| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Lord Byron | He tried everything twice, had many affairs, his discussions with Mary Shelley inspired Frankenstein. |
| Byronic Hero | one of these might be handsome, smart, heroic, and there is something dark in his past he can't let go of |
| William Wordsworth | A towering leader of English romanticism, he (1770-1850) traveled in France after his graduation from Cambridge. There he fell passionately in love with a Frenchwoman, who gave him a daughter. He was deeply influenced by the philosophy of Rousseau and the spirit of the early French Revolution. In defiance of classical rules, he, along with Coleridge abandoned flowery poetic conventions for the language of ordinary speech, simultaneously endowing simple subjects with the loftiest majesty. This twofold rejection of classical practice was first ignored and then harshly criticized, but by 1830 he had triumphed, (p.768) |
| Tintern Abbey | One of Wordsworth's most famous poems... Published with Rime of the ancient mariner |
| John Keats | Englishman and Romantic poet (1795-1821) In his life, he wasn't highly appreciated, but he is considered one of the best romantic poets anyway. |
| Negative Capability | Keats: the ability to accept ambiguity and paradox without having to resolve them |
| Mansion of Many Apartments | Keats: Some people think on higher thought levels, while others simply don't observe their surroundings and are ignorant. |
| Percy Bysshe Shelley | Lived from 1792-1822. Was made an outcast from his homeland by his radical politics, his tract about atheism, his separation from his first wife, and his elopement with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. His exile led him to meet Byron. His story-telling sessions with Byron led Mary to write Frankenstein. He never lived to see whether his dreams of social progress came true and he is referred to as the perfect poet of the Romantic Era. |
| Ozymandias | Famous Poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley "I met a traveller from an antique land..." |
| Delineate | to describe in vivid detail, trace the outline of |
| Vicar | a Roman Catholic priest who acts for another higher-ranking clergyman, an agent or substitute |
| Justine Moritz | adopted into the Frankenstein family, blamed for William's death and executed |
| Mr. Delacey | He was the creature's only friend, old blind man |
| M. Waldmann | inspires Frankenstein to push the boundaries of science. |
| Robert Walton | Author of the letters in the beginning of the book |
| Lightning | the natural phenomena that influenced Frankenstein's work |
| Ingolstadt | Where Victor Frankenstein attends university |
| The Creature | Frankenstein meets him on the summit of Montanvert |
| Alienation/Loneliness, Nature vs. Nurture, Appearance vs. Reality, Duty and Responsibility, Justice vs. Injustice, Forbidden Knowledge, Science vs. Nature, Multiple Personalities, Man as God (any of these is right) | List one of the major themes in Frankenstein |
| Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley | The discussions between these two people influenced the development of Frankenstein. |
| Mrs. Saville | To whom are the letters in Frankenstein written to? |
| The truth of the elementary principles of human nature | in the preface, what did Mary Shelley say she was trying to preserve? |
| It is written as a series of letters and narratives | What is the structure of the novel |
| Robert Walton, he was in the arctic exploring the unknown | Where was the author of the letters and why was he there? |
| He found Frankenstein on a small piece of ice | How did Walton meet Frankenstein? |
| he liked Frankenstein and hoped they would eventually become friends | How did Walton feel about his guest? |
| He tried to bestow animation on lifeless matter | What goal did Frankenstein pursue at Ingolstadt |
| Horrified and Disgusted | How did Frankenstein feel when his creature came to life |
| He became ill with a fever and delerium | What happened to Victor on the day he brought the creature to life? |
| Henry Clerval | Who took care of Frankenstein when he was ill? |
| A letter from Elizabeth | What did Clerval give Frankenstein when he was better |
| They took walks around Ingolstadt, and Frankenstein introduced Clerval to the professors | How did Frankenstein and Clerval spend the next couple months after Frankenstein got better? |
| That William was murdered | What news did the letter from Frankenstein's father bring? |
| The Creation | What did Frankenstein see just outside the gates of Geneva as he was returning home? |
| Justine Moritz, because she had the picture that was given to William | Who was accused of committing the murder, and why? |
| He thought Justine was innocent, and the creation was the murderer | What was Frankenstein's reaction to this accusation? |
| Tried to help testify for Justine | What did Frankenstein do about his dilemma? |
| Hanged | What happened to the accused person? |
| That he was guilty, for he made the Creation | What was Frankenstein's state of mind after the trial and its conclusion? |
| Chamonix | Where did Frankenstein go to seek relief? |
| The Creation | Whom did Frankenstein meet after he had ascended to the summit of Montanvert? |
| Yelled threats | How did Frankenstein react to this meeting? |
| To listen to his story | What did the creature want of Frankenstein? |
| Like a newborn, alone | How did the creature feel when he first felt life? |
| Horrified, either attacked or ran | What was the reaction of the villagers the creature encountered? |
| The forest, later a hovel | Where did the creature take shelter? |
| They were very poor | What observations did the creature make about the people in the cottage? |
| To read, write, and speak, by watching Felix teach Safie | What does the creature learn to do, and how does he learn this? |
| Friendly, welcoming | What was the elder De Lacey's reaction when the creature entered the cottage and began speaking with him? |
| Felix attacked, Safie fled, Agatha fainted | What was the reaction of the De Lacey family when they saw the creature? |
| Lit it on fire | What did the creature do at the cottage when he returned and found that the De Laceys had moved out? |
| Horrified, shot the creature | What was the reaction of the man whose daughter was saved from drowning by the creature? |
| That he could cause misery, too | What discovery did the creature make when he approached another human? |
| Strangled him | What did the creature do to this person? |
| Triumphant | How did the creature feel after his deed? |
| It was very beautiful | What did the creature tell Frankenstein about the locket? |
| To create a female creature, equally ugly, so that he wouldn't be alone | What did the creature ask Frankenstein to do, and why? |
| At first refuses, consents soon after | How did Frankenstein react to this request? |
| That he will be with Frankenstein on his wedding night | What threat did the creature make when he saw Frankenstein destroy his second creation? |
| He is accused of murder and arrested | What happened to Frankenstein when he landed his boat? |
| Henry Clerval | Who had been the creature's most recent victim? |
| Private trial, with magistrate arranging defense | What happened at Frankenstein's trial? |
| Travels, and his wedding to Elizabeth | What event occurred next in Frankenstein's life? |
| The monster came in and killed Elizabeth | What happened on Frankenstein and Elizabeth's wedding night? |
| He died of grief | What happened to Frankenstein's father as a result of this latest tragedy? |
| Kindly disbelieving, makes excuses not to help | What was the magistrate's response when Frankenstein told him the entire story of the creature? |
| Go North to chase the creature | What did Frankenstein do after he left the magistrate? |
| To turn back from his obsession | What request does Frankenstein make of Robert Walton? |
| He dies | What happened to Frankenstein at the end of the novel? |
| He goes North to die | What happened to the creature at the end of the novel? |
| zeitgeist | the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time |
| nationalism | a quality unique to each country, expressed in laws, culture, art, logic, etc. |
| delineate | v. to show or depict something. |
| vicar | n. an administrative deputy to a bishop, a member of the clergy who has charge of a mission. |
| chastise | v. to punish severely. |
| vacillating | v. swaying, hesitating to choose. |
| docile | adj. easily taught or managed, submissive. |
| diffident | adj. hesitant, because of a lack of confidence. |
| perambulation | n. the act of walking through somewhere leisurely. |
| desolating | v. lacking inhabitants, laying waste to. |
| promontory | n. a piece of land or rock jutting over water. |
| dirge | n. a mournful song. |
| magistrate | n. a minor judicial officer. |
| adduced | v (past tense). to have cited evidence for an argument. |
| obdurate | stubborn, resisting to persuasion. |
| gnash | v. to grind together, especially grinding teeth. |
| abhorrence | n. a thing that is loathsome, or the feeling of loathing. |
| sublime | adj. grand, awe inspiring. |
| dissoluble | adj. soluble, able to be dissolved. |
| irrevocable | adj. unalterable, unable to be reversed. |
| lament | n. a cry of grief. |
| debilitate | v. to enfeeble, impair. |
| sustenance | n. a nourishment, means of living. |
| conjecture | n. an inference with incomplete information. |
| hovel | n. a small or simple dwelling place. |
| venerable | adj. respected because of old age and character. |
| exhortation | n. an address of urgent advice. |
| mortification | n. the feeling of shame, or self-inflicted pain. |
| dispel | v. to scatter, drive away. |
| asylum | n. a place of safety, a mental institution. |
| tumultuous | adj. marked by uproar, riotousness. |
| portend | v. predict. |
| wantonly | adv. immorally, cruelly. |
| immutable | adj. unchanging. |
| harrowing | v. distressing. |
| expedient | adj. suitable, practical. |
| reveries | plrn. daydreams |
| dilate | v. expand |
| carnage | n. destruction of life |
| repugnance | n. loathing |
| prognosticated | v. (past tense) predicted |
| indolence | n. laziness |
| perdition | n. complete ruin |
| penury | n. extreme poverty |
| physiognomy | n. facial features with regard to revealing character |
| conflagration | n. a great fire |
| epithets | plrn. abusive words or phrases |
| slaked | v (past tense). quenched |
| emanciated | adj. extremely thin; wasted away |
| naturalism | an off-shoot of realism, with an emphasis that free will is an illusion, and that claimed to portray life exactly as it was |
| tone poem | "symphonic poem", a piece of music that portays a scene or event. One of the earliest of these was Beethoven's Fifth Symphony |
| Jackson | is super cool |
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