Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. Not only that, but Sandra Petrocelli, the State prosecutor, is a very good lawyer. Trick-or-treat! can only mean one thingHalloween. Monsters refuse to be cordoned off in only one nationality, ethnicity, religion, or political mindset. Steves parents are glad he is home, but the distance between Steve and his father is growing. See a complete Character List for Monster, as well as in-depth analysis of its most important characters. American history from the past to the present. He tells his story through handwritten notes and a typewritten screenplay. Starting with the Puritan era and the fear of witches and ending with the modern-day fascination with the monsters within us, i.e. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! He also makes notes about his movie and about details he observes in court. Monster is told as a first-person account by Steve Harmon, a Black teenager on trial for felony murder in New York. Friedrich Nietzsche believed we are the monsters. Mrs. Henry testifies to being in the drugstore and seeing two young Black men arguing with the store owner. Poole has set the bar ridiculously high for any future research exploring the locus of historical and cultural studies, particularly as it pertains to the horrific. Monsters In America challenges, enlightens, and, quite honestly, frightens in its prescient view of American history, as well as the seeming ubiquity of the monsters of our past and probable future. He rightly frets over our technology which ineffectively obscures the divine and so Americans create vampire stories which take Gods place (59): Americans are still attempting to apprehend mystery in the midst of supernatural confusion (11). | The fear of anything not considered normal or not well-understood e.g. on me, relax. Instead of representing the "us vs them" mentality, monsters are much closer so home: they are us. Free trial is available to new customers only. It's a comprehensive look into ghoulish, weird, and woke world--10/10. Poole's book is fantastic, a terrific look at what makes monsters in film resonate in American culture. Then it is OBriens turn to present the defense of Steve. A.They would back the federal government against another state B.They would support, What issue was at the root of the nullification crisis of 1832, which turned many Virginia Republicans against Andrew Jackson? In a nutshell, monsters for Poole are metaphors / stand-ins for whoever is loathed or feared in a certain historical context. American history comes at us dripping with gore, victims lying scattered on the ground, eldritch moonlight revealing creeping horrors you never learned from your eighth grade history textbook. All rights reserved. Pooles constant harangue against anything conservative is a thin criticism to begin, stretched beyond any semblance of recognition by the end of the book. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Not only do they continue to live in our midst, but, as historian Scott Poole shows, these monsters are an important part of our pasta hideous obsession America cannot seem to escape.Pooles central argument in Monsters in America is that monster tales intertwine with Americas troubled history of racism, politics, class struggle, and gender inequality. Eastern Orthodoxy Essential Books [A Reading List]. There he teaches courses on monsters, pop culture, and American history. Perhaps monsters are made in our society more purposefully than we realize. Purchasing After a minute elapses from the time David, Billy and Brent enter the store, a man, Jeff Miller, a local townsperson, flies into the market, bloodied and frantic. Hardback: Baylor University Press, 2011. Bolden testifies that he bought cigarettes from Bobo Evans and that Evans told him about the robbery. After Steve hears the verdict, he turns to OBrien for a hug. Synopsis: From our colonial past to the present, the monster in all its various forms has been a staple of American culture. Lovecraft in print. Edna St. Vincent Millay Five of our Favorite Poems ! Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2014. Definitely would recommend it as a quick read and dive into monster history, as well as a great resource to find other books the author recommends to look into more! Go to BN.com to get your copy of these helpful resources. Steve calls the movie Monster because that is what the prosecutor has called him. He is the author of several books, including a biography of H.P Lovecraft, which became a Bram Stoker award finalist, and Wasteland: The Great War and the Origins of Modern Horror. as uncivilized people and even believed them to be monsters. Dont have an account? Poole seeks to undermine myths of American exceptionalism by locating monsters that he believes exist outside our psyche, in history. White Doe" disguised the true relationship between the European settlers and Native Americans. What could we extrapolate on the ways we lived and what we believed during each era? At times in the book a movie director is taken at his word, the reason for his film given authorial intent. 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Select a location to see product availability. You can view our. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% The scary tales found in the classic texts remind usno matter our nationality, ethnicity, or political persuasionthe monster is us. Hades Roman name: Pluto. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at [email protected]. Howard Thurman Books An Introductory Reading Guide. Excerpt. Reading this for research for a paper I am writing for a creative nonfiction class for college, but what an interesting book regardless! An unexpected guilty pleasure! A well informed, thoughtful, and indeed frightening angle of vision to a persistent and compelling American desire to be entertained by the grotesque and the horrific. We can anticipate either alien salvation or judgment from beyond. Salem witches, frontier wilderness beasts, freak show oddities, alien invasions, Freddie Krueger. The second edition of Monsters leads readers deeper into Americas tangled past to show how monsters continue to haunt contemporary American ideology. Monsters and American History W. Scott Poole offers many unique explanations for the creation and story telling of monsters in his essayMonsters in America.Poole examines the cultural history of the monster and how it intersects with American history. Bloodshed and hatred are universals in human nature and Pooles book is a very unsettling history of its American manifestation. 1945-1960 2.) I appreciated that in this second edition he shows how our language of the monstrous has played a role in instances like the police shootings of unarmed black people and how visions of dread play into Donald Trump's rhetoric. Separated by significant eras in American history, a reader gets a clear picture of how the definition of a monster changes depending on the cultural and political events of an era. Wed love to have you back! Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. Michelle Shannon is licensed under a History is horror. is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app. Poole summarizes, Perhaps our own beliefs about monsters and their intractable nature help to produce the monsters we fear the most (164). Monsters in America is an important contribution, and it will be enjoyed by literary and cultural historians alike. I thought this was gonna be about different monsters from American folklore. In "Monstrous beginnings," the introductory chapter of "Monsters in America: Our Historical, Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting" by W. Scott Poole, the author makes an argument, about how monsters were not only used as entertainment, but were also used as an excuse to, justify the offenses done to the Native Americans as well as the slaves brought from Africa by, the European settlers. You can find more scary stories from him on Twitter: @monstersamerica. During the robbery, Aguinaldo Nesbitt, the fifty-five-year-old owner of the store, was killed. However, his interpretations and implications are nothing less than threatening to whatever status quo our authorities would prefer us to maintain. But then, I dislike any historical book that loses its sense of historical relativity as well as any book about phenomena that automatically assumes a phenomenon is false and therefore ripe for being disproved and easily rationalized away. Salem witches, frontier wilderness beasts, freak show oddities, alien invasions, Freddie Krueger. Imprint: Baylor University Press. There he teaches courses on monsters, pop culture, and American history. 62 reviews Salem witches, frontier wilderness beasts, freak show oddities, alien invasions, Freddie Krueger. You can view our. However, this book was FABULOUS! Poole argues that "Monstrous metaphors in American historical life have a way of becoming realthey are intertwined with attitudes and social structures that make the monster possible. Poole does justice to judgment; the focus of some horror films. OBrien reminds jurors of reasonable doubt and states firmly that Steves guilt has not been proven. Acknowledgements: Thank you to Kelly Hughes from Dechant-Hughes for my review copy! Excellent examination of horror movies evolution through the years and also how societal happenings influence the movies at the time they are made. Scholars will argue over interpretation because that is what scholars do. I. Poole is also a Professor of History at the College of Charleston where he teaches courses on monsters in American history, Satan in folk belief and pop culture and the history of religion and race in American life . Frankenstein (1931) happens when somebody tries to make a more perfect human. Please wait while we process your payment. Dracula (1931) is based on the fear of foreigners and disease. In his comments on the 1931 "Frankenstein" W. Scott Poole, relates that the idea of the "abnormal brain" that Fritz grabs for Henry Frankenstein being the cause of the monster's murderous mentality being a reflection of the "scientific rascism" of the day. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at [email protected]. She tells the jury that James King and Steve Harmon, along with two other criminals, robbed a drugstore. Monsters in America is W. Scott Poole's interpretive history. Paperback; 9781481308823; Published: July 2018; $34.99. Date. Mythology: Character List | SparkNotes W. Scott Poole, Monsters arrived in 2011and now they are back. At the very end, Poole implies that for what has gone before, it could very well get worse. Steve also states that he was not at the drugstore on the day of the crime but was walking around thinking about his movie. If it bleeds, it reads. He is also author of a number of books, including most recently How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (Brazos Press, 2019). Monsters in America Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting. For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more! He compares himself with the other prisoners. Why are we scared of this person? is always a question behind each chapter and Poole is careful to never reduce it purely to matters of sociology or psychology while still using those tools of analysis. Analysis The monster tells Victor:"You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being." Victor refuses and then later relents to the monster's wishes. Solely focused on the horrors, readers would think that no Christian or church stood against the aberration of Scriptural teaching; but such was the case with missionaries and abolitionists. Subject I have a lot of interest in and the author seems to have done a lot of work/research. We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country. Sometimes it can end up there. The book's unusual range is one of its contributions; its freshness of juxtaposition is another. With Monsters in America, W. Scott Poole has given us a guidebook for a journey into nightmare territory. OBrien follows and reminds the jury that the State has not proved any of its charges against Steve. on 50-99 accounts. Review: Monsters in America by W. Scott Poole 20% Conflicting anxieties about race, class, gender, sexuality, religious beliefs, science, and politics manifest as haunting beings among the populace. For Poole Halloween means more trick than treat; we discover that the monsters are us. Learn how your comment data is processed. I found the book interesting and informative, it's brief but gives you just enough to perhaps to look further on your own. Other times Poole relies too heavily on social interpreters for his connections. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers. Unfortunately, however, the writing just reads as super amateurish and unnatural--to the point where your brain feels exhausted after slogging through only a couple pages. that Poole have used to describe the events of . James King has his own lawyer, Asa Briggs. Copyright 2023 That's What She Read. . Interesting as a surface-level exploration of "Monster Theory". 2715 North Charles StreetBaltimore, Maryland, USA 21218. This proven textbook also studies the social location of contemporary horror films, exploring, for example, how Get Out emerged from the context of the Black Lives Matter movement. Suppose someone wanted to trace American history through the common coffee cup. Simplistic and not incredibly thoughtful, but useful for my purposes, Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2012. (1 page) Students will compose a summary of the chapter, highlighting the key elements of Poole's text. Steve Harmon, a Black sixteen-year-old, sits in his jail cell and writes in his notebook. Based on new findings and bursting with new interpretations, it offers newcomers and old fans of the America's great horror writer new insight into his life, work, and continuing influence. Excellent study of the machinery of monsters and their meaning in American history. Wed love to have you back! Bram Stoker Award finalist W. Scott Poole is the author of numerous books and articles on monsters and mayhem in popular culture. Design by Booyah Creative. Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2014. From Victorian-era mad scientists to modern-day serial killers, new monsters appear as American society evolves, paralleling fluctuating challenges to the cultural status quo. By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy. Briggs presents his defense of King. Marilynne Robinson 10 Freely Available Essays! This item: Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting by W. Scott Poole Paperback $34.99 The Monster Theory Reader by Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock Paperback $45.11 On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears by Stephen T. Asma Paperback $28.95 What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?
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