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Mary Shelley Teacher’s Notes B1/B1+ This B1/B1+ document is an audio interview of Saudi Arabian film director Haifaa Al-Mansour. At a time when there were no cinemas in Saudi Arabia she studied literature at the American University of Cairo and completed a Masters degree in Film Studies in Sydney. Although she did not originally intend her films to focus on feminist issues, she found herself addressing them as part of her critical view of Saudi Arabia’s culture. In this interview, based on her latest film about Mary Shelley, she draws a parallel between England 200 years ago and some aspects of women’s life in Saudi Arabia today, although she foresees a brighter future with her country opening up recently. Another interesting parallel will be found between Frankenstein’s creature and Mary Shelley herself. This interview offers various levels of understanding, and can be used with a differentiated approach depending on the project it is included in. You may choose to focus on women’s rights or on Mary Shelley and Frankenstein. In both cases, working on the film’s trailer might prove an interesting follow-up activity (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6JqFYroayo). Haifaa Al-Mansour’s accent is easily something from someone, make someone understandable and should not be a do something. problem for students, apart from “eloped” n Expressing purpose. and “creature”. However students should be encouraged to produce a more authentic Pronunciation pronunciation. n /ə/ in director, writer, author, creator, This resource can be used in conjunction publisher, creature... with our article resource or Who are You n Stress in producer, attitude, expected, biobox on Shelley and Frankenstein. sympathise, masculine... n Pronunciation of Saudi Arabia, Shelley, Vocabulary and structures rebel (vb / noun), ironic... n Cinema and publishing related vocabulary (novel, masterpiece, author, director, Listening, speaking and writing publisher, script, agent, filmmaker, shorts, n We suggest starting by a very easy pre- raise money for a film, get a film made...). listening activity to make sure students n Sympathise, struggle, get dismissed. don’t mistake Frankenstein for the n Rebel against, believe in, describe as, take creature. This activity should lead to some away from. interaction, as most students will have n Show someone something, expect seen pictures of Boris Karloff or Robert someone to do something, expect De Niro as the creature, but few will be B1/B1+ Mary Shelley Teacher’s notes |1| familiar with Mary Shelley’s novel. You could Shelley is played by Elle Fanning. I don’t ask them to find information about other know who the other characters are. films based on the novel as homework. We B.1. a. suggest videoprojecting the posters in the Haifaa Al-Mansour actor director writer from America South Saudi Arabia anticipation so that the names can be read directed Wadjda just started finished Mary Shelley Percy Shelley more easily. created author Frankenstein famous film book seventeen seventy created wrote n The interview is too long and dense to be people don’t know work life tell story hated enjoyed sympathised struggled listened to as a whole. We have divided it managed book published into four parts, with listening tasks to be carried on for each one. b. Haifaa Al-Mansour : Saudi Arabian; Film n For the fourth part, we have chosen not director; shorts, Wadjda, Mary Shelley to go into too much detail in our questions, Mary Shelley: ? ; writer ; Frankenstein leaving the subtleties to the more able students without forcing them on those who c. (This of course depends on what each may struggle with the specific vocabulary. student understood. However they should However, the very last of Haifaa Al-Mansour’s be asked to rephrase to make everybody answers deserves to be understood by understand what they have found): everyone, which is why we suggest hearing Wadjda premiered in 2013; Mary Shelley is in it twice. theatres /cinemas in August 2018. In the final activity, students can choose either to write the transcript of an imaginary 2.a. At first Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein interview or to act out a live interview, was refused by the publishers. depending on whether they prefer to write They didn’t want her name on the book or to speak and also on their favourite because she was not famous and she was a working style. For those who choose the woman. spoken interaction, make sure they don’t Finally they suggested publishing the book change it into spoken production of a without the author’s name on it and they memorised dialogue. wanted her husband to write an introduction. Solutions Pre-listening b. Mary Shelley struggled to get her book n the name of a scientist, the title of a film, published=it was very difficult for her to get the title of a book her book published. A. Anticipation 3.a. Mary Shelley died at the age of fifty- n The following are examples of what three. Frankenstein was her masterpiece / students might say. biggest work and it was influenced by her n They are film posters. I don’t know how to own / personal life. pronounce the name on the first one. There’s Her parents were famous writers. Her a young girl on it, so maybe it’s her name. life with her husband was adventurous / It’s a film by Haifaa-Al-Mansour. I don’t know exhausting. him/her. He showed her the world but she rebelled n The second one is for a film called Mary against him. Shelley. I can’t see who made it. Mary B1/B1+ Mary Shelley Teacher’s notes |2| b. The creature was made by Dr Frankenstein Arabia was not in favour of women in public and Mary Shelley became herself thanks positions. She felt that she started existing to Percy Shelley, so we could say that she when her first short film was chosen for a was created by him. The creature rebelled festival. against its master and Mary Shelley rebelled against her husband and made her own Champion bonus: She says “Do they know I’m choices. from Saudi Arabia?” It’s ironic because being a woman in Saudi 4.a. Mary Shelley was English. Arabia makes it really difficult to direct a b. She lived about two hundred years ago. film about another woman who struggles c. England was a conservative country in against traditional values. Or: She wasn’t which women couldn’t do what they wanted. sure she would feel she had a lot in common They were expected to follow tradition. with an Englishwoman from 200 years ago. d. Jane Austen was a famous 18th century writer. She wrote novels like Sense and 5. no cinemas; just started having cinemas; Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield it’s amazing; Saudi Arabia; They didn’t have Park, Emma. (This can be asked as cinemas; corrupt (s) homework) e. Jane Austen wrote about jealousy and Cinemas were not allowed before because marriage whereas Mary Shelley wrote about art was considered corrupting but they are dark things and questioned the gods. starting to have cinemas now. We know f. Here is an example of what some students that women are now allowed to drive cars. may find. Their bits and pieces will have to Haifaa-Al-Mansour thinks Saudi Arabia is be made into a well constructed paragraph, opening up. which could be set as writing practice. Two hundred years ago in England young Transcript girls were expected to behave in a Part 1 traditional fashion following their strict My name is Haifaa Al-Mansour and I’m a education. They were not allowed to write director-writer from Saudi Arabia. I directed what they wanted, their writings had to be Wadjda, a Saudi film that premiered in 2013, about domestic life. But Mary Shelley was and I just finished Mary Shelley, that is in different, and her style was considered theatres 8/8/18. masculine because she rebelled against the world as it was and even questioned the Mary Shelley is the author of Frankenstein, gods when she made Dr Frankenstein create a very famous book. She was only 17 years life. Her writings were very dark as opposed old when she wrote Frankenstein but people to Jane Austen’s stories about jealousy and don’t know very much about her life. And marriage. that is why I wanted to tell the story about g. Mary Shelley lived in England two hundred Mary Shelley. Coming from Saudi Arabia, I years ago and Haifaa Al-Mansour lives in really sympathised with her story and I really Saudi Arabia now. But like Mary Shelley with wanted to tell how she struggled to get her her novel, Haifaa Al-Mansour struggled to book published. be accepted as a film director because Saudi B1/B1+ Mary Shelley Teacher’s notes |3| Part 2 Part 4 I think, when she finished Frankenstein, she How did you come to the direct the film? Was went to the publishers and they dismissed it your idea in the first place to make the her. And they said they may be able to film? publish the book without her name on it They sent me the script. After I finished while Percy writes the introduction. And Wadjda, they sent me the script. The first of course Percy comes from the sense of time they sent me the script, I was like, do authorship, authority, and people believe they know I’m from Saudi Arabia? I told my in him as a writer, but they don’t believe agent.

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