Compare Chinese monster and American monster Essay - 1

Compare Chinese monster and American monster - Essay Example Although many Chinese still believe that Nian exists, it has never appeared in the community or to a human again. Today, many of the Chinese light fireworks, as well as beat drums and gongs to drive the monster away. Modern people living in major towns and cities are the most notorious with the annual Spring Festival in commemoration of Nian the monster (Wong 27). In addition, the day signifies what most Chinese consider the unprecedented breakthrough after some villagers successfully tamed a horrible, ferocious monster that intimidated, attacked or even killed innocent people. Incidentally, tribulations of the village and the ultimate breakthrough forms the basis of contemporary traditions and customs associated with beating of drums, wearing red outfit and lighting of fireworks. The two other articles focus on Momo, an American monster. Momo (also known as the Missouri Monster) is hairy and foul-smelling (Hamilton 16). In general, the key differences between Nian and Momo highlight the fundamental cultural variation between China and the United States of America. The Big Book of Missouri Ghost Stories (2013) by Troy Taylor examines and analyzes the circumstances leading to the discovery of Momo the Missouri Monster. Apart from Momo, the article analyzes various legends and ghostly tales of Missouri (Taylor 130). In addition, the article asserts that most of the legends and ghostly tales consist of a mystery, bloodshed, and tragedy. Taylor further states that copious other stories about Missouri have since been lost in time, hidden or remained secret. Although a number of legends seem to have significantly impacted villages, towns and states, Americans do not take them seriously unlike the Chinese (Taylor 130). Louisiana residents have never considered the day some residents purportedly saw Momo special in their cultural history. Nevertheless, a few have forgotten the mystery and tribulations surrounding the reports about sightings of the

Mary Shelley- Frankenstein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mary Shelley- Frankenstein - Essay Example However, one must ask him/herself whether all these experiments, explorations and research now are not as dangerous, or even more dangerous than those described in this novel. Victor Frankenstein, a young man, devastated by seeing his mother die is firmly resolved to study natural philosophy, particularly chemistry, with one purpose only: to find the secret to creation of life and preventing diseases from degrading, disintegrating, decaying of the human bodies, and maybe discover the secret to eternal life, or in other words to infuse life into an inanimate body. â€Å"†¦To examine the causes of life, we must first have recourse to death. I became acquainted with the science of anatomy, but this was not sufficient; I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body†¦My attention was fixed upon every object the most insupportable to the delicacy of the human feelings. I saw how the fine form of man was degraded and wasted; I beheld the corruption of death succeed to the blooming cheek of life; I saw how the worm inherited the wonders of the eye and brain. I paused, examining and analyzing all the minutiae of causation, as exe mplified in the change from life to death, and death to life, until from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me – a light so brilliant and wondrous, yet so simple, that while I became dizzy with the immensity of the prospect which it illustrated, I was surprised that among so many men of genius who had directed their inquiries towards the same science, that I alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret† (â€Å"Frankenstein†, chapter 4, p.p.28-29). Similarly, Robert Walton, the captain of a ship exploring the northernmost part of the earth and narrator of Victor’s story, is in a similar search of the â€Å"country with eternal light†, mentioned in his first letter to his sister. Eternal light should be understood as his own search of ultimate knowledge.