Year 9

English
Frankenstein
Knowledge Book for Assessments
Lent Term 2017-2018
Instructions:

Use the support information in this booklet and your exercise books to make revision materials. Below are some
more detailed explanations of how to create effective revision cards and mind maps…

Revision Cards: If you are making cards put a heading for the card on one side and the information that you want to
remember on the other side.

Once you have read through a card, turn it over and try to remember the information from memory.
 Eventually revise by just looking at the card titles and trying to recall the information without looking!

Mind-map: Make a mind-map for the topic that breaks the topic down into “spurs” and “sub-spurs” working out
from the middle. You could focus on a specific character or theme, or look at a specific Act or chapter.

1. Once you have studied the mind map put it away and try to draw it again from memory.
2. Once you have drawn all that you can take the original mind map out again and add any details that you missed out on the map
that you drew from memory.
3. Repeat this process until you can produce it perfectly from memory.

Key Skills

The assessments in English are broken into 3 and each one requires different reading and writing skills.

This unit will encompass Assessment ? - Formal Assessment – key piece of work for Lent Term

Extract from Frankenstein compared with non-fiction extract.

Comparison of attitudes in texts and writer’s methods used to convey said attitudes.
(Based on skills needed for Language: Paper 2, Question 4 – synoptic comparison)
 Spellings

Every three weeks students at CNS are tested on set spellings in an attempt to improve overall
literacy. This knowledge booklet contains the spellings for this term. Please take the time to practice
these spellings at home. More marks are being awarded each year at GCSE level for literacy so this
will have a real impact on achievement. The dates shown are the Monday dates of the weeks when
the spellings will be tested. The specific day in that week will be decided by the class teacher.

Lent Term - You will be tested on these words on the dates below
Year 9
2017/18 29/1/18 26/2/18 19/3/18 23/4/18

Date

hyperbole bicycle defend

Prefix / Suffix hypersensitive biped deflesh

hyperactive bicolour debunk

weight accommodation actually FINAL CHECK ON 10 WORDS FROM THESE

Common LISTS.
misspelling persuade conclusion conscience

separate explanation February

pollution average illusion

Subject words tourism percentage foreground

erosion volume abstract

Wow word! calamitous caustic

boorish
 Glossary of Literary Terms

You should be familiar with most of these terms and be able to use them in your
discussions about English language or literature.
Make sure you note down any new terms that you come across during your study. It would be useful to
create your own glossary. One way of doing this is by buying an address book with A-Z sections, then you
can record the terms alphabetically to make referencing them easy!

Alliteration The repetition of the same consonant sound, especially at the

beginning of words
Allusion A reference to another event, person, place or work of literature. The allusion
is usually implied rather than explicit
and provides another layer of meaning to what is being said
Ambiguity Use of language where the meaning is unclear or has two or more possible
meanings or interpretations. It could be created by a weakness in the writer’s
expression, but it is more likely it is a deliberate device used by the writer to
create layers of meaning
Anthropomorphism The endowment of human characteristics to something that is
not human
Assonance The repetition of similar vowel sounds
Atmosphere The prevailing mood created by a piece of writing
Colloquial Ordinary, everyday speech and language
Connotation An implication or association attached to a word or phrase. It
is suggested or felt rather than being explicit
Diction The choice of words a writer uses. Another word for “vocabulary”
Empathy A feeling on the part of the reader of sharing the particular
experience being described by the character or writer
End stopping A verse line with a pause or stop at the end of it
Enjambment A line of verse that flows on into the next line without a pause
Figurative language Language that is symbolic or metaphorical and not meant to be
taken literally
Genre A particular type of writing – eg prose, poetry, drama
Imagery The use of words to create a picture or “image” in the mind of the reader.
Images can relate to any of the senses, not just
sight
Internal rhyme Rhyming words within a line rather than at the end of lines
Irony At its simplest level, it means saying one thing while meaning another. It occurs
where a word or phrase has one surface meaning but another contradictory,
possibly opposite meaning is implied. Irony is often confused with sarcasm.
Sarcasm is spoken, relying on the tone of voice and is much more blunt
than irony

Metaphor A comparison of one thing to another to make the description more vivid.
The metaphor actually states that one thing is another.
Metre The regular use of unstressed and stressed syllables in poetry
Narrative A piece of writing that tells a story
Onomatopoeia The use of words whose sounds copies the thing or process
they describe
Pathos The effect in literature which makes the reader feel sadness or pity
Personification The attribution of human feelings, emotions, or sensations to an inanimate
object. Personification is a type of metaphor where human qualities are given
to things or abstract ideas
Plot The sequence of events in a poem, play, novel or short story
that make up the main storyline
Point of View A story can be told by one of the characters or from another point of view. The
point of view can change from one part of the story to another when events are
viewed through the minds of two or more characters.
Protagonist The main character or speaker in a poem, monologue, play or
story
Pun A play on words that have similar sounds but quite different
meanings
Rhyme Corresponding sounds in words, usually at the end of each line,
but not always
Rhyme scheme The pattern of rhymes in a poem
Rhythm The ‘movement’ of the poem as created through the meter and the way
that language is stressed within the poem
Satire The highlighting or exposing of human failings or foolishness through
ridiculing them. Satire can range from being gentle
and light to extremely biting and bitter in tone
Simile The comparison of one thing to another in order to make the
description more vivid
Sonnet A fourteen-line poem, usually with 10 syllables in each line.
There are several ways in which the lines can be organised, but they often
consist of an octave and a sestet
Stanza The blocks of lines into which a poem is divided. [Sometimes these are, less
precisely, referred to as verses, which can lead
to confusion as poetry is sometimes called ‘verse’]
Structure The way a poem or play or other piece of writing has been put together
Style The individual way in which the writer has used language to
express his or her ideas
Symbol Like the use of images, symbols present things which represent something else.
In very simple terms, a red rose can be used to symbolise love; distant thunder
can symbolise approaching trouble. Symbols can be very subtle and multi-layered
in their significance
Syntax The way in which sentences are structured. Sentences can be
structured in different ways to achieve different effects
Theme The central idea or ideas that a writer explores through a text
Independent Study Guidance

Week 1 Spellings Refer to grid – learn spellings AND their

definitions for test in class

Week 2 Research Homework Expectation is one - two pages of

Research –

Write a biography on the life of Mary

REMEMBER the Shelley.
useful websites
listed on the last
This could include information on:-
page of this booklet
if you need • Her childhood
additional support • Her parents
• How Frankenstein came to be
written.
• Contextual information about
the times in which she lived.

Remember you can use the school

library and useful websites listed will
provide you with plenty of information
to read and collate.

Week 3 Written Homework To write a comparative essay that

compares and contrasts any two
characters from Frankenstein.

REMEMBER the This should be one page of writing.

useful websites
Possible comparisons could be:
listed on the last
• Victor Frankenstein and the
page of this booklet creature.
if you need • Victor Frankenstein and Robert
additional support Walton
• Victor Frankenstein and Henry
Clerval
• Caroline Frankenstein (Victor’s
mother) and Elizabeth Lavenza
• Justine Moritz and Elizabeth
Lavenza

Week 4 Spellings Refer to grid – learn spellings AND their

definitions for test in class

Week 5 Research Homework What is meant by the Romantic

Movement in literature? (This is not
REMEMBER the romantic love stories)
useful websites
Examples of Romantic texts (at least
listed on the last
two) and why they are representative of
page of this booklet this movement.
 if you need This should be one page of research
additional support using your own words

Week 6 Written Homework Imagine you run a travel company that

organises tours to places featured in
Frankenstein.

REMEMBER the Creatively describe each place, its

useful websites relevance to the text and persuade
listed on the last potential tourists to visit.
page of this booklet
This should be one page of writing and
if you need
should include three destinations
additional support
Places referred to in the text include:

• Geneva, Switzerland
• Ingolstadt, Germany
• Orkney Islands, Scotland
• Chamonix, France
• Archangel
• St Petersburg, Russia

Half Term

Week 1 Spellings Refer to grid – learn spellings

AND their definitions for test
in class

Week 2 Research Homework Create a detailed mind-map on

one of the following: and how
REMEMBER the useful it is explored in Frankenstein
websites listed on the last
• Characters
page of this booklet if you
• Revenge
need additional support
• Secrecy
• Responsibility

This will help you revise for the

assessment.
 Week 3

Week 4 Spellings Refer to grid – learn spellings

AND their definitions for test
in class

Week 5

Week 6

Support Material

Plot Summary

In a series of letters, Robert Walton, the captain of a ship bound for the North Pole,
recounts to his sister back in England the progress of his dangerous mission.
Successful early on, the mission is soon interrupted by seas full of impassable ice.
Trapped, Walton encounters Victor Frankenstein, who has been travelling by dog-
drawn sledge across the ice and is weakened by the cold. Walton takes him aboard
ship, helps nurse him back to health, and hears the fantastic tale of the monster that
Frankenstein created.

Victor first describes his early life in Geneva. At the end of a blissful childhood
spent in the company of Elizabeth Lavenza (his adopted sister) and friend Henry
Clerval, Victor enters the university of Ingolstadt to study natural philosophy and
chemistry. There, he is consumed by the desire to discover the secret of life and,
after several years of research, becomes convinced that he has found it.

Armed with the knowledge he has long been seeking, Victor spends months
feverishly fashioning a creature out of old body parts. One climactic night, in the
secrecy of his apartment, he brings his creation to life. When he looks at the
monstrosity that he has created, however, the sight horrifies him. After a fitful
night of sleep, interrupted by the spectre of the monster looming over him, he runs
into the streets, eventually wandering in remorse. Victor runs into Henry, who has
come to study at the university, and he takes his friend back to his apartment.
Though the monster is gone, Victor falls into a feverish illness.

Sickened by his horrific deed, Victor prepares to return to Geneva, to his family,
and to health. Just before departing Ingolstadt, however, he receives a letter from
his father informing him that his youngest brother, William, has been murdered.
Grief-stricken, Victor hurries home. While passing through the woods where
William was strangled, he catches sight of the monster and becomes convinced that
the monster is his brother’s murderer. Arriving in Geneva, Victor finds that Justine
Moritz, a kind, gentle girl who had been adopted by the Frankenstein household,
has been accused. She is tried, condemned, and executed, despite her assertions of
innocence. Victor grows despondent, guilty with the knowledge that the monster
he has created bears responsibility for the death of two innocent loved ones.

Left alone the monster must teach himself in the ways of the world and does so by
observing the DeLacey family. His appearance, which shocks others, does not
matter to the blind old man DeLacey and the monster becomes aware of the
importance of appearance and of companionship.

Hoping to ease his grief, Victor takes a holiday to the mountains. While he is alone
one day, crossing an enormous glacier, the monster approaches him. The monster
admits to the murder of William but begs for understanding. Lonely, shunned, and
forlorn, he says that he struck out at William in a desperate attempt to injure
Victor, his cruel creator. The monster begs Victor to create a mate for him, a
monster equally grotesque to serve as his sole companion.

Victor refuses at first, horrified by the prospect of creating a second monster. The
monster is eloquent and persuasive, however, and he eventually convinces Victor.
After returning to Geneva, Victor heads for England, accompanied by Henry, to
gather information for the creation of a female monster. Leaving Henry in
Scotland, he secludes himself on a desolate island in the Orkneys and works
reluctantly at repeating his first success. One night, struck by doubts about the
morality of his actions, Victor glances out the window to see the monster glaring in
at him with a frightening grin. Horrified by the possible consequences of his work,
Victor destroys his new creation. The monster, enraged, vows revenge, swearing
that he will be with Victor on Victor’s wedding night.

Later that night, Victor takes a boat out onto a lake and dumps the remains of the
second creature in the water. The wind picks up and prevents him from returning to
the island. In the morning, he finds himself ashore near an unknown town. Upon
landing, he is arrested and informed that he will be tried for a murder discovered
the previous night. Victor denies any knowledge of the murder, but when shown
the body, he is shocked to behold his friend Henry Clerval, with the mark of the
monster’s fingers on his neck. Victor falls ill, raving and feverish, and is kept in
prison until his recovery, after which he is acquitted of the crime.

Shortly after returning to Geneva with his father, Victor marries Elizabeth. He
fears the monster’s warning and suspects that he will be murdered on his wedding
night. To be cautious, he sends Elizabeth away to wait for him. While he awaits the
monster, he hears Elizabeth scream and realizes that the monster had been hinting
at killing his new bride, not himself. Victor returns home to his father, who dies of
grief a short time later. Victor vows to devote the rest of his life to finding the
monster and exacting his revenge, and he soon departs to begin his quest.

Victor tracks the monster ever northward into the ice. In a dogsled chase, Victor
almost catches up with the monster, but the sea beneath them swells and the ice
breaks, leaving an unbridgeable gap between them. At this point, Walton
encounters Victor, and the narrative catches up to the time of Walton’s fourth letter
to his sister.

Walton tells the remainder of the story in another series of letters to his sister.
Victor, already ill when the two men meet, worsens and dies shortly thereafter.
When Walton returns, several days later, to the room in which the body lies, he is
startled to see the monster weeping over Victor. The monster tells Walton of his
immense solitude, suffering, hatred, and remorse. He asserts that now that his
creator has died, he too can end his suffering. The monster then departs for the
northernmost ice the reader presumes, to die.
Frankenstein Characters:

CHARACTER WHO ARE THEY? ADDITIONAL

INFORMATION
Victor
Frankenstein - The
doomed protagonist and
narrator of the main
portion of the story.
Studying in Ingolstadt,
Victor discovers the
secret of life and creates
an intelligent but
grotesque monster, from
whom he recoils in
horror. Victor keeps his
creation of the monster a
secret, feeling
increasingly guilty and
ashamed as he realizes
how helpless he is to
prevent the monster from
ruining his life and the
lives of others.
The creature (or
monster) - The eight-
foot-tall, hideously ugly
creation of Victor
Frankenstein. Intelligent
and sensitive, the
monster attempts to
integrate himself into
human social patterns,
but all who see him shun
him. His feeling of
abandonment compels
him to seek revenge
against his creator.
Robert Walton - The
Arctic seafarer whose
letters open and close
Frankenstein. Walton
picks the bedraggled
Victor Frankenstein up off
the ice, helps nurse him
back to health, and hears
Victor’s story. He records
the incredible tale in a
series of letters addressed
to his sister, Margaret
Saville, in England.

Alphonse Frankenstein
Victor’s father, very
sympathetic toward his
son. Alphonse consoles
Victor in moments of pain
and encourages him to
remember the
importance of family.

Elizabeth Lavenza - An
orphan, four to five years
younger than Victor,
whom the Frankensteins
adopt. In the 1831
edition, Victor’s mother
rescues Elizabeth from a
destitute peasant cottage
in Italy. Elizabeth
embodies the novel’s
motif of passive women,
as she waits patiently for
Victor’s attention.
Henry Clerval - Victor’s
boyhood friend, who
nurses Victor back to
health in Ingolstadt. After
working unhappily for his
father, Henry begins to
follow in Victor’s
footsteps as a scientist.
His cheerfulness counters
Victor’s moroseness.

William Frankenstein –

Victor’s youngest brother

and the darling of the
Frankenstein family. The
monster strangles William
in the woods outside
Geneva in order to hurt
Victor for abandoning
him. William’s death
deeply saddens Victor
and burdens him with
tremendous guilt about
having created the
monster.

Justine Moritz - A young

girl adopted into the
Frankenstein household
while Victor is growing
up. Justine is blamed and
executed for William’s
murder, which is actually
committed by the
monster.
Caroline Beaufort - The
daughter of Beaufort.
After her father’s death,
Caroline is taken in by,
and later marries,
Alphonse Frankenstein.
She dies of scarlet fever,
which she contracts from
Elizabeth, just before
Victor leaves for
Ingolstadt at age
seventeen.

DeLacey Family - A family

of peasants, including a
blind old man, De Lacey;
his son and daughter,
Felix and Agatha; and a
foreign woman named
Safie. The monster learns
how to speak and interact
by observing them. When
he reveals himself to
them, hoping for
friendship, they beat him
and chase him away.
Themes:

DANGEROUS KNOWLEDGE

The pursuit of knowledge is at the heart of Frankenstein, as Victor attempts to

surge beyond accepted human limits and access the secret of life. Likewise, Robert
Walton attempts to surpass previous human explorations by endeavoring to reach
the North Pole. This ruthless pursuit of knowledge, of the light (see “Light and
Fire”), proves dangerous, as Victor’s act of creation eventually results in the
destruction of everyone dear to him, and Walton finds himself perilously trapped
between sheets of ice. Whereas Victor’s obsessive hatred of the monster drives him
to his death, Walton ultimately pulls back from his treacherous mission, having
learned from Victor’s example how destructive the thirst for knowledge can be.

SUBLIME NATURE

The sublime natural world, embraced by Romanticism (late eighteenth century to

mid-nineteenth century) as a source of unrestrained emotional experience for the
individual, initially offers characters the possibility of spiritual renewal. Mired in
depression and remorse after the deaths of William and Justine, for which he feels
responsible, Victor heads to the mountains to lift his spirits. Likewise, after a
hellish winter of cold and abandonment, the monster feels his heart lighten as
spring arrives. The influence of nature on mood is evident throughout the novel,
but for Victor, the natural world’s power to console him wanes when he realizes
that the monster will haunt him no matter where he goes. By the end, as Victor
chases the monster obsessively, nature, in the form of the Arctic desert, functions
simply as the symbolic backdrop for his primal struggle against the monster.

MONSTROSITY

Obviously, this theme pervades the entire novel, as the monster lies at the center of
the action. Eight feet tall and hideously ugly, the monster is rejected by society.
However, his monstrosity results not only from his grotesque appearance but also
from the unnatural manner of his creation, which involves the secretive animation
of a mix of stolen body parts and strange chemicals. He is a product not of
collaborative scientific effort but of dark, supernatural workings.
The monster is only the most literal of a number of monstrous entities in the novel,
including the knowledge that Victor used to create the monster (see “Dangerous
Knowledge”). One can argue that Victor himself is a kind of monster, as his
ambition, secrecy, and selfishness alienate him from human society. Ordinary on
the outside, he may be the true “monster” inside, as he is eventually consumed by
an obsessive hatred of his creation. Finally, many critics have described the novel
itself as monstrous, a stitched-together combination of different voices, texts, and
tenses

SECRECY

Victor conceives of science as a mystery to be probed; its secrets, once discovered,

must be jealously guarded. He considers M. Krempe, the natural philosopher he
meets at Ingolstadt, a model scientist: “an uncouth man, but deeply imbued in the
secrets of his science.” Victor’s entire obsession with creating life is shrouded in
secrecy, and his obsession with destroying the monster remains equally secret until
Walton hears his tale.

Whereas Victor continues in his secrecy out of shame and guilt, the monster is
forced into seclusion by his grotesque appearance. Walton serves as the final
confessor for both, and their tragic relationship becomes immortalized in Walton’s
letters. In confessing all just before he dies, Victor escapes the stifling secrecy that
has ruined his life; likewise, the monster takes advantage of Walton’s presence to
forge a human connection, hoping desperately that at last someone will understand,
and empathize with, his miserable existence.

LIGHT AND FIRE

“What could not be expected in the country of eternal light?” asks Walton,
displaying a faith in, and optimism about, science. In Frankenstein, light
symbolizes knowledge, discovery, and enlightenment. The natural world is a place
of dark secrets, hidden passages, and unknown mechanisms; the goal of the
scientist is then to reach light. The dangerous and more powerful cousin of light is
fire. The monster’s first experience with a still-smoldering flame reveals the dual
nature of fire: he discovers excitedly that it creates light in the darkness of the
night, but also that it harms him when he touches it.

The presence of fire in the text also brings to mind the full title of Shelley’s novel,
Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus. The Greek god Prometheus gave the
knowledge of fire to humanity and was then severely punished for it. Victor,
attempting to become a modern Prometheus, is certainly punished, but unlike fire,
his “gift” to humanity—knowledge of the secret of life—remains a secret.

KEY Light Knowledge Appearance Secrecy Nature

QUOTATIONS
Victor ‘I will ‘Elizabeth ‘The world
Frankenstein pioneer a Lavenza was to me a
new way, became the secret which
explore inmate of my I desired to
unknown parents' divine.
powers, and house--my Curiosity,
unfold to more than earnest
the world sister--the research’
the deepest beautiful and
mysteries of adored
creation.’ companion of
all my
occupations’
Robert ‘What may ‘I feel my
Walton not be heart glow
expected in a with an
country of enthusiasm
eternal light?’ which
elevates me
to heaven,
for nothing
contributes
so much to
tranquillize
the mind as
a steady
purpose — a
 point on
which the
soul may fix
its
intellectual
eye.’
The Creature I, the ‘I ought to ‘The cold stars
miserable and be thy shone in
the Adam; but I mockery, and the
abandoned, … am rather bare trees waved
to be spurned the fallen their branches
at, and kicked, angel.’ above me; now
and trampled and then the
on.’ sweet voice of a
bird burst forth
amidst the
universal
stillness. All, save
I, were at rest or
in enjoyment; I,
like the arch-
fiend, bore a hell
within me, and
finding myself
unsympathized
with, wished to
tear up the trees,
spread havoc and
destruction
around me,’

Context:

Writing Frankenstein
May Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1816 when she was 18 years old. Yep, that's right, Mary Shelley was
only 18 when she wrote one of the world's most terrifying and enduring stories. Frankenstein; or, The
Modern Prometheus was published anonymously two years later. Finally, in 1823, an edition with Mary
Shelley's name on it was published. We'll call Mary by her first name in this lesson to differentiate her
from her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, another well-known literary figure from the same period. (but in
your English lessons you must always refer to her by her surname)
As you can probably guess, Mary had already led an unusual, even extraordinary, life by the time she was
18. She was born in 1797 to the political philosopher William Godwin, and the philosopher and feminist
Mary Wollstonecraft, whose 1792 work A Vindication of the Rights of Women is an enormously important
text in the history of feminism and political thought. Sadly, Wollstonecraft died only days after giving
birth to Mary, who grew up in a liberal, academic household where she was encouraged to read widely and
think critically.
In her late teens, Mary fell in love with the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was already married.
Undeterred by William Godwin's fury, Mary and her husband-to-be skipped town to travel through Europe
together. They hung out with some big names in the Romantic literary scene, including Lord Byron and
John Polidori, who is often credited with creating the vampire fiction genre.
While staying near Lake Geneva in Switzerland, Mary, Percy, Byron, and Polidori found themselves
cooped up inside, thanks to bad weather. Byron suggested that they have a friendly competition to see who
could write the best horror story. Remember, Mary is 18, and she's just been challenged to a writing
competition by well-respected, already-established writers. No pressure, right? But, after wracking her
brains for a few nights, Mary came up with the idea for Frankenstein.
Pretty sure she won that competition. Although Polidori's effort would be published as the first modern
vampire story, so you have him to thank (or blame) for Twilight.

Romanticism vs. the Enlightenment

In addition to its value as a creepy, compelling tale, Frankenstein is important for the insight it provides
into how people like Mary viewed the world in the early nineteenth century.
We've already mentioned the Romantic movement, in which Mary's husband, Percy Shelley, and travelling
companion, Lord Byron, were key figures. Romanticism was an intellectual, artistic, and literary
movement that peaked in Europe from roughly 1800 to 1850. Partly a response to the Industrial
Revolution, and partly to the Age of Enlightenment (more on this in a second), Romanticism favoured the
imagination and intense emotions as the best and most authentic sources of aesthetic experience.
Romantics raised the individual to the status of hero. Certain Romantic ideas, like the notion that misused
power can harm society, are evident in Frankenstein.
Frankenstein was also heavily influenced by the philosophies of the Enlightenment, a cultural movement
that preceded Romanticism in Europe and lasted from about 1650 to 1800. Enlightenment thinkers, such
Francis Bacon, John Locke, and Sir Isaac Newton, emphasized reason, analysis, and individualism.
Rather than following religious teachings, Enlightenment thinkers turned to scientific study and practiced
skepticism.
We know that Mary, Percy, Byron, and Polidori were having discussions that included both Enlightenment
and Romantic philosophies around the time that Mary wrote Frankenstein, and you can see the tension
between these two philosophies in the novel. Is scientific exploration an exciting or a terrifying thing?
Should we rely on science or emotion as a guide to ultimate truth? Does science do good or harm to
society?
Another place where Romanticism and Enlightenment thinking were at odds was the question of nature
versus reason. Romantics thought that humans were, and ought to be, governed by nature: our desires, our
emotions, and our physical surroundings. Devotees of the Enlightenment, on the other hand, believed in
reason: intellect, logic, and observation. In a nutshell, Romantics believed that we should follow our
hearts, while Enlightenment thinkers believed that we should follow our heads. In her story of scientific
experimentation gone awry, Mary dug into the pitfalls of both Romanticism and reason.

Science Meets Fiction

Frankenstein is often called the first science-fiction novel. Like its literary successors, Frankenstein dealt
with contemporary scientific interests, including alchemy and galvanism.
Dating back to antiquity, alchemy is a tradition in which practitioners attempt to, among other things,
create silver and gold from lesser materials and develop an elixir of life, which is supposed to grant youth
and immortality to the drinker. By Mary Shelley's time, people had pretty much stopped thinking of
alchemy as a science. A growing acceptance of chemistry as a field had led to the increasing distrust of
alchemists as frauds. But thanks to a burgeoning interest in the occult, some people started to think of
alchemy as a spiritual or mystical process.
Useful Websites for research and revision:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/prosefrankenstein/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/prosefrankenstein/0prose_franke
nstein_contrev1.shtml

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/f/frankenstein/character-list

https://revisionworld.com/gcse-revision/english-literature/frankenstein-mary-shelley/context-
background

http://stageagent.com/shows/play/1988/frankenstein

http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/frank.comment1.html

And don’t forget you have GOOGLE at your fingertips and the school or public library is also a great
resource to help you find out more about your topic or consolidate your learning!