Reading Group Assignment #1
St. Petersburgh, once the capital of the Russian Empire
Frankenstein
or “The Modern Prometheus”
Letter I
To Mrs. Saville, England.
St. Petersburgh, Dec. 11th, 17—
You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. I arrived here yesterday, and my first task is to assure my dear sister of my welfare and increasing confidence in the success of my undertaking.
Question 1 – What does ‘accompanied’, ‘commencement’, and ‘enterprise’ mean?
Question 2 – How did Mrs. Saville regard such an undertaking?
Question 3 – What is an ‘evil foreboding’ and what kind of mood does it set up?
Question 4 – Foreshadowing is a technique writers user to give clues of what will happen in the story. Based on the sister’s feelings, what do you think will happen to this project?
Question 5 – What is the mood of the person writing ‘Letter I’ (the brother)?
I have high hopes for the trip ahead of me. I am already far north of London. As I walk the streets of St. Petersburg, I feel a cold wind upon my cheeks. It makes me feel so happy. Can you understand this feeling? This wind is blowing from where I am going: the North Pole.
Question 6 – Draw a picture of paragraph 2.
Traveling to the North Pole is extremely dangerous, even today.
Although I try, I can’t think of the Pole as a place with ice and snow all the time. Yes, I know that everyone thinks about it that way. But no one has ever set foot on the Pole. To me, it is a place of beauty and peaceful seas. The sun shines all the time. Who knows what wonders I will see there?
Question 7 – How does the brother imagine the North Pole?
The sun never sets during summers in the arctic (it is always visible, unless it is cloudy).
I have dreamed of this trip all my life. Do you remember Uncle Thomas’s library? He had so many books about great sea trips to the Far North Pacific. I read every one of them when I was a boy. I was going to be a great explorer. Then, when Father died, his will did not allow me to go.
Question 8 – How did the brother becoming interested in travelling the seas?
Question 9 – What is a ‘will’ when someone dies?
Question 10 – What was written in the father’s will?