frankenstein in class essay

109 Outstanding Frankenstein Essay Topics

Welcome to the Frankenstein Essay Topics page prepared by our editorial team! Here, you’ll find a selection of top ideas, questions, and titles for any academic paper. We have topics about Frankenstein’s literary analysis, characters, themes, and more.

• 🔬 Literary Analysis
• 🎭 Characters
• 📊 Compare & Contrast
• 🗺️ Navigation

🎓 References

Frankenstein is a famous novel, and students will often have to write papers about it. If you have received such an assignment, this article is for you! When writing a Frankenstein literary analysis essay , there are many areas you can consider, such as characters, themes, and context. Below, we have provided 99 outstanding ideas that you can use for your assignment or to find inspiration. Don’t forget to illustrate your arguments with quotes from text when writing your Frankenstein literary analysis.

🔬 Frankenstein Literary Analysis Essay Topics

• What are the literary devices used to create the image of Victor Frankenstein ?
• What literary devices are used to create the image of the Monster?
• What is the importance of setting in Frankenstein ?
• Romanticism in Frankenstein : the use of poetry in the novel’s narrative
• Who is the narrator of Frankenstein , and why is the narration important?
• Narrative technique in Frankenstein .
• Nature symbolism in Frankenstein .
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a tragedy
• How does weather reflect the narrative of Frankenstein ? Give examples.
• What does fire symbolize in Frankenstein ?
• How is the power of nature depicted in Frankenstein ?
• What is the purpose of letters in Frankenstein ?
• The importance of allusions in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .
• Biblical symbolism in Frankenstein .
• Why is Frankenstein called Modern Prometheus?
• Point of view in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Frankenstein : a deconstructive reading
• Analyze the romantic elements in Frankenstein .
• Is Frankenstein a gothic novel?
• What literary devices are used to create fear in Frankenstein ?
• What is the writing style of Frankenstein ?
• Examine the role of suspense and foreshadowing throughout Frankenstein . Do you think these devices are effective?
• How does foreshadowing differ among the three main narrators of Frankenstein (Walton, Victor, and the Monster)?
• What is the purpose of the ring composition of Frankenstein ?
• How does Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein allude to the myth of Prometheus?
• How is Frankenstein a romantic and horror novel?
• What role do letters from Elizabeth play in Frankenstein ‘s narrative?
• What would the novel be like if it was narrated by only Frankenstein or only the monster ?
• What does the novel gain from having so many levels of narration? Why do you suppose it might have been structured with so many embedded narratives?
• In what ways and for what ends does Mary Shelley utilize the myth of Prometheus in her novel, Frankenstein ?
• Three Separate Narratives within Shelley’s Frankenstein
• Frankenstein : Weather, Seasons, and Emotional Symbolism

🎭 Frankenstein Essay Topics: Characters

• How are women depicted in Frankenstein ? How does Shelley make them look passive?
• Why isn’t Frankenstein ’s monster given a name?
• Who is the real monster in Frankenstein ?
• Is Frankenstein ’s monster responsible for the characters’ deaths ?
• What did the childhood of Victor Frankenstein look like? What role does it play in the narrative?
• Does the monster’s eloquence and persuasiveness make it easier for the reader to sympathize with him? Why do you think most film versions of the story present the monster as mute or inarticulate?
• Trace the similarities between Victor Frankenstein and the Monster . Consider their respective relationships with nature, desires for family , and any other important parallels you find.
• Do Victor and the Monster become more similar to Frankenstein ‘s plot? How does their relationship with each other develop?
• Victor attributes his tragic fate to his relentless search for knowledge. Do you think that this is the true cause of his suffering?
• Why does Shelley describe all female characters in Frankenstein as self-sacrificing and passive?
• Who is more human, the Monster of Frankenstein ?
• Analyze the motivations of the main characters in Frankenstein .
• Victor and the Monster feature radically different perspectives on the events of Frankenstein . Whose viewpoint do you support?
• Is the Creature’s demand for a female companion a valid request? Examine the pros and cons of Victor’s compliance.
• After watching the she-monster torn to pieces, the Creature vows that Victor will “repent of the injuries (he) inflicts. Is the Creature justified in his feelings? Why or why not?
• What role does Elizabeth play in Frankenstein ?
• What is the motivation behind Victor’s vow to find and destroy his creature? Has he learned any lessons?
• Discuss the humanity of Frankenstein ‘s Monster.
• What role does Justine Moritz play in the novel?
• What is the Monster’s experience of meeting people? How do they react? Why is it so?
• How does the Monster learn to read and speak? What is his motivation?
• What role does Safie play in Frankenstein ? Look at her situation from the feminist perspective. She considers marrying a Christian as the only way to become a freer woman. What does this fact tell us about the society she lives in?
• Why does the Monster kill William Frankenstein?
• Examine the relationship between Victor Frankenstein and his monster. How do they interact and communicate with each other?
• How does the creature of Frankenstein form the archetypal monster/horror character?
• “Victor Frankenstein and the Monster share the same personality: like father, like son”. Defend or attack this statement.
• How does Walton’s narration affect the story? How does it affect your interpretation of characters and events?
• Do you think that the monster has free will? Provide textual examples in support of your claim.

🌻 Frankenstein Essay Topics: Themes

• How is the theme of loneliness depicted in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley?
• Discuss the role of sickness in the novel. Victor often seems to fall ill after traumatic events. Is this a means of escape, and, if so, is it effective?
• In what ways does Frankenstein present science and knowledge as dangerous and destructive ?
• How is the idea of exploration revealed in Frankenstein ?
• Responsibility as a Theme in Frankenstein
• How are the dangers of obsession shown in Frankenstein ?
• What ethical concerns the use of animal and human bodies by Victor Frankenstein might raise?
• Analyze Frankenstein through the prism of feminist theory
• Describe the theme of kindness and compassion in Frankenstein
• Frankenstein : the theme of birth
• To what extent does Frankenstein support Mary Wollstonecraft’s claim that women were treated as inferior to men?
• Homosexuality in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Science is portrayed in a bad light in the novel Frankenstein . The author implies that the direction that civilization moves in is determined by what it understands about power. Analyze this statement in relation to the current society.
• Does Frankenstein present the value of the domestic circle?
• Describe how the theme of ambition is presented in Frankenstein .
• Throughout the novel, Victor Frankenstein states that he had no choice, that he was destined, that it was fate that he created the monster. Were his actions really a matter of fate? Or is he simply using fate as an excuse for his actions?
• Critical analysis of human Nature in Frankenstein , as it Connects to Freudian Psychology
• Scientific inquiry in Frankenstein
• Frankenstein as a feminist novel
• Desire and revenge in Frankenstein and Prometheus
• The theme of knowledge portrayed in Frankenstein

⌛ Frankenstein Essay Topics: Context

• Describe how Mary Shelley’s life experiences influenced the story of Frankenstein
• What is the historical relevance of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley? Find in the text the examples of reactions to the historical movements of the Enlightenment , industrial revolution, and romanticism.
• How are the ideas of Shelley’s parents presented in Frankenstein ?
• How does Frankenstein rely on the ideas, beliefs, and issues presented in other texts?
• How might Frankenstein be read as a commentary on scientific progress?
• Historical Context in Frankenstein
• Frankenstein : the autobiography of Mary Shelley?

📊 Compare & Contrast Frankenstein Essay Questions

• Compare and contrast Frankenstein and The Last Man by Mary Shelley
• Science & Nature in Frankenstein & Blade Runner
• How is the theme of revenge shown in Frankenstein and Hamlet ?
• Frankenstein : compare the novel with the movie of 1937
• Compare Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray
• On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer vs. Frankenstein : compare & contrast
• Compare Frankenstein and Macbeth
• Make a comparison of The Handmaid’s Tale and Frankenstein
• Which Frankenstein movie is most like the book?
• Macbeth & Frankenstein : compare & contrast
• Discuss the differences and similarities between Victor Frankenstein and Beowulf
• Compare and contrast Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Robert Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde .
• How has Frankenweenie , a film by Tim Burton, transformed Frankenstein by Mary Shelley to appeal to modern audiences?
• Frankenstein vs. Great Expectations : compare & contrast
• From superhuman to posthuman: The gothic technological imaginary in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis
• Science, gender and otherness in Shelley’s Frankenstein and Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation
• Compare and contrast the theme of appearances in Frankenstein to the same theme in other literary works.
• Monstrous characters in Frankenstein and Hedda Gabler
• Pity and revenge in Frankenstein and The Cry of the Children
• Technology’s effect on human relationships: comparing Station Eleven and Frankenstein
• Gender roles in Frankenstein and Fantomina
• Choosing a Topic: Purdue OWL
• Selecting a Topic: UM-Flint
• Introduction to Research: Cornell University
• Find a Topic Idea: Questia
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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Frankenstein — Theme of Isolation in Frankenstein

Theme of Isolation in Frankenstein

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Research essay: a ‘monster’ and its humanity.

Professor of English Susan J. Wolfson is the editor of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: A Longman Cultural Edition and co-editor, with Ronald Levao, of The Annotated Frankenstein.  

Published in January 1818, Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus has never been out of print or out of cultural reference. “Facebook’s Frankenstein Moment: A Creature That Defies Technology’s Safeguards” was the headline on a New York Times business story Sept. 22 — 200 years on. The trope needed no footnote, although Kevin Roose’s gloss — “the scientist Victor Frankenstein realizes that his cobbled-together creature has gone rogue” — could use some adjustment: The Creature “goes rogue” only after having been abandoned and then abused by almost everyone, first and foremost that undergraduate scientist. Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and CEO Sheryl Sandberg, attending to profits, did not anticipate the rogue consequences: a Frankenberg making. 

The original Frankenstein told a terrific tale, tapping the idealism in the new sciences of its own age, while registering the throb of misgivings and terrors. The 1818 novel appeared anonymously by a down-market press (Princeton owns one of only 500 copies). It was a 19-year-old’s debut in print. The novelist proudly signed herself “Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley” when it was reissued in 1823, in sync with a stage concoction at London’s Royal Opera House in August. That debut ran for nearly 40 nights; it was staged by the Princeton University Players in May 2017. 

In a seminar that I taught on Frankenstein in various contexts at Princeton in the fall of 2016 — just weeks after the 200th anniversary of its conception in a nightmare visited on (then) Mary Godwin in June 1816 — we had much to consider. One subject was the rogue uses and consequences of genomic science of the 21st century. Another was the election season — in which “Frankenstein” was a touchstone in the media opinions and parodies. Students from sciences, computer technology, literature, arts, and humanities made our seminar seem like a mini-university. Learning from each other, we pondered complexities and perplexities: literary, social, scientific, aesthetic, and ethical. If you haven’t read Frankenstein (many, myself included, found the tale first on film), it’s worth your time. 

READ MORE  PAW Goes to the Movies: ‘Victor Frankenstein,’ with Professor Susan Wolfson

Scarcely a month goes by without some development earning the prefix Franken-, a near default for anxieties about or satires of new events. The dark brilliance of Frankenstein is both to expose “monstrosity” in the normal and, conversely, to humanize what might seem monstrously “other.” When Shelley conceived Frankenstein, Europe was scarred by a long war, concluding on Waterloo fields in May 1815. “Monster” was a ready label for any enemy. Young Frankenstein begins his university studies in 1789, the year of the French Revolution. In 1790, Edmund Burke’s international best-selling Reflections on the French Revolution recoiled at the new government as a “monster of a state,” with a “monster of a constitution” and “monstrous democratic assemblies.” Within a few months, another international best-seller, Tom Paine’s The Rights of Man, excoriated “the monster Aristocracy” and cheered the American Revolution for overthrowing a “monster” of tyranny.

Following suit, Mary Shelley’s father, William Godwin, called the ancien régime a “ferocious monster”; her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was on the same page: Any aristocracy was an “artificial monster,” the monarchy a “luxurious monster,” and Europe’s despots a “race of monsters in human shape.” Frankenstein makes no direct reference to the Revolution, but its first readers would have felt the force of its setting in the 1790s, a decade that also saw polemics for (and against) the rights of men, women, and slaves. 

England would abolish its slave trade in 1807, but Colonial slavery was legal until 1833. Abolitionists saw the capitalists, investors, and masters as the moral monsters of the global economy. Apologists regarded the Africans as subhuman, improvable perhaps by Christianity and a work ethic, but alarming if released, especially the men. “In dealing with the Negro,” ultra-conservative Foreign Secretary George Canning lectured Parliament in 1824, “we are dealing with a being possessing the form and strength of a man, but the intellect only of a child. To turn him loose in the manhood of his physical strength ... would be to raise up a creature resembling the splendid fiction of a recent romance.” He meant Frankenstein. 

Mary Shelley heard about this reference, and knew, moreover, that women (though with gilding) were a slave class, too, insofar as they were valued for bodies rather than minds, were denied participatory citizenship and most legal rights, and were systemically subjugated as “other” by the masculine world. This was the argument of her mother’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), which she was rereading when she was writing Frankenstein. Unorthodox Wollstonecraft — an advocate of female intellectual education, a critic of the institution of marriage, and the mother of two daughters conceived outside of wedlock — was herself branded an “unnatural” woman, a monstrosity. 

Shelley had her own personal ordeal, which surely imprints her novel. Her parents were so ready for a son in 1797 that they had already chosen the name “William.” Even worse: When her mother died from childbirth, an awful effect was to make little Mary seem a catastrophe to her grieving father. No wonder she would write a novel about a “being” rejected from its first breath. The iconic “other” in Frankenstein is of course this horrifying Creature (he’s never a “human being”). But the deepest force of the novel is not this unique situation but its reverberation of routine judgments of beings that seem “other” to any possibility of social sympathy. In the 1823 play, the “others” (though played for comedy) are the tinker-gypsies, clad in goatskins and body paint (one is even named “Tanskin” — a racialized differential).

Victor Frankenstein greets his awakening creature as a “catastrophe,” a “wretch,” and soon a “monster.” The Creature has no name, just these epithets of contempt. The only person to address him with sympathy is blind, spared the shock of the “countenance.” Readers are blind this way, too, finding the Creature only on the page and speaking a common language. This continuity, rather than antithesis, to the human is reflected in the first illustrations: 

In the cover for the 1823 play, above, the Creature looks quite human, dishy even — alarming only in size and that gaze of expectation. The 1831 Creature, shown on page 29, is not a patent “monster”: It’s full-grown, remarkably ripped, human-looking, understandably dazed. The real “monster,” we could think, is the reckless student fleeing the results of an unsupervised undergraduate experiment gone rogue. 

In Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein pleads sympathy for the “human nature” in his revulsion. “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health ... but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room.” Repelled by this betrayal of “beauty,” Frankenstein never feels responsible, let alone parental. Shelley’s genius is to understand this ethical monstrosity as a nightmare extreme of common anxiety for expectant parents: What if I can’t love a child whose physical formation is appalling (deformed, deficient, or even, as at her own birth, just female)? 

The Creature’s advent in the novel is not in this famous scene of awakening, however. It comes in the narrative that frames Frankenstein’s story: a polar expedition that has become icebound. Far on the ice plain, the ship’s crew beholds “the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature,” driving a dogsled. Three paragraphs on, another man-shape arrives off the side of the ship on a fragment of ice, alone but for one sled dog. “His limbs were nearly frozen, and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering,” the captain records; “I never saw a man in so wretched a condition.” This dreadful man focuses the first scene of “animation” in Frankenstein: “We restored him to animation by rubbing him with brandy, and forcing him to swallow a small quantity. As soon as he shewed signs of life, we wrapped him up in blankets, and placed him near the chimney of the kitchen-stove. By slow degrees he recovered ... .” 

The re-animation (well before his name is given in the novel) turns out to be Victor Frankenstein. A crazed wretch of a “creature” (so he’s described) could have seemed a fearful “other,” but is cared for as a fellow human being. His subsequent tale of his despicably “monstrous” Creature is scored with this tremendous irony. The most disturbing aspect of this Creature is his “humanity”: this pathos of his hope for family and social acceptance, his intuitive benevolence, bitterness about abuse, and skill with language (which a Princeton valedictorian might envy) that solicits fellow-human attention — all denied by misfortune of physical formation. The deepest power of Frankenstein, still in force 200 years on, is not its so-called monster, but its exposure of “monster” as a contingency of human sympathy.  

Frankenstein

Mary shelley, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

In its preface, Frankenstein claims to be a novel that gives a flattering depiction of "domestic affection." That seems a strange claim in a novel full of murder, tragedy, and despair. But, in fact, all that tragedy, murder, and despair occur because of a lack of connection to either family or society. Put another way, the true evil in Frankenstein is not Victor or the monster , but isolation. When Victor becomes lost in his studies he removes himself from human society, and therefore loses sight of his responsibilities and the consequences of his actions. The monster turns vengeful not because it's evil, but because its isolation fills it with overwhelming hate and anger. And what is the monster's vengeance? To make Victor as isolated as it. Add it all up, and it becomes clear that Frankenstein sees isolation from family and society as the worst imaginable fate, and the cause of hatred, violence, and revenge.

Family, Society, Isolation ThemeTracker

Family, Society, Isolation Quotes in Frankenstein

25+ easy and exciting lesson plans for Frankenstein

by mindroar | Mar 14, 2022 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

Are you searching for lesson plans for Frankenstein ? Then you’ve come to the right place. We have 25 easy and exciting lesson plans and activities for teaching Frankenstein .

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has had a far-reaching influence on popular culture. And yet many people only know and understand the surface-level of the novel, an evil monster created by a mad scientist.

Help your students better understand this Gothic novel using one of these Frankenstein lesson plans or activities.

Pre-reading lesson plans for  Frankenstein

Before reading the novel, it’s a great idea to do some pre-reading activities to activate students’ prior knowledge, as well as fill knowledge gaps they may have.

1. Pre-reading carousel discussion

The first Frankenstein pre-reading activity on our list is this pre-reading carousel discussion by English Bulldog.

The carousel activity is like English Bulldog’s other carousel activities, where students move around the room reading posters with statements on them. Students must leave a statement of dis/agreement on the poster.

After seeing all of the posters and leaving a statement, students choose (or are assigned) a poster to review and analyze the trend in thinking. Then students will have a whole-class debriefing discussion.

The carousel discussion also has a Frankenstein lesson plan for the teacher, Common Core objectives, preparation steps, a classroom agenda, and assessment strategies.

There is also a PowerPoint with student-friendly objectives, student directions, and activity time limits.

If you’re interested, English Bulldog also includes the carousel discussion in a pre-and post-reading activity bundle (which you can look at here ). All of the activities in the bundle look engaging and interesting.

The post-reading activities in the bundle include

• a fishbowl debate
• a themes textual analysis activity
• QR code mini flipbook with links to chapters of the novel in audio and textual format, as well as summary, character, allusion, theme, and literary technique tasks
• and a Frankenstein review game

2. Agree or disagree

Like English Bulldog’s activity, this activity has ten statements on issues raised in Shelley’s Frankenstein that students must agree or disagree with.

However, instead of leaving a statement on posters, students are asked to move to the ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ side of the room.

After choosing sides, students must defend their opinion in-class discussion.

3. Pre-reading one-pager

Another pre-reading activity that you could do is this one by Thoreauly Lit. The activity is a pre-reading one-pager where students have to draw what they think Frankenstein the monster looks like.

Students also have to preview the novel and guess what the setting will be like. This activity would be great for artistic groups, or as a break from reading- and writing-heavy lessons.

4. Pre-reading creative writing challenge

This activity by Lattes and Lit is an AP Literature resource for Frankenstein .

Students use a writing prompt of Mary Shelley’s original nightmare to do their own creative writing.

Students get to have fun and demonstrate what they know of Gothic literature while also learning about Frankenstein ‘s origin story.

5. Which Fra nkenstein character are you quiz

Another fun pre-reading activity for Frankenstein is this one by Thoreauly Lit. In the activity, students answer questions to figure out which Frankenstein character they would be.

6. Gothic literature conventions using “Playthings” episode of Supernatural

If you’d like to approach the novel from a genre standpoint, this activity by Teach Them to Think might suit you. In the activity, students watch the “Playthings” episode of Supernatural and identify the conventions of Gothic literature.

This would be a great mini-lesson or homework activity too. However, the creator does note that the tv episode may not be appropriate for all ages and schools, so you may wish to preview the show before showing it if your school is more conservative.

While-reading lesson plans for  Frankenstein

So, you’ve done some pre-reading activities and your students have started reading. Now you probably want some activities for students to do while they are reading to ensure comprehension and engagement.

Today we have several Frankenstein activities, including worksheets to accompany the Crash Course Literature episodes about Mary Shelley’s classic novel, reading comprehension excerpts, a flipbook, reading check quizzes, a digital book bundle and annotation organizer, a graphic novel organizer, and a comprehension and analysis bundle.

1. Crash Course Literature Frankenstein worksheet

First off the ranks is my own worksheets for the free Crash Course Literature YouTube videos about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein . (You can find the first video here and the second one here ).

The videos (and worksheets) cover

• the historical context of the novel
• biographical details about Mary Shelley
• major plot points of the novel
• big questions the novel asks readers to think about
• genre conventions of the text
• themes such as whether seeking knowledge is dangerous and corrupts the seeker
• and a feminist interpretation of the text

I love to use Crash Course videos in class because they’re funny, engaging, and blend animation with John Green as the presenter.

They also analyze texts with a critical lens, but in a way that is easily understandable for most ability levels.

The videos sometimes have plot spoilers. So be sure to preview the video and show it after major plot reveals if you are wanting students to remain surprised while reading.

2. Multiple choice reading comprehension excerpts

A great lesson plan for Frankenstein is this one by Test Prep.

The Frankenstein activity has four reading passages from the novel, with twenty reading comprehension multiple-choice questions.

The questions are structured and formated like pre-2016 SAT questions, so it’s a great tool if you are trying to familiarize your students with SAT-type tests.

The questions require students to use problem-solving and evidence-based reasoning skills, as well as context clues.

This could also be a series of homework exercises to get your students to practice close-reading and analysis skills.

3. Frankenstein novel study flipbook

The third Frankenstein lesson plan in the while-reading section of this post is this novel study flipbook by Danielle Knight.

The flipbook is easy to assemble and covers information such as

• Mary Shelley’s biography and background
• elements of Gothic literature
• a study guide and answer key of over 100 questions
• themes, symbols, and an answer key
• anti-thesis and contrasts of ideas, characters, themes, settings, and moods
• characters and their background
• frame story explanation
• the Enlightenment period in Europe
• student practice skills such as reading, writing, summarization, recalling details, and making inferences

The flipbook is aligned to ELA Common Core State Standards for years 9-12 in the reading, writing, speaking, and listening strands.

You can choose to pick print in color or grayscale and it can be printed on white or colored paper.

4. Reading check quizzes

If you are looking for a more no-frills approach to checking if students have done the required reading, these reading check quizzes by Kate Duddy may work for you.

There are nine different quizzes about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the quizzes aim to assess student reading comprehension and understanding of the text.

The quizzes include multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blanks, and short-answer-style questions. Students must recall information about the story and vocabulary words. They must also practice analysis and inference skills.

The quizzes contain four to five questions each and cover two chapters of the novel.

5. Frankenstein digital book bundle and annotation organizer

If your school has a limited budget for new books, but you’d still like to teach Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, then this digital book bundle and annotation organizer might be exactly what you need.

The bundle includes a digital copy of the entire novel with space for student and teacher annotation. There are two options for formatting: you can download a pdf of the entire novel, or you can download individual chapters in pdf.

There are also comparative texts to study alongside Frankenstein , including the short story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley,

Two bonuses are included: an annotation organizer designed to help you teach your students how to annotate texts and a character analysis organizer.

The annotation organizer helps students learn to be independent annotators and promotes the skills of close and active reading. And the character analysis organizer scaffolds character analysis by helping students identify

• character motivation
• conflict in the story’s plot
• and the impact of symbolism on a character
• supporting evidence from the text that they can collect, format, and cite as evidence for their ideas about the elements of characterization, conflict, and symbolism

The activities support several Common Core State Standards and are able to be used in digital classrooms. They can be edited in the PDF document without changing the original text and they can be uploaded to sites such as Google Classroom, Edmodo, and Blackboard.

6. Frankenstein graphic novel activity bundle

If you’re teaching a graphic novel adaptation of Frankenstein , this activity bundle may be a great way for you to introduce graphic novels to your students, as well as study Frankenstein .

The bundle includes

• a paper dance party warm-up   activity
• vocabulary scan worksheet
• a PowerPoint   on how to read a graphic novel
• 2 graphic organizers for PowerPoint
• a reading comprehension activity worksheet
• the purpose of reading critical thinking questions
• a roll-the-dice activity game
• 6-panel storyboard drawing project
• a narrative story step by step support
• characterization-for the main character
• a close reading   assignment-including the text, questions, key
• other optional activities
• teacher notes / keys
• close reading text/and questions
• one-pager theme project
• chapter by chapter questions with key

7. Comprehension and analysis bundle

The final while-reading Frankenstein lesson plans and activities is this bundle by LitCharts.

The bundle aims to develop students’ active and close-reading skills using Common Core aligned organizers, worksheets, projects, and review materials.

All of the activities in this bundle are provided as PDF and as editable Word Docs so that you can edit them to suit your class or convert them to Google Docs for distance learning.

Included in the bundle is

• character organizers for every major character in Frankenstein for students to use to gather evidence about characters and use the evidence to describe characters’ traits and significance
• symbol analysis organizers for important symbols to help students identify when symbols appear and what they mean in the context of the entire text
• theme analysis organizers to help students identify evidence from Frankenstein that relates to themes and write evidence-based paragraphs about the themes
• close reading organizers that provide a structured summary of the novel and help students track and analyze themes against the summary – it can also be used for students to comment on/annotate about language and structure, character development, or make other reader responses
• quote analysis organizers to help students situate important quotes in context and how the quotes relate to the themes of the text
• “theme wheel” themes visualization poster and project – you can print the theme wheels as posters to hang in your classroom or you can use blank versions for individual or class projects

After-reading lesson plans for  Frankenstein

Now give yourself a pat on the back if you and your students have made it this far. They’ve read the book! Wooh!

Next, you may want some revision activities for Frankenstein , as well as activities you can use to assess their learning. That’s what this section of the post is all about.

1. Digital Frankenstein review escape room

If you have access to devices such as phones, tablets, or laptops, as well as access to Google apps, this might be the escape room review for you.

Use this Frankenstein escape room after your students have read the novel to get them to review important material through puzzles, games, and other activities.

Included are:

• plot bingo: where students review information about the plot and will be asked to identify whether 25 different facts are true or false. Once they have 5 true facts they have BINGO and get the code to continue.
• literary analysis quiz: students complete a self-checking quiz and respond to 8 items, obtaining a secret code after completion. Literary terms/concepts used in the quiz include the following: simile, symbol, allusion, motif, metaphor, and narrator.
• character matching puzzle: students analyze 9 different character descriptions to 6 different characters from the novel. Once they match them correctly, students get a code to continue.
• reading comprehension puzzle: students respond to four reading comprehension questions based on an article about the author. They answer using a multiple-choice answer grid to get the secret code to continue.
• theme puzzle: students assemble a jigsaw puzzle containing a theme from Frankenstein . They must unscramble special characters in order to find the code.
• quotation identification puzzle: students must identify the speaker of 10 quotations from the novel to discover the final clue.

The game includes self-checking Google Forms so students can pace themselves. Once they have escaped, students get a congratulations message to let you know they’ve finished.

The Frankenstein review resource also includes a teacher guide with visuals and hints so you can assist struggling students.

On average, a high school class of students will take about forty minutes to complete the game.

2. Frankenstein review bingo

Another way to review Frankenstein before an assessment is this review bingo activity by Danielle Knight.

This Frankenstein lesson plan requires you to print out the bingo card sheets (one for each child and a call sheet for the teacher). Then you cut out the bingo cards.

If you want to re-use the cards, simply laminate them and ask students to use dry-erase pens or use markers. You also have a blank card to make your own card.

Once you’ve done that, you play bingo. You call out the words or explanations, and your students mark an ‘x’ on their bingo card if they have it.

3. Debate culminating activity lesson plans for Frankenstein

If you want to avoid an essay or test, take a look here at a debate culminating activity by Miss B’s Bodega.

Bonus, instead of reading a thousand Frankenstein essays, you get to listen to students debate (and do most of your marking in class!).

For the debate, students research, write opening and argumentative speeches, and then formally debate to prove their position on an issue from the test.

The Frankenstein activity includes six topics tied to themes and issues from the text. Students can choose, or you can assign the topics.

Included in the activity are:

• Detailed teacher instructions
• Quick pre-reading/pre-activity survey
• Assignment outline
• Rubric aligned to Common Core standards
• Opening speech writing template
• Evidence collection template for research and preparation
• Handout on effective public speaking
• Student judge feedback form
• Teacher feedback form

The resources are Google Docs, so you can distribute them digitally or print them out. And you can easily adjust them to suit your specific classes.

4. Frankenstein folio final project

Available here is another no-test, no-essay final project. In this Frankenstein activity, students create a folio assessment, a ‘Frankenfolio’.

As part of the project, students create four components of the folio:

• a creative writing piece
• a writing piece that makes a real-world connection
• and a list related to the novel (e.g. gothic elements, questions you’d ask a character, etc.)

There are also two versions of a grading rubric included, one with point values and one with blanks.

5. Frankenstein final test

If you’re teaching Frankenstein in high school and you have a ton of grading to do, you might appreciate a test because they’re usually faster and easier to mark than essays or projects.

If that’s the case, this test here by Amanda Kershaw might be what you are after.

The test covers the whole novel and students must answer in different ways: matching up characters, fill-in-the-blanks, multiple-choice, short answers, and an essay.

The test also includes a study guide so students know what they need to revise.

6. Frankenstein soundtrack project and create a mate essay

This Frankenstein product has two creative ways to assess student learning.

The first project is a soundtrack project where students put together a playlist to be used as a soundtrack to the book. The songs they pick must relate to themes and scenes in the novel.

The project includes an assignment handout as well as a teacher grading rubric.

The second task is a create-a-mate essay. In it, students will write a 5-paragraph persuasive essay answering the following question: “If you were Victor, would you create a mate for the creature?”

It also includes an assignment handout, essay rubric, t-chart essay organizer, and a peer editing worksheet.

7. Self grading Google quizzes for Frankenstein

If you and your students are mostly digital now, the self-grading Google Quizzes by Teacher’s Pet Publications Novel Study Units might serve you well.

Available here , there are six quizzes that cover each section of the book.

• #1 covers the introduction and preface
• #2 covers chapters one through five
• #3 covers chapters six through nine
• #4 covers chapters ten through fifteen
• #5 covers chapters sixteen through twenty
• #6 covers chapters twenty-one through twenty-four.

The questions are multiple-choice, and the Google Form is editable so you can adjust it to suit your specific class.

Whole-unit bundles of lesson plans for  Frankenstein

So far you’ve seen lots of Frankenstein lesson plans and activities, but you haven’t seen whole-unit bundles.

And while individual teaching activities for Frankenstein are great, sometimes you need more because you just don’t have the time to add bits and pieces to an established curriculum.

You might’ve had last-minute class changes, or your kid got sick, or you want a life outside of your classroom. We hear you, so below we have five whole-unit Frankenstein lesson plans.

1. Lit and More whole unit of lesson plans: Frankenstein

This full unit bundle by Lit and More is designed for an advanced placement course. The Frankenstein unit runs for three weeks.

The Frankenstein lesson plans and activities are based on the 1831 edition of the novel.

The bundle includes:

• introductory and background information on the text, including a pre-test that compares the real Frankenstein text to pop culture references
• 133 pages of guided slideshow notes helping students through the text with quotes, analysis, and questions
• a student note packet with pre-reading homework, space for quote analysis, and notes on class discussion
• an answer key to all in-class discussion questions
• two quizzes (chapters one through ten and chapters eleven through twenty), including answer keys
• one Socratic seminar including questions, notes on the procedure, and a grading rubric
• three on-demand writing prompts with scoring rubrics
• one unit test and answer key
• unit objectives, guidelines, and suggested unit plan
• four analytical writing reflection prompts with a suggested rubric, to be handed out during the course of student reading
• one creative response project
• one text-based multiple-choice quiz modeled after the AP exam – it can be used during the middle of reading or as a summative assessment at the end of reading
• virtual teaching tools including a Frankenstein hyperdoc, two Frankenstein quizzes, and a test that can be assigned through Google Classroom or other LMSs

2. Simply Novel Frankenstein whole unit bundle

This Frankenstein whole unit bundle by Simply Novel is aligned with the Common Core State Standards. It can be used in teacher-directed classrooms, or students can self-direct their own learning.

Included in the bundle are:

• pre-reading activities and ideas list
• pre-reading activity exploring biological scientific research
• list of writing prompts/journal topics for each chapter
• author biography and questions
• historical context activities on both Romanticism and the Gothic/science fiction novel and mythology
• a glossary of allusions, terminology, and expressions from the novel
• vocabulary list with and without the definitions
• note-taking and summarizing activities for each chapter or section
• comprehension check/study guide questions for each chapter
• activities that address mood and tone, character interactions, literary archetypes, imagery, foreshadowing, symbolism, philosophical and political approaches to the novel, point of view, characterization, historical themes and issues, and theme
• activities that address vocabulary in context, verb tense, precise word order, complements, word origins and etymology, clauses, base words/root words/affixes, sentence structure, analogies, and spelling, punctuation and capitalization
• reading quizzes for every set of chapters
• two final exam choices, one is completely multiple choice
• teacher guide including notes for teaching the novel
• summary of the novel
• post-reading activities and alternative assessment
• essay and writing ideas/prompts
• project and essay grading rubrics
• complete answer key

Most reviews of this bundle suggest that it is very detailed, and most teachers loved that grammar instruction was included throughout the unit.

3. BritLitWit Frankenstein full unit bundle

This full unit bundle by BritLitWit is full of lesson plans for Frankenstein (1831 edition). Included in the bundle are

• a pre-reading anticipation activity
• background information/images related to Mary Shelley’s biography, the literary and historical influences on Frankenstein , British Romanticism, Gothic literature, misconceptions about the novel, and a diagram explaining the novel’s frame tale
• reading questions with an answer key
• seven multiple-choice quizzes divided into sections. An answer key is included.
• love and Frankenstein worksheet that helps students understand Shelley’s idea that we all need love to thrive.
• bioethics worksheet to explain the gray area that exists in many modern bioethical debates.
• nature vs nurture worksheet that explains the psychological ideas of ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’
• a book club for the creature worksheet asks students to explain the details of what the creature learned from the three books that made an impact on how he perceives himself and the world.
• ‘what makes us human?’ culminating assignment requires students to do a freewrite about what they believe defines a human. They must locate three online sources that engage with that question and record their findings. Then students identify the five essential characteristics of being human and make a final decision about whether the creature can be considered human. A rubric is included.
• final project option one is a groupwork project where students identify what they believe are the ideas in the novel that are still relevant and deliver a slide-show presentation. A grading rubric is included.
• final project option two is the Frankenfolio project (previously mentioned).
• a teacher pacing guide
• jigsaw sheets to help students follow the big ideas of each chapter, options include a headlines sheet, a Frankenstein/Creature/Walton Venn diagram, Gothic details, and Romantic details.

4. SJ Brull Frankenstein full unit bundle

This five-week unit of lesson plans for Frankenstein contains everything you need to teach Mary Shelley’s classic novel.

• an anticipation and reflection guide – a two-page handout with quotes that relate to the text’s themes. Students need to respond whether they agree or disagree with the statement and then explain their opinion. There are teacher notes for how to turn this into a class discussion.
• quote analysis and reading quizzes – the reading quizzes help you gauge student comprehension and the quote analysis helps students learn to read for deeper understanding of themes and life lessons
• theme tracking notes – students research themes and track them while reading. They use this later to create an author’s theme statement.
• film and text essay – an elements of film handout, essay graphic organizer, grading rubric, and notes for the teacher that you can use while showing an adaptation of Frankenstein .
• character analysis packet with three activities – firstly, a guided space for students to illustrate, describe, record, and analyze evidence about character development in the novel. Secondly, a character-theme graffiti table to helps students understand how minor characters support theme development. Lastly, a character review project that is a creative project that encourages abstract thinking and evidence-based writing
• post-reading discussion in Socratic method: a semi-structured approach to class discussions with a 20-slide PowerPoint that explains the Socratic method. Students also get a preparation worksheet and reflection. You also get instructions for how to hold a class discussion.
• author study – students create a Facebook profile, Facebook newsfeed, Facebook exit tickets and Twitter exit tickets about Mary Shelley. There is also extra information for how you can use these in different ways through the unit including as reading quizzes and assessments.
• theme and quote poster – two different styles of printable posters that highlight key themes from the novel

5. TeachNovels Frankenstein full unit bundle

The final whole-unit bundle that we have today is this one by TeachNovels. This full-unit bundle is based on the 1818 edition of Frankenstein , so if your school has that edition, this may better suit your needs.

Included in the bundle are

• pre-reading activities that introduce the unit, the goals of the unit, and the novel
• multiple-choice reading quizzes for each reading
• discussion questions and a variety of standards-based lessons based on the readings
• enriching challenges such as inquiries, debates, creative writing, and performances
• assess student learning with performance tasks or a final exam
• key topics covered include allusion, characterization, imagery, structure (frame tales), structural effects such as suspense, point of view, symbolism, theme development, Romanticism, and science fiction

The seventeen lesson plans for Frankenstein include three pre-reading lessons, nine during-reading lessons, and five after-reading lessons. Each lesson includes connected clips, readings, and graphic organizers.

The bundle also includes exam bank questions you can use to create your own exam suited to your individual classes. Exam questions are in both PDF and MS Word format, so you can edit them to suit as well. In it there are

• 40 comprehension questions with answer key
• 42 language arts questions with answer key
• 22 short-answer promts
• 12 extended-answer prompts

Want more English Language Arts activities?

Check out these blog posts for more ELA activities, lesson plans, and teaching resources:

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By George Grasso

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