Summer Reading: Frankenstein

Posted by SFleming on July 4, 2010

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein can be an outstanding way to coax a reluctant reader into a summer project.  Many teens are drawn to book versions of popular movies, and this piece has many movie interpretations.  Some are more true to the book than others, and some don’t even go by the same title!  The reading level is 7.7, so it’s not too demanding for high school students.

In spite of its horror reputation, Frankenstein is a much deeper story than most people expect.  There are a lot of complex characters and relationships to explore, as well as monstrosity and society’s responses to things outside of the accepted norms.

This is a prime book to use for comparison projects, since there are so many versions and stories that have taken the same idea and gone a slightly different direction.  Use Venn Diagrams to explore similarities and differences, then have your student write a compare/contrast paper.  It’s also an excellent opportunity to discuss issues of morality and science, abortion, and social norms.

If you’d like to find further discussions of Frankenstein with study guides and questions, visit these sites:

• Sparknotes: Frankenstein
• Frankenstein Study Guide and Essays
• Frankenstein Study Guide
• Frankenstein Study Guide 2
• Read Frankenstein for free online

Enjoy!  Frankenstein is an outstanding novel that is referred to regularly in other literature and in society.  It’s important that a well-read person be familiar with the book.