April 16th

1. Remember you are through chapter 10 by April 19th. 

Today:

Get into groups of 3 and start working through the following questions- 

Prologue

1. Who wrote the prologue to Frankenstein? For what purpose was it written, according to the author?

2. What stories inspired the idea of writing the “ghost stories” that summer?

3. Describe the conversation that triggered the author’s “waking dream.”

4. Why does the writer say that Frankenstein is not “a mere tale of spectres or enchantment”?

5. Which other works about human nature inspired Frankenstein’s author?

6. Summarize where and under what conditions Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein.

Letters

1. Show how the Letters frame the upcoming story of Frankenstein.

2. Analyze how Robert Walton’s life and travels adhere to the ideals of Romanticism.

3. Explain how Walton educates himself for his sailing adventure.

4. Predict how successful Walton’s voyage will be to find an Arctic passage, and the problems he could encounter on his adventure.

5. What does Walton desire when he writes the second letter?

6. Explain why Walton feels particularly fortunate to have secured the master of his ship.

7. Show how the shipmaster’s failed love story adheres to the ideals of Romanticism.

8. Infer how Walton’s “belief in the marvelous” makes him an ideal listener of Frankenstein’s story.

9. Formulate how the setting of the fourth letter is typically Romantic.

10. Tell what the sailors first see in the distance.

11. Describe the man who boards the ship.

12. Explain why the man is in the Arctic.

13. Analyze how the man fulfills Captain Walton’s desires.

14. Generalize why the man agrees to tell Walton his story.

15. Evaluate why the man cautions Walton against his “search for knowledge and wisdom.”

16. What is Walton’s duty as the man tells his story?

Chapter One

1. Tell how Victor Frankenstein’s parents met.

2. Summarize how Mary Shelley interjects her social interest of caring for the poor into Frankenstein.

3. Show how Shelley portrays the women, Caroline and Elizabeth, in Chapter One.

4. Describe Victor’s childhood.

5. Explain how Elizabeth comes into the Frankenstein home.

6. Assess how Victor feels about Elizabeth.

Chapter Two

1. Tell about Victor’s social tendencies and how he interacts with friends.

2. Contrast Victor’s academic interests with those of his friend, Henry Clerval.

3. Infer Victor’s meaning when he says of his desire to learn about science: “I find it arise, like a mountain river, from ignoble and almost forgotten sources; but, swelling as it proceeded, it became the torrent which, in its course, has swept away all my hopes and joys.”

4. Which authors and topics does Victor become obsessed with reading?

5. Generalize how Victor learns about alchemy and natural science. How does this fit with the characteristics of Romanticism?

6. Describe Victor’s experience with lightning. How was it a turning point in his life?

7. Explain Victor’s destiny. Locate a quote from the novel to support your answer.

Chapter Three

1. Tell what Caroline Frankenstein hopes for Elizabeth and Victor’s future.

2. Summarize Elizabeth’s response to Caroline’s death.

3. Explain why Henry Clerval’s father disapproves of education.

4. Deduce what Victor means when he states, “Chance—or rather the evil influence, the Angel of Destruction, which asserted omnipotent sway over me from the moment I turned my reluctant steps from my father’s door. . .”

5. Examine how Victor interacts differently with M. Krempe and M. Waldman.