Essay 2 The Presentation of Victor Frankenstein

This essay should cover your reading up to this point. Remember to look at the feedback and advice from the first essay, as well as your writing mat.

Lesson 11 Chapters 16-17 The Creature’s ultimatum

• Compare Shelley’s version of the incident with the drowning girl in Chapter 16 with the famous scene in the 1931 film version – what are your different reactions to the Creature?

• Put the Creature on trial for the murder of William and the framing of Justine. Divide the class into prosecution and defence andprepare detailed cases based on evidence from the text. Are there any grounds for leniency?
• In Chapter 16 list the arguments the creature gives for why he deserves a female mate. How does his attitude to women and sex differ from Victor’s? Find quotes as evidence from across the novel.

Lesson 10 Chapters 13-15 The De Lacey family

• The Creature learns a lot in this section, stating ‘Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind, when it has once seized on it, like lichen on the rock.’ in groups research the different books which the creature reads or overhears: Ruins of Empire, The Sorrows of Werther and Plutarch’s Lives. How does the Creature react to them and why might Mary Shelley have picked these books?
• Make detailed notes on the De Lacey family – how are they similar and different to the Frankenstein family?
• Read aloud together the dramatic climax of Chapter 15. How does Shelley generate sympathy for the Creature?

Online versions of the texts the Creature learns from

http://www.annourbis.com/ruins-of-empire/ruins10.html (Ruins of Empire)
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2527/2527-h/2527-h.htm (The Sorrows of Werther)
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/thayer/e/roman/texts/plutarch/lives/home.html (Plutarch’s Lives)

Lesson 9 Chapters 11-12 The Creature in the wilderness

• The creature shows a great capacity to learn. Create a 6-panel comic strip across these two chapters showing the key stages of development in the Creature’s journey from baby-like helpless mute to the end of Chapter 12 when the creature is sentient and has started to develop speech. Pick a key quote to label each of the six stages.
• What is the Creature’s attitude to nature in these chapters? How does it compare to Victor’s?
• What might be symbolised by the fire in Chapter 11?

Lesson 8 Chapters 9-10 The First Confrontation

• Make notes on how nature is presented as sublime and Victor is presented as a Romantic in these chapters. Quotes could be placed against images of the Alps using ICT.
• In pairs prepare dramatic reading of the confrontation between Victor and the Creature at the end of the Chapter, condensing the dialogue down to a two minute version which covers the main arguments.
• Look closely at the Creature’s speech which begins ‘How can I move thee?’ Identify and discuss the effect of different rhetorical devices used by the Creature. How does his language compare with Victor’s? (Is he more eloquent and rational than his creator?)
• An extension activity could involve looking at a short passage of Paradise Lost (one of the books the creature first reads) and analysing the influence on the creature’s diction and syntax.  

TIPS

• Keen readers may want to explore Percy Shelley’s poem ‘Futility’ which is alluded to in Chapter 10.
• http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm (very detailed glossary of rhetorical devices)
• http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/note/index.shtml (online annotated paradise lost)

Lesson 8 Speaking & Listening - Press Conference

Learning Intention

I can create a convincing character using words and non-verbal features

Key Competency

Relating to Others

Success Criteria

In drama:

I can use body language to express emotions and attitude

I can stay in character for the duration of a performance

I can respond to others' characters through my own

Lesson 7 After reading: Chapters 6-8 The death of William and Justine.

• Chapter 6 mainly serves as exposition through Elizabeth’s letter, developing the reader’s sense of William and Justine as characters. But what might Elizabeth’s letter suggest about her character and her relationship with Victor?
• How does Shelley make the reappearance of the creature in Chapter 7 dramatic? Also in this chapter how does the landscape and weather reflect Victor’s state of mind?
• How does Shelley present the justice system in Geneva during the trial of Justine? Considering gender representation contrast how Shelley presents Elizabeth and Justine with Victor/the men during Chapter 8.
• ‘Justine’ could be seen as an ironic name for a character who suffers such injustice. Consider the significance of other names in the novel, such as Victor, Elizabeth and the unnamed creature. How are names important in the novel?
• Victor never attempts to speak up for Justine – what reasons does he give and how do you react to them? Imagine that you could have put Victor on the stand; in your group devise questions you would ask and take it in turns to ‘hotseat’ Victor.  

Lesson 6 After reading: Chapter 5 The Creation

• Discuss how film versions have altered perceptions the creation scene. Watch the 1994 version (Kenneth Branagh). 
• Watch the extract from the 1931 version (James Whale).

• Produce a grid comparing the film versions to the sparse details in the opening to Chapter 5.

• Look closely at the opening of the chapter down to Victor’s dream of his dead mother. Make detailed notes in pairs on how Shelley uses language to create an atmosphere of gothic horror: features could include imagery, diction, allusion, symbolism, pathetic fallacy, onomatopoeia, fractured syntax, rhetorical questions. It is recommended that you copy the text from Gutenberg (Google it) so you can annotate it in Word, Google Docs or print it out for writing on.
• The National Theatre production opened with the creation scene. Why might the writer/director have wanted to start there? What would the novel lose/gain by doing the same?
• A key moment of textual ambiguity is Victor’s description of the Creature’s ‘hand…stretched out, seemingly to detain me.’ are there any other possible interpretations of this moment? Explore the concept of the unreliable narrator.
• Make individual notes on Victor’s immediate reaction to the creation of the creature. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12565544 (useful summary of reviews of the national theatre production)

NB Correct use of the term ambiguity in essays is a useful way of showing the examiner that you are aware texts have more than one possible meaning. 

Lesson 5 After reading: Chapters 3-4 Victor as scientist

• Read Chapter 3. Discuss your reactions to Caroline’s death and the betrothal of Victor and Elizabeth. What impression is given of science in this chapter?
• Find out / remind yourself about key contemporary scientific influences on Mary Shelley such as Galvanist scientist Luigi Galvani, Erasmus Darwin (mentioned in the 1818 preface by Percy Shelley) and Sir Humphrey Davy.
• Look up the definition of Science Fiction in a Dictionary of Literary Terms. Discuss and make notes on how far Frankenstein could be classified as science fiction.
• Close focus on the end of chapter 4. How does Shelley create an atmosphere of horror and dread around Victor’s experiments? Note also words from the semantic field of birth (‘conceive’, ‘labour’, ‘bore’) – why might Shelley use them?

www.neh.gov/news/humanities/2002-09/itsalive.html (useful background essay on the science which influenced Mary Shelley)

Lesson 4 After reading: Chapters 1 & 2 Victor's Early Life

CH 1. Class close reading and note taking / discussion of the first chapter. Key questions:

• What do you make of the rather unusual way Victor’s parents got together?
• How far are you convinced by Victor’s description of an idyllic childhood – what might be suggested by the image of the ‘silken cord’?
• How are Caroline (with her ‘soft and benevolent mind’) and Elizabeth (‘my more than sister’) presented in this chapter?
• Why might Mary Shelley have given such an emphasis to describing Victor’s family? (note that this is a novel very concerned with parental responsibility).

CH2. Close focus on the passage from the description of the lightning strike on the tree to the end of the chapter. Consider symbolism of lightning – what might it represent (fate, violent nature, electricity…?) Begin process of cataloguing recurring symbols in the novel (e.g. fire, lightning, light, books) in notes. 


You should consider the polysemy of symbols, that they can represent more than one concept.

Lesson 3 Epistolary Form & Framing

Learning Intention

To be able to appreciate the narrative choices of a writer in terms of the effect on the reader

Key Competency

Thinking

Success Criteria

I have contributed to our discussion forum to explain my thoughts on why Shelley made particular plot choices and the effect on the reader

As we've seen, Shelley opens Frankenstein with a set of letters between characters who are not central to the main plot of the novel. 

• Why do you think she does this? 
• What does it tell us about the context of the story? 
• When we are introduced to "traveller" what impression of him is built up through Walton's letters? 
• Who is he?
• How do you think this prepares us for the 'main' story?

Able students should explore Romanticism in more detail by looking at some of the Romantic poems alluded to in the text – ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and ‘Mutability’, Percy Shelley.

http://www.caspardavidfriedrich.org/the-sea-of-ice-1824.html (‘The Sea of Ice’)

http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_f.html#frame_narrative_anchor (clear definition of ‘frame narrative’)

http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_e.html#epistolary_anchor (definition of ‘epistolary’) 

Lesson 2 Dealing with Unknown Vocabulary

Learning Intention

To use various strategies for dealing with unknown vocabulary while reading

Key Competency

Resilience

Success Criteria

I have clear and useful strategies for dealing with unknown words while reading Frankenstein

As Frankenstein was written in the 19th Century the language used may be somewhat unfamiliar. All of the words in Frankenstein are still in use today but you may not expect to find them in a book aimed at teens / young adults. For this reason, we need practical strategies for dealing with unknown vocabulary.

• Brainstorm strategies you use for dealing with unknown words when reading.
• Compare these together. Are there any ideas that you need to discuss/explore further? Discuss what strategies you can use for dealing with unknown words when reading a longer text. Click here for some additional ideas.
• Think about the most effective method for you to record new vocabulary; there will be plenty as we progress through the story. Get yourself prepared.
• Download, complete and discuss this Anticipation Guide for Frankenstein.
• Let's read!

Lesson 1 Before you Read

• Learning Intention: I understand the context in which Frankenstein was written
• Key Competency: Participating & Contributing
• Success Criteria: I can produce a text which is suitable for purpose, audience and format

In the news and on the Internet it is easy to find stories about science and experiments that link back to ‘Frankenstein’ or use the name ‘FRANKENSTEIN’, for example: calling genetically modified foods “Frankenstein foods”.

The name Frankenstein comes from a novel written by Mary Shelly in 1818, when she was just 19 years old. Since then the story has been retold and adapted for the stage, on film, on radio, on television and in comics. There is something about the story that fascinates people.

‘Frankenstein’ is a horror story but it also might be the first ever science fiction story.

TASK 1

In your book write down anything you know to do with or linked to the story of Frankenstein –

*   List things from the films or book that you know about

*   What type of genre it fits into

*   What you might expect in the book

*   What the story is about or what happens

*   What the characters look like

*   Who is Frankenstein?

*   What the settings for the story will be

*   What themes or ideas are explored in the book 


Discuss your ideas with the rest of the group. Any contradictory information? As you research and read the novel, it will be useful to refer back to these ideas to see if they are accurate.

TASK 2

Year 10:
Use the resources to create a paper-based text (for display) on the context of Frankenstein. Record your topics here.


Year 11:
Use the resources to create a digital presentation (for online access) on a topic related to Frankenstein. Record your topics here. When you have completed your presentation, create some way of testing understanding of it e.g. a worksheet, crossword, quiz etc and email both to all learners. (See email containing blog address for emails of everyone.)

Resources 

Scientists in the time of Shelley (Create a comic strip to explain what happened with 2 or more scientists?)

A Bit about the Romantics (Produce a Prezi in a more appealing format?)

Some Research Questions (Design a Voicethread of Shelley's life?)
Stem Cell Research (Make a glog explaining the controversy?)
Gothic Literature (Record a video outlining the development and features of this genre?)
Prometheus (An animation of the legend?)