1. Choose one of this week's vocabulary words from your digital notebook

1. Perpetual

2. Metaphysical

3. Poignantly

4. Placid

5. Irrevocably

6. Enigmatic

7. Instigate

8. Disquisition

9. Benevolent

10. Enunciate

2. Create a multimedia post including something that reminds you of the word

• Write a poem

• Create a drawing/collage (or upload one you find)

• Choose a song

3. Your post must include:

• Vocabulary word and definition

• Your creative/multimedia element

• How your creative element is associated with the vocabulary word

• Specific examples or relevant quote from the novel that supports your connection

4. Comment on at least two other posts, discussing how their connections enhance your understanding of vocabulary word

Enigmatic: (adj) of, relating to, or resembling an enigma (something hard to explain); mysterious

Poem:

By candle’s flame, in midnight’s breath,
Victor stitched together death.

A soul unformed, a mind unsure,
Longing love, yet cursed impure.

Creator flees, creation weeps,
Through shadowed woods the mystery creeps.
A paradox of life and dread,
The enigmatic living dead.

This poem illustrates the word enigmatic by portraying the creature as a paradox. At once human and inhuman, innocent and terrifying. His very existence is puzzling, a riddle that Victor and the reader struggle to fully comprehend.

In Frankenstein, Victor reflects on his creation, “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe..." (Shelley, 2020, p. 36). Victor himself is baffled by the contradiction of his creation, which is formed from beauty yet repulsive in reality. This tension embodies the enigmatic nature of the creature.

Shelley, M. (2020). Frankenstein (Signature ed.). Union Square & Co. (Original work published 1818).

Poignantly: (adv) painfully affecting the feelings; piercing; touching; designed to make an impression

This gif captures the word poignantly by focusing on the deep emotional pain the creature feels. His loneliness and rejection brings sadness not only for him, but also for the tragedy of Victor’s failed responsibility as creator.

"I am alone and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects" (Shelley, 2020, p. 129). This plea is poignantly delivered, expressing his desperate longing for companionship and the grief of being utterly forsaken.

Shelley, M. (2020). Frankenstein (Signature ed.). Union Square & Co. (Original work published 1818).

Metaphysical: supernatural; of or relating to the transcendent or to a reality beyond what perceptible to the senses

This song pairs with metaphysical because it reflects on the deeper struggles of existence such as loneliness, purpose, and the haunting sense of life’s fragility. Its upbeat and techno tone along with reflective lyrics echo the metaphysical questions Victor and his creature wrestle with: What is the meaning of life? Why do I exist? Why is there suffering? The creature’s very existence is a metaphysical dilemma because he is alive, but not in the same sense as other humans. He longs to understand his place in the universe, but his creator cannot provide him with those answers. The song’s mood captures this metaphysical unease, prompting listeners to think beyond the physical world into questions of meaning and being.

"What was I? Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant; but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endowed with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome… When I looked around, I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?" (Shelley, 2020, p. 105). Here, the creature asks metaphysical questions about his identity, purpose, and existence. He is mirroring the song’s haunting exploration of life’s meaning.

Shelley, M. (2020). Frankenstein (Signature ed.). Union Square & Co. (Original work published 1818).