SECONDARY READING: USING THE CRITICAL ANTHOLOGY Robert Eaglestone ‘Doing English’ There are two ways of looking at a text; intrinsically and extrinsically Reading intrinsically would involve focusing upon aspects of style, ‘Frankenstein’ plot, character and narrative voice. Reading extrinsically would involve focusing upon aspects such as ‘Frankenstein’ society at the time Shelley was writing, analysing actions in the light of Victor’s aspects like social class and gender, and how feminists might perceive the central female characters. Importance of the author; who defines meaning? The reader or the writer? This approach would involve evaluating what intentions were in writing the Shelley’s book/ aspects of style or how far these define the to the text. reader’s response Narrative closure; arguably what we search for in any story. Do we have ‘closure’ at end of Particularly interesting if you consider this in the context Frankenstein? of when the story begins and starts. David Lodge, Art of ‘The Fiction’ chapter explores when exactly a novel begins. In the case of ‘Beginning’> Frankenstein, when does the story begin? Before we even start reading with our prec-conceptions? When Walton write his first letter? When Victor begins to speak? This idea would be useful to refer to if you were answering a question on the elements of the novel. ‘most important’ a explores how we understand character. Where ‘Introducing Character’> Lodge do our judgements lie and indeed, are they dependent on who is describing a character. This is relevant with regards to the differing presentations of the characters throughout the novel- from misjudged interpretations of Walton’s
SECONDARY READING: USING THE CRITICAL ANTHOLOGY Robert Eaglestone ‘Doing English’ There are two ways of looking at a text; intrinsically and extrinsically Reading ‘Frankenstein’ intrinsically would involve focusing upon aspects of style, plot, character and narrative voice. Reading ‘Frankenstein’ extrinsically would involve focusing upon aspects such as society at the time Shelley was writing, analysing Victor’s actions in the light of aspects like social class and gender, and how feminists might perceive the central female characters. Importance of the author; who defines meaning? The reader or the writer? This approach would involve evaluating what Shelley’s intentions were in writing the book/ aspects of style or how far these define the reader’s response to the text. Narrative closure; arguably what we search for in any story. Do we have ‘closure’ at end of Frankenstein? Particularly interesting if you consider this in the context of when the story begins and starts. David Lodge, ‘The Art of Fiction’ ‘Beginning’> chapter explores when exactly a novel begins. In the case of Frankenstein, when does the story begin? Before we even start reading with our prec-conceptions? When Walton write his first letter? When Victor begins to speak? This idea would be useful to refer to if you were answering a question on the ‘most important’ elements of the novel. ‘Introducing a Character’> Lodge explores how we understand character. Where do our judgements lie and indeed, are they dependent on who is describing a character. This is relevant with regards to the differing presentations of the characters throughout the novel- from Walton’s misjudged interpretations of
frankenstein_revision_guide.docx