Question-Answer-Relationship Questions for: Mary Shelley s. Frankenstein

Transcription

1 Question-Answer-Relationship Questions for: Mary Shelley s Frankenstein

2 QAR Question-Answer-Relationship What is QAR? QAR (Question-Answer-Relationship) is a method of questioning that engages a reader s thinking at all levels. There are four levels of questions, dividing into two sections based on the location of the answers. IN THE BOOK QUESTIONS These questions require answers that can be found directly in the text. Right There In Right There questions, the answer will be found in one place, on one page, in one paragraph, perhaps even in one sentence. The reader can point to the answer right there. Think and Search In Think and Search questions, the answer will still be in the text, but the details necessary to answer the questions may be in more than one location. To answer the question effectively, the reader will have to think and search throughout the text. IN YOUR HEAD QUESTIONS These questions require a higher level of thinking. While details from the text may or may not be used, the primary source of the answer will involve the reader s own thinking in relation to the text, the author s meaning, and the application of the theme outside the text. Author and You In Author and You questions, the reader is required to analyze some aspect of the text to derive meaning. This may be the theme, tone, mood, etc. On Your Own In On Your Own questions, the reader reflects on the meaning of some aspect derived from the text but is not tied to the text directly. This question can be answered without even reading the text. The text serves merely as a springboard for a discussion of a much broader significance.

3 QAR QUESTIONS FOR Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley RIGHT THERE IN YOUR HEAD 1. What was the occasion of the writing of this story, according to the Author s Preface? On a cold, rainy day near Geneva, the author and two friends decided to challenge each other to write ghost stories. 2. Where does Walton begin his journey to the north? St. Petersburg 3. Who is Mrs. Saville? Walton s sister 4. What did Walton s father forbid Walton s uncle to do? Allow Walton to embark in a seafaring life. 5. How long has Walton been planning his voyage? Six years. 6. How does Walton describe his crew in Letter II? Dependable and courageous. 7. What is the one thing Walton feels he is missing on his voyage? A friend 8. How old is Walton when he sets out on his voyage? Twenty-eight 9. What does Frankenstein first want to know before he will board Walton s ship? He wants to know where they re going. 10. How were both Frankenstein and the creature traveling on the ice?

4 They were traveling by sledges pulled by dogs. THINK AND SEARCH 1. What was the purpose of Walton s voyage? He was going to the Arctic to find a sea route from the Atlantic to the Pacific (the Northwest Passage). 2. Describe Walton s education. He studied informally as a child, reading travel books from his uncle s library. 3. How did Walton prepare for his voyage? He studied different subjects, then went on short voyages with whalers in the North Sea. 4. What details show that Walton s lieutenant is a sensitive person, one to whom Walton can relate? The lieutenant released is fiancee without ill feelings because she was in love with someone else. 5. What is Walton s first impression of Frankenstein? Walton thinks Frankenstein is strange because he wants to know where the ship is headed before he allows himself to be rescued. He has a look of madness about him, and yet is burdened with sadness. AUTHOR AND YOU IN YOUR HEAD 1. How does Shelley show in the letters that the story will be about relationships, not just terror? Walton speaks at length about finding a friend. When he rescues Frankenstein, that desired friendship begins to grow. Shelly describes Frankenstein through Walton s eyes as an intelligent, intriguing, yet troubled person, open to Walton s offer of friendship. 2. What similarities does Shelley reveal about the two men that cement their friendship, yet causes Frankenstein to warn Walton?

5 They both are interested in nature s mysteries and have dedicated their lives to solving them. While Walton s discovery of the Northwest Passage would benefit humanity, Frankenstein hints that his discovery brought only evil. Frankenstein warns Walton that nature s mysteries are best left unsolved. 3. Why do you think Shelley used Walton s voyage as a frame story? (Answers may vary. Possible answers given) -Shelley wanted to reveal the negative result of Frankenstein s experiment to increase the terror as the story unfolds. -She wanted to show Frankenstein as a tragic figure before the story begins so the reader will feel some measure of sympathy for him. -She wanted to establish the theme of man s relationship to man, with duty of affection toward those for whom one is responsible. Companionship is the natural state of man, which will be denied the creatures as the story unfolds. ON YOUR OWN Walton writes to his sister, I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate in my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection. In your opinion, what is the purpose of a friend?