Frankenstein

Need a copy of Frankenstein?  The copy we use in class comes from the Gutenberg Project. 

You can click the 'Read this book Online' button, or just download the HTML file and read it in a browser.

If you use a Chrome browser, you can select print, and change the printer to PDF.  I did this for you and put it in our Google Classroom.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was originally split into 3 volumes. Letters - 8, 9 - 17, 18 - 24.  

An audiobook version is located at the bottom of this page.

Frankenstein Synthesis Notes

You will read the novel and make your observations before the novel unit begins.  Every day, you will read 1 chapter of the novel and complete either a Cornell Note or a Reading and Viewing Guide in your notebook.  

Your synthesis notes will be:

• original

• handwritten

• legible

• taken in the Cornell OR Reading and Viewing Guide system.  You can add an inferential layer by adding It Says / I Say / And So What to your notes as you see fit.  When you have finished your note, check to see which literary element (Plot, Setting, Character, Point of View, Theme, Symbol, Style and Tone, Mood, Foreshadow, Flashback) 

or 

figurative language technique (Synecdoche, Personification, Paradox, Oxymoron, Onomatopoeia, Metaphor, Irony, Idiom, Hyperbole, Euphemism, Assonance, Alliteration, Simile, Allusion, Analogy, Pun, Anaphora) you are connecting your observations to. 

• in sequential order in your notebook

• part of your mark for this unit

The novel begins with a series of letters, treat all 4 letters as 1 chapter.

Do not print the page and attempt to fill it out.  Use the note planner as an example of formatting.

The note taking planners and the note taking article are located in Lesson 2.

Introduction to Gothic Fiction and Romantic Literature - Ideas for Quiz 1

• Gothic and Romanticism Notes.

• Gothic Fiction / Romanticism / Frankenstein Test

Pre-Reading Discussion Questions

For each discussion question, choose whether you Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree.  Be prepared to explain your choice.

1. It is a parent’s job, more than society’s, to nurture his/her child.

2. As genetic engineering evolves, parents should be able to choose qualities and attributes of their children.

3. All children are innately good.

4. Every child needs parenting in order to become “human.”

5. All parents love their children unconditionally, no matter how they look or behave.

Timeline

For home work tonight, create a literary timeline.  The timeline should fit on one sheet of paper.  The goal is for you to understand the "scale of the number line".  The base events/eras/periods on your time line should be:

•  Epic of Gilgamesh

• Homer

• Aristotle

• the Greek Hellenistic period

• the start of the CE (AD)

• the Roman republic to empire (unified)

• today

Along with those base dates, add these eras:

• The Renaissance

• THE ENLIGHTENMENT (NEOCLASSICAL) PERIOD (C. 1660-1790)

• ROMANTIC PERIOD (c. 1790-1830)

• VICTORIAN PERIOD And The 19th Century (c. 1832-1901)

• MODERN PERIOD (c. 1914-1945)

• POSTMODERN PERIOD (c. 1945 onward)

• ENLIGHTENMENT/REVOLUTIONARY (1750-1800)

• ROMANTICISM (1800-1840)

• REALISM (1865-1915)

Please take a look at Literary Periods & History Timeline and add at least 1 event per colour of your choice.  Currently that resource has 8 or 9 colours.

Your timeline must be neat and clear.  It can be as minimalist or as colourful as you choose.  Above all it must be clear, accurate and represent the scale of time.

Big Ideas (Letters - Chapter 8)

• The effect of the letters

• Identify Gothic elements, macabre, horror

• Parallelism between various characters in the first section

Myth 2

Myth 3

Interesting Quotations (Chapters 18 - 24)

• "Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries."

• "In a fit of enthusiastic madness I created a rational creature and was bound towards him to assure, as far as was in my power, his happiness and well-being . . . I refused, and I did right in refusing, to create a companion for the first creature. He showed unparalleled malignity and selfishness in evil; he destroyed my friends . . . Miserable himself that he may render no other wretched, he ought to die. The task of his destruction was mine, but I have failed."

• "Oh! Be men, or be more than men. Be steady to your purposes and firm as a rock. This ice is not made of such stuff as your hearts may be; it is mutable and cannot withstand you if you say that it shall not. Do not return to your families with the stigma of disgrace marked on your brows. Return as heroes who have fought and conquered and who know not what it is to turn their backs on the foe."

• "Man, how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom"

• "and like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained in an eternal hell. My imagination was vivid, yet my powers of analysis and application were intense; by the union of these qualities I conceived the idea and executed the creation of a man. Even now I cannot recollect without passion my reveries while the work was incomplete. I trod heaven in my thoughts, now exulting in my powers, now burning with the idea of their effects. From my infancy I was imbued with high hopes and a lofty ambition; but how am I sunk! Oh! My friend, if you had known me as I once was, you would not recognize me in this state of degradation. Despondency rarely visited my heart; a high destiny seemed to bear me on, until I fell, never, never again to rise."

Frankenstein Note Taking Questions

While you read Frankenstein, I would like you to answer these questions.  They will help you to think critically about the text, and prepare you for your presentation.

Note: These questions were originally written by Mr. R. Costello

Directions: While studying this section, use these topics/questions to guide your note-taking. Write down page numbers to cite your notes, and highlight or underline passages that pertain to these questions or merit discussion in class.  Your quizzes will be based on the following chapter division of the novel: the Letters - 8, 9 - 17, 18 - 24. 

First Third: Letters - Chapter 8, ideas for Quiz 2

Letters

1. Premise of the letters (who/what/when/where/why/how/etc.)

2. Robert Walton’s background/upbringing/personality/character

3. “What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man”? (Letter 3)

4. The “strange accident” that’s happened (Letter 4)

5. The stranger Walton picks up (who/what/when/where/why/how/etc.) (Letter 4)

6. Why do Walton and stranger bond so quickly? (Letter 4)

7. Why does the stranger agree to tell Walton his story? (Letter 4)

8. Other notes/questions/difficult passages regarding this section

Chapters 1-5

1. The stranger’s (his name will be revealed in this section) background/upbringing/personality/character (Chapter 1)

2. Caroline Beaufort’s background/upbringing/personality/character  (Chapter 1)

3. Elizabeth Lavenza’s background/upbringing/personality/character (Chapters 1-2)

4. Henry Clerval’s background/upbringing/personality/character (Chapter 2)

5. Studying Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Magnus (Chapter 2)

6. “Destiny” (Chapter 2)

7. Krempe and Waldman (Chapter 3)

8. What does Victor finally discover (and why won’t he share that knowledge with Walton)? (Chapter 4)

9. Details regarding the creation process (Chapter 4)

10. Victor’s response to the creation (Chapter 5)

11. The creature’s response to Victor (Chapter 5)

12. Other notes/questions/difficult passages regarding this section

Chapters 6-8

1. Premise of these letters (Chapters 6 - 7)

2. Justine Moritz (Chapter 6)

3. What Victor does after his health improves (Chapter 6)

4. How long has Victor been away from home? (Chapter 7)

5. Victor’s visit to the site of William’s murder (Chapter 7)

6. Victor’s assumptions about the creature (Chapter 7)

7. Murder evidence and trial (Chapters 7 - 8)

Second Third: Chapters 9 - 17, ideas for Quiz 3

Chapters 9-12

1. Victor’s response after Justine’s death (Chapter 9)

2. Victor’s journey (geographically and emotionally) (Chapters 9 - 10)

3. Victor’s response to the creature (Chapter 10)

4. The creature’s background/upbringing/personality/character (Chapter 10)

5. The creature’s journey (geographically and emotionally) (Chapter 11)

6. The creature’s motives for his actions

7. The creature’s learning process

8. The family being observed by the creature (Chapters 11 - 12)

9. The creature’s response to its own appearance (Chapter 12)

10. The creature’s plan to win over the family (Chapter 12)

Chapters 13-17

1. Safie’s character and how her arrival benefits the creature (Chapter 13)

2. The creature’s reading material (Chapter 13)

3. What the creature learns and how it makes him feel (Chapter 13)

4. The DeLacey family’s background, etc. (Chapter 14)

5. What the creature finds in the woods and what he learns from them (Chapter 15)

6. How long has the creature been alive? What was Victor doing at this point (see Ch.6) (Chapter 15)

7. The creature makes contact with the DeLaceys  (Chapter 15)

8. The creature’s hatred for humans is confirmed when… (Chapter 16)

9. The creature’s interaction with the young boy and the sleeping woman (Chapter 16)

10. What does the creature demand from Victor? (Chapter 16)

11. Victor’s initial response to the demand (Chapter 17)

12. The creature convinces Victor by…. (Chapter 17)

13. What does the creature say he will do while Victor works? (Chapter 17)

Final Third: Chapters 18 - 24, ideas for Quiz 4

Chapters 18 - 21

1. Victor’s father’s theory on why Victor is so unhappy (Chapter 18)

2. Victor wants to go to England because… (Chapter 18)

3. The impact of Henry Clerval’s presence on Victor (Chapter 18)

4. The Orkney Islands - why settle down to work there? (Chapter 19)

5. Why does Victor change his mind and destroy the female creature? (Chapter 20)

6. How the post-destruction scene mirrors the post-creation scene from Ch.5 (Chapter 20)

7. “I shall be with you on your wedding night” – what Victor thinks it means vs. what it really means (Chapter 20)

8. Victor’s disposal of the female creature’s remains (Chapter 20)

9. Mr. Kirwin’s treatment of Victor (Chapter 21)

10. Victor’s trial (Chapter 21)

11. Victor’s state of mind/health as he leaves Ireland for France (Chapter 21)

Chapters 22-24

1. Elizabeth’s letter to Victor (Chapter 22)

2. The marriage plans (Chapter 22)

3. Victor and Elizabeth’s post-wedding travels (Chapter 22)

4. The wedding night (Chapter 23)

5. The creature’s reaction to Victor’s discover y of Elizabeth’s body (Chapter 23)

6. The authorities’ reaction to Victor’s request for their help (Chapter 23)

7. Victor’s pursuit of the creature (Chapter 24)

8. What does Victor ask Walton to do? (Chapter 24)

9. Why Victor refuses to tell Walton the details of the creation process (Chapter 24)

10. Walton’s avoidance of his crew’s threat to mutiny (Chapter 24)

11. Does Victor blame himself for all this? (Chapter 24)

12. Walton’s response to Victor’s death (Chapter 24)

13. A sound interrupts Walton’s writing - familiarity of this scene to others in the book (Chapter 24)

14. Why has the creature come to see Victor? (Chapter 24)

15. The creature’s explanation for what he’s done (Chapter 24)

16. The creature’s next step (Chapter 24)

Frankenstein Seminar

Prepare a seminar (ALL SEMINARS ARE DUE AT 8 AM) on one of the following topics:

Topics

1. This option is not available. Dreams and nightmares play a recurrent role throughout Shelley’s novel. Trace the use of dreams throughout the book, with emphasis on how they relate to changes in Victor’s character. This option is not available.

2. This option is not available. The patriarchal society of Frankenstein is one in which men pursue their goals against hopeless odds.  Discuss the quest of three men. This option is not available.

3. This option is not available. The horror story is just as popular today as it was in Shelley’s early nineteenth century England. What is the appeal of this genre? Discuss elements from Frankenstein that parallel characteristics of modern horror tales. What are the effects of these elements on the audience, and how might that explain our fascination? This option is not available.

4. This option is not available. Read Dr. Donna M. Campbell's "Novel, Romance, and Gothic: Brief Definitions."  Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University.  Then read Elements of the Gothic Novel, by R. Harris.  Finally read this synopsis of a Romantic Hero.  Is Frankenstein a Gothic Romance? This option is not available.

5. This option is not available. Read the infographics found on The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2018/jan/13/mary-shelleys-frankenstein-in-charts.  The Guardian asks, "Two centuries after the publication of Mary Shelly's novel Frankenstein, the monster she created still stalks our imaginations".  Is Frankenstein still relevant? This option is not available.

6. Use the Literature Database from our school library (Gale Lit, InfoBase Bloom, Diversity Studies, Pop Culture Studies).  Find 1 article, critically read it,  and present the findings of the article to the class in a seminar.  I must approve the article. Focus on Scholarly Articles, Essays, Critical Essays, Articles, Academic Journals, and experiment with the Peer-Reviewed Journals filter.  You should be looking at articles that have a minimum of 1,500-2,000 words per student.  Articles that are too short will not give you enough talking points during your seminar and will not be approved.  Group size will be determined by article length.

Please us Western Libraries excellent video, How to Read a Scholarly Article (https://youtu.be/3SmOq6gENPM?list=PLBC826C3769B18E1F). The Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) Library also has a very good short article and worksheet.  They are both located in, How to Read a Scholarly Article.  

The passwords and database lesson notes are here: Accessing the School Library's Databases.

7. This option is not available. In 2003, the United States National Film Preservation Board named Young Frankenstein “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” and it was selected for preservation for the Library of Congress National Film Registry.  The film was ranked 13th on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Laughs list (AFI.com).  Prove that Young Frankenstein is a parody of Frankenstein. This option is not available.

Considerations

1. 3 students (MAX) per group unless it is an article.  Group size will be determined by article length (1,500-2,000 words per student).

2. 2 groups (MAX) per topic unless it is an article.  1 article per group.

3. One member from each group will sign the entire group up.  Sign up will happen via our Google Classroom.

4. Your seminar must include a GOOGLE SLIDES presentation.  

5. Your presentation must be made with your STUDENT GOOGLE ACCOUNT.

6. Your presentation time is 15 minutes.

7. Each member will prepare at least 2 questions to ask the audience.

   • The assignment asks each member to write 2 Socratic questions.  

   • This leads to a flow where there is a follow-up question.  

   • The drawing shows how the student has to come up with 1 starting question (Q1 & Q2) , and several follow-up questions (FQ, FQ, FQ). During the discussion, the student lead the class with the second follow-up question, resulting in a possible answer (Poss. A). 

   • Check out the drawing below. 

8. Students are marked individually.  

9. While the speaker presents, the slides or questions that are shown or asked are solely theirs.  You will only be evaluated for the slides or questions that appear while you present.

10. The second slide must include the first and last names of all members.

11. Your must include a Work(s) Cited slide in MLA format.

12. If any member of your group opens, checks, views, "unsubmits", or edits the presentation in the CLASSROOM DROPBOX after the deadline, ALL MEMBERS WILL BE MARKED LATE. If you want a copy of the presentation to practice with, please download a pdf of it, and share that pdf with your group.

13. Only 1 group member hands in the seminar. 

14. ALL SEMINARS ARE DUE AT 8 AM.

A Socratic Question Leading to Follow-up Questions

The assignment asks each member to write 2 Socratic questions.  

This leads to a flow where there is a follow-up question.  

The drawing shows how the student has to come up with 1 starting question (Q1 & Q2) , and several follow-up questions (FQ, FQ, FQ). During the discussion, the student lead the class with the second follow-up question, resulting in a possible answer (Poss. A). 

ENG4U Seminar Rubric

If you can't see the document, please read: You Do Not Need Permission To View Any Documents.

Frankenstein Final Thoughts

Allusions in Frankenstein

Frankenstein Audiobooks