Please find the book here. 

https://archive.org/stream/Frankenstein1818Edition/frank-a5_djvu.txt





“Frankenstein: Life and Legacy”

Essay One (1000 words)



This is a close reading exercise, with revision. Choose ONE of the following passages from 

Frankenstein and carefully analyze its significance within the context of the larger themes of the novel. You should aim to explore and reflect on how the text creates meaning through both its form and content. The grade for the assignment will be based on your performance through the drafting and revision process as well as on the quality—including argumentation, evidence, structure, clarity, and accuracy.



PASSAGES: 



1) “Like Adam, I was created apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of 

his Creator; he was allowed to converse with, and acquire knowledge from beings of a 

superior nature: but I was wretched, helpless, and alone…. Why did you form a monster so 

hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God in pity made man beautiful and 

alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid from its very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and detested.” (105)

2) "Although I possessed the capacity of bestowing animation, yet to prepare a frame for the reception of it, with all its intricacies of fibres, muscles, and veins, still remained a work of inconceivable difficulty and labour. I doubted at first whether I should attempt the creation of a being like myself or one of simpler organization; but my imagination was too much exalted by my first success to permit me to doubt of my ability to give life to an animal as complex and wonderful as man.” (35)

3) “Why am I here to relate the destruction of the best hope, and the purest creature of earth. She [Elizabeth] was there, lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head 

hanging down, and her pale and distorted features covered by her hair. Everywhere I turn I 

see the same figure” (156)

4) “I felt as if I was about the commission of a dreadful crime, and avoided with shuddering 

anxiety any encounter with my fellow-creatures. At one time the moon, which had before been clear, was suddenly overspread by a thick cloud, and I took advantage of the moment of darkness, and cast my basket into the sea; I listened to the gurgling sound as it sunk, and sailed away from the spot.” (143) 



Essay One is a formal writing assignment. It should have a thesis and make direct reference to textual evidence in the form of properly cited quotations and paraphrases. Please consult the Modern Language Association (MLA) page on the SFU library website for information on the standard format for in-text citations and end of document references in literary studies: 

http://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/cite-write/citation-style-guides/mla Please type in a legible font, include page numbers, and staple the essay. All other elements of formatting are at the discretion of your tutorial leader.



Novel - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley