Frankenstein by Mary Shelley |
“I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel...” "I am fearless, and therefore powerful." |
Frankenstein Podcasts (free)
Dramatic Reading - In this version, different actors read the different characters, making it sound like you are listening to a play.
|
Frankenstein Audio Book by Loyal Books (Librivox recording) - In this version, a single reader (female with a British accent) reads the entire novel.
|
BEFORE you read:
|
|
AS you read: Active Reading Assignments and Homework
Annotate the text as you read, bearing in mind the suggestions for close reading from Harvard we discussed earlier this year. Additionally, I will ask you to read to consider specific ideas in each assignment. These certainly should not be the only things you notice, but they will be concepts that we will discuss in class. Pay attention to the class calendar for specific due dates for the following reading assignments.
Continuing Assignment: Related Readings & Thematic Connections
Reading assignment #2: Chapters 1-3 (Victor's early life)
Continuing Assignment: Related Readings & Thematic Connections
- Add to this after reading Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The Creation of Man by Prometheus, Paradise Lost, and Meditation 17.
Reading assignment #2: Chapters 1-3 (Victor's early life)
- In-class lesson: Incorporating quotations in your writing
- In-class lesson: Close reading: Frankenstein, from chapter 5
- In-class lesson: Read The Creation of Man by Prometheus myth. The subtitle of Frankenstein is A Modern Prometheus. Add information about this story to your Related Readings handout. Summarize, state theme, and relate to novel so far (consider subtitle).
- In-class lesson: Close reading: Frankenstein, from chapter 7
- In-class lesson: Notes: Elements of the Gothic Novel & Romanticism
- In-class lesson: Nature vs. Nurture Research & Annotated Bibliography Assignment - As you complete this assignment, remember that Google Advanced Search and Easy Bib are two tools that may be helpful. Use the school's account information for Easy Bib to enable the APA citation help. Begin considering this concept for your final essay on the novel: What/who is more at fault in the story - the monster's nature or the way in which he is/isn't nurtured? Cite textual evidence to support your answer.
- In-class lesson: Read the Paradise Lost (excerpt) by John Milton about Satan being cast into Hell and his promise to constantly wage war with God. Examine the monster's story in Frankenstein for thematic parallels. There will be more in the next reading section, but start looking for the motifs of abandonment and loneliness.
- In-class lesson: Read the Paradise Lost (excerpt) by John Milton about Satan being cast into Hell and his promise to constantly wage war with God. Examine the monster's story in Frankenstein for thematic parallels to Paradise Lost (excerpt) by John Milton about Satan being cast into Hell.
- In-class activity: Frankenstein in Political Cartoons
- In-class activity: Read "No Man is an Island" (poem) and "Meditation 17" (sermon) by John Donne. How do the themes about human connectivity in these texts relate to Frankenstein?
Nature vs. Nurture Research: How does this sociological concept apply to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?
Assignment Resources
Assignment Resources
AFTER you read
Final Discussion Topics:
Final Response:
Frankenstein Found Poem Assignment: Create a found poem that represents a character and/or the tone and theme of the novel.
- Consider the frame story. Does Walton end up like Victor? Why/why not? Cite evidence.
- Who bears responsibility for the tragedy in the novel? the monster? Victor? society? Why?
- The subtitle of the novel is "The Modern Prometheus." Read the summary of this Greek myth. Why do you think Shelley chose to subtitle her work this way? What are the thematic connections between the myth and the novel?
Final Response:
Frankenstein Found Poem Assignment: Create a found poem that represents a character and/or the tone and theme of the novel.
Introduction: Decoding the Past: The Real Dr. Frankenstein
As you view the video, listen for the real-life scientists that may have been the basis for the fictional Dr. Frankenstein. Who were they? What did each of them do?