As these instances make clear, the creature works tounderstandself andothers bymeans of interspecies contact: identification, taxonomy, andanalogy
I think this sentence would be the topic sentence of the paragraph, as it shows how the creature wants to understand himself and how he is different and similar to the rest of society. It gives an insight into what the rest of the paragraph is going to talk about, and it also gives us a idea of what the creature could be thinking.
he creature’s first fieldnotes replicate the structure andterms of Englishtranslations of Buffon’s multi-volume Natural History(begunin1749). As hecomes intoconsciousness, he moves fromvague descriptions of “pleasantsound” and “little wingedanimals”toaccurate ornithologicalclassifications—“I foundthat the sparrow utterednone but harshnotes, whilstthose of the blackbirdandthrushwere sweet andenticing”; “sweeter thanthevoice of the thrushor the nightingale” (68, 69, 72)—thatreplicate thetaxonomic sequence of Buffon’s volume, whose first three headings were “Ofthe Sparrow Kind,” “The Blackbird,” and“The Thrush” (“The Nightingale”appears sixth). Shelley also aligns the creature’s empirical observations withthose appearing inBuffon’s Natural History. His “sweet and enticing”descriptions of the blackbird and thrush allude to Buffon’s respective entriesonthe blackbirdandthe “sweet modulationof his tuneful accents,” as well asthe thrushthat “sings most sweetly” (2:20, 25). WhenconsideredalongsideBuffon’s comments that the sparrow lacks “anypeculiar beauty” and “anymelodyof song,” the creature’s remarkthat “thesparrow utterednone butharshnotes” becomes a tragic allegory. AccordingtoBuffon, the sparrow’sapparentdefects do“not arise fromwant of powersinthis birdtoimitateothers, but because he onlyattends tothe parental note” (2:184-85). Lackingeventhe “parental note” that Buffonassociates withthe sparrow’s failedmimicry, the creature seeks “toimitate the pleasant songs of the birds,” butis “unable” (69). Frankensteinlaterliteralizes this cross-species comparisonwhenthe creature depicts his ownvoice interms of the sparrow’s “harshnotes”: “Myvoice, although harsh, hadnothingterrible init” (89). Bycontrast, throughthe creature’s characterizationof Safie’s song—that “flowedin a richcadence, swellingor dyingaway, like a nightingale” (79)—Shelleyapproximates Buffon’s classificationof the nightingale’s “melodious voice”:“now stealingoff intoa different cadence, now interruptedbya break” (2:35-36).
Although the paragraph only references one other book, we can still see how 'Natural History' impacted the creation of the creature. This paragraph is all about how the vocabulary and the creature view of the things around him changed throughout the book. It becomes more advanced the more time passes, thus leading to the creature we see at the very end of Frankenstein.
(“Romantic Exemplarity” 232)
In this paragraph the reference to 'Romantic Exemplarity' is used as the background information as to why and how the creature works to understand himself and the others around him. How he himself represents the stitched together part of society and people.
As these instances make clear, the creature works tounderstandself andothers bymeans of interspecies contact: identification, taxonomy, andanalogy.Frankensteintherefore provides further confirmationof Theresa M. Kelley’sclaimthat “Romantic attentiontotaxonomy” became “a vehicle for askingquestions about parts andwholes,the problemof species, andalienormonstrous kinds” (“Romantic Exemplarity” 232). If Kelley’s Romantic plantsconduct “clandestine marriages,” blur animal andmineral lines, andexert “thepull of singularityagainst supposedsecure categories” (Clandestine5, 8), thensotoo does the creature’s anomalous formputscientificsystems underpressure. Positioninghimas workingtodefine the limits of his species, Shelleyassigns the creature ataxonomic model that rejects the hierarchyof the greatchainof being. Noless thanKelley’s monstrous, mimickingplants, thecreature’s bodypresents “a material invitationtofigure” that cuts acrossbotanical andliterarylines (Clandestine13). His composite form
This paragraph focuses on the monster in a way of self discovery, and discovery of species and the others around him. It explains how Shelly presented the creature in a certain way to display him as parts of people, but the creature comes to the idea that he is whole.
As hecomes intoconsciousness, he moves fromvague descriptions of “pleasantsound” and “little wingedanimals”toaccurate ornithologicalclassifications—
I think this would be the topic sentence for this paragraph, because it highlights the idea that will be talked about throughout it. Bringing up how the creature goes from basic descriptions of the world around him, to the advanced smooth talking creature we see at the end of the book.
Natural History
He uses this outside source of 'Natural History' to show the development and provide background as to how the creatures vocabulary and thought process became so advanced without much help from other people Reading on he talks more and more about how 'Natural History' would have affected the creature out look on life, and his view on different animals that surrounded him.