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