Frankenstein - Walton's Letters Flashcards

Prose

1
Q

When was Frankenstein first published?

A

1818

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2
Q

What is Walton’s first name?

A

Robert

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3
Q

To whom is Walton writing his letters?

A

His sister, Margaret

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4
Q

What is the purpose of Walton’s arctic voyage?

A

To discover a northeast passage to the orient

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5
Q

What does doppelgänger mean?

A

double

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6
Q

Which two characters in the novel might be considered doppelgängers?

A

Walton and Victor - they are both presented as hubristic individuals that fail to respect the power of nature.

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7
Q

What does hubristic mean?

A

Excessively proud/arrogant

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8
Q

What is the correct term for one character that might be considered the ‘double’ of another?

A

doppelgänger

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9
Q

What is the correct term to describe the structure that Shelley uses via Walton’s narrative?

A

epistolary frame narrative

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10
Q

What does epistolary mean?

A

in the form of letters

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11
Q

What is the correct term to describe a narrative told in the form of letters?

A

epistolary

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12
Q

What was the era called when Frankenstein was first published?

A

The Georgian era

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13
Q

What were the Georgians obsessed with?

A

science, exploration and new tchnologies

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14
Q

Why were many (like Walton) keen to discover a northeast passage?

A

It would mean a quicker and more profitable trading route with the east.

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15
Q

What was the name of the social movement of the 18th and 19th century that emphasised the importance of science and reason?

A

The Enlightenment

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16
Q

What was the Enlightenment?

A

A social movement of the 18th and 19th century that emphasised the importance of science and reason.

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17
Q

What was the name of the real-life British explorer who spent 4 years trapped in the arctic ice?

A

Robert McClure

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18
Q

Who was Robert McClure?

A

A real-life British explorer who spent 4 years trapped in the arctic ice.

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19
Q

‘I feel a cold northern breeze _________ upon my cheeks’ (page 13)

A

play

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20
Q

What technique is used here? ‘I feel a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks’ (page 13)

A

personification

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21
Q

‘the region of __________ and delight’ (page 13)

A

beauty

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22
Q

‘What may not be expected in a country of eternal __________’? (page 13)

A

light

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23
Q

‘I may there discover the wondrous power which attracts the ___________’ (page 13)

A

needle

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24
Q

‘may regulate a ____________ celestial observations’ (page 13)

A

thousand

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25
Q

What technique is used here: ‘may regulate a thousand celestial observations’ (page 13)?

A

hyperbole

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26
Q

‘I shall satiate my ardent ____________’ (page 13)

A

curiosity

27
Q

‘the joy a ___________ feels when he embarks on a little boat’ (page 13)

A

child

28
Q

What technique is used here: ‘the joy a child feels when he embarks on a little boat’ (page 13)?

A

metaphor

29
Q

‘the ____________ benefit which I shall confer on all mankind’ (page 13)

A

inestimable

30
Q

Before becoming an arctic voyager, we learn that Walton tried (and failed) to be a…?

A

poet

31
Q

‘success _______ crown my endeavours’ (page 19)

A

shall

32
Q

‘success shall _____________ my endeavours’ (page 19)

A

crown

33
Q

‘proceed over the untamed yet ____________ element’ (page 19)

A

obedient

34
Q

What technique is used here: ‘proceed over the untamed yet obedient element’ (page 19)?

A

juxtaposition

35
Q

Mary Shelley was part of a group of thinkers and writers called….?

A

The Romantics

36
Q

Besides Mary Shelley, which other writers might be considered a part of The Romantics?

A

Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth.

37
Q

What social and political movement did The Romantics reject?

A

The Enlightenment

38
Q

Whereas The Enlightenment suggested that the world should be understood through science and reason, The Romantics believed that we should focus on…

A

personal experience and individual intuition

39
Q

Why were The Romantics fearful of The Enlightenment?

A

They prized the power of nature and thought that The Enlightenment was encouraging people to ‘play God’ and usurp nature.

40
Q

Which character refers to The Rime of The Ancient Mariner?

A

Walton (letter 2)

41
Q

What is the poem called that Walton refers to in his second letter?

A

The Rime of The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

42
Q

Whet happens in The Rime of The Ancient Mariner (the poem Walton refers to in letter 2, page 18)

A

A mariner (a sailor) trapped in the ice shoots an albatross - a giant seabird - causing his ship to be cursed.

43
Q

Why does Shelley link Walton to the ‘ancient mariner’?

A

Although Walton says he will ‘kill no albatross’, Shelley suggests that, like the mariner, his hubris means he will try to usurp nature.

44
Q

What is Walton referring to when he says in his second letter, ‘but I shall kill no albatross’? (page 18)

A

The Rime of The Ancient Mariner

45
Q

‘a _________ which had the shape of a man’ (page 20)

A

being

46
Q

a ___________ inhabitant of some undiscovered country’ (page 21)

A

savage

47
Q

‘I begin to love him as a __________’ (page 22)

A

brother

48
Q

‘the _________ of my heart’ (page 22)

A

brother

49
Q

‘one man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of ____________’ (page 23)

A

knowledge

50
Q

Who says this: ‘one man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of knowledge (page 23)?

A

Walton

51
Q

‘let me reveal my tale and you will dash the ______ from your lips’ (page 23)

A

cup

52
Q

What is being referred to here: ‘let me reveal my tale and you will dash the cup from your lips’ (23)?

A

Victor refers to the cup of forbidden knowledge, suggesting that Walton’s plans are foolish and will lead to sin

53
Q

‘I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a ______ to sting you’ (page 24)

A

serpent

54
Q

What is being referred to here: ‘I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you’ (page 24)?

A

Victor refers to knowledge using the metaphor of a serpent, a reference to the snake in the garden of Eden, suggesting it will lead to sin and blasphemy.

55
Q

What relation does Walton compare Victor to?

A

His brother: ‘I begin to love him as a brother’ (page 22) ‘the brother of my heart’ (page 22)

56
Q

What technique is used here: ‘I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you’ (page 24)?

A

metaphor/biblical imagery

57
Q

How does Walton refer to the monster in letter 4, suggesting he sees him as uncivilised and inhuman?

A

a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered country’ (page 21)

58
Q

‘the very _______ themselves being witnesses and testimonies of my triumph’ (page 19)

A

stars

59
Q

What is the significance of Walton describing ‘the stars as ‘witnesses and testimonies of my triumph’ (page 19)

A

The personification presents nature as an awe-struck observer, reiterating Walton’s arrogant attitude towards the natural world.

60
Q

What is the significance of The Monster being described by Walton as ‘a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered country’

A

It conveys how, even from the novel’s opening stages, The Monster is seen as ‘other’ and fundamentally inhuman.

61
Q

What is the significance of Walton’s claims that he ‘regulate a thousand celestial observations’ (page 13)

A

Shelley uses hyperbole to present Walton’s plans as unrealistic and ill-conceived.

62
Q

What is significant about Walton describing how he felt ‘a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks’ (page 13)

A

The personification presents the arctic elements as insignificant and unthreatening, conveying how Walton fails to understand the dangers of tis wild landscape.

63
Q

What is significant about Walton describing the arctic as ‘untamed yet obedient’ (page 19)

A

Shelley’s use of juxtaposition conveys Walton’s arrogance. Whilst he accepts the Arctic has never been controlled by man, he believes it will inevitably submit to his will.