3U+Core+Novel+Frankenstein

**Frankenstein by Mary Shelley**

**Introductory Activity: Allusions** : Because the novel was written so long ago (200 years!) there are many references that may be lost to the modern reader. Some of these references are direct, while others are not. Rather than spend your time continually searching for explanations for the many allusions, you will simply come to the website and the work will be done for you. Each student will be responsible for posting a short explanation of their assigned allusion. This will be done through the discussion board on this page. Your explanation must be in your own words and contain links to the websites you used. Use scholarly sources whenever possible. No wikipedia, please.

Online text: No more "I forgot my book at school". Yay interweb!: [|text] Audio online: [|Librivox] Here is another online audio, but it is robot voice: [|Robot Voice]

Cumulative Activity: Here are the rubrics: 1. Video:



2. Cultural Evaluation:  3. Video Game instruction booklet and 4. Travel Map:

5. Ad:

Before Reading: Anticipation Guide: Respond to the following questions. Provide a brief explanation for each response

1. It is a parent’s job, more than society’s, to nurture his/her child. 2. With the advent of genetic engineering and “designer” babies, parents now have less important roles in the birth process. 3. All children are innately good. 4. Every child needs “mothering” in order to become “human.” 5. All parents love their children unconditionally, no matter how they look or act. 6. Children who are “deformed” physically or mentally should be isolated from society.

Walter James Miller's "The Future of Frankenstein": [|WJMiller]

**Frankenstein**

**Chapter Considerations**

**Introductory Material**

1. From the Introduction: Discuss the myth of Prometheus as it relates to the novel.

2. From the Introduction: Describe the concentric layers of the structure of the text. Use a diagram to help visualize its parts. Where have you seen a similar type of story construction before?

3. From the Chronology, p. XVII-XIX, discuss the bleak nature of Mary Shelley’s life from 1814-1822. Name specific events and the possible impact they might have on her life and work.

4. From Mary Shelley’s Introduction, 1831: How do you think Mary Shelley’s relationship with her husband might have influenced her and her work?

5. In Mary Shelley’s first vision of the story, and specifically the monster, she gives us clues as to how the monster was created. Provide specific details of this description.

6. Discuss what Shelley means when she writes: “The opinions which naturally spring from the character and situation of the hero are by no means to be conceived as existing always in my own convictions; nor is any inference justly to be drawn from the following pages as prejudicing any philosophical doctrine of whatever kind.”

**Section 1: Letters-Chapter 1**

1. Discuss the character of Robert Walton and provide evidence of his resolve to reach the North Pole.

2. What evidence of foreshadowing might there be in Letters II-III, which might suggest the fantastic story that is to follow?

3. Discuss the fast friendship between Walton and “The Stranger” (Victor Frankenstein). What might be considered ironic about this friendship?

4. Why does Victor eventually decide to tell Walton the story of his experiences?

5. Describe Victor’s childhood and the nature of his relationship with his sister, Elizabeth.

**Section 2: Chapter 2-4**

1. How does Victor’s quest for knowledge reflect that of Walton? What might the differences be?

2. Why does Victor believe that if his father had reacted differently to seeing his son read books by authors like Cornelius Agrippa, his life course may have been different? How did Agrippa and other authors of the occult influence Victor? How are these authors then viewed by his professor, M. Kempte and M. Waldman?

3. How does Victor’s first meeting with M. Waldman decide his “future destiny”? What does Waldman offer that Kempte doesn’t?

4. Do you agree with Victor’s assertion that “In other studies you go as far as others have gone before you, and there is nothing more to know. But in a scientific pursuit, there is continual food for discovery and wonder.” Be sure to explain your response.

5. Describe Victor’s first real steps in his movement toward fulfilling his goal of discovering the secret of creation. What is his first great discovery? Why must Victor keep the details of his great discovery a secret?

6. Once Victor has decided to create a life, why do you think Victor wishes to create such a large creature?

7. What is Victor’s ultimate goal with his experiments with creation?

8. Describe Victor’s state of being as he becomes obsessed with his creation.

**Section 3: Chapters 5-7**

1. What is ironic about Victor’s intentions with the creature and the end result?

2. How might Victor’s first encounter with the live creature be considered sad?

3. Explain the relationship between the excerpt from Coleridge’s “Ancient Mariner” and Victor’s reaction to his creation and his emotions at this time.

4. Why might Victor’s initial joy at his realization that the creature had escaped turn into joy and eventually a nervous breakdown?

5. What is Victor’s reputation with his professors?

6. Mary Shelley often uses juxtaposition of extreme opposites to heighten the effects of events in the novel. Discuss how she does this concerning Victor throughout these three chapters.

7. Discuss the function of the storm that hits upon Victor’s return to Geneva. Explain a couple of ways in which the lightning of the storm may be considered ironic.

8. Who does Victor believe to be the murderer of his brother, William? Why does he struggle with revealing the truth to his family?

9. Why is Justine Moritz accused of the murder of William?

**Section 4: Chapters 8-10**

1. Why doesn’t Victor speak out to protect or defend Justine?

2. Why does Justine believe her innocence is impossible to prove?

3. List the pain and suffering Victor has caused through his creation.

4. How does Victor’s father try to break him from his “dark cloud”? How does Victor respond to this plea and eventually what selfish act does he consider and why?

5. What does the death of Justine come to represent for Elizabeth?

6. The following lines are taken from the end of Percy Shelley’s poem, “Mont Blanc” written in 1817. Compare them to Victor’s descriptions of what he experiences with this mountain in chapter 9. How are the two passages similar?

//Mont Blanc yet gleams on high:--the power is there,// //The still and solemn power of many sights,// //And many sounds, and much of life and death.// //In the calm darkness of the moonless nights, 130// //In the lone glare of day, the snows descend// //Upon that Mountain; none beholds them there,// //Nor when the flakes burn in the sinking sun,// //Or the star-beams dart through them. Winds contend// //Silently there, and heap the snow with breath// //Rapid and strong, but silently! Its home// //The voiceless lightning in these solitudes// //Keeps innocently, and like vapour broods// //Over the snow. The secret Strength of things// //Which governs thought, and to the infinite dome 140// //Of Heaven is as a law, inhabits thee!// //And what were thou, and earth, and stars, and sea,// //If to the human mind's imaginings// //Silence and solitude were vacancy?//

7. Why do you think Mary Shelley include the verse of her husband’s in chapter 10?

8. Why do you think Victor often refers to his creation as a deamon? What makes this a false statement?

9. How might the monster’s response to Victor’s threats be seen as rational and reasonable?

10. Discuss the monster’s experience with mankind and what he asks of Victor at this time.

**Section 5: Chapters 11-13**

1. Chapter 11 begins the creature’s story in his voice. What is your first impression of that voice. Consider the language he uses, the diction, and his tone.

2. Describe the life the monster is forced to live and suggest how this might affect him as his life progresses.

3. What is the irony in the way the young cottagers treat the old blind man?

4. What does the apparent misery of the young couple suggest to the monster?

5. How does the monster’s experience with the young cottagers both help him grow as a human being and cause resentment?

6. How does the creature acquire language and how difficult is this for him to do? Consider all three chapters.

7. What does the creature learn both about history and mankind itself through the reading of Volney?

8. Upon his reflection of the nature of man, what does the monster discover about himself and how does this make him feel?

**Section 6: Chapters 14-16**

1. What is the significance of the story of Felix and Saphie? What might it suggest to the creature of human nature?

2. What effect does each of the three books the creature finds in the woods have on him?

3. What language does the monster speak?

4. Why does the creature introduce himself to the old man, De Lacey, first?

5. What does the monster confirm through his ill-fated attempt to introduce himself to the cottagers?

6. What feelings does the creature have once the cottagers leave. What does he resolve to do?

7. Why does the creature kill his first victim and who does it turn out to be? How does he react to this first murder?

8. What is the monster’s request to Victor at the end of Chapter 16?

**Section 7: Chapters 17-19**

1. Why does the monster want Victor to create a female for him? Dicsuss the details of his proposal.

2. What argument does Victor make both for and against the monster’s proposal?

3. Do you feel compassion for the monster at this point? Explain your answer.

4. What reservations does Victor have regarding his trip to England to create the monster a female companion?

5. Compare Clerval’s emotional state to Victor’s in Chapter 18. Why does Shelley give us this juxtaposition?

6. Consider Victor’s worries that the creature was following him through his journey through England. Why might his worries be valid?

7. Near the end of Chapter 19, Victor says, “I am guiltless” when referring to his worry that the creature might have followed him to England. Is this true? Explain your answer.

8. In what general emotion does Victor display during the course of creating his second creature?

**Section 8: Chapters 20-22**

1. What reservations does Victor have about his current creation at the beginning of Chapter 20?

2. Explain the truth in the monster’s statement, “You are my creator, but I am your master.”

3. After Victor survives being tossed about at seas, in an “excess of misery” what is ironic about his reception from the townspeople when he lands his boat?

4. What is laudamun and how might it be affecting Victor?

5. Why does Victor avoid contact with other people during his journey home with his father?

6. In Elizabeth’s letter, what concern does she voice regarding her relationship with Victor?

7. Discuss the irony in Victor’s statement that the monster is “omnipotent.”

**Section 9: Chapters 23-24**

1. After the deaths of Elizabeth and his father, what happens to Victor and what course of action does he decide to take?

2. Does it seem justified that Victor compares himself to the “martyrs of old” when referring to his resolve to hunt down and kill the monster or die trying?

3. How might the way Victor has to live as he chases the creature reflect the revenge the monster was exacting on him?

4. Based on Victor’s speech to the sailors found in Walton’s letter dated Sept. 5th, do you think Victor has learned anything form his experience? Explain your response.

5. Do you view Walton as a failure because he did not reach his goal?

6. What do we learn of the monster in his final appearance?

7. How does the monster reflect the Romantic notion that man is essentially good, but it is modern society which brings about his negative aspects?

8. What is the monster’s resolution at the end of the novel?

9. What do you think happens to Walton in the years after his strange encounter with Victor and his monster?

<span style="background-color: #808000; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 170%;">FRANKENSTEIN ON YOUTUBE!!!!

[|1931 Frankenstein]

[|1974 Young Frankenstein]

[|1994 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein]