Frankenstein ( E-TEXT) by Mary Shelley (pdf) Frankenstein text by Project Gutenberg

Unit Calendar Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Understandings:
Students will understand that…

• When we don’t take responsibility for our actions, we can impact others, possibly even on a global level.
• Victor’s lack of compassion for his creation causes the monster to seek revenge and cuts it off from any love or compassion it might have felt.
• Scientific advancement can help us learn and prolong our lives, but when it clashes with moral issues and compromises our principles and our humanity, it is harmful.
• This novel offers no answer to the question of the relationship between creator and creation; it can be a seen as metaphor for man’s relationship to God, in which case, God is indifferent at best and cruel at worst. The novel does serve as a springboard to discuss such issues.
• The relationship between nature and nurture is complex and remains the focus of debate as research shows both to be important in determining various aspects of humanity.

Essential Questions:

• What consequences do we face when we don’t take responsibility for our actions?
• Can individuals transform society?
• How can scientific advancement and exploration be both good and bad?
• What happens when our ideals are realized?
• What is the relationship between nature and nurture? Which is more important?
• What is the tension between reason and intuition?
• What is the ethical relationship between creator and creation?
• In what ways can imagination and inspiration unleash the best and worst in man?
• How do writers structure their work to reflect their message?

• How is the feminist perspective demonstrated in Romanticism?

Resources:

1. Romantic Circle 
2. Chapter by Chapter Study Questions

Monday	Tue.	Wed.	Thur.	Friday
4/9: Introduction	4/10: Shelley’s Preface, Letters 1-4	4/11:  : chapters 1-2	4/12: CHAPTERS 3&4	4/13: Chapters 5& 6
4/16 Chapters 7& 8	4/17: Chapters 9& 10	4/18: Chapters 11 &12	4/19 Chapters 13 & 14	4/20 Chapters 15 &16
4/23 Chapters 17-20	4/24: Open-Ended Essay on Frankenstein	4/25 Poetry Review	4/26 Poetry Review	4/27 Poetry Review
4/30 Poetry Review	5/1 MCQ	5/2 MCQ LCT Trip to See My Fair Lady	5/3 MCQs	5/4 MCQs
5/7 Individualized group Studies using Stations	5/8 Individualized group Studies using Stations	5/9 Good Luck to the AP Lit Exam! I know you’ll do well!	5/10 Talk about the exam	5/11 Celebrate and reflection on the AP Lit Course and Exam

Frankenstein E-text 

Summative Assessment Part I:When reading a novel it is always important to have some understanding of the era during which the novel was written. Understanding the historical context of a text gives you, as a reader, a more holistic understanding of the thematic, social, and tonal elements woven within the text and between its lines by its author. As you read, keep a journal to cite specific evidence that illustrates how the facts behind your essay topic ( one of the 5 topics) were woven by this author into her work. You may comment about social implications and restraints, themes, or the author’s tone at a given time – as long as it is at least one paragraph per chapter ( based on  at least one evidence).Actively read Frankenstein, Mary Shelly, and complete your journal entries in a notebook or computer file.  Enter as much evidence as you can that relates to your essay topic because such notes are essential  for us to have a meaningful discussion to prepare for our final project- which is to write an in-depth essay one of the aspects of the novel- your topic.Finally. point out one prophecy Mary Shelley has predicted through her novel Frankenstein that will become  a reality in the near future. Discuss her attitude toward the prophecy as  implied in  the  novel. Part II: Theme analysis Death Creation (is highlighted by the many references to Paradise Lost(1667), John Milton‘s epic rendition of the biblical story of Genesis, which becomes an important intertext of the novel)  birth  and Mary Shelley ‘s real-life preoccupation with pregnancy, labor, maternity, and death. “Mary Shelley thus symbolically fused her book’s beginning and ending with her own–Victor Frankenstein’s death, the Monster’s promised suicide, and her mother’s death from puerperal fever can all be seen as the consequence of the same creation, the birth of Mary Godwin the author.” many critics point out the creature and his maker are doubles of one another, or doppelgängers. Their relationship is similar to that between the head and the heart, or the intellect and the emotion. The conception of the divided self–the idea that the civilized man or woman contains within a monstrous, destructive force–emerges as the creature echoes both Frankenstein’s and narrator Robert Walton’s loneliness: all three wish for a friend or companion. Frankenstein and his monster alternately pursue and flee from one another. Like fragments of a mind in conflict with itself, they represent polar opposites which are not reconciled, and which destroy each other at the end. For example, the creature enacts the repressed desires of its maker, alleviating Victor Frankenstein’s fear of sexuality by murdering his bride, Elizabeth Lavenza, on their wedding night. Identities merge, as Frankenstein frequently takes responsibility for the creature’s action: for instance, after the deaths of the children William and Justine, both of which were caused by the creature, Frankenstein admits they were “the first hapless victims to [his] unhallowed arts.” “…from book 10, is quoted as the epigraph, and Milton‘s poem is one of the books the creature reads. The monster is caught between the states of innocence and evil: like Adam he is “apparently united by no link to any other being in existence,” but as an outcast and wretch he often considers “Satan as the fitter emblem” of his condition. Victor Frankenstein, too, is at once God, as he is the monster’s creator, but also like Adam, an innocent child, and like Satan, the rebellious overreacher and vengeful fiend. Throughout the novel there is a strong sense of an Edenic world lost through Frankenstein’s single-minded thirst for knowledge.” “Frankenstein’s fall, after all, results not from his creative enterprise, but from his failure and inability to give love to his creature. Indeed, another central concern of the novel is the conflict of individual desire against that of familial and social responsibility. George Levine writes: “Frankenstein spells out both the horror of going ahead and the emptiness of return. In particular, it spells out the price of heroism.” Unlike her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, and unlike the Romantic poets generally, Shelley advocates self-denial and social harmony over self-assertion, confrontation, and the individualistic, imaginative act. In her novel she shows that Frankenstein’s quest is an act of selfish obsession, one that destroys his domestic relationships. He is contrasted with the mariner Robert Walton, whose concern for others ultimately wins over his ambition to reach the “region of beauty and light.” “the use of the nightmarish murders, the demon like monster, the terror of the unknown, and the destruction of the idyllic life in nature by a dark, ambiguous force places Frankenstein in the tradition of the Gothic novel. Like other Gothic authors, Shelley situates good and evil as a psychological battle within human nature. Both Frankenstein and the creature initially have “benevolent” feelings and intentions, but eventually both become obsessed with ideas of destruction and revenge. Shelley’s novel successfully manipulates the conventions of the genre, replacing the stock Gothic villain with morally ambiguous characters who reflect the depth and complexities of the human psyche.” “…the portrayal of an agonized hero struggling with himself, the conflicts created by love and domestic duty, the problem of the absent mother, the concept of fate and victimization, the Gothic terror of the unknown–elements she had dexterously manipulated and precociously displayed in the writing of Frankenstein. “

Day 1  Author’s Introduction & Preface Objectives: Students will  become familiar with the characters in the novel and the author, Mary Shelley’s intention of writing the book.

Aim: Why did Mary Shelley write Frankenstein? What discussions influenced the development of her idea?

Do Now: What’s your reaction to a girl ,from Victorian era, who wrote an instant ” bestseller” at the age of 18? Mini Lesson

1. Read the “Forward: Prometheus” and discuss ” Why is the book’s subtitle named after the Greek mythological figure?”
2. Read he PREFACE by Mary Shelley and Introduction by Percy Shelley and discuss ” why does the author include her own introduction and her husband’s preface before the beginning of the novel?”
3. As we read, jot down any question you may have for the class discussion or later independent research?

People (both fictional and real-life) you should know from Frankenstein:

• Victor Frankenstein: creator of the creature and protagonist of the story
• Henry Clerval: Frankenstein’s best friend who is murdered by the creature
• Elizabeth Lavenza: lived with Frankenstein family; married Victor
• Robert Walton: explorer who met Frankenstein on the Arctic ice
• Margaret Saville: recipient of a series of letters from her brother, Robert Walton
• Justine Moritz: wrongly executed for the murder of young William Frankenstein
• Percy Shelley: famous real-life British poet and Frankenstein author’s husband
• Felix De Lacey: unknowingly taught the creature to read and write
• Alphonse Frankenstein: died of grief in his son’s arms after learning that Elizabeth was dead
• Caroline Beaufort: Frankenstein family matriarch; Victor Frankenstein’s mother
• Mary Shelley: real-life author of the novel Frankenstein; she wrote the story while on vacation with Percy Shelley (her husband) and Lord Byron (her friend) while on vacation in Switzerland; both Percy Shelley and Lord Byron became world-famous British poets.
• William Frankenstein: a young boy who was the creature’s first victim

Read Introduction, Preface, Letters and discuss: 

1.  Why did Mary Shelley write Frankenstein?
2. What discussions influenced the development of her idea?
3.  In the preface, what does the author say she is trying to preserve?
4. What is the structure, or form, of the novel?
5. Who was writing the letters?
6.  To whom were the letters written?
7. Where was the writer, and why was he there?
8. How did he meet Victor Frankenstein?
9. How did Robert feel about his guest?
10. Why was Frankenstein in the Arctic?
11. Who is Prometheus? Why is the novel subtitled “the Modern Prometheus?”
12. 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?
13. 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?
14. 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?
15. 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?

Practice: Difficult sentences Students share sentences that are written in challenging syntax. Type it and park it on a poster paper for the class to analyze together.

Exit Slip: What have I learned today?

Homework: Respond to the questions based on your reading. Provide text evidence to support your responses.

Day 2 Preface and Letter 1

Objectives: Students will provide the reasons why Shelley wrote the novel Frankenstein.

Aim:Why did Mary Shelley write Frankenstein?

Do Now: Share our understanding of examples of allusion-

1. Dr. Darwin
2. Illiad
3. Tempest/ Midsummer Night’s Dream
4. Milton’s Paradise Lost

Mini Lesson The Preface

• Why does Shelley allude to Dr. Darwin and German writers?
• Why does Shelley refer to Milton and SHAKESPEARE?
• How is “preserving the truth of…human nature” reflect the Romanticism ideology( passion, not reason, and imagination and intuition, rather than the logical)?
• What reasons does Shelley give in his preface why Frankenstein was written?
• Analyze  the 2nd para. on page 10 “Preface” beginning with ” The Illiad…”.
• What discussions influenced the development of her idea?
•  In the preface, what does the author say she is trying to preserve?

Letters  Read the letter as a whole group and  respond to the following-

1. What is the structure, or form, of the novel?
2. Who was writing the letters?
3.  To whom were the letters written?
4. Where was the writer, and why was he there?

Share your questions on this section.

Independent Practice List the reasons why Shelley wrote the novel Frankenstein. Respond to the following questions in your notebook-

1. How did he meet Victor Frankenstein?
2. How did Robert feel about his guest?
3. Why was Frankenstein in the Arctic?
4. Who is Prometheus? Why is the novel subtitled “the Modern Prometheus?”
5. 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?
6. 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?
7. 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?
8. 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?

Homework: Read letter 4  and complete reading log #4. ( for Thursday) Read chapters 1 & 2 and complete reading log #5.( Friday).

Day 3 Letters 1-4

Objectives: Students will understand the kind of character Walton is and respond to crucial passages using a dialectical journal.

Aim:  How would you describe Walton? What are the most important passages in letters 1-4 ? Why?

Do Now: Share the critical summary of each letter.

Mini Lesson

Use dialectical journal to analyze important passages or passages that relate to your research topic. You must label your responses using the following codes:

• (Q) Question – ask about something in the passage that is unclear
• (C) Connect – make a connection to your life, the world, or another text
• (P) Predict – anticipate what will occur based on what’s in the passage
• (CL) Clarify – answer earlier questions or confirm/disaffirm a prediction
• (R) Reflect – think deeply about what the passage means in a broad sense – not just to the characters in the story. What conclusions can you draw about the world, about human nature, or just the way things work?

• (E) Evaluate – make a judgment about the character(s), their actions, or what the  author is trying to say

Complete one journal entry for each chapter. Sample Dialectical Journal Entry: THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O’Brien

Passages from the text Pg#

Comments & Questions

“-they carried like freight trains; they carried it on their backs and shoulders-and for all the ambiguities of Vietnam, all the mysteries and unknowns, there was at least the single abiding certainty that they would never be at a loss for things to carry”. Pg 2

(R) O’Brien chooses to end the first section of the novel with this  sentence. He provides excellent visual details of what each solider in Vietnam would carry for day-to-day fighting. He makesyou feel the physical weight of what soldiers 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 themen 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. (128 words)

Independent Practice: Discuss Study Questions in a collaborative group for Letters 1- 4

1. Who is Prometheus? Why is the novel subtitled “the Modern Prometheus?”
2. 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?
3. 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?
4. 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?
5. 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?

Homework: Up to chapter 2 ,gather evidence that relates to your topic ( quotations). Use Dialectical journal for comments.

Day 4 Chapters 1-4

Objectives: Students will be able to describe and analyze the character, Victor Frankenstein, based on evidence in chapters 1-4.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.9
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Aim: How would you describe Frankenstein? What are his childhood and youth like? Resources:

• Audio clips: https://librivox.org/frankenstein-dramatic-reading-by-mary-shelley/ ( dramatic reading)
• another version of reading

Do now: In the 4th letter, what seems unusual about the dialogue between the stranger and Walton? How is Walton and the stranger’s relationship developing? What is important to Walton?Of what does the stranger warn Walton ?

Notice and begin to formulate an analysis of the ice imagery.What history of Dr. Frankenstein does the reader learn in Chapter 1?

Reading #2 Chapters 2-6 What type of knowledge intrigued VF as a child? His friend Clerval? Why does VF wish to make such a discovery?

Read the last line of Chapter 2. Do you agree? Disagree? Why?How does VF adapt to University life?To what central question does VF seek an answer?What is VF’s warning in Chapter 4 (43)?How does VF create the creature?How is the tone in Chapter 4 beginning to shift?Why does VF stay away from Geneva for so long? How does this signal a possible larger problem?

Mini Lesson: Discuss the character Robert Walton, VF and examples of  allusion

1.  Introduce the concept of Doppleganger
2. Read chapters 1-2-
   a). share a critical summary of the chapter
   b). Share questions and examples of allusion
   c). Review Vocabulary
   d.) complex sentences
   e). evidence of your research topic

3. Use dialectical journals to analyze important passages or passages that relate to your research topic. You must label your responses using the following codes:

(Q) Question – ask about something in the passage that is unclear

(C) Connect – make a connection to your life, the world, or another text

(P) Predict – anticipate what will occur based on what’s in the passage

(CL) Clarify – answer earlier questions or confirm/disaffirm a prediction

(R) Reflect – think deeply about what the passage means in a broad sense – not just to the characters in the story. What conclusions can you draw about the world, about human nature, or just the way things work?

(E) Evaluate – make a judgment about the character(s), their actions, or what the  author is trying to say

Questions to Model:

1. Work out a character sketch of Victor Frankenstein, concentrating on his values and psychological makeup. What does he value? What motivates him? What appear to be his “moral standards”?
2. 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?

Student Independent Practice:

In a collaborative group, respond to the study questions of chapters 1 – 4 based on one of the themes below:

Frankenstein Essay Questions/Discussion/Journal Topics

For each of the following topic areas, there is an essay question and a series of questions related to the essay topic.  In order to prepare for each day’s discussion, please respond to the journal questions in your notebook. You will want to have honed in on one essay topic as a result of preparing your journal entry and after taking discussion notes in your journal on the class discussion.

A. Setting:

Essay question: Many plays and novels use contrasting settings (for example, two countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and the sea) to represent opposing forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Write an essay explaining how the settings differ, what each setting represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.

Journal Questions

1. Find passages that describe each significant setting in the novel.  
2. Examine how the setting descriptions contribute to the following areas:
   1. Tone and/or mood
   2. Fulfillment of romantic notion of nature/natural settings
   3. Overall effect of the work
3. Trace how the increasingly isolated settings contribute to an understanding of characterization.

B. Narrative POV/Structure:

Essay question

Many novels use multiple voices to highlight the effect of narrative point of view.  Write an essay exploring how the narrative structure and differing points of view contribute to the effect of Frankenstein as a whole.

Journal Questions

1. Identify the 3 narrators and the similarities and differences in their goals and perspectives.  Might consider the following areas: isolation, ambition, view on power, acquisition of knowledge, exploration, exemplification of Romantic ideals.
2. Why does Shelley use three narrators?  What is the effect of having the differing view points?  How are their stories the same/how are they different?
3. Isolate key passages that illuminate the questions above.
4. How does the framed story device amplify the situation of each man/creature?

C.Portrayal of Women:

Essay question

Female characters often encounter issues and difficulties vastly different than their male counterparts.  Examine how Shelley uses the female characters in Frankenstein.

Journal Questions

1. How do the female characters reflect Shelley’s own biographical situation?
2. What are the similarities and differences between Frankenstein’s mother, Justine Moritz, and Elizabeth?  What function does each character serve? How important are these women in the overall structure of the work?  Are they credited with their own existence or are they used in service of other facets of the story?
3. Why does Shelley depict these women as essentially powerless?
4. How is Victor’s encroachment on the uniquely feminine power of creation significant?
5. Why does the monster want a wife?  Is this similar to the role the other women play in the lives of their mates?
6. Find key passages that illuminate and support the questions above.

D. Identity:

Essay Question: Authors throughout the ages have questioned what creates individual identity.  Some theorize that identity is innate others that society creates our identity.  Exploring the significant characters in Frankenstein, consider the factors that contribute to their identity.  How does this portrayal affect the meaning of the work as a whole?

Journal Questions

1. How does Shelley portray the role of fate in the lives of characters?  How much are they in control of their own destiny? How does this contribute to their identity?
2. To what degree are the characters portrayed as innately good or innately evil?  How does this contribute to their identity?
3. What role do reading and education play in the formation of character/identity?  Trace through multiple characters. How are they educated? What are the ramifications of self education vs. formal schooling?  How does this relate to the idea of character/identity?
4. What role does society play in the formation of identity?  What about isolation?
5. How does a character’s appearance affect their identity?  
6. Find key passages that relate to the above questions.

E. Power:

Essay Question: One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character or characters in Frankenstein free themselves from the power of others or seek to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work.

Journal Questions:

1. Why is Walton exploring the arctic?  What is his internal motivation?
2. What drives Frankenstein to scientific exploration?  What motivates him?
3. How does the monster assert his power over Victor?  What motivates him?
4. Consider the difference between intellectual and physical power and the power in destruction and the power in creation.
5. Find key passages that relate to the above questions.

F. Progress:

Essay Question: Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay “Self Reliance” wrote “society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other.”  Using Frankenstein for support, write a well organized essay in which you examine the role of progress and how Shelley uses this concept to enhance the meaning of the work as a whole.

Journal Questions:

1. What is Shelley’s position on progress?  What are the ethical questions raised by the pursuit of progress?  What are the unintended consequences of progress?
2. What does Shelley show happening when we violate the natural order?
3. Find key passages that relate to the above questions.

Exit Slip Question: What does Victor Frankenstein value? What motivates him? What appear to be his “moral standards”? How does this knowledge prepare the reader for his ” great” invention later?

Homework: Read chapters 5 & 6 and create log#1 based on the two chapters.

___________________________________

Day 5

Objectives: Students will respond to study questions for chapters 1 & 2 and figure out  a character sketch of Victor Frankenstein, concentrating on his values and psychological makeup.

Aim: What does Victor Frankenstein value? What motivates him? What appear to be his “moral standards”?

Do Now: Share the critical summary and chapter 1 & 2; share some interesting details that stood out for you  for any reason.

Mini Lesson-

1. How does Walton share similar trains with Frankenstein based on letter 4?
2. The first three chapters tell us about Victor Frankenstein’s childhood and youth. 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?

Independent PRACTICE: Respond to the Study Questions posted for Chapters 1 & 2 on page 5. In pairs, you will  share your responses verbally.

Exit Slip Question: What does Victor Frankenstein value? What motivates him? What appear to be his “moral standards”? How does this knowledge prepare the reader for his ” great” invention later? Homework: Read chapters 5 & 6 and create log#7 based on the two chapters.

Day 5 Chapters 3-4, 5-6

Objectives: Students will share their understanding of each chapter by analyzing a specific passage from each chapter and how it reveals a central idea of the novel.

Aim: How does the passage you have selected reveal the overall meaning of the chapter? Do Now: Discuss the summary of each chapter.

Mini Lesson Part to whole- read a passage from chapter 3 and see how it reveals the overall  meaning of the chapter.

Independent Practice: Each group will work on assigned page based on each chapter and discuss selected passages.

Homework: Write a reading log based on chapters 7-8.

Day 6  Close reading

Objectives: Students will work in pairs to complete the worksheet for each chapter, which requires close reading, analyzing and responding to questions and making a claim.

Aim: Why is close reading an essential skill for in-depth analysis? Do Now: Peer check reading log#11 based on chapters 11-12

Mini Lesson:

Quotations ( Frankenstein Chapter 4  pages 49-55)	Comments/ Interpretations
In other studies you go as far as others have gone before you, and there is nothing more to know; but in a scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder. ( 49)
One of the phenomena which had peculiarly attracted my attention was the structure of the human frame, and, indeed, any animal endued with life. Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed? It was a bold question, and one which has ever been considered as a mystery; yet with how many things are we upon the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries. I revolved these circumstances in my mind and determined thenceforth to apply myself more particularly to those branches of natural philosophy which relate to physiology. Unless I had been animated by an almost supernatural enthusiasm, my application to this study would have been irksome and almost intolerable. To examine the causes of life, we must first have recourse to death. I became acquainted with the science of anatomy, but this was not sufficient; I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body(50).
Now I was led to examine the cause and progress of this decay and forced to spend days and nights in vaults and charnel-houses. My attention was fixed upon every object the most insupportable to the delicacy of the human feelings. I saw how the fine form of man was degraded and wasted; I beheld the corruption of death succeed to the blooming cheek of life; I saw how the worm inherited the wonders of the eye and brain. I paused, examining and analysing all the minutiae of causation, as exemplified in the change from life to death, and death to life, until from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me—a light so brilliant and wondrous, yet so simple, that while I became dizzy with the immensity of the prospect which it illustrated, I was surprised that among so many men of genius who had directed their inquiries towards the same science, that I alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret.(51)
…I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter(51 para.2)
I was like the Arabian who had been buried with the dead and found a passage to life, aided only by one glimmering and seemingly ineffectual light (51 para.3)
…how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow (52 para.1)
Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me( 51 para.3).
… I kept my workshop of filthy creation; my eyeballs were starting from their sockets in attending to the details of my employment. The dissecting room and the slaughter-house furnished many of my materials; and often did my human nature turn with loathing from my occupation, whilst, still urged on by an eagerness which perpetually increased, I brought my work near to a conclusion (53 para.2).
A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility. I do not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this rule. If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind. If this rule were always observed; if no man allowed any pursuit whatsoever to interfere with the tranquility of his domestic affections, Greece had not been enslaved, Caesar would have spared his country, America would have been discovered more gradually, and the empires of Mexico and Peru had not been destroyed (54 para.3)

 

Chapter 5 Frankenstein Chapter 5 (pages 56-61)	Responses	Supporting Evidence
1.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?
2.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?
3. Do you recognize the opening words of this chapter? Remember that Shelley gave them as the starting point of her story?
4. What does Victor dream (p. 61)? How does the dream grow out of, comment on, even explain what Victor has done and been through?

Frankenstein Chapter 6  (p 62-68)Quotations and Questons	Responses	Evidence
1.Ever since the fatal night, the end of my labours, and the beginning of my misfortunes, I had conceived a violent antipathy even to the name of natural philosophy. When I was otherwise quite restored to health, the sight of a chemical instrument would renew all the agony of my nervous symptoms( 65 para.3).
2. We passed a fortnight in these perambulations: my health and spirits had long been restored, and they gained additional strength from the salubrious air I breathed, the natural incidents of our progress, and the conversation of my friend. Study had before secluded me from the intercourse of my fellow-creatures, and rendered me unsocial; but Clerval called forth the better feelings of my heart; he again taught me to love the aspect of nature, and the cheerful faces of children (67 para. 3)
3.  When happy, inanimate nature had the power of bestowing on me the most delightful sensations. A serene sky and verdant fields filled me with ecstasy. The present season was indeed divine; the flowers of spring bloomed in the hedges, while those of summer were already in bud. I was undisturbed by thoughts which during the preceding year had pressed upon me, notwithstanding my endeavours to throw them off, with an invincible burden (68 para.3)
Q: How does Victor Frankenstein feel about nature?
A major claim:

Day 7  Chapters 7-10

Objectives: Students will analyze Victor Frankenstein’s self-perception after he is informed of his brother William’s death; students will also analyze nature’s power on the character.

Aim: How does Victor Frankenstein feel about his creation? himself? How does Shelley use diction to reveal the complexity of his feelings? How does nature affect Victor?

Do Now: Summary Marathon- chapters 5-17 .

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?

Mini Lesson

Read chapters 7-10 out loud. How does Victor view himself through his creation? Do you agree with his views of himself? Why or why not?

Independent Practice

A. Respond to the following questions based on chapter 7

Chapter 7 (p.69-77) of Frankenstein	Responses/ Evidence
1. What kind of man and father  is Alphonse Frankenstein based on the letter he wrote to Victor, his son?
2.Poor little fellow! one only consolation have we; his friends mourn and weep, but he is at rest. The pang is over, his sufferings are at an end for ever. A sod covers his gentle form, and he knows no pain. He can no longer be a subject for pity; we must reserve that for his miserable survivors.” (p.71 par. 4)
3. I contemplated the lake: the waters were placid; all around was calm; and the snowy mountains, ‘the palaces of nature,’ were not changed. By degrees the calm and heavenly scene restored me, and I continued my journey towards Geneva.( p. 72 para.2)
4.How is the storm in Geneva described as Victor approaches home? ( p.73 par. 2) What did Victor see? How is it described? ( p. 73-74 )
5.How does Victor feel about his own creation from two years ago? ( p. 74 par. 2-3) What does he mean  by “I considered the being whom I had cast among mankind, and endowed with the will and power to effect purposes of horror, such as the deed which he had now done, nearly in the light of my own vampire, my own spirit let loose from the grave, and forced to destroy all that was dear to me”?
6. Why couldn’t Victor share the truth about his creation with his father or anyone else? ( p. 74 para.4)

B. How does Shelley use diction to reveal Frankenstein’s complex feelings about his creation? Exit Slip: Do you feel sympathetic toward Victor? Why or why not?

Day 8 Chapters 10-11

Objectives: Students will write a EBC paragraph based on a central question abut chapters 11 & 12.

Aim: How would you describe the creature’s first experience of existence in chapter 11 after he escaped from Frankenstein’s lab? How is his first experience in a human society as he watches Flix’s family? What does he learn from them?

Do Now: Use 1-2 sentences to describe the creature’s experiences of survival immediately following his ” coming to life”. Use 1-2 sentences to describe the impact of Flix’s family on the creature and his new perception of human beings.

Mini Lesson-

1. What’s a good claim? Can there be more than one claim? Does your claim reflect the main point of the chapter?
2. Claim is an interpretation of the major facts in th passage.
3. What evidence can you use to support your claim?
4. What’s is the one literary element or technique you can use to show how Shelley uses it to advance her idea about the story or character?

Independent Practice- Pick one claim you have generated and write an EBC essay ( 2-3 paragraph) to illustrate your point through a specific literary element or technique. Homework: Complete the EBC essay.

Day 9 Chapters 13-14

Objectives: Students will study the creature’s “natural instinct” as described in chapters 13 and how human nature is convoluted as exhibited in chapter 14.

Aim: How would you describe the creature’s “natural instinct”? How is his humanity revealed in chapter 13?

Do Now:  Write a couple of sentences to describe the creature’s character and his self-perception.

Mini Lesson-

• What’s natural instinct?
• What has the creature learned from watching Flix’s family? How does it reveal his natural instinct and even his character?
• What does learn from Volney’s Ruins of Empires?
• How does the creature sound identical to his creator?
• How has knowledge changed the creature’s view of himself and his future?

Assessment: Make a claim statement as response to the question: How would you describe the creature’s natural instinct? Use evidence to support you claim.

Homework: Draw a story map based on chapter 14 to show the family history of De Lacey’s. Be creative but clear about the sequence of events. How unreliable is human nature? What lessons has the creature learned at this point?  

Day 10: The rude awakening Chapters 15 & 16

Objectives: Students will describe the effects of the three great works, The Sorrows of Young Werther , Paradise Lost and Plutarch’s Lives , on the creature; students will also analyze how setting and fire in chapter 15 are symbolic  of the creature’s feelings and his relationship with mankind.

Aim: How has the creature’s discovery of the three greatest works (The Sorrows of Young Werther , Paradise Lost and Plutarch’s Lives) changed his view on virtues and vice or morality?  What does his inability to fight back against Flix say about his humanity? Why does he kill Williams and indict Justine?

Do Now: Why is chapter 15 a precursor of his hatred for mankind?

Mini Lesson

• about Revenge
• Are we taught hatred? How is it illustrated in this chapter?
• symbolism ( fire ,winter and spring  )

Independent Practice: Each group will pick a statement and argue for or against it. Make sure to use sufficient evidence to support your position. Debate:

1. The struggle between good and evil described in Paradise Lost is also an allegory for the struggle within each human being, and within the creature himself. The knowledge had shattered his innocence:  he feels the tragedy of his predicament for the first time.
2. As Felix is mercilessly beating him toward the end of chapter 15, the creature is unable to lift his hand against him: in this way, Shelley indicates the creature’s innate humanity.
3. The creature has every bit of right to curses his creator for giving him life and take revenge, and “spread havoc and destruction around [him], and then to [sit down] and enjoy the ruin.”
4. The abandonment by the creature’s only human connection, the De Lacey’s, prompts the creature to take revenge on mankind.
5. The creature’s murder of William and mistreatment of Justine are the result of his longing for human connection.

Homework: Write a paragraph defending your argument based on one of the statements above.

Day 11 Chapters 17-18

Objectives: Students will analyze if the creature is justified to make a request of having a companion created for him by his creator, Victor Frankenstein and evaluate their own emotions toward the creature at this point of the book.

Aim: How does the creature convince Frankenstein to comply with his request?

Do Now:

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

Mini Lesson

Chapter 17

In Chapter 17 what argument does the Creature offer in support of his demand? Why? Is it a reasonable argument? How would you describe the creature’s tone of plea?

Mini Lesson

How does Shelley use diction and tone to evoke sympathy in readers?

Independent Practice

1. What reasons does the creature provide to support his demand of a companion ( chapter 17)?
2. Frankenstein’s happiness, at this point in the novel, is inextricably bound up with his creation’s; thus he feels himself to be the creature’s slave. Why? Explain in details ( chapter 18).
3. Why are the two now doubles for each other?
4. 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?

Homework: Respond to all the questions in the lesson.

Day  12  Chapters 19-20

Objectives: Students will analyze why Frankenstein’s isolation from his fellow creatures parallels to the Creature’s own situation. Students will also identify ways Victor and the Creature are beginning  to be strikingly similar.

Aim: Why does Victor Frankenstein decide to discontinue his efforts to create a “bride” for the Creature?

Do Now: What does a ” blasted tree” symbolize for Victor? Why? ( chapter 19)

Mini Lesson

Symbolism

• What does “lightening bolt” symbolize when Victor states that a “bolt” has entered his soul?
• What does “an insurmountable barrier”symbolize?

Independent Practice

Chapter 19:

1. How have Victor and his creature become inextricably entangled? Why nothing can ease their suffering?
2. How does the description ( “desolate and appalling”) of the landscape in Scotland where Frankenstein undertakes his second experiment mirror the desolation and horror in Victor’s heart?

Chapter 20

Debate: Victor’s decision of not creating a bride for the Creature is  utterly humanitarian.

Homework: Write an argumentative paragraph to support your position.

Day 13 Chapters 21-22

Objectives: Students will decide whether Victor is responsible for his friend Henry’s death by examining his relationship with Henry, his keeping a secret of the Creature and his refusal to give in to the Creature’s demand.

Aim: How is Victor  responsible for Henry’s death? Why does the death of Clerval serve as a symbol for the death of the last of Frankenstein’s romantic idealism?

Do Now:  How does Victor  react to Henry’s death? Why is his death the final blow to his Romantic idealism?

Mini Lesson

Allusion-“paradisiacal dreams of love and joy” are dashed by the realization that “the apple was already eaten, and the angel’s arm bared to drive [him] from all hope. What does the “apple” represent in this case? Why does he feel so hopeless?

• Although Victor has cheated death physically, he is dying metaphorically. Explain why.
• Why does Victor Frankenstein shy away from people’s company while in Paris ?
• Why does Frankenstein mean that  he could not sacrifice all humankind to save those whom he loved? ( chapter 21)
• Why couldn’t he declare his guilt to the public?

Independent Practice

Chapter 22

• When Victor sees Elizabeth, he finds her much changed by all that is happened. She has lost the vivacity of her youth, but Victor regards her, in her new compassion and gentleness, as an even more fitting companion.Why?
• Victor often feels that he will he succumb to madness. For him to bear the burden alone will change his fate? Why couldn’t he share his secrets with Elizabeth or his father?
• Why does Victor hasten to marry Elizabeth? What does he try to accomplish through his wedding?
• On their wedding date , after landing in Lake Cuomo, Elizabeth and Victor are overcome by a sense of inexplicable foreboding. What kind of foreboding does each one fear?

Homework: In a paragraph, respond to “How is Victor  responsible for Henry’s death? Why does the death of Clerval serve as a symbol for the death of the last of Frankenstein’s romantic idealism?”

Day 14 Chapters 23-24

Objectives: Students will analyze why Victor and the Creature are more closely bound together than ever before after Elizabeth’s death; they will also argue whether the Creature symbolizes man.

Aim: Why does the Creature symbolize man?

Do Now: Why does the Creature kill Elisabeth instead of Victor? Why didn’t Victor predict its intention?

Mini Lesson

Irony- situational and dramatic irony

Identify two examples of irony in chapters 23 & 24 (i.e. not recognizing the creature’s after Elizabeth, his own passion for revenge which resembles that of the creature’s)

On Revenge

“Strangely enough, this final chapter of Victor’s narration, in which he is suffering a decline, finds him more dynamic than he has been since the days of his first experiment. Revenge invigorates him, intoxicates him: the joy he feels at seeing the creature’s sledge marks the first time he has been happy in innumerbale months.” What does Shelley say about revenge?

Why does the creature whisper that he is “satisfied” that Frankenstein has determined to live?

Independent Practice

“Frankenstein liberates himself from his prison of guilt, opting instead for one of wrath. In a certain sense, the creature has finally succeeded in gaining the companionship he always desired. Frankenstein is doomed to share the creature’s life, and to follow him wherever he may go: the two are as close as a parent and child, or a lover and his beloved. It no longer matters who occupies which position: each reciprocates the obsession of the other“. Do you agree with the interpretation of the ending of the book? Why ?

Note the surrealistic environment of the “chase” scenes in Chapter 24. Are we getting into a different sort of novel than we were originally led to expect? If so, what is the nature of the difference?Victor Frankenstein’s final words–any significance? What about the Creature’s final words?

Respond: “The chase presents Frankenstein with a challenge; it once again calls forth the lust for conquest that motivated his scientific endeavors. The creature is clearly his master, his leader, his animating force. Now it is the monster who brings his maker to life: without his desire for revenge, Frankenstein would surely have died long ago.”

Final Essay AssignmentsResources: The comparison between the Creature and Frankenstein The Failed Quest for Enlightenment in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein The Good and Evil in Man Frankenstein Essay Questions/Discussion/Journal Topics ( Due June 11th)For each of the following topic areas, there is an essay question and a series of questions related to the essay topic.  In order to prepare for each day’s discussion, please respond to the journal questions in your notebook.  You will want to have honed in on one essay topic as a result of preparing your journal entry and after taking discussion notes in your journal on the class discussion. A.     Setting: Essay question Many plays and novels use contrasting settings (for example, two countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and the sea) to represent opposing forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Write an essay explaining how the settings differ, what each setting represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work. Journal Questions Find passages that describe each significant setting in the novel. Examine how the setting descriptions contribute to the following areas: Tone and/or mood Fulfillment of romantic notion of nature/natural settings Overall effect of the work Trace how the increasingly isolated settings contribute to an understanding of characterization. B.     Narrative POV/Structure: Essay question Many novels use multiple voices to highlight the effect of narrative point of view.  Write an essay exploring how the narrative structure and differing points of view contribute to the effect of Frankenstein as a whole. Journal Questions Identify the 3 narrators and the similarities and differences in their goals and perspectives.  Might consider the following areas: isolation, ambition, view on power, acquisition of knowledge, exploration, exemplification of Romantic ideals. Why does Shelley use three narrators?  What is the effect of having the differing view points?  How are their stories the same/how are they different? Isolate key passages that illuminate the questions above. How does the framed story device amplify the situation of each man/creature? C.     Portrayal of Women: Essay question Female characters often encounter issues and difficulties vastly different than their male counterparts.  Examine how Shelley uses the female characters in Frankenstein. Journal Questions How do the female characters reflect Shelley’s own biographical situation? What are the similarities and differences between Frankenstein’s mother, Justine Moritz, and Elizabeth?  What function does each character serve?  How important are these women in the overall structure of the work?  Are they credited with their own existence or are they used in service of other facets of the story? Why does Shelley depict these women as essentially powerless? How is Victor’s encroachment on the uniquely feminine power of creation significant? Why does the monster want a wife?  Is this similar to the role the other women play in the lives of their mates? Find key passages that illuminate and support the questions above. D.    Identity: Authors throughout the ages have questioned what creates individual identity.  Some theorize that identity is innate others that society creates our identity.  Exploring the significant characters in Frankenstein, consider the factors that contribute to their identity.  How does this portrayal affect the meaning of the work as a whole? Journal Questions How does Shelley portray the role of fate in the lives of characters?  How much are they in control of their own destiny?  How does this contribute to their identity? To what degree are the characters portrayed as innately good or innately evil?  How does this contribute to their identity? What role do reading and education play in the formation of character/identity?  Trace through multiple characters.  How are they educated?  What are the ramifications of self education vs. formal schooling?  How does this relate to the idea of character/identity? What role does society play in the formation of identity?  What about isolation? How does a character’s appearance affect their identity? Find key passages that relate to the above questions. E.      Power: One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character or characters in Frankenstein free themselves from the power of others or seek to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work. Why is Walton exploring the arctic?  What is his internal motivation? What drives Frankenstein to scientific exploration?  What motivates him? How does the monster assert his power over Victor?  What motivates him? Consider the difference between intellectual and physical power and the power in destruction and the power in creation. Find key passages that relate to the above questions. F.     Progress: Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay “Self Reliance” wrote “society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other.”  Using Frankenstein for support, write a well organized essay in which you examine the role of progress and how Shelley uses this concept to enhance the meaning of the work as a whole. What is Shelley’s position on progress?  What are the ethical questions raised by the pursuit of progress?  What are the unintended consequences of progress? What does Shelley show happening when we violate the natural order? Find key passages that relate to the above questions.

Debatable Issue: Who is the novel’s protagonist? Antagonist? Hero? 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?  What is a “monster”? What qualities make us human? Which of these qualities does the creature possess? What qualities does he not have? 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? Explain the novel’s popularity. What makes the novel a classic? How is the story appropriate for today and our society?  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?