1. Who Is Writing the Letters, and to Whom Is He Writing?
Name:______Period:______
Frankenstein Study Guide – Answer each question in complete sentences and on a separate sheet. There will be random study guide checks.
Letters 1-4
1. Who is writing the letters, and to whom is he writing?
2. Where is Robert Walton when he writes Letter 1? What are his plans?
3. What does Robert Walton tell us about himself?
4. What "strange accident" has happened to the sailors?
5. Describe the man who is picked up by the ship.
6. When Walton tells of his project, how does the man respond?
Chapter 1
1.Where is the stranger from?
2.What is the story of the man's mother, Caroline Beaufort?
3.Who is Elizabeth Lavenza and what is her story?
4. Who is the stranger?
Chapter 2
1.Who is Henry Clerval, and what is his relation to Victor?
2.How does Victor characterize the interests and characters of Clerval, Elizabeth,
and himself ?
3.What sort of science ("Natural Philosophy") is Victor learning from Agrippa,
Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus?
4. What happens when Victor sees an oak tree destroyed by lightning and hears
an explanation?
5. What does Victor then begin to study?
6. Who or what does Victor blame for his "utter and terrible destruction" ?
7.What happens to Elizabeth and to Victor's mother as a result of Elizabeth's
scarlet fever ?
Chapter 3
1. How old is Victor when he goes to Ingolstadt? (Ingolstadt is in southern Germany, in Bavaria, on the Danube, 2 miles north of Munich)
2. Why does his father want him to go?
3. What are Victor’s plans after meeting with his professors?
Chapter 4
1.How well does Victor progress during the next two years?
2.Will he share that knowledge with Walton? Why? (Note the "present" of the
telling breaking through the narration here.)
3.How does he go about creating a human being, and what does he expect as a
result of this creation?
4. How long does the task take?
5. What happens to Victor in the process?
Chapter 5
1. How much do we learn of the actual procedure that created the Creature?
3. Describe the Creature’s appearance.
4. How does Victor first respond to the Creature?
5. Interpret Victor’s dream.
6. Who does Victor meet arriving in a coach the next morning?
Chapter 6
1.What is waiting for Victor when he finally recovers?
2.Who is Justine Moritz and what is her story?
3.Who is William, and how old is he?
4.What does Victor do after his recovery ?
5. What is the Victor’s mood at the end of this chapter?
Chapter 7
1. What news does his father have for him in the letter?
2.How long has Victor been away from home?
3.Who does Victor see that night at Plainpalais?
4.What does Victor now believe happened to William?
5.Who has been identified as the murderer, and on what evidence ?
6. Why doesn't he say anything about his suspicions of the real murderer?
Chapter 8
1.What happens at Justine's trial?
2.The next day, why does Justine say she has confessed to the murder of William? How does Victor respond to Justine's situation and to Elizabeth's anguish?
Chapter 9
1.How does Victor respond in the days after Justine's death? How have
Elizabeth's views changed ?
2.What journey does Victor undertake, and when ? What places does he travel
through? Where does he stay?
Chapter 10
1.Where does Victor go the next day?
2.How does he feel during this part of his journey?
3.Who does Victor see, and how does he respond?
4.In this chapter, we finally hear the creature speak for the first time. What does
he say?
5.What does the creature ask of Victor ?
6.Why has the creature caused the deaths of William and Justine?
7.What will cause the creature to change? Keep in mind his statement "I was
benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I
shall again be virtuous."
8.How good of an ironic sense of humor does the creature have? (See the "hand"
bit )
9. Why does Victor agree to listen to the Creature’s tale?
Chapter 11
1.What does the creature remember of his earliest days, and how did he learn?
2.How does the creature respond to his discovery of the fire?
3.What happens during his first encounters with people ?
4.Where does he finally find a place to stay ?
5. How does he feel toward the people with whom he stays?
Chapter 12
1.How does the creature continue to learn about the family he is watching?
2.How does the creature learn language, and why might he have trouble learning
words such as "good, dearest, unhappy"?
3.What things bother the creature when he thinks of discovering himself to the
Family?
4.The creature is still there when spring comes . What has been happening to
Victor in the meantime? (See Chapter 5.)
5.How does the creature hope to win over the family?
Chapter 13
1.Who arrives at the cottage in the spring, and how does her language problem help the creature?
2.How does the creature learn about reading?
4.What happens when the creature begins to think about himself compared to the people in the book?
5.What does he learn about human relationships, and how does this make him
feel?
Chapter 14
1.How did the DeLacey family come to be living in the cottage?
2.How did Safie come to find and join them?
Chapter 15
1.What does the creature find in the woods?
2.What are the three books that the creature reads, and what does he learn from
each?
3.What else does the creature read, and what does he learn from it ?
4.How long has it been since the creature came to life ?
5.What does the creature hope will happen when he talks to De Lacey, but what actually happens?
Chapter 16
1.What happens to the De Lacey family after the events of chapter 15?
2.How does the creature travel?
3.What event during the creature's travels confirms his hatred of humans ?
4.What event happens when the creature is near Geneva ?
5.When Victor visits the site of William's death in chapter 7, he says "I had
turned loose into the world a depraved wretch, whose delight was in carnage
and misery" . After reading the creature's version of events, do you agree?
Chapter 17
1.What does the creature demand from Victor ?
2.How does Victor at first respond to the creature's demand?
3.How effective is the creature in convincing Victor?
4.What does the creature say will happen if Victor creates a female for him?
5.What does Victor decide?
Chapter 18
1.How does Victor appear and respond to his family when he returns home?
2.Why does Victor's father think Victor might not want to marry Elizabeth?
3.Why does Victor want to visit England?
4.What is the effect of Victor's return to the present?
Chapter 19
1.What are Clerval's plans for his career ?
2.Where does Victor's journey end, and what does he plan to do there?
Chapter 20
1.Why does Victor change his mind about creating the female, and what does he do to demonstrate this?
3.What happens when the Creature visits Victor?
4.What happens when Victor goes out in a boat to dispose of the female
creature's remains?
Chapter 21
1.Who is Mr. Kirwin, and how does he treat Victor?
2. What has happened to cause Victor's arrest?
3.Who visits Victor when he wakes up?
4.What happens at Victor's trial?
5.How does Victor feel as they leave Ireland and go to France, and how do you know?
Chapter 22
1.Why doesn't Victor get home quickly?
2.What does Elizabeth say in her letter, and how does Victor respond?
3. How does Victor prepare for what he fears will happen at his wedding?
4.How do Victor and Elizabeth get to Evian, and why do they stop there?
Chapter 23
1. What happens on Victor's wedding night?
2. How does the Creature respond?
4. How do the authorities respond when Victor tries to get them to help him hunt for the
Creature?
Chapter 24
1. How successful is Victor's pursuit of the Creature, and why?
2. What sustains Victor during his pursuit?
3. What does Victor ask Walton to do, and why?
Walton's letter continues
1. Why wouldn't Victor tell Walton the details about the creation?
2. How has Victor come to understand himself?
3. How does Walton avoid the threat of a mutiny?
4. Why is Walton returning to England?
5. Does Victor blame himself?
6. What is Walton's response to Victor's death?
7. What is the effect of Walton’s shifting to the present tense of his writing here?
8. When Walton sees the Creature in the cabin with Victor's body, what is
familiar about the scene?
9. How does the Creature explain what he has done?
10. What ultimately ends up happening to the Creature?
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