Analyzing Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein'
McDaniel - Honors Analysis Test – Frankenstein
Choose one (1) of the following to complete.
A. Read the following passages. In a well-organized essay, analyze how Mary Shelley’s use of language portrays the transformation of Victor Frankenstein’s character throughout the novel. Do NOT merely summarize the plot or offer a character study.
“I never saw a more interesting creature; his eyes have generally an expression of wildness, and even madness, but there are moments when, if any one performs an act of kindness toward him or does him any the most trifling service, his whole countenance is lighted up, as it were, with a beam of benevolence and sweetness that I never saw equaled.” -Letter IV
“My cheeks had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement. Sometimes, on the very brink of certainty, I failed; yet still I clung to the hope which the next day or the next hour might release.” -Chapter IV
“During my youthful days discontent never visited my mind; and if I was ever overcome by ennui, the sight of what is beautiful in nature, or the study of what is excellent and sublime in the productions of man, could always interest my heart, and communicate elasticity to my spirits.” Chapter XIX
“Liberty, however, had been an useless gift to me had I not, as I awakened to reason, at the same time awakened to revenge. As the memory of past misfortunes pressed upon me, I began to reflect on their cause—the monster whom I had created, the miserable daemon whom I had sent abroad into the world for my destruction. I was possessed by a maddening rage when I thought of him, and desire and ardently prayed that I might have him within my grasp to wreak a great revenge on his cursed head.” Chapter XXIII
B. The following passages are both from Chapter 24 of the novel. The first is Victor Frankenstein talking to Robert Walton. The second is the Creature speaking to Walton. In a well-organized essay, analyze the source of the irony in
Choose one (1) of the following to complete.
A. Read the following passages. In a well-organized essay, analyze how Mary Shelley’s use of language portrays the transformation of Victor Frankenstein’s character throughout the novel. Do NOT merely summarize the plot or offer a character study.
“I never saw a more interesting creature; his eyes have generally an expression of wildness, and even madness, but there are moments when, if any one performs an act of kindness toward him or does him any the most trifling service, his whole countenance is lighted up, as it were, with a beam of benevolence and sweetness that I never saw equaled.” -Letter IV
“My cheeks had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement. Sometimes, on the very brink of certainty, I failed; yet still I clung to the hope which the next day or the next hour might release.” -Chapter IV
“During my youthful days discontent never visited my mind; and if I was ever overcome by ennui, the sight of what is beautiful in nature, or the study of what is excellent and sublime in the productions of man, could always interest my heart, and communicate elasticity to my spirits.” Chapter XIX
“Liberty, however, had been an useless gift to me had I not, as I awakened to reason, at the same time awakened to revenge. As the memory of past misfortunes pressed upon me, I began to reflect on their cause—the monster whom I had created, the miserable daemon whom I had sent abroad into the world for my destruction. I was possessed by a maddening rage when I thought of him, and desire and ardently prayed that I might have him within my grasp to wreak a great revenge on his cursed head.” Chapter XXIII
B. The following passages are both from Chapter 24 of the novel. The first is Victor Frankenstein talking to Robert Walton. The second is the Creature speaking to Walton. In a well-organized essay, analyze the source of the irony in