Lesson 1What I think Walton is implying with these words is that for a long time, he has been imagining and like daydreaming on living in a place that is beautiful of what his imagination created. It’s where he got lost for a while and enjoy his creativity on creating an amazing and perfect world where nothing was bad. One textual evidence that supports my answer is this that says “These visions faded when I perused, for the first time, those poets whose effusions entranced my soul and lifted it to heaven. I also became a poet and for one year lived in a paradise of my own creation; I imagined that I also might obtain a niche in the temple where the names of Homer and Shakespeare are consecrated.” This supports my answer because it explains how when he started getting into literature and reading different types of books with different authors, it got him into this different world that was new and life-changing for him.
As he says, “those poets whose effusions entranced my soul and lifted it to heaven,” meaning that it totally changed his mind and soul and change him for the better. Overall, his knowledge of poets and their books has made Walton see the world in a different way and has changed his mind to be more creative and open to new and different ideas.Lesson 2A theme from Letter 3 of Frankenstein that I got from it while reading it was mostly focused on Nature. The reason why is because it basically talks about how his journey has gone and how the weather has been good, but through sheets of ice in the ocean suggest that the conditions might get worse and may soon threaten. One interesting thing was how he ended that letter with a question that reads, “What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man?” Which it does have an answer and it’s suggested by the ice in the sea which it’s close to the theme of nature.
This evidence from the text explains what I said before and it’s “I am, however, in good spirits: my men are bold and apparently firm of purpose, nor do the floating sheets of ice that continually pass us, indicating the dangers of the region towards which we are advancing, appear to dismay them.” Now, a different theme from Letter 4 is prejudice. Evidence from the text is this part that reads, ” It was, in fact, a sledge, like that we had seen before, which had drifted towards us in the night on a large fragment of ice. Only one dog remained alive; but there was a human being within it whom the sailors were persuading to enter the vessel. He was not, as the other traveller seemed to be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but a European.” The theme in this part of letter 4 is focused on how Walton’s used of the word “savage” puts him in the same place with the other characters who prejudge the monster based on their appearance alone.
Prejudice is a theme found in letter 4 that talks about how every character assumes the monster is dangerous based on their outward appearance when in truth the monster is warm and open-hearted.Lesson 3How the author Mary Shelley’s use of framing help develops the story’s plot in Chapter 1 is by giving the reader a more in-depth understanding of the several character’s perspectives. It makes it easier to understand the setting of the story and knowing some characters that have already been described in the letters.
The plot in Chapter 1 makes the reader see some character that they have read of before and know them a little better than others. Also, the framing is a good thing because Shelley builds suspense from the beginning. For example, by being able to view Victor first after his pursuit of the Monster, the reader wants to know more about what has made Victor so sick, why he was pursuing a creature, and what brought him to such a different and far away location. By using Walton as the narrator to whom the story is told, Shelley can easily begin with the suspenseful “present” and flashback to the causes of Victor’s condition. Which is what Chapter 1 goes into depth and talks more about what happen before Victor went on his adventure.
Lesson 4An occurrence during this time that had a significant impact on Victor was when he was 13 years old and got really obsessed with the work of Cornelius Agrippa, who was a “16th-century investigator of the occult. Trained initially as a doctor, he experimented with alchemy (attempting to synthesize gold) and wrote books about “hidden philosophy,” or magic arts.” When Victor goes to his dad and talks to him about the work of this German physician, he tells him that the book is sad trash. Which Victor didn’t pay much attention to it.
But, his dad explains to him why his work is not true and as it says on the text, he goes into saying “that the principles of Agrippa had been entirely exploded and that a modern system of science had been introduced which possessed much greater powers than the ancient, because the powers of the latter were chimerical, while those of the former were real and practical.” But even though his dad explained to him why this guy was a liar and everything was false, Victor went on to read all his work and finish his studies on him. Which this foreshadows Victor’s thirst for science mixed in with the supernatural. Evidence from the text that supports my response is this that says, “When I was thirteen years of age we all went on a party of pleasure to the baths near Thonon; the inclemency of the weather obliged us to remain a day confined to the inn. In this house I chanced to find a volume of the works of Cornelius Agrippa. I opened it with apathy; the theory which he attempts to demonstrate and the wonderful facts which he relates soon changed this feeling into enthusiasm.
A new light seemed to dawn upon my mind, and bounding with joy, I communicated my discovery to my father. My father looked carelessly at the title page of my book and said, “Ah! Cornelius Agrippa! My dear Victor, do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash.”If, instead of this remark, my father had taken the pains to explain to me that the principles of Agrippa had been entirely exploded and that a modern system of science had been introduced which possessed much greater powers than the ancient, because the powers of the latter were chimerical, while those of the former were real and practical, under such circumstances I should certainly have thrown Agrippa aside and have contented my imagination, warmed as it was, by returning with greater ardour to my former studies.”Lesson 5There are some inferences that I can make about Victor’s feelings toward M. Krempe and M. Waldman.
He first meets M. Krempe, who is a professor of natural philosophy. As he describes him in the text, “He was an uncouth man, but deeply imbued in the secrets of his science.” M. Krempe tells Victor, “You have burdened your memory with exploded systems and useless names. Good God! In what desert land have you lived, where no one was kind enough to inform you that these fancies which you have so greedily imbibed are a thousand years old and as musty as they are ancient? I little expected, in this enlightened and scientific age, to find a disciple of Albertus Magnus and Paracelsus. My dear sir, you must begin your studies entirely anew.
” At first, Victor is indifferent to the idea of returning to science because he had already developed a deep contempt for natural philosophy and its uses. But, this all changes when Victor attends a lecture given by a professor named M. Waldman. Who is the second professor he meets later.
He says that “He began his lecture by a recapitulation of the history of chemistry and the various improvements made by different men of learning, pronouncing with fervour the names of the most distinguished discoverers. He then took a cursory view of the present state of the science and explained many of its elementary terms. After having made a few preparatory experiments, he concluded with a panegyric upon modern chemistry, the terms of which I shall never forget: “The ancient teachers of this science,” said he, “promised impossibilities and performed nothing.” After having finishing his class, Victor was pretty excited and blown away by the ideas of M.
Waldman, who believes that scientists can perform miracles, acquire unlimited powers, and as he says in the text, “mock the invisible world with its own shadows.” Overall, Victor seems pretty excited and had a new world open to him for new people and books to study from. It seems like he really liked M. Waldman a lot and was amazed by the things he learns from him. He also learned something from M. Krempe and that was by him giving Victor new things to study and put his mind into and forget of what he has read before.Lesson 6Chapter 4 is where Victor starts with his schoolwork and begins to read all he can about the sciences, particularly chemistry. Which gain him a good reputation as a scientist and innovator among the professors and fellow students where he was going to school.
When he was almost done in Ingolstadt, as it says in the text, “my residence there being no longer conducive to my improvements, I thought of returning to my friends and my native town, when an incident happened that protracted my stay. One of the phenomena which had peculiarly attracted my attention was the structure of the human frame, and, indeed, any animal endued with life” As he said, he then got interested in something else and that was creating life from death and restored to life a dead body. Victor went sorta crazy in studying the science of anatomy and just the human body when they die and everything that has to do with that topic. He failed sometimes before actually bringing his creation to life. This work took a toll on him, affecting his health, state of mind, and powers of judgment. His work continued throughout the spring and all the way to fall of that year. This leads him to live for what he’s passionate about and focus so much in these topics that he shuts down contact with the outside world. In the next summer, he loose contact with his family and miss to write back some letters he has been getting from home.
Victor doesn’t reply back to how he’s doing or his overall health.Lesson 7The first excerpt I will choose is the first one. As I was reading it, I was getting an image in my mind on how the author was explaining it and describing what she saw that morning. Here she is using imagery for the reader to make up an image on their mind.
She talks about how it was a rainy day and the candle was almost burned out. This just gives an image of what the setting looked like. Then, she talks about the creature with the yellow eyes he has and how it breathes really hard, giving the feeling of being mad. This is talking about the creature that Victor created. Now, the second excerpt I choose is the second one. This is basically explaining how the character was really scared and disappointment on what he basically created, which was the creature.
The author uses metaphor in this sentence by saying, “dreams that had been my food,” which basically means that the dreams the character had were good ones and probably things he imagine on what his creation was going to be suddenly came falling down and it was not great anymore. It was like he wasn’t ready for what he had created and it couldn’t stop it.Lesson 8How Victor’s perspective on his life change from the times he reads Elizabeth’s letter until the following summer is very different. When Victor read Elizabeth’s letter, he was full of happiness and it restore him to better health.
It’s a letter full of news that got Victor excited and happy again. She talks about Justine Moritz and how good she has been to the Frankenstein family. It moves on to Victor introducing Henry to the several professors of the university. They both begin their studies together while studying about ancient and foreign languages. They are pretty happy and excited to be some hard working college students. Lastly, Victor plans to return to Geneva in the fall, after recovering from the season of spring.
But, the problem is the weather and it makes it impossible to go to Geneva. Which in May is when he decides to depart and make this trip happen. This shows that Victor, in the beginning, was really stressed out and was exhausted from the things he was doing.
But when he received and read the letter, his life became so much better and he got happy again. It was something that he really needed and was excited about his future again. He shows he’s very happy at the end of the chapter by saying, “My own spirits were high, and I bounded along with feelings of unbridled joy and hilarity.
“Lesson 9The setting is one of the narrative elements that I think contributes to a specific tone in this chapter. For example, the letter Victor received from his father where he tells him that William, who is Victor’s little brother, has been murdered by strangulation. As the story says, “About five in the morning I discovered my lovely boy, whom the night before I had seen blooming and active in health, stretched on the grass livid and motionless; the print of the murder’s finger was on his neck.” This letter is the turning point of the story, in which the monster that Victor created has become to appear and have a real appearance in the story. This is where Victor has had the thought of the monster and has return to his life. Now, how the setting and the atmosphere sets the stage for Victor to see the monster is by making it feel mysterious and scary. This gives a tone of being intense and also exciting to see what happens next.
Mary has given this story from this chapter a twist of where the action starts to happen and the tones keep changing.Lesson 10My thoughts about the novel so far is that it’s going pretty good and it keeps getting excited throughout each chapter. I feel like suspense and action will now start to happen in the next chapters. Because the monster that Victor created was mention in chapter 7 and that’s the first time he gets involved in the plot of the story. It’s starting to slowly build up to the climax and it’s going to get pretty crazy.
I’m just really excited and can’t wait to keep reading the next chapters where things are going to get really serious.