FRANKENSTEIN It never fails! It s your theatre
FRANKENSTEIN BEFORE GOING TO THE THEATRE THE STORY 1.- Read the story of Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein is a very intelligent scientist. He is very happy because he is going to get married soon to his girlfriend Elizabeth. However, he is a little bit sad because his mother has died. He decides to prove that death is not final by creating a new human being using parts taken form dead bodies, but what he creates is a monster. When the monster awakens, he runs away. When people see him they insult and beat him. He is very sad and angry and decides to make Victor unhappy too. He kills Victor s best friend and then asks him to create a female monster for him. Victor does not agree so the monster kills Elizabeth, Victor s girlfriend. Victor brings Elizabeth back to life, but she realizes she is no longer a real human being and decides to kill herself. Victor chases the monster and finally he comes very close to the North Pole, where he dies. The monster finds Victor and takes his body with him, calling him father. READING COMPREHENSION 2.- Answer the following questions related to the text: a) Who is Victor Frankenstein? b) Who is Elizabeth? c) Why is Victor sad? 2
d) How does he create the monster? e) Do people like the monster? f) Who does the monster kill? g) Why does he kill them? h) What does the monster ask Victor? i) Where does Victor die? j) Why does he go there? 3
VOCABULARY 3.- Match the following words appearing in the play with their meaning: 1. Needle 2. Misfortune 3. Defy 4. Devil 5. Disease 6. Rush 7. Defeat 8. Corpse 9. Journal 10. Evil a. To win a battle, contest, election against another b. Illness. c. Wrong, bad. d. Bad luck. e. Diary. f. Evil spirit opposite to God. g. Dead body. h. To move very fast. i. Confront. j. A small object with a point end at one side and a hole at the other side, used to sew clothes. 4.- Fill the gaps with the words appearing in exercise 3: a) I keep a...... where I write everything I do. b) Hurry up! It s very late. We are in a........ c) When they opened the coffin there was no...... d) He has just recovered from a very difficult..... e) I m sorry but these are the rules and we can t... them. f) He does wrong all the time. He is an..... person. g) He lost his wallet the same day as his wife. It was a..... h) He says he was walking and suddenly he met with the..... i) Every year we... our opponent in the contest. j) I have torn my jeans. I need a... to repair them. 4
WRITING 5.- Imagine you are a scientist. What kind of thing would you like to invent? Describe it. (150 words) 5
6.- Do you know who wrote Frankenstein? Where was she from? Do you know any other novels written by her? Is the date of publication relevant to understanding this work? Why? Search on the Internet and try to find information about this novel. 6
AFTER GOING TO THE THEATRE 7.- Answer the following questions related to the play: a) Do you think it was right for Victor to create a monster? b) Would you do the same? Why? Why not? c) Is the monster happy? Why? Why not? d) Is Elizabeth happy when she comes back from death? Would you be happy in her place? e) Why does the monster call Victor father at the end of the play? Is he his real father? 7
LISTENING 8.- Listen to track 13 and answer the following questions: a) What characters are speaking in this scene? b) Where are they? c) Why are they so sad? What has happened? d) What characters are going to get married? e) Are they going to have dinner together? 9.- Listen to track 14 and answer the following questions: a) What is Victor doing in his laboratory? b) What elements is he using? c) What is Clerval s reaction? d) Why does Victor want to do this? e) Do Victor and Clerval part as friends? 8
SPEAKING 10.- Work in pairs. Explain to your partner who your favourite character in the play was and why. Then change roles. WRITING 11.- Write a description of the following characters appearing in the play: - Victor - Elizabeth - The monster 9
WRITING 12.- Did you enjoy the story? Write a brief review and send it to us. We would like to know your opinion. Tell us which part you liked the most, which one the least, if you would change or add something 10
VOCABULARY 13.- Look at the list of vocabulary below. If there are any words you do not know, look them up in your dictionary. All these words appear in the play. According to Balance Corpse Crazy Defeat Defy Develop Devil Disease Guest Incurable In spite of Journal Knowledge Look after Lung Misfortune Needle Priest Purpose Reach Revenge Rush Succeed Threaten Trace Unfair Weak 11