Highland Park High School English Department
Text Rationale for
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 1818
Written for HPHS Spring 2015
Rationale (including age/ability appropriateness and how text fits into the course’s philosophy
and enduring understanding):
Text proposed for continued use in the English IV and English IV AP and AP TAG courses.
For English IV:
This unit addresses the nature of tragedy as an integral part of human experience. Literature has
overwhelmingly concluded that the reason we suffer is due to our unceasing efforts to acquire
knowledge. The effort to understand the world around us is held to be an inherently transgressive act
because it separates us from the natural world: to be human is to be apart from nature. While the
history of literature shows that tragedy is inevitable, it also seeks to understand why tragedy is part
and parcel of what it means to be human.
For English IV AP and AP TAG
This work is representative of nineteenth century prose with elevated language and thought
provoking ideas, adheres to the quality and complexity of works recommended by the College Board
for AP Literature. Nineteenth century Western societies were a time of great change, inventions, and
promise with the growing interest and experimentation in science and technology.
Summary:
This Gothic novel, written by Mary Shelley at the age of 18, is often thought to be the original
science fiction writing. The text grapples with the emerging debate in Shelley’s contemporary time of
the reconciliation between science and religion. The story is told through a frame narrative of
Captain Walton’s letters with his sister. Set in the North Pole, the frame narrative recounts Dr.
Frankenstein’s tale as told to the captain as a warning regarding his over-ambitious behavior. Victor
Frankenstein’s narrative tells the story of his childhood, born into a wealthy family and his obsession
with science. His natural inclination for chemistry and science propels him to create the Monster by
combining parts of the human body. However, because of the difficulty of this task, the monster
must be hugely tall and hideous in appearace. Victor rejects his creation and the monster disappears,
and Victor makes strides to return to health and his normal life. The innermost frame of the narrative
features the creature telling his story to Victor. They meet on Mont Blanc as Victor tries to find
solace from recent tragedies: the murder of his young brother and the subsequent execution of a
family friend, hanged for the murder. Admitting to Victor that he is the one responsible for the crime,
the creature recounts to Victor the story of his awakening, his education, the belovedvDeLacey
family by whom he was rejected, and the revulsion and violence that all other humans show him. The
creature demands a mate from Victor so that we will not have to live the rest of his existence in
painful solitude. Victor fears that if he were to go through with the creation of a female, the
“daemons” may reproduce and populate the earth. Stalked by the creature and frightend by the threat
of violence, Victor relents and begins the process of creating another monster, but then changes his
mind, and in a fit of passion, rips the body apart before the eyes of the creature. Enraged by Victor’s
destruction of his female companion, the creature systematically kills off everyone Victor loves: his
friend Henry, his new wife Elizaebth, and by extension, Victor’s father, who dies from greif. Utterly
bereft and alone, the chase is reversed: Victor now pursue the creature, looking for revenge. This
leads to the North Pole, where the story began. An ill Victor succumbs to death, and Walton
witnesses the creature standing over his dead creator, weeping. Contrite, the creature explains the
depths of his lonliness and his great regrets, and then jumps off the ship, plunging to his own death.
Merit Awards and Recognition :
Frankenstein is routinely included in books listed as part of “the canon.”
Novels for Students explains that because of the “complexity of the intellectual and emotional
responses of Victor Frankenstein and his creature to their world, the novel still endures” despite
changing times. The storyline “resonates with the philosophical and moral ramifications: themes of
nurture versus nature, good versus evil, and ambition versus social responsibility” (“Frankenstein”
180-181). In George V. Griffith’s literary criticism, he notes that the novel “typifies the most
important ideas of the Romantic era, among them the primacy of feelings, the dangers of intellect,
dismay over the human capacity to corrupt our natural goodness, the agony of questing, solitary hero,
and the awesome power of the sublime” (194).
Susan J. Wolfson and Ronald Levao explain in their article “Why Frankenstein is the Greatest Horror
Novel Ever” that “Frankenstein arrests us by force of its astonishing fantasy and its range of
implication: the definition of “monster,” judgments that derive virtue or villainy from class origins
and accidents of physical appearance; the responsibility of creators to and for their creations; the
responsibility of society for the anger of those to whom it refuses care, compassion or just decent
regard; the relationships of parents and children--and all this arrayed with an eerie, brilliant intuition,
a century before Freud, about the psychological dynamics of repression, transference, condensation,
dream-work, and alter egos.”
Their modern day implications assert that “Frankenstein has multiplied in force to name any
disturbing development in science and technology, as well as in history and politics, sports and
fashion, and just about everything else--with various and sometimes overlapping senses of
amusement, alarm, awe, and admonition.”
Benefit to Students:
Students will explore the following issues:
The Risk of Knowing - Some key ideas in all three: Doppelgänger, the journey, the quest, science vs.
aesthetics, the power of obsession and influence, the pursuit of perfection, the pursuit of knowledge,
the consequences of obsession, among others
Students will grapple with the guiding questions: When does science interfere with ethics? Should
man try to "fix" nature? Which has more influence--nature or nurture? The authors below addressed
this pursuit to understand the physical world in interesting ways that raise questions: How much
knowledge is too much? Can man reach perfection? What are the consequences when moral
standards are set aside for a “greater good”?
Themes Addressed:
Man's inquisitive nature can both help and harm. Unintended, detrimental outcomes can emerge from
a desire to help others. Man is driven to yearn for companionship and meaning. Man is not a static
creature; therefore, he will never be satisfied. Man’s insatiable curiosity is not always beneficial.
Gothic literature explores the “dark” side of the Romantic concepts of the individual, isolation, and
the inherent nature of man. Science and spirituality often conflict.
Brief description of proposed classroom activities generated by text:
Gothic ROR Choice – English IV AP and AP TAG and English IV
Literature Circle discussions
Analytical writing assessment
List of the TEKS/STAAR/HPISD curricular objectives the proposed text supports
TEKS: 2) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Theme and Genre. Students analyze, make
inferences and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and
contemporary contexts and provide evidence from text to support understanding. Students are
expected to: A) compare and contrast works of literature that express a universal theme;
(5) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw
conclusions about structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support
understanding. Students are expected to: (A) analyze how complex plot structures (e.g., subplots) and
devices (e.g., foreshadowing, flashbacks, suspense) function and advance the action in a work of
fiction; (B) analyze moral dilemmas and quandaries presented in works of fiction as revealed by
underlying motivations and behaviors of characters;
(7) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Sensory Language. Students understand, make
inferences and draw conclusions about how an author's sensory language creates imagery in literary
text and provide evidence from text to support understanding. Students are expected to analyze how
the author's patterns of imagery, literary allusions, and conceits reveal theme, set
(2) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Theme and Genre. Students analyze, make inferences
and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary
contexts and provide evidence from text to support understanding. Students are expected to: (A)
compare and contrast works of literature that express a universal theme;
(5) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw
conclusions about structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support
understanding. Students are expected to: (A) analyze how complex plot structures (e.g., subplots) and
devices (e.g., foreshadowing, flashbacks, suspense) function and advance action in a work of fiction;
(B) analyze the moral dilemmas and quandaries presented in works of fiction as revealed by
underlying motivations and behaviors of characters;
(7) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Sensory Language. Students understand, make
inferences and draw conclusions about how an author's sensory language creates imagery in literary
text and provide evidence from text to support understanding. Students are expected to analyze how
the author's patterns of imagery, perspectives while anticipating and refuting counter-arguments; (D)
uses a style manual (e.g., Modern Language Association, Chicago Manual of Style) to document
sources and format written materials; and (E) is of sufficient length and complexity to address the
topic.
(25) Listening and Speaking/Speaking. Students speak clearly and to the point, using conventions of
language. Students will continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are
expected to formulate sound arguments by using elements of classical speeches (e.g., introduction,
first and second transitions, body, and conclusion), the art of persuasion, rhetorical devices, eye
contact, speaking rate (e.g., pauses for effect), volume, enunciation, purposeful gestures, and
conventions of language to communicate ideas effectively tone, and create meaning in metaphors,
passages, and literary works
(8) Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Culture and History. Students analyze, make
inferences and draw conclusions about the author's purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary
contexts and provide evidence from text to support (understanding. Students are expected to analyze
consistency and clarity of expression of the controlling idea and ways in which organizational and
rhetorical patterns of text support or confound the author's meaning or purpose.
(12) Reading/Media Literacy. Students use comprehension skills to analyze how words, images,
graphics, and sounds work together in various forms to impact meaning. Students will continue to
apply earlier standards with greater depth in increasingly more complex texts. Students are expected
to: (C) evaluate how one issue or event is represented across various media to understand notions of
bias, audience, and purpose;
(13) Writing/Writing Process. Students use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting,
revising, editing, and publishing) to compose text. Students are expected to: (A) plan a first draft by
selecting correct genre for conveying intended meaning to multiple audiences, determining
appropriate topics through a range of strategies (e.g., discussion, background reading, personal
interests, interviews), and developing a thesis or controlling idea; (B) structure ideas in a sustained
and persuasive way (e.g., using outlines, note taking, graphic organizers, lists) and develop drafts in
timed and open-ended situations that include transitions and the rhetorical devices to convey
meaning; (C) revise drafts to clarify meaning and achieve specific rhetorical purposes, consistency of
tone, and logical organization by rearranging words, sentences, and paragraphs to employ tropes
(e.g., metaphors, similes, analogies, hyperbole, understatement, rhetorical questions, irony), schemes
(e.g., parallelism, antithesis, inverted word order, repetition, reversed structures), and by adding
transitional words and phrases; literary allusions, and conceits reveal theme, set tone, and create
meaning in metaphors, passages, and literary works
(8) Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/Culture and History. Students analyze, make
inferences and draw conclusions about the author's purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary
contexts and provide evidence from text to support understanding. Students are expected to analyze
the consistency and clarity of expression of the controlling idea and ways in which organizational and
rhetorical patterns of text support or confound the author's meaning or purpose.
(12) Reading/Media Literacy. Students use comprehension skills to analyze how words, images,
graphics, and sounds work together in various forms to impact meaning. Students will continue to
apply earlier standards with greater depth in increasingly more complex texts. Students are expected
to: (C) evaluate how one issue or event is represented across various media to understand notions of
bias, audience, and purpose;
(13) Writing/Writing Process. Students use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting,
revising, editing, and publishing) to compose text. Students are expected to: (A) plan a first draft by
selecting correct genre for conveying intended meaning to multiple audiences, determining
appropriate topics through a range of strategies (e.g., discussion, background reading, personal
interests, interviews), and developing a thesis or controlling idea; (B) structure ideas in a sustained
and persuasive way (e.g., using outlines, note taking, graphic organizers, lists) and develop drafts in
timed and open-ended situations that include transitions and rhetorical devices to convey meaning;
(C) revise drafts to clarify meaning and achieve specific rhetorical purposes, consistency of tone, and
logical organization by rearranging words, sentences, and paragraphs to employ tropes (e.g.,
metaphors, similes, analogies, hyperbole, understatement, rhetorical questions, irony), schemes (e.g.,
parallelism, antithesis, inverted word order, repetition, reversed structures), and by adding transitional
words and phrases; (D) edit drafts for grammar, mechanics, and spelling; and (E) revise final draft in
response to feedback from peers and teacher and publish written work for appropriate audiences.
(14) Writing/Literary Texts. Students write literary texts to express their ideas and feelings about real
or imagined people, events, and ideas. Students are responsible for at least two forms of literary
writing. Students are expected to: (A) write an engaging story with a welldeveloped conflict and
resolution, a clear theme, complex and non-stereotypical characters, a range of literary strategies
(e.g., dialogue, suspense), devices to enhance the plot, and sensory details that define the mood or
tone; (B) write a poem that reflects an awareness of (D) edit drafts for grammar, mechanics, and
spelling; and (E) revise final draft in response to feedback from peers and teacher and publish written
work for appropriate audiences poetic conventions and traditions within different forms (e.g.,
sonnets, ballads, free verse); and (C) write a script with an explicit or implicit theme, using a variety
of literary techniques.
(15) Writing/Expository and Procedural Texts. Students write expository and procedural or workrelated texts to communicate ideas and information to specific audiences for specific purposes.
Students are expected to: (A) write an analytical essay of sufficient length that includes: (i) effective
introductory and concluding paragraphs and a variety of sentence structures; (ii) rhetorical devices,
and transitions between paragraphs; (iii) a clear thesis statement or controlling idea; (iv) a clear
organizational schema for conveying ideas; (v) relevant and substantial evidence and wellchosen
details; (vi) information on all relevant perspectives and consideration of validity, reliability, and
relevance of primary and secondary sources; and (vii) an analysis of views and information that
contradict the thesis statement and the evidence presented for it; (C) write an interpretation of an
expository or a literary text that: (i) advances a clear thesis statement; (ii) addresses the writing skills
for an analytical essay including references to and commentary on quotations from the text; (iii)
analyzes the aesthetic effects of an author's use of stylistic or rhetorical devices;
Clarification of any potentially controversial segments and why the text remains a suitable
choice, despite being potentially controversial
Three murders, including one of a child; a man who robs graves; an execution; suicide
Similar Works:
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
References:
"Frankenstein." Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 180-202. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 7 Apr. 2015.
Wolfson, Susan J. and Ronald Levao. “Why Frankenstein is the Greatest Horror Novel Ever.”
Publishers Weekly. 26 October 2012. Web. 7 April 2015.