Tom Standage states that, “keeping commonplace books are a form of self-definition”. My commonplace book, I think, is a thorough representation of myself and my values. The majority of my commonplace book contains a mixture of written and visual entries. Visual entries tend to take photos from popular media to describe a trend in how monsters have been portrayed throughout the years while written entries analyze the similarities and differences of works of fiction to modern counterparts. In terms of sources, I tried to stick to general images that most people could find with a google search as well as quotes from the book. This way, I feel my commonplace book entries are geared more towards a general audience rather than an scientific or literary audience. As I consider myself to be a well-rounded person, I enjoy the fact that my entries are geared more towards “common” people, as the lack of specificity allows for a wider audience to understand the material.
One entry that I believe really encapsulates my values has to be CPB#7. This entry focuses on comparing Oscar Wilde’s writing to his own speaking voice. I took a passage from chapter 10 of The Picture of Dorian Gray and compared it to a quote from Oscar Wilde during his 1895 trial regarding his homosexuality. Between the two, I found that there were multiple references to Michelangelo and Shakespeare, as well as the sentiment that “these passions were not understood by the world”. Both passages make a point that what is being discuss is really, truly love in a pure form. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I found that the messages in both written and verbal accounts were accurate in a modern sense. I also think that, as a writer, these comparisons bring up the classic debate of separating the art from the artist. There are very clear comparisons between the two examples, so can one separate Oscar Wilde from The Picture of Dorian Gray? This is a question that I, as a writer, need to consider as I need to bear the responsibility of being distant but not separated from my work.
Another entry that I think represents me is CPB#4. In this entry, I looked at an article that discussed a small-pox outbreak in a Catholic school for girls in Manchester during 1888. I looked at this incident through a feminist lens, as there were many feminist themes present in Jane Eyre. A quote from my analysis sums up my thoughts regarding the matter, “Women were often neglected and thought of as second-class citizens, so it doesn’t seem too far-fetched to reason that regulations and health requirements of schools for girls weren’t held to high standards. In her own way, Bronte may have included sections of Jane Eyre to push for better health care standards for women. Even though the event at St. Joseph’s school happened after the publication of Jane Eyre, it can still be reasoned that outbreaks like this and at Lowood were relatively common. Regarding Jane Eyre‘s feminist theme, I think health-care for women is also an important aspect of the novel that doesn’t seem to be touched upon often while analyzing this work”. As a woman and feminist, I am deeply concerned about how our world progresses in terms of equal rights. Learning about this history, in my opinion, is as important as advocating for change. If we don’t understand the past, then we can’t understand the future and how our policies effect the world around us.
CPB#4 also looks at craft elements that Charlotte Bronte may have employed while writing Jane Eyre. Craft and writing techniques are something that I looked at extensively within my QCQ’s. However, I tried to separate my QCQ’s and my CPB’s in order to get a better sense of the Victorian culture/mindset while looking at each novel. I think out of all my entries, I enjoyed discussing CPB#5 the most. This entry was simply a video of David Hasselhoff singing “Confrontation” for the Jekyll and Hyde musical. Of this, I said, “I think it speaks to how the themes of duality and inner monstrosity are adaptable into many artistic forms. This piece also shows how timeless the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is, from the duality of nature to the true definition of what is good and what is evil”. Reflecting on this entry, I also think that making “monster” stories into musicals is a great example of how adaptable these stories are into our modern culture. We have musical adaptations, movies, TV shows, and there was even a manga adaptation of Jane Eyre. This entry made me look into just how many forms monster stories can take, and the short answer is this: Monster stories are everywhere in our lives because they are so malleable to contexts outside of their written ones. Overall, I enjoyed creating my Commonplace book entries as well as writing my QCQ’s as I feel I got to explore topics that were important to me and apply them in a different historical and cultural setting.
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