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Plot summary
Big Ideas
Characterizations
Elements of the Gothic/Romantic

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Loneliness and possession:
After being an only child for quite some time in his childhood, his mother adopts Elizabeth, a beautiful blonde hair blue eyed girl who won the hearts of everyone. Instead of being introduced to Victor as a companion, a sibling to fill the void of being an only child, she is introduced to him as a "pretty present". Victor reveals that he sees her as "more than sister,since till death she was only to be" his. This accentuates his loneliness, since he sees someone that should be considered a friend his property.

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Innocence: "
With this deep consciousness of what they owed towards the being to which they had given life, added to the active spirit of tenderness that animated both, it may be imagined that while during every hour of my infant life I received a lesson of patience, of charity, and of self-control, I was so guided by a silken cord that all seemed but one train of enjoyment to me."

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Chapter 1 starts out with narration of the "stranger" in the letters, Victor Frankenstein. He shares the story of his early childhood and family background. For a long time, he was the only child, despite his mother's longing for a daughter. On a trip to italy, Caroline (Frankenstein's mother), visits a poor family and sees a beautiful girl who is unlike the rest of the family: "The four others were dark-eyed, hardy little vagrants; this child was thin and very fair. Her hair was the brightest living gold, and despite the poverty of her clothing, seemed to set a crown of distinction on her head." Caroline adopts Elizabeth and presents her back to victor as a "promised gift."

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At the beginning, Frankenstein tells the story of his mother and father. Alphonse, Frankenstein's father protected his mother Caroline, when her father, Beaufort, died from sickness and poverty. "He came like a protecting spirit to the poor girl, who committed herself to his care."

Later on, he tells the story of his sister, Elizabeth, who was an orphan in the care of an Italian family. They couldn't afford to feed her and is then saved by Frankenstein's mother.

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Plot summary
Big Ideas
Characterizations
Elements of the Gothic/Romantic

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Frankenstein grows up with Elizabeth and they share a nice relationship. He befriends Henry Clerval, who he later reconnects with in college. Frankenstein becomes increasingly fascinated with natural philosophy and is eager to learn and seek knowledge. He reads books by Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus all of which are outdated.

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"My temper was sometimes violent, and my passions vehement; but by some law in my temperature they were turned not towards childish pursuits but to an eager desire to learn, and not to learn all things indiscriminately."

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Ambitious: "It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world."

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"On the birth of a second son, my junior by seven years, my parents gave up entirely their wandering life and fixed themselves in their native country. We possessed a house in Geneva, and a campagne on Belrive, the eastern shore of the lake, at the distance of rather more than a league from the city."

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Plot summary
Big Ideas
Characterizations
Elements of the Gothic/Romantic

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“The time at length arrives when grief is rather an indulgence than a necessity; and the smile that plays upon the lips, although it may be deemed a sacrilege, is not banished. My mother was dead, but we had still duties which we ought to perform; we must continue our course with the rest and learn to think ourselves fortunate whilst one remains whom the spoiler has not seized.”

Being able to grieve and experience loss is a human ability, and here, Frankenstein argues that at a certain point, grief is a privilege; something that may not always be possible, for people still have duties they need to perform, even if they are heartbroken. Frankenstein argues that life must go on, however, I find it somewhat hypocritical being that his life went in a different direction than before his mothers death, and it is because of her death, that he began to search for a way to create life using science.

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big idea: power/defying nature/playing god - odelia

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big idea: power/defying nature/playing god - odelia

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"They ascend into the heavens; they have discovered how the blood circulates, and the nature of the air we breathe. They have acquired new and almost unlimited powers; they can command the thunders of heaven, mimic the earthquake, and even mock the invisible world with its own shadows.” Frankenstein is inspired by the professor's words, he begins to see the value in modern science only when it becomes clear that he can gain immense power through it. Frankenstein wants to become god-like, to defy the laws of nature and thwart death, the evocative language the professor uses("ascend into the heavens," "unlimited powers,") appeals to him because it encourages his hubris: "I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation."

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victor leaves his family to go to Ingolstadt to attend the university. Right before he leaves, his mother catches scarlet's fever from Elizabeth. The mother dies, but on her death bed she begs Elizabeth and victory to marry...

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Woman in distress: Elizabeth concealing her emotions for the sake of others
"She indeed veiled her grief and strove to act the comforter to us all."

Intense emotions: Frankenstein is feeling a desire towards making discoveries no one had made before. - he was seemingly desperate. He was stuck with the feeling like he had a lack of ability.
"I closed not my eyes that night. My internal being was in a state of insurrection and turmoil; I felt that order would thence arise, but I had no power to produce it."

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Chapter 3 is the first time Victor Frankenstein gets in touch with mortality with the death of his mom. While he grieves with the mindset of duty, there is no doubt that death is on his mind. What's more is that he continues his interest in the readings that are apparently nonsense said by his professors, people with more experience than himself. Instead of quitting, he finds it in himself to prove them wrong and to unfold a new mystery of the world. So in a way, all of this started because he wanted to prove someone wrong.

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Plot summary
Big Ideas
Characterizations
Elements of the Gothic/Romantic

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victor gets consumes by his school work. He thinks of going back home, but gets wrapped in new venue of science experimentation.

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Big Ideas: Duty/Running away from it - Zoe

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Big Ideas: Duty/Running away from it - Zoe

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“Two years passed in this manner, during which I paid no visit to Geneva, but was engaged, heart and soul, in the pursuit of some discoveries which I hoped to make.”

Frankenstein's priority of duty and responsibility shifted from family to discovery, and when it did, he no longer acknowledged his family who he claimed he would care for. He abandoned his responsibility for his family, as he also does later in the novel when he runs away from the "monster" he created.

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big idea: pursuit of knowledge/exploration - odelia

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big idea: pursuit of knowledge/exploration - odelia

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"I will not lead you on, unguarded and ardent as I then was, to your destruction and infallible misery. Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow."
Frankenstein is warning Walton to not let the quest for knowledge destroy his life; that ignorance is bliss and nature does not bend to the will of humans, so trying to manipulate it always has severe consequences.

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"...my father had taken the greatest precautions that my mind should be impressed with no supernatural horrors. I do not ever remember to have trembled at a tale of superstition or to have feared the apparition of a spirit. Darkness had no effect upon my fancy, and a churchyard was to me merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life, which, from being the seat of beauty and strength, had become food for the worm." Frankenstein has been shielded from darkness/grief for much of his life; his childhood was described as loving and joyful up until the death of his mother. In a way, this may have contributed to his downfall, as he felt no fear towards defying nature/god and was convinced he could do anything. He loses that youthful innocence when he begins experimenting with the dead.

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“Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs.”

it wasn't enough for Frankenstein just to discover, he wanted people to know his name; he wanted the fame and praise that came with his discoveries. In his search for answers of life and death, he wanted people to know that he went beyond the bounds of nature, and discovered how to create life, as many people believed only God could do, and so he felt he deserved the praise that God gets.

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Supernatural: him finding the “generator” of life

“I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter.”

Bringing back life from death

“ I thought that if I could bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in process of time (although I now found it impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption.”

Extreme emotion:

The threw himself into his work, driven by this intense desire

“One secret which I alone possessed was the hope to which I had dedicated myself; and the moon gazed on my midnight labours, while, with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding-places.”

Poor weather:

He missed all of the good weather because of his intensity towards discovering the cure for life.

“Winter, spring, and summer passed away during my labours; but I did not watch the blossom or the expanding leaves—sights which before always yielded me supreme delight—so deeply was I engrossed in my occupation. The leaves of that year had withered before my work drew near to a close, and now every day showed me more plainly how well I had succeeded.”

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Frankenstein gets enamored with the human anatomy and death. He becomes one-minded and obsessed in his research, neglecting his family and himself. He doesn't think of the consequences and what he wants to do with his creation. So while he certainly is ambitious, his actions will most likely spawn negative consequences.

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Plot summary
Big Ideas
Characterizations
Elements of the Gothic/Romantic

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Frankenstein is characterized s being incredibly diligent and hardworking, but ultimately short-sighted and impulsive. "The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. 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. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart." Frankenstein worked day and night towards his goal of giving life to a creature of his own creation but then couldn't bear to even look at the very thing he spent so long working towards.

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Victor Frankenstein has completed his "creation" only to be disgusted by it appearance. He try to sleep off his nightmares only to wake up to the monster standing over him with hideous smile. Victor flees from his home into town when he comes across his friend Henry Clerval. Seeing him snaps victor back into reality for a brief moment from the months of isolation from his family. Henry bring Victor home only to find that the monster is gone. Victor than falls ill due to a nervous fever and for next several months Henry heal Victor back to health. Once back to full health, Henry gives Victor a letter from Elizabeth.

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After Frankenstein's monster comes to life, Frankenstein feels a great sense of distain and is almost grieving creating his monster, putting him to tears and sickness. "The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was for ever before my eyes, and I raved incessantly concerning him." His monster has been burned into his psyche, and he feels a sense of horror and guilt to care for it while all the same dreading it.

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It was very different when the masters of the science sought immortality and power; such views, although futile, were grand; but now the scene was changed. The ambition of the inquirer seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those visions on which my interest in science was chiefly founded. I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth.

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It was very different when the masters of the science sought immortality and power; such views, although futile, were grand; but now the scene was changed. The ambition of the inquirer seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those visions on which my interest in science was chiefly founded. I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth.

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So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein—more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.