Meck. All three of these books have dates in them from the 1930s, around the time Helen was going to school, or finishing up school. Helen was an educated woman. In the 1930’s, only 2% of women achieved a high school degree in the city of Buffalo. As I dug through many of the newspaper clippings, I discovered that she had a love for the Irish Tenor, John McCormack. While the books were purchased in the 1930’s, the newspaper clippings range from the 1930’s to the 1980’s. Some of them are from a newspaper in Fort Lauderdale, others in New York City, and of course, some are from Buffalo, New York. Throughout the book, Helen underlines and writes notes about them. She had a love for music and playing music. She could have never comprehended how music would be passed down through her family.

In 1949, Helen Kutor married Wilbur Hunter. They had no children together. Helen’s whereabouts are hard to discover after her marriage, but it is likely Fort Lauderdale. As I dug through her newspaper clippings, I discovered that many of them are from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I am assuming after their marriage, Helen moved to Florida. Wilbur passed away in 1980. She passed away in 2003, leaving her sister Yolanda to take her remaining stuff. Yolanda and Helen were very close, and loved each other dearly. Many of Helen’s things went to Yolanda. When Yolanda passed away, Abigail’s grandparents, Michael and Sheila Dentico, cleaned out Yolanda’s house, and these books laid in a box. At the unfortunate passing of the beloved Micheal and Sheila (as they passed away in close proximity of time to each other), Abigail’s father, David Dentico, went to clean out the house. At that point, David must’ve picked up these books, most likely to save for Abigail, who loves classical music.

Abigail, on a trip home one day, asked if she could have them. She inquired with her father about who’s books they were, and he knew that it was Margaret’s book. David, however, was certain that she went ot Julliard. I spent a lot of time researching her name, using ancestry.com, looking through pictures– I was unable to find anything that said so. One 1940 census reported that she had only completed high school, and at that point she was 25. It is unlikely she went to Julliard.

Abigail helped me to start this project, but I took on a lot. I found a picture of her in high school, and found out she was a deep music lover. I also discovered that Abigail’s father, grandparents and great-grandparents were great lovers of music. I feel myself deeply attached to Abigail’s family, and I found that their love for music is intrinsic to their ancestry. All of them were great lovers of music, and performed on many occasions. Abigail, too, has brought a great life in my life. She is one of my best friends, one of the warmest people I know. She brings a great deal of love and music into my life. And I find this to be more effectual and alluring, knowing how important it has been to her family too.

The object I wish to explore is a Christmas gift I received from my Aunt Laurie a few years ago after her trip to Norway. The framed medallion, considered a form of scrimshaw, depicts a man atop of a whale, breaching the surface of an ocean. Beneath the carefully carved, intricate scene has the words, “THE LEGENDARY RIDE OF JOHN TABOR” followed by an illegible signature of the author. 

The medallion is surrounded by a rectangular frame, measuring at about 10” x 7”, while the medallion is merely 3 inches. While this form of art is considered scrimshaw, which is artwork carved into an image of ivory, however, I am under the impression it is a form of faux ivory due to the small writing on the back that claims that this is one piece out of 150 pieces. Ivory, now considered unethical and difficult to obtain, is hard to identify without using a blacklight or burning a part of the ivory. With a more careful investigation, I discovered the carvings must have been darkened with color as a result of underglazing, which highlights the indentations made in the faux ivory. The carvings are intricate and incredibly thin. The depth of each line is hard to measure, because of how shallow each stroke is. The darker parts of the carving, such as the whale or the shadowed parts of the wave, have a palpable texture to them.

The background of the scene depicted on the medallion is incredibly light and intricate. The carvings are especially shallow, and created with a pattern of dots, while the foreground is created by a series of lines, ultimately creating a depth to the piece of artwork. There is a face embedded within the background, ever so lightly, as to bring attention to the man, who I’m sure is John Tabor. The man is carefully created with careful, thicker lines as to bring emphasis onto his face, and leaving much lighter portions in order to distinguish his body from the whale. The whale is very very dark, having been done with a cross-hatching technique to distinguish his body from the ocean. The whale is dark, giving me the impression that the whale is a sperm whale. Additionally, the sperm whale has the defining large, square head, which is reflected in this drawing. 

This scrimshaw depicts the story of John Tabor, who is a character in the book “Etchings of a Whale Cruise,” written by John Ross Browne in 1846. The story is considered a Nantucket story because of its intense focus on whaling. John Tabor is depicted to be riding a whale in the novel, as well as being one of the profound characters. In consideration of how the sperm whale is a major target for whalers, I am assuming this was a depiction of how John Tabor had to, in all of his masculine glory, physically grab the whale in order to catch and kill it for his whaling expedition.

The artist who created this scrimshaw must’ve found the story to be quite compelling, given that this piece is one of 250. Because this was a gift, I am not entirely sure it’s origin. Despite many attempts at research, I was unable to find where it was made originally, how it was sold to my Aunt in Norway and why she chose to give it to me. But I am aware that it is associated with whaling, and inspired Herman Melville’s famous novel Moby-Dick. Because Norway is on the shore, and has its own association with whaling, boating and sailing, I am sure it is a crossover between the two cultures. I would love to explore this piece further, and I am tempted to ask my Aunt Laurie how she got her hands on this object and if she has any further information on it.