Frankenstein Study Questions - Bibb County Schools
Frankenstein Study Questions - Bibb County Schools
Frankenstein Study Questions - Bibb County Schools
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Name____________________________________<br />
BRITISH LITERATURE<br />
AND EXPOSITORY WRITING II (HONORS) 2010-11<br />
Mr. Norment<br />
<strong>Frankenstein</strong> <strong>Study</strong> <strong>Questions</strong> and Vocabulary<br />
INTRODUCTION, PREFACE, LETTERS<br />
1. Why did Mary Shelley write <strong>Frankenstein</strong>?<br />
2. What discussions influence the development of her idea for the novel?<br />
3. Who is writing the letters? To whom are the letters written? Why?<br />
4. Where is the writer of the letters and why is he there?<br />
5. How does he meet Victor <strong>Frankenstein</strong>?<br />
6. How does he feel or what does he think about his guest?<br />
CHAPTERS 1-5<br />
7. Who is telling this part of the story?<br />
8. Who is Elizabeth and how does she come to live with the <strong>Frankenstein</strong> family?<br />
9. Who is <strong>Frankenstein</strong>’s closest friend and why?<br />
10. Who are some of the writers who influence <strong>Frankenstein</strong>’s thinking?<br />
11. What natural phenomena influenced <strong>Frankenstein</strong>’s thinking<br />
12. What goal does <strong>Frankenstein</strong> decide to pursue?<br />
13. How does <strong>Frankenstein</strong> feel when his experiment succeeded?<br />
14. What happens to <strong>Frankenstein</strong> after he completes his experiment?<br />
CHAPTERS 6-9<br />
15. Who is Clerval and what does he give to <strong>Frankenstein</strong>?<br />
16. How does <strong>Frankenstein</strong> spend his time in the months following the experiment?<br />
17. Victor <strong>Frankenstein</strong> receives a letter announcing that something has happened to one of<br />
his family members. What is the news?<br />
18. Who or what does <strong>Frankenstein</strong> see outside the gates of Geneva his return home?<br />
19. Who is accused of the heinous act of violence? What is this person’s relationship to<br />
Victor?<br />
20. What are Victor <strong>Frankenstein</strong>’s reactions to the accusation?<br />
21. What did he do about this dilemma?<br />
22. What happens to the accused? What does <strong>Frankenstein</strong> do?
CHAPTERS 10-15<br />
23. <strong>Frankenstein</strong> comes face to face with his creature, what does the creature want and why?<br />
24. How does the creature explain his feelings after he was first created?<br />
25. What were the reactions of the villagers that the creature encountered and why did they<br />
react that way?<br />
26. Where did the creature go and what observations does he make?<br />
27. What does he learn?<br />
28. What is the family’s reaction upon meeting the creature?<br />
CHAPTERS 16-20<br />
29. What is the creature’s reaction?<br />
30. Following the incident with the De Lacey family, what happens to the creature?<br />
31. When the creature comes upon a little boy in the woods, what does he do? How does he<br />
feel?<br />
32. What piece of jewelry does the boy have that the creature takes? Why and how does it<br />
become significant?<br />
33. What does the creature ask <strong>Frankenstein</strong> to do and why?<br />
34. How does <strong>Frankenstein</strong> react?<br />
35. What threat does the creature make?<br />
36. When <strong>Frankenstein</strong> returns to shore, what happens?<br />
CHAPTERS 21-24<br />
37. Another murder has occurred. Who has committed it and why?<br />
38. After the trial, what major event occurs in <strong>Frankenstein</strong>’s life?<br />
39. What happens on the night following this event?<br />
40. <strong>Frankenstein</strong>’s father is not well. Why?<br />
41. What does <strong>Frankenstein</strong> decide to do?<br />
42. What request does he make of Robert Walton?<br />
43. What happens to Victor <strong>Frankenstein</strong>?<br />
44. What happens to the creature?
VOCABULARY – INTRODUCTION, PREFACE, LETTERS<br />
1. Dilate – Expand<br />
“…how I, then a young girl, came to think of, and to dilate upon, so very hideous an idea?”<br />
2. Odious - hateful<br />
His success would terrify the artist; he would rush away from his odious handwork, horror-stricken.<br />
3. Progeny – [proj-uh-nee] children, offspring<br />
And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper.<br />
4. Expedient –adj. suitable, practical; noun. a means to an end; resource<br />
It was commenced partly as a source of amusement and partly as an expedient for exercising any untried<br />
resources of mind.<br />
5. Capacious –[kuh-pey-shuhs] spacious, roomy; capable of holding much<br />
I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as a capacious mind, whose<br />
tastes are like my own, to approve or amend my plans.<br />
6. Ardent – passionate, enthusiastic<br />
I am too ardent in execution, and too impatient of difficulties.<br />
7. Emaciated – thin, wasted<br />
His limbs were nearly frozen, and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering.<br />
8. Wretched – miserable<br />
I never saw a man in so wretched a condition.<br />
9. Paroxysm – [păr ək sǐze əm] spasm, convulsion; any sudden, violent outburst; a fit of<br />
violent action or emotion<br />
Such words, you may imagine, strongly excited my curiosity; but the paroxysm of grief that had seized the<br />
stranger overcame his weakened powers…<br />
10. Harrowing – distressing, agonizing<br />
Strange and harrowing must be his story.<br />
VOCABULARY CHAPTERS 1 - 5<br />
1. Oblivion - state of being forgotten<br />
This man, whose name was Beaufort, was of a proud and unbending disposition, and could not bear to live<br />
in poverty and oblivion in the same country where he had formerly been distinguished for his rank and<br />
magnificence,.<br />
2. Rankling – irritating; to continue to cause keen irritation or bitter resentment within the<br />
mind; fester; be painful.<br />
…his grief only became more deep and rankling when he had leisure for reflection, and at length<br />
it took so fast hold of his mind that at the end of three months he lay on a bed of sickness,<br />
incapable of an exertion.<br />
3. Penury – [pen-yuh-ree] extreme poverty<br />
During one of their walks a poor cot in the folding of a vale attracted their notice as being singularly<br />
disconsolate, while the number of half-clothed children gathered about it spoke of penury in its worst<br />
shape.
4. Caprices – whim; an impulsive change of mind<br />
By one of those caprices of the mind which we are perhaps most subject to in early youth, I at once gave up<br />
my former occupations, set down natural history and all its progeny as a deformed and abortive creation,<br />
and entertain the greatest disdain for a would-be-science which could never even step within the threshold<br />
of real knowledge.<br />
5. Cursory –[kur-suh-ree] hastily done; going rapidly over something, without noticing<br />
details; hasty; superficial<br />
He then took a cursory view of the present state of the science and explained many of its elementary terms.<br />
6. Prognosticated – predicted; to forecast or predict (something future) from present<br />
indications or signs; prophesy<br />
On the third day my mother sickened; her fever was accompanied by the most alarming symptoms, and the<br />
looks of her medical attendants prognosticated the worst.<br />
7. Countenance – face; appearance, esp. the look or expression of the face<br />
She died calmly, and her countenance expressed affection even in death.<br />
8. Indefatigable – tireless<br />
He was respected by all who knew him for his integrity and indefatigable attention to public business.<br />
9. Physiognomy - facial feature with regard to revealing character …and I found even in M.<br />
Krempe a great deal of sound sense and real information, combined it is true, with a repulsive<br />
physiognomy and manners, but not on that account he less valuable.<br />
10. Obliterated –destroying completely<br />
But this discovery was so great and overwhelming that all the steps by which I had been<br />
progressively led to it were obliterated, and I beheld only the result.<br />
Other terms you need to know:<br />
Philosopher’s stone – alchemists thought that the philosopher’s stone would give<br />
its owner the powers to change metals into gold.<br />
Elixir of life – thought to be able to give eternal life to the one who could distill it.<br />
“I am by birth a Genevese [ someone who lives in Geneva] , and my family is one of the most<br />
distinguished of that republic. My ancestors had been for many 7 years counselors [ lawyers] and<br />
syndics [civil magistrates]…”<br />
Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535) a young man interested in alchemy, astrology,<br />
and natural magic.<br />
VOCABULARY CHAPTERS 6 - 9<br />
1. Fetter – a chain or shackle placed on the feet<br />
He looks upon study as an odious fetter; his time is spent in the open air, climbing the hills or rowing on the<br />
lake.<br />
2. Immutable – [i-myoo-tuh-buhl] unchangeable; changeless<br />
The blue lake, the snow-clad mountains, they never change; and I think our placid home, and our contented<br />
hearts are regulated by the same immutable laws.
3. Vacillating – fluctuating, wavering<br />
The poor woman was very vacillating in her repentance.<br />
4. Salubrious – [suh-loo-bree-uhs] adj. healthful<br />
We passed a fortnight in these perambulations: my health and spirits had long been restored, and they<br />
gained additional strength from the salubrious air I breathed, the natural incidents of our progress, and the<br />
conversation of my friend.<br />
5. Carnage – destruction of life<br />
Alas! I had turned loose into the world a depraved wretch, whose delight was in carnage and misery; had he<br />
not murdered my brother?<br />
6. Ignominious – [ig-nuh-min-ee-uhs] disgraceful; discreditable; humiliating<br />
Justine also was a girl of merit, and possessed qualities which promised to render her life happy: now all<br />
was to be obliterated in an ignominious grave; and I the cause!<br />
7. Timorous – fearful<br />
….but fear, and hatred of the crime of which they supposed her guilty, rendered them timorous and<br />
unwilling to come forward.<br />
8. Obdurate – [ob-doo-rit] unmoved by persuasion, pity, or tender feelings; stubborn;<br />
unyielding<br />
He threatened excommunication and hell fire in my last moments, if I continued obdurate.<br />
9. Perdition – damnation, complete ruin<br />
Dear lady, I had none to support me; all looked on me as a wretch doomed to ignominy and perdition.<br />
10. Inexorable – [in-ek-ser-uh-buhl] relentless; unyielding; unalterable;<br />
…happy beyond his hopes; if this inexorable fate be satisfied, and if the destruction pause before the peace<br />
of the grave have succeeded to your sad torments.<br />
VOCABULARY CHAPTERS 10-15<br />
1. Precipitous – [pri-sip-i-tuhs] extremely or impassably steep<br />
The ascent is precipitous, but the path is cut into continual and short windings, which enable you<br />
to surmount the perpendicularity of the mountain.<br />
2. Commiserate – [kuh-miz-uh-reyt] – verb with an object - to feel or express sorrow or<br />
sympathy for; empathize with; pity; verb without an object – to sympathize with<br />
Listen to my tale: when you have heard that, abandon or commiserate me, as you shall judge that I deserve.<br />
3. Slaked – [sleyk] - to allay (thirst, desire, wrath, etc.) by satisfying.<br />
I slaked my thirst at the brook; and the lying down, was overcome by sleep.<br />
4. Debilitated – [di-bil-i-teyt d] to make weak or feeble<br />
He turned on hearing a noise, and perceiving me, shrieked loudly, and quitting the hut, ran across the fields<br />
with a speed of which his debilitated form hardly appeared capable.<br />
5. Inclemency – storminess; severe, rough, or harsh weather, the elements not kind or<br />
merciful.<br />
Here than I retreated, and lay down happy to have found a shelter, however miserable, from the inclemency<br />
of the season, and still more from the barbarity of man.
6. Sustenance – means of food for sustaining life; nourishment<br />
I had first, however provide for my sustenance for the day, by a loaf of coarse bread, which I purloined, and<br />
a cup with which I could drink.<br />
7. Purloined – stolen<br />
8. Benevolent – generous<br />
The silver hair and benevolent countenance of the aged cottager won my reverence, while the gentle<br />
manner of the girl enticed my love.<br />
9. Exhortations – [ěg'zôr-tā'shən] A speech or discourse that encourages, incites, or earnestly<br />
advises.<br />
The mild exhortations of the old man, and the lively conversation of the loved Feliz were not for me.<br />
10. Abhorrent – [ab-hor-uhnt] detested, hated; causing repugnance; detestable; loathsome<br />
A residence in Turkey was abhorrent to her; her religion and her feelings were alike adverse to it.<br />
VOCABULARY CHAPTERS 16- 20<br />
1. Wantonly – [won-tn lee] - deliberate and without motive or provocation; uncalled-for;<br />
headstrong; willful<br />
Why, in the instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?<br />
2. Augmented – to make greater; increased<br />
My sufferings were augmented also by the oppressive sense of the injustice and ingratitude of their<br />
affliction.<br />
3. Epithets – [ěp'ə-thět'] - A term used to characterize a person or thing; often used in a<br />
contemptuous or abusive manner.<br />
The child still struggled, and loaded me with epithets which carried despair to my heart I grasped his throat<br />
to silence him, and in a moment he lay dead at my feet.<br />
4. Sanguinary – [sang-gwuh-ner-ee] - full of or characterized by bloodshed; bloody<br />
Thanks to the lessons of Feliz and the sanguinary laws of man, I had learned how to work mischief.<br />
5. Detrimental – causing damage or harm<br />
This passion is detrimental to me; for you do not reflect that you are the cause of its excess.<br />
6. Indolence – [in-dl-uhns] having a disposition to avoid exertion; slothful; laziness<br />
After some days spent in listless indolence, during which I traversed many leagues, I arrived at Strasbourg,<br />
where I waited for two days for Clerval.<br />
7. Languid – [lang-gwid] lacking in vigor or vitality; slack or slow; weary; listless<br />
I visited Edinburgh with languid eyes and mind; and yet that city might have interested the most<br />
unfortunate being.<br />
8. Sophisms – [sŏf'ĭz'əm] - A plausible but fallacious argument; believable but misleading<br />
arguments<br />
I had before been moved by the sophisms of the being I had created; I had been struck senseless by his<br />
fiendish threats…
9. Reveries – [rev-uh-ree] – daydreams; a state of abstracted musing<br />
I was alone; none were near me to dissipate the gloom, and relieve me from the sickening oppression of the<br />
most terrible reveries.<br />
10. Calamity – [kuh-lam-i-tee] - a great misfortune or disaster, as a flood or serious injury;<br />
grieveous affliction; adversity; misery<br />
Little did I then expect the calamity that was in a few moments to overwhelm me, and extinguish<br />
in horror and despair all fear of ignominy or death.<br />
VOCABULARY CHAPTERS 21 - 24<br />
1. Internment – Confinement as in a burial<br />
Mr. Kirwin, on hearing this evidence, desired that I should be taken into the room where the body<br />
lay for internment, that it might be observed what effect the sight of it would produce upon me.<br />
2. Retrospect – Contemplation of the past; to look back upon; looking<br />
As Mr. Kirwin said this, notwithstanding the agitation I endured on this retrospect of my sufferings, I also<br />
felt considerable surprise at the knowledge he seemed to possess concerning me.<br />
3. Repugnance – strong distaste, aversion, or objection; loathing<br />
I should have thought, young man, that the presence of your father would have been welcome, instead of<br />
inspiring such violent repugnance.<br />
4. Imperious – [im-peer-ee-uhs] domineering in a haughty (proud or snobbish) manner;<br />
dictatorial; overbearing<br />
By the utmost self-violence, I curbed the imperious voice of wretchedness, which sometimes desired to<br />
declare itself to the whole world.<br />
5. Appalling – causing dismay or horror; shocking<br />
In this manner many appalling hours passed; several of my dogs died; and I myself was about to sink under<br />
the accumulation of distress when I say your vessel…<br />
6. Posterity – succeeding or future generations collectively<br />
“Since you have preserved my narration,” said he, “I would not that a mutilated one should go down to<br />
posterity.”<br />
7. Portend – to signify; mean; to foreshadow as an omen; predict<br />
I am interrupted. What do these sounds portend?<br />
8. Diabolical – [dahy-uh-bol-ik] having the qualities of the devil; fiendish; outlandishly<br />
wicked<br />
If you had listened to the voices of conscience and heeded the sting of remorse, before you had urged your<br />
diabolical vengeance to this extremity, <strong>Frankenstein</strong> would yet have lived.<br />
9. Satiated – [sey-shee-ey-tid] satisfied as one’s appetite or desire, to the point of boredom<br />
If thou were yet alive, and yet cherished a desire of revenge against me, it would be better satiated<br />
in my life than in my destruction.<br />
10. Conflagration – [kon-fluh-grey-shuhn]a destructive fire, usually an extensive one<br />
The light of that conflagration will fade away; my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds.
Identify the following characters and their significance to the novel.<br />
Victor <strong>Frankenstein</strong><br />
Henry Clerval<br />
Elizabeth Lavenza<br />
Robert Walton<br />
Margaret Saville<br />
Justine Moritz<br />
William <strong>Frankenstein</strong><br />
Felix DeLacy<br />
Alphonse <strong>Frankenstein</strong><br />
Caroline Beaufort