Frankenstein Presentation

1. Frankenstein Presentation Julia Thompson Suhani Gadkari Ozem Onye-Franklin

2. Structure of the Novel • Structure of a Novel: the content of a story and the form used to tell the story. • In Frankenstein Mary Shelley uses an Epistolary (Letters) structure and Narrative structure • Narrative structure includes the Plot and the setting(s) • Plot: 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. Walton encounters Victor Frankenstein who is extremely ill; takes him on board and nurses him back to health. Now healthy Victor first describes his early life in Geneva with his family and Elizabeth Lavenza. For many years victor spends months fashioning a creature out of old body parts. One night, in his apartment, he brings his creation to life. When he looks at the monstrosity that he has created, he is frightened. Shortly after the creation of his monster, he gains a deadly fever. Deciding it might be time to go home to geneva he receives news that his brother william is dead. When home he gets a glimpse of the monster and believes he is the murder.  A good family friend Justine moritz is accused and tried, condemned, and executed, despite her being innocence. Victor leaves and goes to the mountains to clear his head. The monster meets him and demands a wife which Victor promises to make. However when he breaks his promise the monster out of revenge kills his wife Elizabeth. Shortly after Victor dies on the ship due to intense illness • Settings: In the novel, the story takes place on a ship, Felix cottage, the mountain, and Victor's apartment Joke of the Day: What did Frankenstein's monster say when he was struck by lightning? 'Great! That was just what I needed.

3. Analysis #1 • “My affection for my guest increases every day. He excites me at once my admiration and my pity to an astonishing degree. How can i see so noble a creature, without feeling the most poignant grief? He is so gentle, yet so wise; his mind so cultivated, and when he speaks, although his words are culled with the choicest art, yet they flow with rapidity and unparalleled eloquence” (Shelley 11) • This excerpt is derived from Letter four written by Walton to his sister Margaret. At this time he has witnessed Victor Frankenstein, and is currently catering to him and trying to revive his health. • This letter is the first structure of the novel, that we the reader witness, it adds to the major plot of the story and showcases the first setting which is on a boat in the middle of the ocean. The beginning letters give us Walton’s point of view as he first meets Frankenstein. When Walton comes into contact with Frankenstein he is admirable of him. By placing these letters in the beginning, there is excitement and sadness in the story between Walton and Victor.

4. Analysis #2 • “I lay on my straw, but I could not sleep. I thought of the occurrences of the day. What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people; and I longed to join them, but dared not. I remembered too well the treatment I had suffered the night before from the barbarous villagers…” (Shelley 77) • This excerpt is not a letter but a narrative. The person talking is the creature who is feeling a little melancholy about the family living he is living with. Another setting we see is the cottage in which the creatures has been residing in for a few weeks. As readers we see a moment of sober reflection. The monster is thinking about his day and admits he wants to join the family but he is afraid. He is afraid of the way people treat him based on his look and doesn’t want to go through that humiliation again.

5. Literary Device- Pathetic Fallacy In the novel, there is a Lot of pathetic fallacy because the descriptions of scenery change with character's mood: "The day was fair, the wind favorable, all smiled on our nuptial embarkation. Those were the last moments of my life during which I enjoyed the feeling of happiness" (Shelley 142). "If I looked up, I saw scenes which were familiar to me in my happier time, and which J had contemplated but the day before in the company of her who was now but a shadow and a recollection" (Shelley 146). With the structure of the novel being epistolary, pathetic fallacy happens primarily in Victor's POV.

6. Literary Device- Theme One of the main themes in the novel is isolation, which occurs when Frankenstein abandons the Creature: "How can I move thee? Will no intreaties cause thee to turn a favourable eye upon thy creature, who implores thy goodness and compassion? Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent., my soul glowed with love and humanity; but am I not alone, miserably alone? You, my creator, abhor me' (Shelley 69). "You and your family are the friends whom I seek. Do not you desert me in the hour of trial!... At that instant the cottage door opened, and Felix, Safie, and Agatha entered. Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me?. . Felix darted forward and struck me with a stick...my heart sunk within me is with bitter sickness...overcome by pain and anguish, 1 quited the cottage, and in general tumult escaped unperceived-to my hovel" (Shelley 97). The Creature realizes his isolation from humanity when he tries to befriend the cottagers and is rejected for his ugliness, this leads to his acceptance that he will never be accepted by society and he then asks Victor for a female. This applies to structure because his feeling of Isolation is told during his story.

7. Literary Device Narrator While the novel changes to different points of view, Walton is the primary narrator, who writes Victor's narrative which includes the monster's story as well as Letters from other characters: "I have resolved every night, when I am not imperatively occupied by my duties, to record, as nearly as possible in his own words, what he has realted during the day... This manuscript will doubtless afford you the greatest pleasure: but to me, who know him and who hear it from his own tips—with what interest and sympathy shall I read it in some future day!“ (Shelley 14). "You have read this strange and terrific story, Margaret; and do you not feel your blood congeal with horror, like that which even now curdles mine?" (Shelley 155) . This is how the novel is structured and told.

8. The Character’s Relation to Mary Shelley Victor: Just Like Victor, Mary Shelley is connected to the field of science. Three men who had Large influence over her include Erasmus Darwin, Humphrey Davey, and Luigi Galvani. Galvani was the one who influenced Mary to think about reanimation, as he had brought a corpse to an exhibition and ran electricity through it, making it move. This is just Like how M. Waldman had inspired Victor to study anatomy. Also, just like Victor, she never had a format education, but had a Lifelong habit of reading and research. Creature: Just Like the Creature, Shelley is and outcast in society because of her parent's feminist beliefs and the fact that her mother was already pregnant with Mary when her father married her. Walton: Just like Walton, Mary never received a formal education, normal for women of the time period she had a desire to acquire knowledge. This is like Walton's quest for new knowledge of the North.

9. Significant Moment #1 Since Frankenstein is in a Epistolary structure, one of the letters that was a pivotal moment in the book is when Victor received a letter from his father of his brother, William, being murdered. This is extremely important because it is the first time Victor sees the creature and realizes that he is alive. When he finally gets to his family, he hears the news that Justine, the house maid, was accused, convicted, and killed for murdering William. This causes Victor to become extremely depressed because two people that he was very close to died directly or indirectly because of the creature.

10. Significant Moment #2 • The introduction and conclusion letters draw a comparison through each of the characters. Walton and victor expressed their passions to achieve their highest ability. Walton wanted to explore the world (the unknown) and bring benefit to humanity. Victor was also attracted to the world of the unknown. His thirst for the knowledge of sciences compelled him to block out his loved, and it jeopardized his priorities in life.

11. AP QUESTION 2000:What is the mystery in the novel? The main mystery of the novel is whether Victor will be able to defeat the creature and what the creature will do next. Once the creature is angered by Victor, his personality completely changes. By narrating the novel through a series of letters, it adds to the suspense to the novel, leaving the reader wondering about the nature of the awful tragedy that has caused Victor so much grief. The mystery is revealed at the end when the reader learns that the creature kills himself.

12. Work Cited • hhttps://leetechnolit.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/the-significance-of-the-letters-in-frankenstein-by-mary-shelley/ • http://larryleecaplin.com/tales-of-enchanted-october-frankensteins-monster/ • http://www.marywshelley.com/