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Frankenstein’S Creature: Monstrous Chicken Or Grotesque Egg?, Alexandria B. Acero

Gettysburg College Headquarters

Some scholars believe that due to the negligence of Victor in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein the creature became an attention-craving murderous monster. Other scholars believe that the unaffectionate and unnatural way Victor birthed the creature caused his monstrous form. The argument over “Nature versus Nurture” in relation to the creations is irrelevant, however. The creature is only pushed away by Victor due to his hideousness which stems from the environment in which the creature was born. Victor’s societal view on nature and its connection to womanly attributes creates a paradox of a loveless creation and an affection-craving creature within the novel.

Friends Of Musselman Library Newsletter Fall 2021 - Special Supplement, Musselman Library

Friends of Musselman Library Newsletter

What’s Special about Special Collections? (Robin Wagner)

Rare Books: Cooper Fund Supports First Editions (Carolyn Sautter)

Manuscripts and Letters: Letter-Writing Seminar Draws from Many Eras (Magdalena Sánchez)

Almanacs: Colonial America Comes Alive with Poor Richard’s (Timothy Shannon)

Maps: Geography Sparks Discussion

Asian Art: Students Get Hands-on Curatorial Experience

Photographs: Photographs Transport Students to Another Time (Shannon Egan)

Posters: Wartime Attitudes Revealed through Propaganda Posters (Jill Titus)

Artifacts: Monsters Break the Ice

• Policing the Boundaries of the Possible (Mercedes Valmisa Oviedo)

Bookmaking: Old Technology Blends with Digital Humanities

Conservation: Pennsylvania College Class of 1854 Gets a Facelift (Mary Wootton)

Friends Of Musselman Library Newsletter Spring 2021, Musselman Library

Friends of Musselman Library Newsletter

From the Dean (Robin Wagner)

Library News

• DEI Read & Learn
• Library and Gallery Collaborate on Grant
• Research 101 Connects with First-year Students
• Exhibit: Change Happens Here
• Exhibit: From Mud Hole to Musselman
• Exhibit: Stargazing
• Library Cookies

History of Library Locations

First Library

Flashback: Quarantine

Witness Books (Beth Carmichael)

Flashback: Censorship

Schmucker Library Memories (Michael J. Birkner)

Library Leadership

• John H. Knickerbocker (1929-1959) (Amy Lucadamo)
• Lillian Smoke (1959-1974) (Sallie Harris Kahler '72)
• James Richards (1974-1983) (David T. Hedrick)
• Willis Hubbard (1983-1994) (Robin Wagner)

Hugh Newell Jacobsen: Traditionalist and Innovator (Devin McKinney)

Move In Memories

• Meaningful Community Building Event (Ron Couchman) …

Memory, Identity, And World Ii In Australia: Liz Reed's "Bigger Than Gallipoli", Christopher T. Lough

Student Publications

This paper is structured as a review of Liz Reed's 2004 study Bigger Than Gallipoli: War, History, and Memory in Australia, an analysis of the Australian government's public commemoration of the Second World War from 1994-95. Critiquing certain aspects of Reed's methodology, I bring in some of Jill Ker Conway's insights on Australian identity from her 1989 memoir The Road from Coorain, as well as other scholars of historical memory and political theory. While Reed makes some important insights on the merits and deficiencies of political nostalgia, I argue that her book represents a missed opportunity overall.

The Myth Of Neutrality: Linguistic Influence In The Integration Of Nonbinary Identities In English And German, Zoe A. Philippou

Student Publications

Grammatical structures that differ among languages can affect the way people of different cultures think, speak, and behave. Because of its close ties with identity, language also has the ability to manipulate the way people view themselves and others. Ethnographic research among English and German speakers shows that these differing grammatical structures affect the integration into society of nonbinary, intersex, and agender individuals through a grammatical predisposition for gender neutral language. As such, the means of increasing social integration of these groups also differs between linguistic and cultural borders.

After The Golem: Teaching Golems, Kabbalah, Exile, Imagination, And Technological Takeover., Temma F. Berg

English Faculty Publications

The golem is an elusive creature. From a religious perspective it enacts spirit entering matter, a creation story of potential salvation crossed with reprehensible arrogance. As a historical narrative, the golem story becomes a tale of Jewish powerlessness and oppression, of pogroms and ghettoization, of assimilation and exile, and sometimes, of renewal. As the subject of a course in women, gender and sexuality studies, the golem narrative can be seen as a relentless questioning of otherness and identity and as a revelation of the complex intersectionalities of gender, class, sexuality, race, disability, and ethnicity. As a philosophical motif, the ambiguous …

Friends Of Musselman Library Newsletter Spring 2019, Musselman Library

Friends of Musselman Library Newsletter

From the Dean (Robin Wagner)

Library News

• Don't Judge a book by its Cover: The Human Library
• You Can Come Home Again!
• Exhibits
• Recalling WWII at Home (Devin McKinney and Micheal Birkner)
• Library Works to Alleviate Textbook Misery (Janelle Wertzberger)
• Books Sent to African Library (Piper O'Keefe '17)
• Musselman Makeover

Paying it Forward (Sierra Green '11 and Olivia Simmet '18)

Student Paper Tops 1800 Downloads (Dayna Seeger '15)

Buy the Book

What's so Funny (Sunni DeNicola)

Book Displays Offer Outreach Opportunities (Sunni DeNicola)

Honor With Books

Data Drives Collecting Decisions

Rare Discovery: Signed 1st Edition by Adam Smith

Pressed Within …

Farah Ali, Visiting Assistant Professor Of Spanish, Musselman Library, Farah Ali

Next Page

In this Next Page column, Farah Ali, Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish, shares why she celebrates “the good, the bad, and the weird” in her reading life, which writer’s grocery lists she would read if given the chance, and why it’s important to read outside of your comfort zone.

Uncovering Shakespeare's Sisters In Special Collections And College Archives, Musselman Library, Suzanne J. Flynn, Lauren J. Browning, Madison G. Harvey, Hannah C. Lindert, Emma J. Poff, Cameron N. D'Amica, Teagan Lewis, Merlyn Maldonado Lopez, Audrey J. Nikolich, Mariah L. Beck, Phoebe M. Doscher, Chloe Dougherty, Hana Huskic, Samantha L. Burr, Elizabeth F. D'Arcangelo, Logan Shippee

Student Publications

Foreword by Professor Suzanne J. Flynn

I have taught the first-year seminar, Shakespeare’s Sisters, several times, and over the years I have brought the seminar’s students to the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. There, the wonderful librarians have treated the students to a special exhibit of early women’s manuscripts and first editions, beginning with letters written by Elizabeth I and proceeding through important works by seventeen and eighteenth-century women authors such as Aemelia Lanyer, Anne Finch, Aphra Behn, and Mary Wollstonecraft. This year I worked with Carolyn Sautter, the Director of Special Collections and College Archives, to give my …

Jane Eyre: The Bridge Between Christianity And Folklore, Teagan Lewis

Student Publications

Charlotte Brontё’s acclaimed novel, Jane Eyre, was first marketed as an autobiography. The story, told from the point of view of a poor orphan girl, takes on a narrative similar to that of a fairytale. In this way, a reader may find difficulty in believing this novel to be a work of nonfiction. Charlotte Brontё employs aspects of both Christianity and fantasy in her novel not to discourage her readers from believing its validity but rather to emphasize how even poor orphan girls like Jane have forces of good guiding them. Jane Eyre is fictional, yet the hardships she …

Jane Eyre And Education, Cameron N. D'Amica

Student Publications

Charlotte Brontë created the first female Bildungsroman in the English language when she wrote Jane Eyre in the mid-nineteenth century. Brontë’s novel explores the development of a young girl through her educational experiences. The main character, Jane Eyre, receives a formal education as a young orphan and eventually becomes both a teacher and a governess. Jane’s life never strays far from formal education, regardless of whether she is teaching or being taught. In each of Jane’s experiences, she learns invaluable lessons, both in and out of the classroom environment. Jane excels in the sphere of formal education, which allows her …

Review Of Golem: Modern Wars And Their Monsters By Maya Barzilai, Temma F. Berg

English Faculty Publications

The golem crosses many borders. A popular culture icon and an enduring image of creative power, its hybridity contributes to its elusive nature. What it is and what it means shifts over time. Maya Barzilai's Golem: Modern Wars and Their Monsters takes a unique approach. Deeply interdisciplinary, as one must be to explore such a complex and paradoxical figure, and drawing on religious, literary, cinematic, and historical contexts, Barzilai weaves a rich tapestry of golem narratives. All the while, Barzilai keeps a clear eye on the golem's ongoing association with war, seeing its birth in the clay trenches of World …

An Exploration Of Female Sexuality, Class Status, And Art In Hardy’S Short Stories, Erin M. Lanza

Student Publications

In this paper, I examine Hardy’s treatment of female sexuality as mediated by art in two short stories: “The Fiddler of the Reels” and “An Imaginative Woman.” Given Hardy’s role as an artist, his noted compassion for women, and his interest in Victorian attitudes toward sexuality, my analysis of these topics in his short stories is particularly relevant. Hardy’s investment in class issues is also pertinent, as I consider how Hardy uses his heroines’ relationships with art to underline the distinct disadvantages of lower-class women. While Ella, the middle-class heroine of “An Imaginative Woman,” uses poetry to channel stagnant sensual …

Temma Berg, Professor Of English, Musselman Library, Temma F. Berg

Next Page

In this first Next Page column of 2018, Temma Berg, Professor of English, shares which texts have had a lasting influence on her teaching career and scholarship, how a chance meeting created a connection between her and one of her favorite childhood literary characters – Anne of Green Gables, which book she likes to give as a gift to friends who are retiring, and why she might just prefer to open another book rather than host a literary dinner party.

What About Susan? Gender In Narnia, Emma G. Schilling

Student Publications

Critics of C.S. Lewis argue that his misogyny is present in his portrayal of female characters. While Lewis himself was self-contradictory in his attitudes towards women, his depictions of female characters in The Chronicles of Narnia are both realistic and progressive. Both the male and female characters throughout the series demonstrate individual strengths and weaknesses that are not dependent on their gender. The criticism against Lewis focuses on his treatment of Susan, especially regarding her being the only child not to return to Narnia at the end of the series. Unlike what the critics argue, however, Susan is not excluded …

The Poetry Of Christina Rossetti And Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Same Femme, Different Fate, Carolyn A. Kirsch

Student Publications

Siblings Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Christina Rossetti both lived during the Victorian era and wrote poetry which epitomizes the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Although they were related, these two poets were drastically different, and their differences are evident in their poetry. Dante Gabriel was infatuated with beautiful women and many of his poems express sexual desire, while Christina was intensely devoted to God and many of her poems provide moral instruction. However, these poets both make femme fatales the subjects of their poems “Body’s Beauty,” “The Card-Dealer,” “The World,” and “Babylon the Great.” This paper analyzes the different ways in which Dante …

You've Gotta Read This: Summer Reading At Musselman Library (2017), Musselman Library

You’ve Gotta Read This: Summer Reading at Musselman Library

Each year, Musselman Library asks Gettysburg College faculty, staff, and administrators to help create a suggested summer reading list. Our goal is to inspire students and the rest of our community to take time in the summer to sit back, relax, and read.

With the 2017 collection, we again bring together recommendations from across our campus—the books, movies, TV shows, and podcasts that have meant something special to us over the past year. 118 faculty, administrators and staff offer up 218 recommendations.

We include five special features this year. Two of our regular columnists return once again: James Udden and …

In Solidarity, Musselman Library, Salma Monani, Sarah M. Principato, Dave Powell, Brent C. Talbot, Charles L. Weise, Bruce A. Larson, Scott Hancock, Mckinley E. Melton, David S. Walsh, Jennifer Q. Mccary, Kristina G. Chamberlin

Next Page

This edition of Next Page is a departure from our usual question and answer format with a featured campus reader. Instead, we asked speakers who participated in the College’s recent Student Solidarity Rally (March 1, 2017) to recommend readings that might further our understanding of the topics on which they spoke.

Friends Of Musselman Library Newsletter Fall 2016, Musselman Library

Friends of Musselman Library Newsletter

From the Dean (Robin Wagner)

Library Exhibits

GettDigital: Sports Reels

Research Reflections: The Gettysburg Superstar (Devin McKinney)

Remembering 9/12

Will Power: 400 Years After the Bard

Treasure Island (Robin Wagner)

Margin of Error

A Call to Activism in the Summer of '65 (Richard Hutch '67)

Digital Scholarship: The New Frontier (Julia Wall '19, Lauren White '18, Keira Koch '19)

Scrapbooks and Photo Albums: Snapshots of History (Clara A. Baker '30)

Soldiers' Scrapbooks (Laura Bergin '17)

A Book of Dreams (Alexa Schreier)

Who Do You Think You Are? (Timothy Shannon)

From Professor-Student to Collaborators (Jesse Siegel '16)

The Mysterious Easel Monument …

In Search Of Health, Freedom & Identity: An Analysis Of Isabella Bird's And Margaret Fountaine's Renovation Of Self Through Travel & Travel Writing, Mikki L. Stacey

Student Publications

“An Analysis of Isabella Bird’s and Margaret Fountaine’s Renovation of Self through Travel & Travel Writing” tracks three interdependent facets of identity that become apparent in the travel literature of Victorian ladies Isabella Lucy Bird and Margaret Fountaine. These facets are:

• the socialized self (the identity developed as a result of the society in which one grows up)
• the renovated self (the identity developed through interacting with and adapting to other cultures )
• and the edited self (the identity one creates when she writes about her experiences—for my thesis specifically, the identity the author creates to reconcile her socialized and …

You've Gotta Read This: Summer Reading At Musselman Library (2016), Musselman Library

You’ve Gotta Read This: Summer Reading at Musselman Library

Each year, Musselman Library asks Gettysburg College faculty, staff, and administrators to help create a suggested summer reading list. Our goal is to inspire students and the rest of our community to take time in the summer to sit back, relax, and read.

With the 2016 collection, we again bring together recommendations from across our campus—the books, movies, TV shows, and even musicals that have meant something special to us over the past year. 124 faculty, administrators and staff offer up a record number of 226 recommendations.

We include five special features this year. Two of our regular columnists are …

The Subversion Of Traditional Gender Roles In Thomas Hardy’S 'The Mayor Of Casterbridge', Emma S. Shaw

Student Publications

This essay examines Thomas Hardy's understanding and subversion of gender roles in The Mayor of Casterbridge by focusing on the novel's two most prominent characters and their respective progressions over the course of the narrative. Michael Henchard’s hypermasculine behavior and eventual undoing is juxtaposed with Elizabeth-Jane’s active rejection of the male gaze, as well as her unique role as a proxy for the reader. In his 1886 novel, Hardy questions the legitimacy of gender expectations by acknowledging and subsequently undermining patriarchal traditions.

“One Feeling In Such A Solitude”: Representations Of Love And Marriage In The Works Of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley And Percy Bysshe Shelley, Jenna E. Fleming

Student Publications

The early nineteenth century was characterized by a dynamic literary discussion and debate over the nature and effects of human relationships. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley, two of the foremost writers of the period, experimented with and drew conclusions about differing images of marriage within their works. Making use of this public literary genre, the couple engaged in a conversation with one another as they explored and refined their views and judgments of relationships including their own. The title of the paper is taken from the seventh chapter of the third volume of Frankenstein, in which Victor Frankenstein, …

Selected Nick Adams Stories: Ernest Hemingway’S Sense Of Place, Brendan M. Raleigh

Student Publications

This thesis examines how Ernest Hemingway’s use of natural imagery and physical elements in several of his semi-autobiographical Nick Adams stories offer insights into his character, especially Nick Adams. It analyzes Adams’s interactions with the physical world and compares these interactions with his interpersonal relationships and his own development. The short stories that this thesis examines include “Indian Camp,” “The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife,” “Now I Lay Me,” “The End of Something,” “The Three Day Blow,” and “Big Two-Hearted River.” In these stories, Hemingway uses the natural world as a defense mechanism for Nick Adams, a character who turns …

The Return Of The Poor Man: Jude The Obscure And Late Victorian Socialism, Suzanne J. Flynn

English Faculty Publications

This essay examines Hardy's decision at the end of his career as a novelist to return to the "striking socialistic" themes which had defined his first (unpublished) novel. Jude the Obscure is Hardy's exploration of the spiritual and intellectual deprivation that attends the condition of the working-class poor. While the novel was reviled at the time as blatantly "anti-marriage," its fiercest polemic is reserved for the soul-destroying economic and social systems which continued to keep the class structure rigidly intact. While Hardy was never a socialist himself, his final novel has much in common with the numerous socialist and radical …

Suzanne Flynn, Associate Professor Of English, Musselman Library, Suzanne J. Flynn

Next Page

In this new Next Page column, Suzanne Flynn, Associate Professor of English, confesses which of the “classics” she hasn’t read, shares which Victorian poets and novelists are among her favorites, and explains how her students connect with literature from the 19th century.

You've Gotta Read This: Summer Reading At Musselman Library (2015), Musselman Library

You’ve Gotta Read This: Summer Reading at Musselman Library

Each year Musselman Library asks Gettysburg College faculty, staff, and administrators to help create a suggested summer reading list to inspire students and the rest of our campus community to take time in the summer to sit back, relax, and read. These summer reading picks are guaranteed to offer much adventure, drama, and fun!

With the 2015 collection, we again bring together recommendations from across the Gettysburg College campus—the books, movies, TV shows, graphic novels and even podcasts that have meant something special to us over the past year. Ninety faculty, administrators and staff offer up a list of 175 …

Peering Into The Jezebel Archetype In African American Culture And Emancipating Her From Hyper-Sexuality: Within And Beyond James Baldwin’S 'Go Tell It On The Mountain' And Alice Walker’S 'The Color Purple', Zakiya A. Brown

Student Publications

Literary authors and performing artists are redefining the image of the Jezebel archetype from a negative stereotype to an empowering persona. The reformation of the Jezebel’s identity and reputation, from a manipulating stereotype to an uplifting individual may not be a common occurrence, but the Jezebel archetype as a positive figure has earned a dignified position in literature and in reality. Jezebel archetypes wear their sexuality proudly. Her sultriness may be the first aspect of her identity that readers see, but readers must be cautious not to overlook her merit and moral standards as a character that has the potential …

Struggling Towards Salvation: Narrative Structure In James Baldwin's Go Tell It On The Mountain, Darren Spirk

Student Publications

This paper argues that John Grimes, the protagonist of James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain, represents the struggle inherent in the path towards salvation and holds the potential ability to break down the binaries that create this struggle. Of particular interest is a similarity in the narrative framing of John’s story with Jesus Christ's, as told in the four Gospels. The significance of both their symbolic power is dependent on a multitude of narrative viewpoints, in John’s case the tragic pasts offered of his aunt, father and mother in the novel’s medial section. Their stories inform the …

Radost Rangelova, Assistant Professor Of Spanish, Musselman Library, Radost A. Rangelova

Next Page

In our newest Next Page column, featured reader Radost Rangelova, Assistant Professor of Spanish, shares with us what she reads for fun and the course it inspired (she had to warn the students NOT to read ahead!); one of the influential works that solidified her passion for the study of gender and the cultural construction of space; and her recommendation of a contemporary Colombian author to read next – perhaps something to add to your holiday wish list?