Monsters and Individuals
with Superhuman Strength: Fact or Fiction?
According to
Merriam-Webster’s definition of creature and monster, they DO exist. Given
the context in which we are studying them, they do not. Webster’s
says the definition for creature is something either animate or inanimate: as a
lower animal, especially; A. farm animal, B. human being, C. a being of
anomalous or uncertain aspect or nature. Monster is defined as:
1. A. An animal or plant of abnormal form or structure. B. one who
deviates from normal or acceptable behavior or character. 2. A
threatening force. 3. A. an animal of strange
or terrifying shape. B. one usually large for its kind.
What are your reasons
for believing that such monstrous creatures as Grendel and men of superhuman
strength like Beowulf did or did not exist? While there is biblical and scientific proof
that giants did and do exist, along with those that possess superhuman
strength, all others are just complete fabrications of the mind. Whether
it is a figment of someone’s mind or just good schrooms monstrous creatures
just do not exist.
If they never lived, why
did people of this early era compose stories about such creatures? (Consider
Greek mythology and the Bible.) Bible: 1. Samson – superhuman strength. 2.
David and Goliath (the Philistine giant). Greek MYTHology says it
all – MYTH. Why people would create such stories can only be
explained by: It Was Just My Imagination!!! What would
you really want to hear about? The fact that I sat on the lake for 6
hours fishing and got one little nibble or that while I was fishing this big
lake monster grabbed my line and dragged me all over the lake.
Do people of today
subscribe to any superstitious beliefs which find their way into modern
stories, novels, plays, movies, and poetry? Give examples. Friday the 13th, The
Boogeyman, vampires, werewolves, Clash of the Titans. Lots of movies
have made various creatures seam very real, but there is no real evidence that
they exist now or ever.
So are there monsters
and creatures? Yes by definition. Are there monstrous creatures?
NO!!
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Group Presentation
Miranda - Presentation of Video from YouTube
Gerald
- Overview of Introductory Paragraph
According to Merriam-Webster’s definition of creature and monster, they DO exist. Given the context in which we are studying them, they do not. Webster’s says the definition for creature is something either animate or inanimate: as a lower animal, especially; A. farm animal, B. human being, C. a being of anomalous or uncertain aspect or nature. Monster is defined as: 1. A. An animal or plant of abnormal form or structure. B. one who deviates from normal or acceptable behavior or character. 2. A threatening force. 3. A. an animal of strange or terrifying shape. B. one usually large for its kind.
Miranda
- Overview of First Body Paragraph: “What are your reasons for believing that such monstrous creatures
as Grendel and men of superhuman strength like Beowulf did or did not exist?”
While there is biblical and scientific proof that giants did and do exist, along with those that possess superhuman strength, all others are just complete fabrications of the mind. Whether it is a figment of someone’s mind or just good schrooms monstrous creatures just do not exist.
Brooke
- Overview of Second Body Paragraph: “If they never lived, why did people of this early
era compose stories about such creatures? (Consider Greek mythology
and the Bible.)”
Giants
were real, as there are several references to them in the Bible. However,
“monsters” are perhaps creatures that people have come up with for interesting
tales or to explain reasons for their fears (e.g. the boogeyman for their fear
of dark places or closets). There have even been some ideas that they were
created long ago to explain dinosaur fossils. Here is an excerpt from an
article that does very well at explaining this:
A
growing school of thought in recent years has suggested ancient man stumbling
across fossils could have inspired fantastic legends of dragons, monsters, gods
and heroes from the gryphon to the Cyclops to Hercules and the Norse giants.
Adrienne
Mayor, a research scholar in classics and history of science at Stanford
University, California, led the way in exploring the links between myths and
palaeontological remains by examining how the Ancient Greeks and Romans
interpreted gigantic fossils.
She
said: ‘We really don't know which came first, myths about monsters or heroes
that were larger than life or the observations of fossils. But it seems
intuitive that some observations of skeletal remains—skulls and claws and tusks
which looked really bizarre to people in antiquity—would have inspired some
myths.
“If
you had the myths already and then came across bones like this, then you will
immediately explain them by referring to your myth.”
One
example she uncovered was the story of the gryphon, which was said to have the
body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. It guarded gold in the
deserts of central Asia.
Mayor
traced this story to Scythian nomads, who searched and prospected for gold in
the deserts below the mountains of central Asia and had to pass through beds of
fossils of protoceratops, a horned dinosaur which had a beak and clawed legs.
She
said: “These are among the most well-preserved dinosaur fossils in the world,
so you would see the whole creature eroding out of soft sandstone and that
would be pretty eerie and scary.
“The
story the Scythians came up with was that these creatures are guarding the
gold. ...”
Other
examples include tales of Greek gods battling with giants and monsters, which
may have roots in finding the fossils of large extinct mammals such as
mammoths.
Dinosaurs
ranged from the gigantic planteaters to terrifying carnivores such as
tyrannosaurus rex, while a variety of mammals, reptiles and birds were also on
Earth during that era. These creatures continue to captivate modern-day
audiences as a favourite subject for the big and small screen.
Citation:
Duffy,
Judith. "Dragons And Monsters Gods And Heroes." Read 61.8 (2012):
20-22. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 6 June 2012.
Brooke
- Presentation of Pictures
“Cyclops” Compared to a Dwarf Elephant Skull
www.fogonazos.es
news.medill.northwestern.edu
“Griffin” or “Gryphon” Compared to a Protoceratops
earthscienceinmaine.wikispaces.com
www.flixya.com
“Loch Ness Monster” Compared to a Submerged Elephant
www.foxnews.com
www.cryptomundo.com
Gerald - Overview of
Third Body Paragraph: “Do people of today subscribe to any
superstitious beliefs which find their way into modern stories, novels, plays,
movies, and poetry? Give examples.”
Friday the 13th, The Boogeyman, vampires, werewolves, Clash of the Titans. Lots of movies have made various creatures seam very real, but there is no real evidence that they exist now or ever.
Gerald - Conclusion
So are there monsters and creatures? Yes by definition. Are there monstrous creatures? NO!!
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