Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Unit Plan English 111
1
UNIT PLAN:
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Activities and Introduction
•
Quiz on Romantics and “Rime...”.
•
“Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel
Taylor Coleridge
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Essay & Project
•
Final Test
•
Journals, Vocabulary, & Study Questions
READING SCHEDULE:
DAY
1
CHAPTERS
Letters/
Journals
CHARACTERs/POV
*Robert Walton
Margaret Saville
Victor
FOCUS
Walton’s Background and reasons for
being at the top of the world.
2
Ch. 1—4
*Victor
Elizabeth
Henry
Frankenstein’s background, his
mother’s death, and his early college
days.
3
5
4
6—9
5
10
The creation is sparked into life on a
rainy November night
Death of William, trial of Justine, and
escape into the Alps
Romantic backpacking in the Alps
6
7
FILM
11—17
*Victor
Henry
*Victor
Elizabeth
*Victor
The Creation
1931
*The Creation
8
18--19
9
20—22
Travelling from Switzerland to Scotland
to make the mate
The making of the mate and the
consequences
10
23—24
11
The Final
Letters/
Journals
NA
*Victor
Henry
*Victor
Henry
The Creation
*Victor
Elizabeth
The Creation
*Walton
Victor
The Creation
12—
17
The creation’s story
OTHER
The Bio and Video
The Sublime
Ancient Mariner
Mr. Stoddart’s
Presentation
Romantic Period
Activity
Character Notes on
Each
Sting’s Wrapped
Around Your
Finger/Objects and
Places.
Debate:
Sympathetic?
Debate: Truth or
Lie?
The Allegory of the
Cave
Bonus: Brochure
Sting’s Every Breath
Debate: Creature
Responsible?
The “curse” and the chase to the top of
the world
The confrontation at the top of the
world
Discuss POV & Trial
Film—1994
Review and Project Time
Open Book MC TEST
NOV 28th
Essay/Project
Due Dec 3rd
Finnigan/Frankenstein 2
Frankenstein ESSAY:
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Write an essay (1000-1250 words) on one of the topics below.
MLA, standard font and size, one inch margins, typed, double space.
You must PROVE whatever statements you make by providing evidence from the text
to support your claims.
You MUST use at least one other secondary (credited) source. Use research from
either an online journal source or another critical source.
A properly designed Works Cited page must accompany your paper
Due December 3rd
1. Romantic and Gothic literature commonly use nature to convey tone and mood. In a well-organized
essay, explain how Frankenstein is a characteristic Romantic and Gothic novel.
2. In a well-organized essay, compare and contrast the story of Frankenstein and his Creature with the
Christian story of God and Adam.
3. Gothic literature has given way to modern horror literature and films, including several renditions of
Frankenstein. In a well-organized essay, describe what common Gothic conventions are still being used
today. (Use at least three specific examples of Gothic convention from modern films or books.)
4. During the Enlightenment, society began to shift from a strictly religious to a scientific view of life. In a
well-organized essay, explain how Frankenstein rails against the Enlightenment.
5. Read the following passages. In a well-organized essay, describe the transformation of Frankenstein’s
character throughout the novel. (Note, the four passages are not in chronological order.)
A. “I never saw a more interesting creature; his eyes have generally an expression of wildness, and
even madness, but there are moments when, if any one performs an act of kindness towards
him or does him any the most trifling service, his whole countenance is lighted up, as it were,
with a beam of benevolence and sweetness that I never saw equaled.” —Letter IV
B. “My cheeks had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement.
Sometimes, on the very brink of certainty, I failed; yet still I clung to the hope which the next day
or the next hour might release...”—Chapter IV
C. “Liberty, however, had been an useless gift to me had I not, as I awakened to reason, at the same
time awakened to revenge. As the memory of past misfortunes pressed upon me, I began to
reflect on their cause—the monster whom I had created, the miserable daemon whom I had
sent abroad into the world for my destruction. I was possessed by a maddening rage when I
thought of him, and desired and ardently prayed that I might have him within my grasp to wreak
a great revenge on his cursed head.”—Chapter XXIII
D. “During my youthful days discontent never visited my mind; and if I was ever overcome by ennui,
the sight of what is beautiful in nature, or the study of what is excellent and sublime in the
productions of man, could always interest my heart, and communicate elasticity to my
spirits.”—Chapter XIX
Finnigan/Frankenstein 3
Frankenstein ESSAY Continued:
6. Read the following passages. In a well-organized essay, explain the irony of the two passages when
compared to one another. Make a persuasive argument about which character you feel is correct in his
comparison to the “fallen angel.”
A. “...I possessed a coolness of judgment that fitted me for illustrious achievements. This sentiment
of the worth of my nature supported me, when others would have been oppressed; for I
deemed it criminal to throw away in useless grief those talents that might be useful to my
fellow-creatures. When I reflected on the work I had completed, no less a one than the creation
of a sensitive and rational animal, I could not rank myself with the her common projectors. But
this thought, which supported me in the commencement of my career, now serves only to
plunge me lower than the dust. All my speculations and hopes are as nothing; and, like the
archangel who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained in an eternal hell...I trod heaven in my
thoughts, now exulting my powers, now burning with the idea of their effects. From infancy, I
was imbued with high hopes and lofty ambition; but how I am sunk! Oh! My friend, if you had
known me as I once was, you would not recognize me in this state of degradation.”
—Victor Frankenstein, Chapter XXIV
B. “Once my fancy was soothed with dreams of virtue, of fame, and of enjoyment. Once I falsely
hoped to meet with beings who, pardoning my outward form, would love me for the excellent
qualities which I was capable of unfolding. I was nourished of high thoughts of honour and
devotion. But now crime has degraded me beneath the meanest animal. No guilt, no mischief,
no misery can be found comparable to mine. When I run over the catalog of my sins, I cannot
believe I am the same creature whose thoughts were once filled with sublime and transcendent
visions of beauty and the majesty of goodness. But it is even so; the fallen angel becomes a
malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his
desolation; I am alone.”
—The Creature, Chapter XXIV
7. Robert Walton is used as a catalyst for Frankenstein to tell his story. The premise of the entire novel
rests on Frankenstein warning Walton to stop his mad pursuit of knowledge. What are the similarities
between Frankenstein and Walton? In what ways are they and their experiences different? In a well
organized essay, answer the previous questions and make an argument as to whether Frankenstein’s
story helps Walton.
Finnigan/Frankenstein 4
PROJECT:
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Frankenstein Projects: Choose one or more of the following, you may work with a partner(s).
The value of each project is indicated preceding the project description; if you are working with
a partner(s) then the total earned points will be divided among you. If you want a bonus you can
do up to 30 points EXTRA. You must complete at least 9 points.
•
Pass in the rubric below with your project.
Points
9
27
36
18
18
9
18
18
Project
LETTER
Description
You receive a letter from a classmate who signed on as a common sailor
on Robert Walton’s ship. In a return letter you describe your captain
using the skills you learned in school (who, what, why, etc…) of the
character.
CONFRONATIONAL Choose a confrontational scene from the novel. Write a script that
SCENE
includes all of the necessary elements:
i.
Narrator that sets the scene
ii.
Scripted dialogue
iii.
List of sound effects and their location noted in the dialogue
For an extra 9 points record your script with sound effects and music, or
video with the same effects.
FLOOR PLANS
You are an architect and have been commissioned to draw the plans
and design the interiors for a hotel in the Alps on the River Arve, just
below Mount Blanc (see chapter 10). Draw a three story floor plan and
then draw in detail the room where Elizabeth met her death.
Remember that it is the early 19th Century.
1931 FILM
Watch the 1931 film Frankenstein (Dir. James Whale). Select three
scenes that are in direct contrast to the ones from Mary Shelley’s novel.
Outline these scenes in essay form; or through another creative avenue.
MAP
Map the novel Frankenstein. On your map include place names and the
chapter numbers where the place appears in the novel.
NEWSPAPER
Write a journalistic (5 Ws and an H) article reporting on what happened
in either chapter 8 or 16. Include a “sidebar” piece that complements
your article.
PEOPLE MAG
Set up an edition of People magazine with layout, copy, artwork, and
advertisements inspired by the tail of death left by the former
Ingolstadt University student: Victor Frankenstein.
Frankenstein Project Presentation English 111/Student(s): _____________________________________
Project #
Project Item
Points
Comments
1
Letter on Robert
9
2
Radio Script
27
3
Architect Plans
18
4
1931 Movie Scenes
18
5
Map the Novel
9
6
Journalists Report
18
7
People Magazine
18
Total Avalable Points: __________/9 (Bonus Max = 30)
Finnigan/Frankenstein 5
JOURNAL PROMPTS: There are a total of 7 creative journals that you must write and hand in by the end
of the novel unit study. Each journal must be 200 words; MLA format, with the first page as the title
page (like your essays). The journals are designed to focus on the point of view of the story where you
are telling a similar story as Victor’s from your POINT OF VIEW. It is meant to be creative with an
inspiration from the novel. Imagine this as a personal diary and be as creative as you can!
Journal #
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Description
Create a first person character that has a story to tell. Create a family tree that has your
character as the eldest child. Give this character a name and a place (and time) to live. Be
prepared to continue to write about this character in the first person and his/her family. For
the purpose of the following descriptions I will refer to the character as YOU.
YOU goes off to college. While there YOU have something happen that YOU wish no one to
find out about. Write a letter to YOUR father telling him why YOU can’t come home for
Christmas break. Imagine that YOU decided to keep a copy of this letter in your journal, so
after the included letter explain what the secret in that YOU are keeping from YOUR family.
YOUR best bud writes a letter indicating that since YOU can’t come to visit he/she will visit
YOU. In a letter to YOUR closest friend, who is still at home, explain to her/him why they
should postpone their visit to YOU.
The secret is destroying everything around YOU! All of YOUR relationships are deteriorating.
Create a dialogue in which YOU talk with a stranger in a café/pub about your estrangement
from YOUR family—write as if you are a dramatist.
A neighbour of YOURS has found out about YOUR secret. She/he has left YOU a note asking
YOU to change YOUR ways. YOU find the note and copy it (or paste it) into YOUR journal.
To no avail YOUR secret begins to physically destroy YOUR family and friends. One such
destruction is written in the newspaper. YOU clip out the article and copy it into YOUR
journal.
YOU finally confront YOUR secret and in the confrontation either YOU or the secret is
destroyed. If YOU are the survivor, then this should be YOUR final journal entry, but if YOU
are not the survivor; this is an eyewitness’s account of YOUR final conflict with YOUR secret.
VOCABULARY AND TERMS:
Along with your creative journal keep a vocabulary journal.
1. Define at least 2—3 words per chapter grouping (see reading schedule above) that you need to
look up.
2. Record and define any literary terms that are mentioned in the study guide questions or class
notes.
3. Hand these in with your journal at the end of the unit.
Finnigan/Frankenstein 6
Lecture Notes
I.
Life and Times of Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was born Mary Wollstoncraft in 1797 to William Godwin and Mary Wollstoncraft—both
very prominent and liberal writers. Her mother had written A Vindication on the Rights of Woman,
which was a very popular feminist work. Mary spent much of her teen years writing stories in Scotland
until she returned to London at age 16. She met and fell in love with Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley
and became pregnant. The two continued their affair until his estranged wife committed suicide, at
which point they married. They lost all three of their children, and in 1822 Percy drowned in the Gulf of
Spezia in Italy. At the age of 24, she was an impoverished widow, and she supported herself with her
writing.
Frankenstein was published in 1818 when she was only 20 years old. It is considered a huge feminist feat
because it was written by the female child of a world-renowned early feminist. However, there are very
few female characters, and other than Safie (the wife of one of “the cottagers”) they are not particularly
strong female roles.
Historical Events:
—1789: the start of the French revolution (an attempt of the French people to rid themselves of their
absolute monarchy). British liberals were excited that the common people were standing up to their
oppressors, but they quickly became disillusioned when the revolution became very bloody and its
leaders became tyrants themselves.
—1793 through 1794: the French Reign of Terror under Robespierre. British liberals lost all hope for true
justice and equality in that year.
—1804: Napoleon is crowned Emperor.
During this whole time, Romantic writers were turning towards nature as an escape from the harsh
realities of their world. Nature was someplace where human tyranny did not reign.
II.
Romantic Movement
—The Romantics were, for the most part, disheartened liberals.
—They sought solitude in nature, believing that the key to all emotional healing could be found in
nature. Nature imagery is the most predominant feature of Romantic literature.
“The weather was fine: it was about the middle of August...The weight upon my spirit was sensibly
lightened as I plunged into the precipices that overhung me on every side—the sound of the river raging
among the rocks, and the dashing of the waterfalls around, spoke of a power mighty as Omnipotence—
and I ceased to fear, or to bend before any less almighty than that which had created and ruled the
elements...” .
—The idea of the disenfranchised man was also very common. Such men, who found themselves unable
to live in society, were often revered and/or sympathized with. Frankenstein and his creature are both
disenfranchised men—the creature because his form keeps him from any human company, and
Frankenstein because he eventually feels that he cannot enjoy the company of his fellow men after
unleashing a monster among them.
—Many Romantics (like Coleridge and both Shelleys) dealt with the supernatural. One common
Romantic trait was making ordinary, everyday things seem wonderful and awe-inspiring. However, some
went a step further and dealt with non-natural things. Frankenstein’s creature (and his education/life) is
not a common thing. It could not possibly be a real thing. Up until the Romantic era, writers wrote
fiction that read as though it could possibly be real—and was often taken for truth. Frankenstein cannot
be misconstrued as real.
Finnigan/Frankenstein 7
Lecture Notes Continued
III. Gothic Literature
—It was an offshoot of Romantic literature.
—Gothic literature was the predecessor of modern horror movies in both theme and style.
—Gothic literature put a spin on the Romantic idea of nature worship and nature imagery. Along with
nature having the power of healing, Gothic writers gave nature the power of destruction. Frankenstein
is full of the harsh reality of nature. Many storms arise in the book, including storms the night the
creature comes to life and the night Frankenstein destroys the corpse of the second creature in the Irish
Sea.
—The most common feature of Gothic literature is the indication of mood through the weather. When
bad things are going to happen in a Gothic novel, the reader knows it because there is inevitably a storm
outside. This is still true in many books and films.
(When Frankenstein is about to encounter his creature in the mountains):
“I quitted my seat and walked on, although the darkness and storm increased every minute and
the thunder burst with a terrific crash over my head. It was echoed from Saleve, the Juras, and
the Alps of Savory; vivid flashes of lightning dazzled my eyes, illuminating the lake, making it
appear like a vast sheet of fire...I perceived in the gloom a figure which stole from behind a
clump of trees near me; I stood fixed, gazing intently...A flash of lightning illuminated the object,
and discovered its shape plainly to me; it’s gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect,
more hideous than belongs to humanity...”.
IV. Victor Frankenstein’s “Science”
Modern readers are often puzzled by Victor’s approach to discovering the “elixir of life” in that he does
not seem to perform scientific experiments as much as read books. Prior to the eighteenth century,
what we call “science” and what we call “philosophy” were essentially the same disciplines. The study of
nature and the desire to know how nature functions eventually came to be called “natural philosophy,”
but the quest for such knowledge was still more what we would consider philosophical than scientific.
Mary Shelley indicates that Victor is a student of this “natural philosophy” when she indicates who some
of Victor’s early influences were. While admitting that many of these men’s theories had been
discredited, Victor still admits that it was they who largely set him on the course he was eventally to
take.
Cornelius Agrippa was a Renaissance philosopher and scientist whose works reflect a strong interest in
the occult and ancient, mystical “sciences” of the near East. His writing blends European interpretations
of Plato’s philosophy with Jewish Kabalistic beliefs. His famous work “De incertitudine et vanitate
scientiarum” (the vanity and uncertainty of the arts and sciences), published in 1527, is a treatise on the
occult, as a hidden, knowledge that existed in Renaissance Europe and was known to a select few. It is a
collection of thoughts on Renaissance magic including such diverse topics as astrology and the effect of
planetary motion on human events, occult virtues, the natural tendency of certain “elements” to work
harmoniously together and others to oppose one another, spells, methods of predicting the future,
numerology, the divine Trinity, the Kabalistic Names of God and the orders of evil spirits.
In terms of “real science,” his ideas have all but been discredited by later thinkers and by the processes
of observation and experimentation.
Finnigan/Frankenstein 8
Lecture Notes Continued
Paracelsus was another Renaissance philosopher and scientist who introduced a new concept of disease
and the use of chemicals rather than herbs to treat diseases. Paracelsus asserted that diseases were
caused by external agents attacking the body, contrary to the then-traditional idea of disease as an
internal upset of the balance of the body’s humors (yellow bile, black bile, blood and phlegm). To cure
the disease, one needed to attack this external agent. Alchemy became the means by which the
chemical remedies were prepared. Thus, Paracelsus changed the emphasis of the alchemy from chasing
the mythological “Elixir of Life” or “Philosopher’s Stone,” to making medicines.
Some of Paracelsus’s ideas, however, bordered on the occult. He was said to have been taught the
secret of the universal solvent in Constantinople. He was believed to have had such tutors as gypsies and
sorcerers, and affected miraculous cures of several maladies.
Albertus Magnus was still another Renaissance philosopher and scientist who advocated the search into
the natural causes of things apart from the church’s position that God was the cause of all effects. For
example, in one of his most famous works Albertus wrote:
“The aim of natural science is not simply to accept the statements of others, but to investigate
the causes that are at work in nature.”
This was a radical idea for the time, as most scholars believed that the scriptures were the sole source of
all knowledge. Not only did Albertus advocate what we would call today the scientific approach to
studying the real world, but he did so in such a way that his ideas were accepted by the Church.
In a work on plants Albertus wrote, “In studying nature, we have not to inquire how God the Creator
may, as He freely wills, use His creatures to work miracles and thereby show forth His power: we have
rather to inquire what Nature with its immanent causes can naturally bring to pass,” thus placing the
emphasis on understanding how nature worked rather than on trying to understand God.
Not everyone held Albertus in high esteem, however. Roger Bacon, who was a contemporary, and in
many ways a rival of Albertus, was highly critical. He wrote that Albertus, “... is a man of infinite patience
and has amassed great information, but his works have four faults. The first is boundless, puerile vanity;
the second in ineffable falsity; the third is superfluity of bulk; and the fourth is his ignorance of the most
useful and the most beautiful parts of philosophy.”
Roger Bacon was, however, an even stronger advocate of experimental science than was Albertus but
did not feel compelled to reconcile his scientific theories with Church doctrine. He was also able to
demonstrate a number of factual and reasoning errors in Albertus’s work.
V.
Character Development
—Round Characters: characters that are fully developed and multi-dimensional.
—Flat Characters: characters that are based solely on one trait or characteristic.
—Dynamic Characters: characters that develop through the course of the story.
—Static Characters: characters that do NOT develop through the course of the story.
—Foil: a character who is the opposite of another character used to shed light upon the character of the
latter.
—Catalyst: a character (or event) that starts a chain of events. A catalyst is the first domino to fall and
hit the other dominoes.
Finnigan/Frankenstein 9
Lecture Notes Continued
Character Analysis of “Static Characters”
—Frankenstein Family, Elizabeth, and Justine are used as the reason for Victor’s revenge. They exist only
to be killed by the monster (or killed by society), thus giving Victor the motivation he needs to rid the
world of the monster. Also, Mrs. Frankenstein’s death is what makes Victor wish to create, and
ultimately restore, life to inanimate objects.
—Henry Clerval is used as another reason for Victor’s revenge. He is also a foil for Victor by showing how
scientific and, often, un-Romantic Victor is. Henry is Shelley’s way of showing how life could be for Victor
if he was not given to his passion for science.
—Robert Walton is Shelley’s device that allows Victor to tell his story. Just as Victor uses him to be the
scribe of his story, Shelley uses him to be the reason the story is told.
—M. Waldman: is purely a catalyst for Victor to return to natural philosophy and continue his creation.
—The Cottagers: are the means through which the creature learns how to speak (so he can tell his story)
and how to “socialize.” They are the singlemost important factor in making the creature long for human
company, and then for his feeling of utter despair that drives him to murder.
Character Analysis of “Dynamic Characters”
—Frankenstein: has a very complex character change throughout the story, mainly because the story
covers his entire life. Because of the inverted time sequence (the bulk of the novel is a flashback and a
flashback-within-a-flashback), his character in the book is not in the same sequence as in real life.
Through the course of his own life, he evolves from being a happy and loving child with a love of
knowledge, to a science-obsessed youth, to a broken and “wiser-for-the-wear” man. The various
sorrows he endures through his life, and his decade-long sense of guilt for having created such a
murderous being, wear on him until he is a prematurely aged and sickly man.
Most important to mention is his change in philosophy over his development. After all the havoc he
unintentionally racked on himself, he decides that it is better to enjoy life than to go after fame, glory,
and knowledge. After all that he learns, he feels that ignorance is bliss. In essence, Victor carries the
moral of the story.
—The Creature: also has a very important development in the story. Chronologically, he begins life as a
tabula rasa (clean slate). He is a grown being, similar to human although horribly deformed. He has no
history, no family, nothing to help determine who he would become. He only develops a personality
through the observation of others and books, he has no “God-given” tendencies because he was not
created by God. He only has the POTENTIAL for everything. He first loneliness and rejection (first by his
own creator, and then by the inhabitants of the town he finds himself in) makes him feel sadness. He
eventually observes the goodness in the cottagers, and he becomes good. But when they—and
everyone else—spurn him, his rage and sorrow become unchecked and he begins his revenge. The
people he encounters and their meanness toward him teach him meanness (he mentions that he learns
about murder in history books). He literally becomes what society makes him. The creature is Shelley’s
warning to the reader.
VI. Literary Allusion
—Literary Allusion is a writer’s comparison of his or her characters to characters in other well-known
works of literature. The value of allusion lies in its ability to garner much information in only a title or a
character name. By alluding to a work with which everyone is familiar, all of the connotations of the one
work are transferred to the new one.
Finnigan/Frankenstein 10
Lecture Notes Continued
—Shelley uses many literary allusions in Frankenstein, referring mostly to Milton’s Paradise Lost and the
biblical account of Adam and Eve.
—The story of Adam and Eve, especially Milton’s version, is one that is very well known in Western
culture. It is one of the fundamental stories of Western culture. By using that particular story, Shelley
was hoping to get as many people as possible to bring the backstory of Paradise Lost to Frankenstein.
Shelley wanted the idea of the proud and inquisitive creature being cast out, as well as the idea that
being cast out was a horrible thing.
“But Paradise Lost excited different and far deeper emotions. I read it...as a true history. It moved every
feeling of wonder and awe, that the picture of an omnipotent God warring with his creatures was
capable of exciting. I often referred the several situations, as their similarity struck me, to my own...”
—Another obvious literary allusion in Frankenstein is its subtitle: “The Modern Prometheus.”
Prometheus was a Greek god who was in charge of giving out gifts to the various creatures on Earth. He
gave out speed and instinct and such. By the time he got to mankind, he was out of gifts. He decided to
go against his orders and gave man fire (symbolic of knowledge). The other gods were angered by his
disobedience (partly because now man was too godlike). Prometheus’s punishment was that he was
chained to a rock. Every day a vulture came and devoured his liver. Every night the liver grew back to be
devoured the next day. In several obvious ways, this ancient Greek story is very closely connected to
Frankenstein.
VII. Verisimilitude:
Verisimilitude is what the author tries to create in order to make her/his story appear to be real or true.
Translated from the Latin the word means “life’s appearance.” Mary Shelley’s incredible tale of
manipulating nature and playing God needs this in order for her story to be read. She uses the “framed
narrative” structure to begin in the creation of verisimilitude. Like a Russian doll box, that appears to go
on forever, the imaginative “core” is the most precocious element. Mary Shelley’s story is highly
imaginative and she tells it from three perspectives, so it appears to be a story, within a story, within a
story.
Examples: Robert Walton’s Letters and Journals—written while searching for the Northwest passage/
After listening to Victor’s Tale. Victor Frankenstein’s Tale—prior to his alpine confrontation with his
creation (chapters 1—9). The Creation’s Story—chapters 10—17
VIII. OBJECTS AND PLACES IN FRANKENSTEIN
Geneva: Geneva, Switzerland. Home of the Frankenstein family where Victor grew up and to which he
returned after college and the creation of the monster. The murders of William and Justine were located
in the area around Geneva.
Ingolstadt: Ingolstadt, Germany. Victor went to college in Ingolstadt and created the monster in his
laboratory there. This was the city of the monster's awakening.
Miniature: A locket with a picture of Caroline Frankenstein. William borrowed this from Elizabeth just
before he was murdered and the miniature was missing when they found his body, so it was assumed
that a thief murdered him for the necklace, but the monster had taken it because the picture of Caroline
was beautiful. He planted the miniature on Justine so that she would be blamed for the crime. This piece
of evidence, which she could not explain, condemned her to death.
Finnigan/Frankenstein 11
Lecture Notes Continued
Mont Blanc: A mountain near Geneva. This mountain is referred to again and again in descriptions of
scenery throughout the novel. It carries weight as a mark of Romanticism because it is the subject of a
famous poem by Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley's husband.
Orkney Islands: Orkney Islands, Scotland. Victor stays in a hut on one of the sparsely populated Orkney
Islands to create a second creature to be a companion to the monster.
North Pole: Destination of Robert Walton and his ship as well as the monster and Victor. Walton is
bound for the North Pole to explore in the hopes of uncovering secrets of the earth and gaining glory for
his discovery. Victor is following the monster to the North Pole to destroy him or die trying, and they
meet while Walton's ship is trapped in ice. Walton and Victor never make it to the North Pole because
Walton's men want to turn back for England and Victor dies. The monster, however, is last seen on his
way to the furthest point north to destroy himself so that none will know of his hideous existence.
Chamounix: Frankenstein traveled to Chamounix to escape his guilt and depression, but while he was in
Chamounix, the monster approached him about creating a female monster companion for him. The
monster lived in an ice cave not far from Chamounix.
IX. STING: WRAPPED AROUND YOUR FINGER: Define the allusions (underlined)
You consider me the young apprentice
Caught between the Scylla and Charybdis
Hypnotized by you if I should linger
Staring at the ring around your finger
I have only come here seeking knowledge
Things they would not teach me of in college
I can see the destiny you sold
Turned into a shining band of gold
I will listen hard to your tuition
And you will see it come to it's fruition
I'll be wrapped around your finger
I'll be wrapped around your finger
Devil and the deep blue sea behind me
Vanish in the air, you'll never find me
I will turn your face to alabaster
Then you'll find your servant is your master
I'll be wrapped around your finger
I'll be wrapped around your finger
You'll be wrapped around my finger
You'll be wrapped around my finger
You'll be wrapped around my finger
Mephistopheles is not your name
But I know what you're up to just the same
X. Sting: Every Breath You Take
Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you
Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I'll be watching you
O can't you see
You belong to me
How my poor heart aches with
every step you take
Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you
Since you've gone I been lost
without a trace
I dream at night I can only see your
face
I look around but it's you I can't
replace
I feel so cold and I long for your
embrace
I keep crying baby, baby please
Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you
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Frankenstein Advanced Placement in English: Study Guide Student Copy
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”—After a close reading, respond to the following:
1. Find a quotation that sums up each of the seven parts.
2. How was Shelley influenced by the poem? (36)
3. How is Frankenstein and “The Rime” connected? Supply a page and quote that supports the
connection to:
- Victor and Mariner - Robert and Guest - Creation and Albatross
Robert Walton’s Letters and Journals:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
The novel begins with a series of letters in which the narrator of the novel is writing his thoughts
and plans to his sister. Where is the narrator going? Why has he chosen to make this voyage? Of
what does the narrator dream? What is his goal?
Walton says he is a “Romantic.” What is a Romantic person like?
What evidence does Walton provide of his Romantic leanings?
Aside from personal glory, what two benefits to mankind does Walton hope to achieve?
Identify one example of foreshadowing.
How do Walton’s letters illustrate the tension between eighteenth-century rationalism and
nineteenth-century Romanticism?
What is Walton’s impression of Frankenstein?
How does Frankenstein react to Walton’s dream/goal?
Why does Frankenstein decide to tell Walton his story?
Chapters I & II
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
What plot exposition does Shelley offer the reader in these chapters?
What are Frankenstein’s parents like? How do they feel about each other and about their child?
How are Victor and Elizabeth different? What kind of person is Victor?
What quality in young Frankenstein proves to be his tragic flaw later in life?
Who is Henry Clerval? What is he like? How is he different from Victor?
What does Victor want to accomplish in life? Why does he turn to the study of mathematics?
What prevents him from continuing his study?
How is Elizabeth a “typical” Romantic female character?
How did Cornelius Agrippa and other early scientists affect young Victor?
How does Victor view his switch to mathematics? What does he compare it to?
What is foreshadowed at the end of Chapter 2?
Chapters III & IV
1.
How is the story of Victor’s mother’s death ironic?
2.
What does Victor contemplate in the first hours of his departure? How do these thoughts indicate
his future?
3.
Why does Victor not want to study the contemporary scientists suggested by M. Krempe?
4.
What ultimately changes Victor’s mind about new chemists?
5.
Compare the physiognomy of Krempe and Waldman.
6.
7.
What is the literary term for M. Waldman and the effect that his lecture and guidance have on
Victor?
Why does Victor favor science above all other disciplines?
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Frankenstein Advanced Placement in English: Study Guide Student Copy
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
How is Victor’s practice of science different from the modern practice of science?
Why does Victor hesitate to make a creature like man? Why does he go through with it?
What traditional tragic flaw is Victor demonstrating?
What is the central flaw in Victor’s decision what to create?
What internal conflict does Victor deal with as he finishes his creation?
List some gothic details from the end of Chapter IV.
What is Romantic in the moral Victor shares with Walton?
Chapter V
1.
How is the night that the creature is born an example of Gothic prose?
2.
What is ironic about the creature’s physical appearance?
3.
What is Romantic about the creature’s physical appearance?
4.
How does Dr. Frankenstein feel about his creation? What does he do after the creature comes to
life?
5.
What event is foreshadowed in the beginning of Chapter V?
6.
What does Frankenstein feel when the creature reaches out to him? What do you think is the
creature’s reason for reaching out for Dr. Frankenstein?
7.
What is most likely the cause of Victor’s reaction to his success?
Chapter VI
8.
In Elizabeth’s letter to Victor there is one example of Shelley’s support for the revolution in France
and republican society. Identify the passage.
9.
What do you learn about in Elizabeth’s letter through plot exposition?
10. What sparks Victor’s fever?
11. How is Victor’s recovery an example of Romanticism?
12. How does Shelley create suspense toward the end of these chapters?
Chapters VII & VIII
1.
What function do letters serve in this and previous chapters?
2.
What briefly lifts Victor’s spirit on his journey home? Why is this significant?
3.
Why does Elizabeth believe that she is responsible for William’s death?
4.
What is “gothic” about Frankenstein’s encounter with the creature?
5.
What is depicted in the picture above the Frankensteins’ mantelpiece?
6.
Why doesn’t Frankenstein take the blame from Justine?
7.
Why does Elizabeth’s speech in court hurt Justine?
8.
What is revealed about Justine’s character in these chapters?
9.
Do you think Frankenstein is as guilty as he feels he is? Of what do you think he is guilty, if
anything?
10. How do the reactions of Victor and his family to William’s murder illustrate Romantic principles?
Chapter IX
1.
What keeps Victor from killing himself at the beginning of this chapter?
2.
How does Victor become a disenfranchised member of society himself?
3.
As Victor climbs the mountains, what effect do they have on him?
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Frankenstein Advanced Placement in English: Study Guide Student Copy
Chapter X
4.
Why does Victor climb Montanvent in spite of the rain? How does that identify this as a romantic
novel?
5.
What are Victor’s feelings as his creature approaches him. What is the first thing he says to his
creature?
6.
How does the creature respond to Victor?
7.
What biblical character does the creature compare himself to? What character does he think he
ought to be?
8.
What do you think the creature will ask of Victor? Why?
9.
What does the creature say made him a “fiend?” What is Romantic about this?
10. What does the creature claim is the basis of Victor’s debt to him?
11. What does the creature promise to Victor if Victor will fulfill his duties as creator?
Chapters XI & XII
1.
What technique does Shelley employ to provide the reader with the creature’s story?
2.
Trace the levels of narration Shelley has established to tell this story.
3.
How does the creature describe his first days of life?
4.
How does the creature respond to fire?
5.
How are the creature’s early days different from Victor’s early days?
6.
What effect does the creature’s speech (vocabulary and grammar) have on the reader? Why did
Shelley write it for that purpose?
7.
Why is the creature confused to see his cottagers crying?
8.
Why does the creature work so hard to learn their language? What does that reveal about his
character?
9.
What does the creature say he discovers about himself? What feelings does this discovery cause?
10. Why is the creature’s appearance relevant? What “science” is Shelley discrediting?
11. What evidence does Shelley provide of the creature’s innate goodness?
12. What is typically Romantic in the final paragraph of Chapter XII?
13. How are the creature’s first words similar to the typical first words of human babies?
14. Based on what you’ve read so far, do you anticipate the cottagers will accept the creature? Why
or why not?
15. Why does Shelley end chapter 13 on an apparently optimistic note?
Chapters XIII and XIV
1.
Explain the second sentence of this chapter: “I shall relate events that impressed me with feelings
which...have made me what I am.”
2.
What practical purpose does the beautiful stranger serve?
3.
Why does the creature calls the cottagers his “protectors?”
4.
What paradox does the creature see in humankind through his study of human history?
5.
In what way does his study of human society make him what he eventually becomes?
6.
What is the primary disadvantage of the creature’s “education”?
7.
In view of the trial of Safie’s father in Chapter XIV, and Justine’s trial earlier, what is Shelley’s
opinion of the courts in that era?
8.
How is Safie a feminist character?
9.
What plot exposition is revealed in Chapter XIV?
10. What is the character of Safie’s father? How is he a foil to Safie, and to Victor’s own father?
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Frankenstein Advanced Placement in English: Study Guide Student Copy
Chapters XV & XVI
1.
What is revealed about the creature’s character very early in Chapter XV?
2.
How does the creature feel about the Sorrows of Werter? In what ways is he different from the
characters in the book?
3.
What is the creature’s reaction to Paradise Lost? According to the creature, how is he both similar
to and dissimilar from Adam?
4.
Why couldn’t the creature fully sympathize with the characters in Milton’s book?
5.
What does the creature find in his pocket? How does it make him feel?
6.
What happens when the creature introduces himself to the cottagers?
7.
Why doesn’t the creature kill itself after this incident?
8.
What evidence is there that the creature is still essentially good despite this momentous
disappointment?
9.
What does the creature decide to do? What is his new plan?
10. What happens that makes the creature finally despair?
11. Why does the creature decide to go to Geneva? How have these horrible circumstances changed
him?
12. Why does the creature ask for a mate?
Chapters XVII & XVIII
1.
What, according to the creature, is the cause of his wickedness and what will be the remedy?
2.
What does Victor suggest is a creator’s obligation to his creation?
3.
Follow Victor’s and the creature’s lines of reasoning in their debate over the creation of the
companion. Whose reasoning is most sound?
4.
Why does Victor refuse to make a female monster? Do you feel he is justified in his refusal?
5.
What is the “sympathy” that the creature long for?
6.
What is different about his solitude at the beginning of Chapter XVIII from his solitude while first
creating the monster?
7.
What does Victor’s father think is the cause of Victor’s present anxiety?
8.
What are some of the reasons Victor feels he must go to England to complete his task?
Chapters XIX and XX
1.
Describe Victor’s feelings as he journeys through England.
2.
What does Victor say about his childhood in Chapter XIX?
3.
What is Victor’s big fear in delaying his trip?
4.
Why would the Romantic Mary Shelley call the English Civil War “the most animating epoch of
English history”?
5.
What style of literature describes the place where Victor begins to work in Scotland? Why?
6.
How is his creation of this monster different from the first?
7.
Give four reasons why Victor changes his mind about making the second creature. Use evidence
from the book to refute each of Victor’s reasons.
8.
What opinion does Victor have of his creation? Do you agree with his assessment of it?
9.
What is your reaction to the creature’s speech? Do you agree with him at all? Do you think Victor
has treated him fairly?
10. What does the creature threaten when Victor destroys the mate?
11. What is the “calmness” Victor finds after the monster storms away?
Finnigan/Frankenstein 16
Frankenstein Advanced Placement in English: Study Guide Student Copy
Chapters XXI & XXII
1.
What is familiar about the method of the murder discovered in this chapter?
2.
Who has been murdered, and why is Victor accused of the murder?
3.
Why does Victor think he survived all that he had been through? How is the fact that he lives
ironic?
4.
Victor makes several references to his destiny in this chapter. What does he believes his destiny to
be?
5.
What does the word “torpor” mean in the following context?: “But my general state of being was
a torpor, in which a prison was as welcome a residence as the divinest scene in nature”?
6.
Why does Victor feel he can’t be with people? What opinion does Victor express about his
creation?
7.
What is ironic about the desires of Victor and the creature?
8.
Why does Victor decide to marry Elizabeth immediately?
9.
In what way does Elizabeth restore the Romantic Victor?
10. What do you think will happen on Victor and Elizabeth’s wedding night?
11. How does Shelley build suspense in these chapters?
12. What evidence is there to suggest what the creature really means by his threat to be with
Frankenstein on his wedding night?
Chapters XXIII & XXIV—End
1.
When does it finally occur to Victor that he has foolishly misinterpreted the creature’s threat?
2.
How does the monster react to his murdering Elizabeth?
3.
What does the word “acme” mean in the following context: “Mine has been a tale of horrors; I
have reached their acme, and what I must now relate can but be tedious to you”?
4.
What is different about Victor’s reaction to Elizabeth’s ( and his father’s ) death from the rest?
5.
Victor, in his anger, says to the magistrate, “How ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom.” What
is the irony in this?
6.
In Chapter XX, Victor says his calmness is brought by despair. At the beginning of Chapter XXIV, he
says his calculating revenge brings him calm. What does this change say about his character after
the deaths of his wife and father?
7.
What does the creature want Victor to do now? How does that show a difference in the creature’s
character from the point when he wanted a companion?
8.
Consider Victor’s statement: “When I reflected on the work I had completed, no less a one than
the creation of a sensitive and rational animal, I could not rank myself with the herd or common
projectors...All my speculations and hopes are as nothing; and, like the archangel who aspired to
omnipotence, I am chained to eternal hell” How does this establish Victor as a tragic hero?
9.
On his deathbed, Victor admits that he had an obligation to make sure his creature had a happy
life. What is ironic about the excuse he offers for not doing so?
10. How does the end of the novel justify the concentric levels of narration introduced at the
beginning?
11. How does the inclusion of Captain Walton affect the overall meaning of the book?
12. Explain how Victor is similar to a tragic hero.
13. Explain how Victor is similar to a romantic hero.
14.
How does Victor depart from the typical tragic hero?