Frankenstein Warm Ups
Directions: You will begin class every day by opening up this document. The warm up question of the day will be on the board – copy this question down into your chart, and then respond to it in the given time. Warm ups are meant to get you thinking about last night’s text, but it’s also about building your endurance to think and write. Thus, you are expected to type through the entire “warm up” time (usually about 5-7 minutes).
Date / Question / Response8-21-12 / Is there anything in your life that you want an absolute answer about? Anything you feel would be worth risking everything to know? What is it and why? Elaborate.
8-22-12 / What do you think is the appeal of being the first to discover something? What is it that may drive people to obsession?
8-23-12 / Why do you think having loved ones (like friends/family) in your life is so important to being human? What is it that loved ones provide us with?
8-24-12 / Robert Walton reveals to Frankenstein that he is determined to pursue his goal of reaching the North Pole. How does Frankenstein respond to this? Why?
If Robert Walton’s story is meant to mirror Frankenstein’s, what might we be able to predict about Frankenstein’s story? (Be specific and refer back to details from letters 1-4.)
8-28-12 / How might someone’s upbringing affect who they are?
How might the type of parents they have influence this?
*In today’s reading, we consider how Victor Frankenstein’s childhood influenced his development as an adult.
8-29-12 / Based on Frankenstein’s upbringing, what types of values would we expect him to have in how he interacts with others?
-well behaved
-smart decisions
-kind
-caring
-friendships are important
-outgoing, selfless
-willing to help others
What do you suppose went wrong in his upbringing here that leads him to be so careless and selfish in his interactions with his creation later on?
Every character we’ve met so far believes it’s their duty to contribute some type of greatness to society. Why is it such a focus for them? What do you hope to contribute to the world someday?
8-30-12 / According to Victor Frankenstein, why is it partially his father’s fault that he took a stronger interest in the natural philosophies? (Examine bottom of page 24 to top of 25.)
9-4-12 / Putting aside the fact that Frankenstein’s monster ultimately destroys every aspect of Frankenstein’s life, do you think that the act itself, giving humans the ability to create life, could ever turn out well for us? Or is it something we should not ever delve into? Explain your reasoning.
9-5-12 / Read the following quote from page 33 where Victor Frankenstein talks about how his professor M. Waldman inspired him in the interests of natural philosophy:
“Such were the professor's words--rather let me say such the words of fate, enounced to destroy me. As he went on, I felt as if my soul were grappling with a palpable enemy; one by one the various keys were touched which formed the mechanism of my being: chord after chord was sounded, and soon my mind was filled with one thought, one conception, one purpose” (33).
In what ways does this quote show that Frankenstein is not taking responsibility for his own decisions in his interests?
9-6-12 / Why do you think it is after so many months of hard work that Frankenstein so easily turns away from his monster? Why doesn’t he feel any type of connection? Why do you think he assumes the monster is out to get him?
9-7-12 / Mary Shelley had originally entitled her novel as Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. What do you know about the myth of Prometheus? What do you think she was trying to suggest with this subtitle?
Do you see any similarities to the Justine story and Mary Shelley’s story? Name the similarities.
9-10-12 / In chapter 7, Frankenstein realizes that his monster may have murdered his brother. His first thought is to pursue the monster, but then he offers these thoughts:
“Day dawned; and I directed my steps towards the town. The gates were open, and I hastened to my father's house. My first thought was to discover what I knew of the murderer, and cause instant pursuit to be made. But I paused when I reflected on the story that I had to tell. A being whom I myself had formed, and endued with life, had met me at midnight among the precipices of an inaccessible mountain. I remembered also the nervous fever with which I had been seized just at the time that I dated my creation, and which would give an air of delirium to a tale otherwise so utterly improbable. I well knew that if any other had communicated such a relation to me, I should have looked upon it as the ravings of insanity. Besides, the strange nature of the animal would elude all pursuit, even if I were so far credited as to persuade my relatives to commence it. And then of what use would be pursuit? Who could arrest a creature capable of scaling the overhanging sides of Mont Saleve? These reflections determined me, and I resolved to remain silent” (64).
What do you think of his reasons for not pursuing or telling anyone about the monster? Are his reasons valid? Explain.
9-11-12 / If you were Frankenstein, and knew your good friend was about to be put to death for a crime you know she didn’t commit – what would you, personally, have done about it? (Given Frankenstein’s situation.)
9-12-12 / Put the following into your own words:
“Alas! Why does man boast of sensibilities superior to those apparent in the brute; it only renders them more necessary beings. If our impulses were confined to hunger, thirst, and desire, we might be nearly free; but now we are moved by every wind that blows and a chance word or scene that that word may convey to us” (84-85).
Do you agree or disagree with these statements?
9-13-12 / Review pages 86-88 in which Frankenstein and the monster meet again. Compare how the two behave in this scene – what seems ironic or unexpected?
9-17-12 / Why do you, personally, think it is that Frankenstein decides to listen to the monster’s side of the story?
9-18-12 / Based on the monster’s retelling of the first moments of his “birth” – what appears to contradict Frankenstein’s belief that the monster was trying to “detain” him when Frankenstein found him at his bedside? How did the monster explain his first moments alive?
9-25-12 / What is it about the family that causes the monster to feel “a mixture of pain and pleasure”? Why is it that he feels both pain and pleasure?
9-27-12 / In last night’s reading, what has the monster realized about himself and his situation? What does he wish for himself?
The monster reads the following books:
- Paradise Lost
- Plutarch’s Lives
- Sorrows of Werter
What does Frankenstein’s father believe is the cause of his son’s gloom? What is the real reason?
Why do you think Frankenstein agrees to make the monster a mate?
Why does Frankenstein go back on his promise and destroy his creation?
In your opinion, did Frankenstein make the right decision for himself when he decided not to make the monster’s mate?
“But, as if possessed of magical powers, the monster has blinded me to his real intentions.” (181).
What is Frankenstein referring to here?
How would this Confucius saying be related to Frankenstein?
“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”