Frankenstein Shared Inquiry Discussion Questions

AP English Literature
Fall 2015 (Dr. Swann)
Please read the following discussion questions. Take notes on them and annotate and
highlight your texts to assist you in a graded class discussion of Frankenstein. In your
notes, you should include page numbers of specific textual references that would be of
use to you in your discussionhaving the page numbers will assist you in finding those
quotes again during discussion.

Volume I
Letters (pp. 7-26 in Pocket Books Enriched Classic version, 2004)
1. What Romantic qualities does Captain Walton exhibit?
2. What purpose does Captain Walton serve in this storywhy not just jump to
Frankensteins story?
Chapters I-III: Young Frankenstein (pp. 27-54)
3. Describe Frankensteins family life & his relationships with his parents and Elizabeth.
4. What is Frankensteins initial scientific interest, and what branch of science or
natural philosophy does he eventually turn to?
Chapters IV-VII: The Experiments (pp. 55-97)
5. How does Mary Shelley use suspense and horror in her descriptions of Frankensteins
experiments, their result, and Frankensteins ultimate breakdown?
6. What is Elizabeths role at this point of the novel?
7. What is your reaction to the letter that Frankensteins father writes him in Chapter VI?
8. Describe Justines role in the novel and your reaction to her character and her
treatment.

Volume II
Chapters I-II: Murder and Injustice (pp. 101-116)
9. What are the Romantic aspects of Frankensteins journey into the wilderness?
10. How does Mary Shelley dramatize Frankensteins encounter with the Creature? (How
does she make it dramatic?)
Chapters III-VII: The Creatures Tale (pp. 117-160)
11. How did you react to the Creature? Were you surprised? If so, by what, and why?
12. In your opinion, does the Creatures tale lead you to sympathize with the Creature?
Explain.
13. What are the Creatures views about human beings and life, and how are those views
tested and perhaps altered?
Chapters VIII-IX: The Creatures Demand (pp. 161-179)
14. What is morally terrifying about the Creatures request?
15. What makes Victor consider granting the Creatures request?

Volume III
Chapters I-IV: Betrayal and Revenge (pp. 183-227)
16. How do both the Creature and Frankenstein commit acts of betrayal?
17. What parallels do you see between the trial in these chapters and the trial of Justine in
Chapter 8?
18. What role does the Irish magistrate, Mr. Kirwin, play in this novel? Does he offer a
moral compass by which to judge the other characters?
Chapters V-VII: Final Revenge (pp. 228-258)
19. What role does the magistrate play in this novel? Does he offer a moral compass by
which to judge the other characters?
20. What role does Elizabeth play in this novelis she merely a convenient victim for
the Creature, or is she a powerful character in her own right?
Walton, in Continuation (pp. 258-275)
21. Which narrator do you find most effective: Frankenstein, the Creature, or Walton?
22. What is Waltons contribution to the novel in these final pages?
23. Frankenstein is two centuries old. Why do you think it has such staying power?