Frankenstein Focus Questions Letters 1-4

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1 Name: Period: Date: Frankenstein Focus Questions Letters Who is Mrs. Seville? 2. From reading the first letter, what can you infer about R. Walton s character and explain what his purpose is. 3. In the second letter, what does Walton desperately want and miss? 4. Walton makes an allusion in his second letter. Identify the allusion and briefly explain it. 5. In the August 5 th portion of the fourth letter, Walton encounters two things on the ice. What are they? 6. What did the man want to know before he was willing to come on board Walton s ship? 7. What did the stranger answer when he was asked why he had come so far upon the ice in so strange a vehicle? 1

2 8. In the August 13 th portion of the fourth letter, what can you infer about how Walton feels about the stranger? Provide quotations as support. 9. What reason does the stranger give Walton for wanting to tell his own story? 10. Whose point of view are the letters told from? 11. What is the purpose of Mary Shelley opening the novel with these letters? 2

3 Name: Period: Date: Frankenstein Focus Questions Chap Who are Beaufort and Caroline Beaufort? 2. Who is Elizabeth Lavenza and briefly describe her situation? 3. Who is Henry Clerval? 4. From the description on page 23-26, what can you infer about the narrator? 5. After reading Chapter 2, what do you think the narrator s primary motivation was for seeking knowledge? 6. How did the narrator s mother die and what did she say would calm her as she neared death? 7. How did the narrator feel about M. Krempe compared to how he felt about M. Waldman? 3

4 8. from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me a light so brilliant and wondrous, yet so simple that I alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret (pg 38). What does this quote say about the narrator and what is the astonishing secret he is referring to? 9. In the narrator s quest for glory and fame, what is he neglecting? 10. How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe (pg 43). What is the catastrophe the narrator is referring to and what is significant about his diction? 11. Explain the narrator s reaction to successfully completing his project. 12. Whose point of view are Chapters 1-5 told from? 4

5 Name: Period: Date: Frankenstein Focus Questions Chap Who are Ernest and William? 2. Who is Justine Moritz? 3. What happened to William? 4. After hearing the news of William, Frankenstein leaves school and goes home. He visits a specific place (pg 62). What does he see? 5. How much time has passed since Frankenstein completed the monster? 6. What was Justine accused of? 7. Elizabeth addresses the court on Justine s behalf (pg 70-71). What was the result of her speech? 5

6 8. What was the verdict on Justine? 9. How does Frankenstein react to the verdict? What does this say about his character? 10. What are the reasons Justine gives for confessing? 11. What happens to Justine? 12. When Frankenstein encounters the monster in Chapter 10, he threatens to kill it and the response from the daemon is how dare you sport thus with life (pg 86). What is significant about this interaction? 13. Why does Frankenstein agree to the monster s request? 6

7 Name: Period: Date: Frankenstein Focus Questions Chap How does the family s reaction to the creature affect his view of himself and the human race? 2. What are the specific reasons that the creature gives for hating his creator? 3. How does the creature cause the deaths of William and Justine? 4. What does the murder of William tell the creature about himself? 5. According to the creature, what can save him from doing evil? 7

8 6. Thus far, do you find the creature more or less sympathetic than the character of Victor Frankenstein? Explain your answer. 7. In what ways is the creature like any human being? In what ways is he different? 8. What does the creature want most in life and why does this goal seem attainable? 9. Does the creature have the potential for good as well as evil? Explain 10. Mary Shelley chose to use two different characters to relate the same story. Why did she write her story this way? 8

9 11. Is this technique successful? Explain why or why not. 9

THE HISTORY OF FRANKENSTEIN

THE HISTORY OF FRANKENSTEIN Mary Shelley s novel, FRANKENSTEIN, first appeared in 1818. Since then the story has been retold and adapted for the stage, on film, on radio, on television and in comics. There