Background Knowledge Builder

To understand the context of Frankenstein,
check out these links:

Frankenstein the novel
Author Mary Shelley
Gothic fiction
the Romantic movement

Industrial Revolution
Natural Philosophy
Galvanism
Alchemy


Shelley's Allusions:

"The Modern Prometheus" - The Myth of Prometheus (story)
Paradise Lost by John Milton
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

PreReading Activities

Video Clips:

Firelight - SNL Twilight Parody with Taylor Swift
(motivational/generating interest)

60SecondRecap: Frankenstein Teaser
(motivational/generating interest)

60SecondRecap: Frankenstein Overview
(previewing text)

60SecondRecap: Frankenstein Context
(building background knowledge)

The Book Files: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
(building background knowledge)

During Reading Activities

Audio recordings of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein:
by NewPoliticalVoices Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4...
by Tom O'Bedlam Chapter 5


Discussion starters:
video clips at 60SecondRecap.com


Frankenstein full text online

Supplementary Texts

Short Stories:
"The Birth-mark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne (full text)
"Rappaccini's Daughter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne (full text)
"The Oval Portrait" by Edgar Allan Poe (full text)
"...That Thou Art Mindful of Him" by Isaac Asimov
"What is Man?" by Mark Twain (full text)
"A New Life" by Ramsey Campbell

Poems:
"Adam's Curse" by William Butler Yeats (full text)
"She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron - (full text) opening credits for Vanity Fair
"Darkness" by Lord Byron - excerpt video clip

Articles:
Review for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1995) by Roger Ebert
"A Frankenstein Monster Ended Up Being a Lamb" by Ed Regis, NY Times

Novels:
Monster by Walter Dean Meyers (juxtapose this text to develop critical thinking/questioning)
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson movie clip
The Golem by Isaac Bashevis Singer
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein

Anthologies:
The Mammoth Book of Frankenstein Editor: Stephen Jones

Teaching Tools

Links to some great resources for teaching Frankenstein in high school:

JuliAnn's Unit Plan: Themes and Frankenstein (go here for handouts)

Glencoe Literature Library Study Guide to Frankenstein
Teacher Guide to Signet's Classics Frankenstein
FrankensteinFilms.com Trailers and Video Clips!
Great Links Page and Powerpoints
NY Times article and links to lesson plans
Penetrating the Secrets of Nature
Penguin Reading Guide
It's Alive! Lesson Plans

Frankenstein In the Movies

Reviews and Trailers: FrankensteinFilms.com

Also check out: Frankenstein in Popular Culture on Wikipedia.org



1910 Frankenstein (Short) full movie available at YouTube

Popular Culture Research Starter

Frankenstein was published almost 200 years ago, but the themes, motifs, and characters in Mary Shelley's novel, continue to surface in popular culture today.

For your research project, Influences of Frankenstein in Popular Culture, here are some great places to start exploring:

Frankenstein in Popular Culture on Wikipedia

Ideas for Narrowed Research Topics:

• Frankenstein in Comics
• Frankenstein and Halloween
• Frankenstein’s Derivative Works
• Evolution of the Horror fiction
• Frankenstein’s Children (monster's inspired by Frankenstein)