Reference no: EM133261828

Question 1

The creature makes a request of Victor: to create a female companion. What is the basis for the creature's request? What is Victor's reaction to the request? How does the interaction between Victor and his creation impact Victor? Explain how the creature's request affects Victor by analyzing the relationship between Victor and the creature. Provide evidence from the text to support your analysis of Victor and his interaction with his creation.

Question 2

Read the excerpt from Chapter 18 in Frankenstein.

Alas! To me the idea of an immediate union with my Elizabeth was one of horror and dismay. I was bound by a solemn promise which I had not yet fulfilled and dared not break, or if I did, what manifold miseries might not impend over me and my devoted family! Could I enter into a festival with this deadly weight yet hanging round my neck and bowing me to the ground? I must perform my engagement and let the monster depart with his mate before I allowed myself to enjoy the delight of a union from which I expected peace.

Examine this excerpt to analyze the way the author's choice of words adds to the meaning and impacts the tone of this portion of Frankenstein. What does Victor mean when he talks about "this deadly weight yet hanging round my neck and bowing me to the ground"? How do these words affect the tone at this point in the story? Use examples and evidence from the text to support your analysis.

Question 3

For part of Chapter 19 in Frankenstein, Victor structures his telling of the story by describing the places he and Henry Clerval visit on their way to Scotland. There is much description of their journeys through Windsor, Oxford, Matlock, Cumberland and Westmorland, and Edinburgh; however, Victor just briefly mentions passing through Coupar, St. Andrew's, and Perth, where they are to meet their friend.

Explain why Victor chooses to describe Oxford and Cumberland/Westmorland in much more detail than Matlock and Edinburgh, and only mentions Coupar, St. Andrew's, and Perth. How do these descriptions affect the pacing of the story? How does this structure contribute to the overall visual impact of these descriptions? Provide examples and evidence from the text to support your responses.

Question 4

In this chapter, Victor encounters the creature, who has been following him from Switzerland to the island in Scotland. Victor considers the "offer" made by the creature and changes his mind. What makes Victor break his promise to the creature? How does the interaction between Victor and the creature affect their relationship and their actions? How do their actions help develop the plot in this chapter? Provide evidence from the text to support your analysis of the plot.

Question 5

Write an objective summary of Chapter 21 of Frankenstein. As you develop this summary, make sure to include the important actions and events from this chapter of the story. Also, describe how the chapter develops central ideas or themes to produce a complex account.

Question 6

When Victor is making his way back to Switzerland with his father, and a few days before the two of them leave for Paris, Victor receives a letter from Elizabeth. Why did the author use a letter to convey Elizabeth's thoughts and feelings in the story? How does the letter influence Victor's actions in this chapter? Provide evidence from the text to support your responses.

Question 7

Read the excerpt from Chapter 23 of Frankenstein, which focuses on Victor's state of mind following his father's death.

What then became of me? I know not; I lost sensation, and chains and darkness were the only objects that pressed upon me. Sometimes, indeed, I dreamt that I wandered in flowery meadows and pleasant vales with the friends of my youth, but I awoke and found myself in a dungeon. Melancholy followed, but by degrees I gained a clear conception of my miseries and situation and was then released from my prison. For they had called me mad, and during many months, as I understood, a solitary cell had been my habitation.

How does Mary Shelley portray Victor Frankenstein after the death of his father, who died a few days after learning of Elizabeth's death? Why does Shelley portray Victor in this way? Provide examples and evidence from the text to support your analysis.

Question 8

In Chapter 24 of Frankenstein, Victor finishes his story to Henry Walton, and Henry continues his letters to his sister, thus bringing back the structure that began the novel. This return to the letters brings the frame structure of Frankenstein full circle. How does the frame structure help develop the plot and characters in the entire novel? Explain how Mary Shelley's use of framing develops the various narrative elements in the story. Provide examples and evidence from the entire text to support your analysis.

Question 9

Toward the end of the novel, when Walton finds the creature standing over the lifeless Victor Frankenstein, the creature speaks about Victor.

"That is also my victim!" he exclaimed. "In his murder my crimes are consummated; the miserable series of my being is wound to its close! Oh, Frankenstein! Generous and self-devoted being! What does it avail that I now ask thee to pardon me? I, who irretrievably destroyed thee by destroying all thou lovedst. Alas! He is cold, he cannot answer me."

What could be implied by the words of the creature in this excerpt? Explain the implicit meaning of what the creature is saying about Victor. Provide meaningful evidence from the text to support your response.