The Page Numbers for the Assignment Directions Are on This Page

Assignment #4: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

The page numbers for the assignment directions are on this page.

You will be taking a test over Frankenstein in week 2. It will address the reading, and it will introduce you to AP Literature and Composition test style questions, which are modeled after the College Board tests. This test nictitates a deep reading of the novel.

Moreover, this test will beg the question: Did you actually read the novel or did you merely watch movies and read online study notes and plot summaries?

You will also need to be able to address the following components for this test:

What makes a novel gothic? (This question is period sensitive; be sure to look at gothic novels in the time that Frankenstein was written)

Compare the following literary movements: Romanticism or Romantic and Realism.

Understand epistolary structure. What is an epistle? Explain frame structure and how it applies to the novel.

DIRECTIONS

..... PART ONE: Create a dialectical journal. The journal is due by the first day of this course. If for some reason you are not here on the first day of class, you will need to make arrangements to get this assignment along with the Mythology and Archetype assignment in to me before the deadline.

..... PART TWO: Develop your vocabulary. Due on Thursday, September 15th.

..... PART THREE: Annotating to background and responding to questions. Due on Monday, September 12th

..... Responding to comprehension and critical thinking questions. Due on Monday, September 12th 2

PART ONE: Create a dialectical journal.

DIRECTIONS

First,...what is a dialectical journal? According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, “dialectical” means “relating to the logical discussion of ideas and opinions.” As we read poetry, short fiction, dramas and novels this year, you will be asked to keep track of your thinking in a specific way. For each major work we read as a class, you will be practicing your close reading skills by keeping notes. These notes will serve you well in various ways: they might provide some content for an essay, they might prepare you for a seminar discussion, they might help you to formulate questions about the work, its author, or its time period, and they should serve as a source for review as you prepare to take the AP exam in May. The overall goal of keeping this type of journal is to record what you are thinking as you are reading, so that your impressions, questions, and ideas about the text are not lost.

How do I create these notes? You are creating these notes by hand--no typed documents. Start a notebook for this exclusive activity--spiral, journal, or loose-leaf. The setup is simple. At the top of the page, list the title and author of the work. Divide your paper in half vertically. At the top of the left hand column, write “quotes”, and at the top of the right hand column, write “notes.” Your first set will be done over the summer break. Double entry journals teach you to explore a text by using the critical art of close reading. It forces you, the reader, to slow down, focus, and think about the details, the author’s style, and literary elements. Using the sample below, complete a double entry journal for one of your novels. You must complete twenty-seven entries, spaced evenly throughout your novel. The assignment will be evaluated based on the variety of entries, quantity, and the quality of your response. This journal is due by the first day of this course. If for some reason you are not here on the first day of class, you will need to attach this assignment to an email to me before the first day of school in order for it to meet the deadline.

This is what you must do in your journal: maintain a dialogue with yourself about what the passages mean—not literally, what they describe, but more along the lines of why the passages are written to describe as they are and how the author uses language to manipulate the reader’s (your) responses. In your journal, have a conversation with the text and with yourself. Write down your thoughts, questions, insights, and ideas while you read. Check out the possible scratch list of starters below:

Observations, details revealed by close reading: What the text says…and why it says this...what is the significance? "It is interesting how Irving uses slang like_____ to..." "The description of ______obviously serves as a symbol to______. Questions that are clarifying or probing: “I wonder Possible answers: “Maybe because…” why…” "Perhaps he is making an apology for..." "Is Irving trying to point out that..." "What technique is "Trying to politicize..." Irving using when he has Owen say the obvious about______" Quotes from texts w/page #s that are meaningful or beautifully crafted, or ironic, funny, poetic, relatable, telling, paradoxical, understated, sardonic, slapstick, biased, cryptic... Students tend to overuse irony! Use it 3 sparingly.

In general, a dialectical journal can include all types of things: class notes, discussion notes, notes on essays and papers, reactions to readings, so choose a notebook or journal that you will enjoy writing in for the rest of the year. You, the reader are reading something and then responding to it with your feelings and ideas. In addition, if you are unsure of what the author is doing, it is perfectly acceptable to pose a question to yourself about the text and hypothesize as to why or how the author is using language in this particular way. We are attempting to enter the author's mind--cracking the code of how the author accomplishes his craft.

What might a sample dialectical journal entry look like? Think of this journal as a place for you to interact with the text. As we read, we often have “Aha!” moments. Something on the page really resonates with us for some reason. Copy that portion of the text, citing its page number. Use of ellipsis (…) is fine for long quotes. Include the chapter # or title of chapter as well. Then, record your thoughts about the language use, a word that confuses or intrigues you, plot, characterization, theme, allusion, a personal interpretation, a connection to other texts or to your own life, politics, history --anything in the culture we live in today. Take a look at the two novels and their entries on this page. The first one is from Ian McEwan’s novel, Atonement. Here are two sample dialectical journal entries from its first chapter:

Quotations/Passages Notes “But hidden drawers, lockable diaries The author is creating a unique and character cryptographic systems could not conceal here. He shows her need for order, her from Briony the simple truth: she had no creativity, and the fact that Briony secrets…Nothing in her life was thinks sufficiently interesting or shameful to about her own existence in a way that merit makes me feel sympathy for this young hiding; no one knew about the squirrel’s girl skull beneath her bed, but no one and curiosity about her keen intelligence wanted to and sense of purpose in life. know.” (p5) Chapter 4

“Yes. Unable to push her tongue I’m very impressed with McEwan's use against of imagery (tactile) words to show the the word, Briony could only nod, and felt emotion of this character. He also nails as she did so a sulky thrill of self down the character's state of maturity. annihilating She is caught in a snare of actions that spreading across her skin and leave me anticipating what could possibly ballooning outward from it, darkening happen next. the room in throbs. She wanted to leave, she wanted to lie alone, face down on her bed The combination of the two words vile and savor the vile piquancy of the and piquancy seems totally fresh-- moment, unexpected. 4 and go back down the lines of branching consequences to the point before the piquancy: 1. Pleasantly pungent or tart destruction began.” (p14) Chapter 5 in taste; spicy orcausinghurtfeelings;stinging.

The Things They Carried by Tim Obrien “...they carried like freight trains; they O’Brien chooses to end the first section carried it on their backs and shoulders- of the novel with this sentence. He and for all the ambiguities of Vietnam, provides excellent visual details of what all the mysteries and unknowns, there each solider in Vietnam would carry for was at least the single abiding certainty day-to-day fighting. He makes you feel that they would never be at a loss for the physical weight of what soldiers things to carry”. (2) Chapter 2 have to carry for simple survival. When you combine the emotional weight of loved ones at home, the fear of death, and the responsibility for the men you fight with, with this physical weight, you start to understand what soldiers in Vietnam dealt with every day. This quote sums up the confusion that the men felt about the reasons they were fighting the war, and how they clung to the only certainty - things they had to carry - in a confusing world where normal rules were suspended.

Remember: You are NOT typing this dialectical journal--you are writing it by hand.

PART TWO: Develop your vocabulary.

DIRECTIONS

Create a list of 25 words from this vocabulary rich novel. Mary Shelley was erudite to say the least. She utilized a large vocabulary, so pay attention. You have several hundred words to choose from, adding to your lexicon while reading this novel.

Note Although a couple of the colloquial or antiquated words may be fun to work with, the bulk of your words should be those that you could actually use when writing most any academic essay whether it be for a literature, philosophy, or say even, a history course. Hmmm... . maybe even quantum physics. Naturally then, choose words which will enrich your vocabulary--words which will contribute in making you articulate and well spoken. You can lightly mark potential words as you read with pencil, allowing you to go back at your convenience to choose the actual words you want to work with in the flash-card phase explained next. 5

You may find yourself doubling up on words that you will also use in your dialectic journal in PART ONE; this is fine.

Use 4x6 or 5x8 index cards to create these flash cards. Include the word with the applicable definition along with its other commonly used forms/parts of speech. (verb, adjective, etc.)

On the back, show the word in context along with the page number parenthetically documented. (We are formatting these differently than the bonus literary terms cards.)

PART THREE: Annotate and respond to background.

DIRECTIONS

1. Read the general overview on this page and then move on to the directions for the activity on page 7.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Why should you read Frankenstein? We learn while reading this novel that the story is quite different from the one we think we know through various film interpretations and cultural references. We discover who Frankenstein really is (not the monster). Indeed, the actual novel has a depth that is perfect for a study in AP Lit and Comp. We get exposed to its elevated and antiquated writing style, which is a very important component 6 of the AP exam in the spring. Moreover, we discover that the novel's structure is complex. Mary Shelley starts her story by using a series of letters written by different narrators, creating an epistolary novel. Later in the story, Dr. Frankenstein becomes the narrator and reveals the obsession and anguish of his creation. Finally, the Monster himself becomes the narrator. Despite the slow beginning, which provides a necessary back-story, it makes for quick reading. The pay off finally comes as we see that Mary Shelley was a master of suspense. The novel raises relevant questions about significant issues including bioethics and the meaning of life as Mary Shelley herself states, “the deepest mysteries of creation.” Frankenstein has become *eponymous, becoming a potent allusion in our culture.

This assignment is made up of two activities: 1. Annotating 2. Responding

1. Annotating An important component of this class is interacting with the backgrounds, back- stories, articles, and reviews of the authors and their works (along with the works various interpretations including films and plays).

Objective #1: Show me your learning by demonstrating your annotating skills on the following two out of the four pieces starting on page 2. Include as one of your two choices, Frankenstein: The Historical Context. (2)

Objective #2: You will be sharing what you have learned from both of your annotated pieces with other students. Everyone in the group will share #2. When you choose your second document, think about which one interests you the most in terms of sharing it with someone who has not read it. Your selection titles are on are on the next page. The first selection starts on page 8 and the rest follow.

1. The significance of travel, place and setting in Frankenstein 2. Frankenstein: The Historical Context 3. ‘Frankenstein’ Manuscript Comes Alive in Online Shelley Archive 4. Frankenstein, Meet Your Forefathers

Notebrush up on your annotating skills:

Annotation may come easily to some of us. How did the poetry annotation assignment go? The following site is very helpful for people who need a refresher or who need more confidence. Annotating background is actually easier and less technical--so I encourage you to check out this resource: http://mrsthorpewiki.wikispaces.com/file/view/annotation+guidelines.pdf 7

You can interact with the following pieces by spacing them differently for more annotating space, by printing them off so you can write and highlight on a paper version or you can create notes on this document as a word document. A good number of my former students prefer annotating in a word document or something similar-- feel free to do so. If you choose the latter, make sure you use a contrasting font with a different color(s). Keep in mind that this is an assignment and not just note taking for your personal use, so your final product needs to be clear, well developed and easily followed by the reader. (me)

Naturally, do not print off what you do not need. You may have to copy and paste the documents so that you can format it tightly for submission purposes. The first document is on the next page and the directions for your last assignment are on page 17.

1. Sunday, 25 February 2007 The significance of travel, place and setting in Frankenstein--posted by Sussex Gardner In the introductory, framing letters of Robert Walton and the first chapter of Frankenstein, the reader is taken on a journey from London to St Petersburg; to Archangel on the White Sea and the ice floes of the Arctic Ocean, then south to Geneva and Lucerne in Switzerland, Milan and the Italian Lakes, as well as to Germany and France. Travel, discovery, place and setting are pivotal to our understanding of the novel and its impact, both at the time it was published and subsequently. The idea of the alien environment and of man battling the elements and other forces of nature in order to bring the benefits of discovery to his fellow human beings is one that has been central to western culture and civilization. In his letter to his sister, Mrs. Saville, the first narrator, Robert Walton, writes:

'What may not be expected in a country of eternal light? I may there discover the wondrous power which attracts the needle; ... I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and I may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man. These are my enticements, and they are sufficient to conquer all fear of danger or death, ... But, supposing all these conjectures to be false, you cannot contest the inestimable benefit which I shall confer on all mankind to the last generation, by discovering a passage near the pole to those countries, to reach which at present so many months are requisite ...' Frankenstein pp15-16 To be the first - to discover 'a passage', rather like the Star Trek motto, 'to go where no man has ever gone before' - is a phrase that is open to multiple interpretations and has a wide range of connotations. 8 Underlying the superficial statement, assumptions are being made about the nature of both the place and the act, suggesting, on one hand, bravery, enlightenment and benefit, while on the other, implying self- aggrandizement, violation, bigotry and possible plunder. The locations in Frankenstein provide the reader with a panoramic view of early-nineteenth-century Europe and beyond, while also linking closely to the novel's more profound concerns, such as:

 questions of ethics and responsibility  the idea of the suffering of the  permissible boundaries of scientific innocent research  education and it role of civilizing  the disturbed, tormented psychology  the significance and role of love of Victor Frankenstein  the tortured existence of the creature he creates 9

2. Frankenstein: The Historical Context Greg Duncan Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is an early product of the modern Western world. Written during the Romantic movement of the early 19th century, the book provides insight into issues that are pertinent today. Similar to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Shelley's Frankenstein concerns individuals' aspirations and what results when those aspirations are attained irresponsibly. While Mary Shelley (then Mary Godwin) wrote Frankenstein in 1816 she was living or in contact with both Percy Shelley and Lord Byron, the two predominant romantic poets who professed the romantic ideals of the age. One such ideal was the society transformed by the individual. For example, the British writer Thomas Carlyle wrote of romantic heroes making an impact on the world around them. Also, the concepts of uniqueness and self-realization were born in this era. Authors were writing about individuals' feelings and emotions regarding their daily struggles.

What is unique about Frankenstein is that it represents and almost foreshadows the romantic disillusionment with the established order. After the French Revolution, liberalism and nationalism were at all time highs. But with the response by the monarchies (e.g., the wars of 1848), romantic ideals were spurned. The effect this had was an increase in disillusionment among romantics. The possibility of a society transformed by individuals seemed less believable. Mary Godwin suffered from this disillusionment, but for different reasons. In his essay on Frankenstein, George Levine discusses the dream Godwin had which inspired the book: "The dreams emerge from the complex experiences that placed young Mary Shelley, both personally and intellectually, at a point of crisis in our modern culture, where idealism, faith in human perfectibility, and revolutionary energy were counterbalanced by the moral egotism of her radical father, the potential infidelity of her husband, the cynical diabolism of Byron, the felt reality of her own pregnancy, and a great deal more" (Levine 4). The overwhelming reality of Godwin's life was similar to the harsh reality going on in Europe's political events. In Forbidden Knowledge by Roger Shattuck, Mary Shelley's background is discussed further. She was swept off her feet by Percy Shelley at the age of seventeen. Without being married she lived in an irregular household of men who were intent upon achieving glory through their genius. Lord Byron was one such individual. "Surrounded by illegitimate births and infant deaths, they subsisted on high ideals to remake the world through liberation and revolution" (Shattuck 84). It was the hollowness and vanity of these high ideals that Mary Godwin was reacting to when she wrote Frankenstein. In the novel, Victor Frankenstein is a doctor who seems discontent and achieves satisfaction by exploring the supernatural realm. The creation of his monster comes about because of his unchecked intellectual ambition: he had been striving for something beyond his control. Consequently, his ambition is misled and his life becomes a hollow existence. Frankenstein states, "Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how happier the man is who believes his native town to be the 10 world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow" (Shelley 53). Here Shelley is describing the tragedy that accompanies ambitious aspirations. In this sense, she is commenting on the romantic sentiment of her times. Among the seven themes in Frankenstein that Levine discusses is that of the "overreacher." Sparked by the French Revolution, intellectuals believed in "divine creative activity" (Levine 9). Dr. Frankenstein also subscribes to this lofty belief. He states, "The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine" (Shelley 36). Yet as soon as he achieves his goal of creating life, he rejects all responsibility and his life becomes a living hell. Through this example, Mary Shelley is pointing out the dangers of "overreaching." Part of the tragedy Shelley describes is how Frankenstein spends much of his time running away from his monster. This results in the monster murdering members of Frankenstein's family. The neglect of responsibility shows that Frankenstein was not ready for the results of his ambition. Instead, his lofty ideals become less heroic and more cowardly. But why did he reject his creation? In a lengthy essay, Rhonda Ray Kercsmar cites Jacques Lacan's psychoanalytic theories to explain Frankenstein's response to the monster. According to Kercsmar, there is a fragmentation of consciousness that influences the monster. The fragmentation is what drives the being to seek a unity or completeness by finding his "lost Other." In telling about the monster's desire to reunite with its Other (Dr. Frankenstein), Shelley is describing a central psychological drive that takes place in all human narratives. But, this desire for reunion can never occur according to Lacan. Consequently, Victor Frankenstein is horrified and runs away from his creation. Kerscmar states, "The plot to Frankenstein is structured by the creature's quest for reunion with his creator/Other, a failed quest that ultimately leads to the destruction of both" (Kercsmar 731). Ironically then, after attaining his goal of creating life, Frankenstein is pursued by his creation. His desire to transcend accepted knowledge is met by the monster's desire to seek its lost Other. The resulting saga produced by Shelley exemplifies themes that were born from the romantic era. Along with the liberation of European revolutions came high ideals and a strong belief in man's influence over his environment. With the perspective of Shelley's novel however, the reader can see the harsh reality that takes hold of such ideals. In the case of Frankenstein, his aspiration for supernatural powers and knowledge created a monster who tormented him until the day he died. He sought a fame greater than his nature would allow and, while his monster knew nothing but a desire to be accepted and reunited with his creator, Frankenstein's own "overreaching" ambition was met with disillusionment.

Works Cited Kerscmar, Rhonda Ray. "Displaced Apocalypse and Eschatological Anxiety in Frankenstein." South Atlantic Quarterly 95.3 (Summer 1996): 729-747. Levine, George, and U.C. Knoepflmacher, eds. The Endurance of Frankenstein: Essays on Mary Shelley's Novel. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974. Shattuck, Roger. Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography. NY: St. Martin's Press, 1996. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1816. London: Oxford University Press, 1971. 3. 11

‘Frankenstein’ Manuscript Comes Alive in Online Shelley Archive By JENNIFER SCHUESSLER OCTOBER 30, 2013 2:32 PM Matt Cardy/Getty Images A portrait of Mary Shelley from the collection of Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” famously conceived during a waking dream in the stormy summer of 1816, has inspired countless plays, movies, comic books, even iPhone apps. And now, the original manuscript is also the centerpiece of the first phase of the online Shelley-Godwin Archive, an ambitious digital project that goes live on Halloween.

The archive, whose opening will be celebrated at a public event on Thursday evening at the New York Public Library, is a collaboration between the library and the University of Maryland’s Institute for Technology in the Humanities, with contributions from Oxford’s Bodleian Library and several other institutions. Its goal is to eventually bring together all the known literary manuscripts of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley, his second wife, as well as Mary’s parents, Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin — the “first family of English literature,” as the archive puts it.

The “Frankenstein” manuscript, owned by the Bodleian, is itself a sort of patched- together monster, according to Neil Fraistat, the director of the Maryland center and one of the project’s leaders. It survives mainly in two notebooks written by Mary, with editorial changes and comments made in Percy’s hand. On the site, users can hit a button to view only those words written by Mary or Percy. They can also view the surviving portions of the fair copy, written mostly in Mary’s hand, which was circulated to publishers.

Over the course of their relationship, Mr. Fraistat said, Percy and Mary’s handwriting grew to look very similar, helping give rise to debates about who was responsible for what. In “The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein,” published in 2007, John Lauritsen went so far as to argue that Percy was the novel’s true author, with Mary, who was still a teenager at the time, serving only as a copyist, as she had with much of his literary output. (The critic Germaine Greer went perhaps even further, arguing that “Frankenstein” was too bad a novel to have been written by Percy.)

The digital archive, Mr. Fraistat said, will give scholars and ordinary readers alike a direct window onto the Shelleys’ literary collaboration. In particular, he pointed to two places in the manuscript where Percy drops his neutral editorial stance and addresses his wife intimately. In one, he corrects her spelling of “enigmatic,” then addresses her 12

using a favorite nickname: “Oh you pretty pecksie!” (Mary, elsewhere, called her husband “Elf.”)

“It’s one of those moments that makes you step back and recover the freshness of their collaboration,” Mr. Fraistat said, adding: “You won’t see that in the printed edition of ‘Frankenstein.’”

The next planned phase of the online archive, which is supported by a $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, will add manuscripts for Shelley’s “Prometheus Unbound,” to be followed by more pages from Shelley’s nearly 30 known notebooks and other manuscripts, some of which, Mr. Fraistat said, reveal Mary Shelley’s influence on her husband’s work.

“This was a two-way collaboration,” he said. “This wasn’t just about him supervising her.”

The New York Public Library, Shelley-Godwin Archive A page from the manuscript of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.”

4. Frankenstein, Meet Your Forefathers By Susan Stewart (Published in the New York Times Arts section on October 26, 2006) During the summer of 1816, Lord Byron invited Percy Bysshe Shelley and others to his villa by Lake Geneva. When unseasonable weather forced them indoors, Byron suggested a contest to see who could write the scariest ghost story. Nineteen-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (who would marry Shelley later that year after his wife drowned herself) won. The result was “Frankenstein.” That’s a good tale. “Decoding the Past: In Search of the Real Frankenstein,” which will be shown on the History Channel tonight, tells an even better one — about the sources of the Frankenstein myth. The one-hour documentary teems with grave robbers, mad scientists and mutilated corpses. It lends a whole new meaning to the idea of giving one’s body to science. It is a fascinating slice of medical 13 history. Or it would be, if “Decoding the Past” weren’t one of those silly series that sacrifice great material to achieve instant effects. This “Frankenstein” tries so hard to be frightening, it’s funny. Written in purple prose and narrated in an emphatic stage whisper, “Frankenstein” offers brief profiles of four European scientists whose experiments may have jump-started Mary Godwin’s imagination. First there is Luigi Galvani, who made frog legs twitch by poking them with electrodes. “An orgy of twitching limbs,” the narrator intones, “began all over Europe.” Shelley apparently was not immune to the craze. “It is rumored that he undertook his own galvanization experiments on the family cat,” the narrator says, “causing its death.” Giovanni Aldini used the technique of his uncle, Luigi, to galvanize human limbs. In Glasgow, Andrew Ure inserted electrical wires into the flesh of corpses, turning them briefly into jerky automatons. In an unintentionally hilarious re-enactment, a Glaswegian scientist faints as a corpse flops about in front of him. Finally comes the alchemist Johann Konrad Dippel, possibly the model for Dr. Frankenstein. Dippel pursued his grisly work, which involved grave robbing and “diabolical” experiments on corpses, at the Castle Frankenstein, described by the narrator as being “in deepest Germany, surrounded by impenetrable forests.” Somehow the camera manages to penetrate those forests and tour the legendary castle. It is dark and forbidding, but, after all those twitching limbs, a bit of a letdown, and a little reminiscent of Mel Brooks’s setting for the movie “Young Frankenstein.” The work of these scientists was important; it led to electro-shock therapy and cardiac defibrillation. Mary Shelley’s novel is a classic that modernized the Prometheus myth for a new generation. Even today, “Frankenstein” continues to spawn strange progeny; a recent episode of the cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants” was entitled “Frankendoodle.” By focusing on the ghoulish, and ignoring the writer’s imagination, this report treats “Frankenstein” not as a work of art, but as a corpse to be sliced, diced and galvanized into life. But “Frankenstein” is literature, so it’s already alive. Read it, and the hair on the back of your neck will stand up, and it won’t be because somebody is poking you with an electric prod.

DIRECTIONS

2. Responding

Demonstrate your understanding of the novel by thoughtfully developing responses with specific detail to the study questions starting on page 15. Use specific detail and show me that you can reference the text where appropriate--questions that lead you back to the text will be in bold type.

Typing is required for this assignment. Double space after the completion of each question/task to separate each response from the one that follows. 14

Respond to 7 out of the 25 study questions. Your choices should be representative of the novel in its entirety and 4 of your responses must integrate proof--the bold-typed questions.

√ The font is blue so you can use black for readability.

√ Remember to double space at the end of each response as you move on to the next question. (Do not double-space the response itself.)

√ The bold typed questions require proof from the text, which includes parenthetical documentation. You do not need a lot of proof--a snippet or a fragment with ellipses will be sufficient. I want to see that you can smoothly integrate text into your responses.

√ Do not forget to parenthetically document.

√ The questions not addressed should be cut/deleted for a tighter format and to conserve printing and paper.

Name______Period______

1. Who is Prometheus and why is this allusion fitting? ( Read The Earliest Heroes in Edith Hamilton's text)

2. Why is the novel, Frankenstein, subtitled "the Modern Prometheus?" 15

3. Why is the novel initially set aboard a ship? Can you think of any other famous works, which are set aboard ships? Why did Mary Shelley choose to use that particular setting here? Does it mean anything beyond the immediately apparent physical setting?

4. Note the various narrative "frames" Mary Shelley employs in her novel. What is the purpose of these various frames? What, specifically, does she wish to accomplish by employing these multiple frames?

5. What sort of man is Walton? Does he serve any thematic function in the novel, or is he included largely as a "storyteller"--that is, is he included simply as a mechanical narrative device?

6. In what ways do Walton's letters prepare us for the tale he tells? What difference (if any) do these letters make in the way we react to the rest of the novel? Note that in the 1818 edition the letters appear before the headline announcing "Chapter 1." What is the effect of thus bracketing the letters?

7. The first three chapters tell us about Victor Frankenstein's childhood and youth; the fourth, about his "discovery" of the principle of life. For movie fans, these chapters may seem irrelevant: after all, we want to see the Creature being created and--amid bursts of smoke and flashes of lightning--"born." Why, then, does Mary Shelley devote so much space to Victor's childhood environment and his education?

8. Volume I, Chapter iv (Chapter 5): the Creature is created. Where is the focus in this section? On the process of creation? On the Creature? Somewhere else?

9. Why does Victor work so diligently to bring the Creature to life and then become so abhorrent when he succeeds? Is Mary Shelley working with any "prototype" or "pattern" here? Has this sort of experience or behavior occurred anywhere else that you can think of, in literature, art, or elsewhere?

10. Beginning in Chapter 10 the Creature tells his story. Notice and comment on the place Victor Frankenstein meets his Creature. Why is this setting particularly appropriate? The novel now begins to zero in on its major themes. Of what does the Creature accuse Victor?

11. What do Chapters 11-15 reveal about the Creature's "natural instincts?" What gives him pleasure? What does he value? (Consider, for instance, how he describes the DeLaceys and their cottage.) Of what does the Creature's education consist? 16

12. In Chapter 16 what does the Creature finally decide he must do, and why?

13. In Chapter 17 what argument does the Creature offer in support of his demand? Why? Is it a reasonable argument?

14. In Chapter 20, why does Victor Frankenstein decide to discontinue his efforts to create a "bride" for the Creature?

15. We begin to see most clearly in Frankenstein's isolation from his fellow creatures a parallel to the Creature's own situation. In what other ways are Victor and the Creature beginning to be strikingly similar? Have you encountered this sort of "parallel-making" anywhere else in literature or the arts? If so, where? Does the device have a formal name?

16. Note the surrealistic environment of the "chase" scenes in Chapter 24. Why did Shelley create this atmosphere?

17. How are Victor Frankenstein's final words significant? What about the Creature's final words?

18. One might feel that this is a different sort of novel than we were originally led to expect? If so, what is the nature of the difference?

Overall questions:

19. Who is the novel's protagonist? Antagonist? Hero?

20. In an influential essay, the Romantic scholar and critic Harold Bloom wrote that the reader's sympathy lies with the Creature, but in his book The Romantic Conflict (1963) Allan Rodway says the reader's sympathy lies with Victor Frankenstein. Who is right?

21. Most modern editions change Mary Shelley's spelling of an important word. "'And do you dream?' said the daemon." In many other editions (especially editions aimed at the "mass market" audience), the end of the line reads: "said the demon." What is the difference between daemon and demon, and can you see any reason why Mary Shelley used the former word in her own text, rather than the latter?

22. What is a "monster"? What qualities make us human? Which of these qualities does the creature possess? What qualities does he not have? 17

23. 23. Scholars sometimes use Frankenstein as an argument against scientific technology that creates life forms; others argue that it is not technology itself but the use to which it is put that presents an ethical problem. What is Shelley's position? What is your position?

24. 24. Explain the novel's popularity. What makes the novel a classic? How is the story appropriate for today and our society?

25. In this novel, as in many Romantic texts, unspoiled nature provides the major uplifting counterpart to the troubled world of humanity. Currently, though, the scientific question about altering life forms through genetic engineering is focused on nature more than on humans: though cloning and related technologies are being debated, large percentages of agricultural crops are already genetically engineered. How does this novel enable or encourage us to think about these issues? (adapted from Droisen , Dr. Karen A., Department of English, University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

26. In Chapter 5 Shelley references The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri "... it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived."

This allusion describes Frankenstein's monster and works to highlight its extreme grotesqueness and wickedness. Dante, the writer of The Divine Comedy, considered and depicted all of hell and its many layers, and he envisioned all the monsters and demons that made up these layers. The fact that he wouldn't be able to conceive Frankenstein's monster after all those he had conceived before emphasizes the unimaginable horror and evil associated with Frankenstein's creation. This reference could also be taken to describe Frankenstein's act. Dante contemplated all the sins that sent one to Hell, but even he couldn't have foreseen Frankenstein's sinful creation of life. (Alex Tran, Lee Alford, Zach Conner, and Jared Cline) Like the reference to Dante, discuss something current and how it has "become a thing such as even Mary Shelley could not have conceived." (Hanzel)