Frankenstein Webquest
Click the link and read about the myth answering IN COMPLETE SENTENCES the questions that follow; use any multi-media surface to present your findings
Group1: Myth
1) Prometheus (http://www.prometheas.org/mythology.html)
How did Prometheus make man?
Why did Zeus get angry at Prometheus and how was Prometheus punished?
Why or why not do you think Prometheus should be considered a hero?
Google a picture to illustrate Prometheus’ punishment on Mount Caucasus; print it and attach or copy/paste below.
2)Pygmalion (http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/myth-of-pygmalion-and-galatea/)
How does Galatea come to live?
Explain, in at least three complete sentences, why or why not you think this myth to be a good example of a love story.
Group 2: Mary Shelley and her Novel
Read: http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/mshelley.htm; answer the following (this timeline will help: http://www.rc.umd.edu/reference/chronologies/mschronology/chrono.html)
1) What is the likely cause of Mary Shelley’s nervous breakdown?
2) How many children did she have? How many survived infancy? Also, did her husband die before or after the publication of the novel?
3) About how many films have been inspired by this novel? Name at least two recent examples.
4) This novel is a good example of an epistolary novel (the following question will require some web research).
What does and epistolary novel mean?
What does a “framing” device in literature mean?
What is the “framing device in this novel?
Why might this framing device make this novel more effective?
Group 3: Romanticism/Gothic
Provide a minimum four sentence summary of romanticism. Answer questions such as: (1) What are some of the elements needed to make a work a part of this genre?
(2) Who were some major Romantic artists?
(http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5670)
Read Mathew Arnold’s Dover Beach (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dover-beach/). Explain (in at least six complete sentences), re-reading your above summary, why this poem is a good example of Romanticism. In your review, offer at least one quotation from the poem and analysis
Although not really related to Romanticism you may have fun taking the following personality test. (do not ponder these questions for too long, do it quickly). Which personality trait received the highest score? Do you consider yourself a romantic? Why or why not?
Gothic Background (Dark Romanticism)
It's alive. The Gothic is alive and well. Are there any Goths in your school or community? Have you seen ads for or attended any Goth gatherings? Listened to any Goth music? Accessed Goth Web sites, list-servs, or blogs?
Although the Gothic tradition is rooted in 18th century England, it remains a popular genre today across the artistic spectrum.
The gothic has always been interdisciplinary in nature, influencing and being influenced by numerous allied arts. But the gothic is not solely an artistic phenomenon, as it exists in part to express and negotiate tensions between the logic of science and the mysteries of faith. The literary classics of the genre -- Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde, Dracula -- all deal with this conflict, but so does . . . the immensely popular television series The X-Files . . . .1
Horror writer Dean Koontz recently published his futuristc version of Frankenstein. Authors such as Stephen King, Anne Rice, and William Faulkner examine Gothic characters and themes; films like "Psycho," "The Shining," "The Haunting," "The Blair Witch Project," and "The Ring" explore Gothic themes and settings. What do they have in common with Mary Shelley's novel?
Group 4: Making Connections
Go to http://www.merriam-webster.com/
Define and explain the following terms:
Somnambulism:
Revenant:
Necromancy
Exorcism
1) Click on the above picture. List the five 2) Click on the above picture to read
best “facts” for and against Stem Cell Research. an article about cloning. Explain
in at least four sentences how and
why you would answer the
question Sir Gurdon asks at the
end of his lectures.
1)
2)