Frankeinstein. Look at the significance of Chapter 5 to the novel as a whole. Focus on the relevance and effect of writers use of language to describe setting, character and what it shows about social and historical influences.

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FRAKENSTEIN.

ENGLISH COURSEWORK

VANESSA NHARA. 10-1

Look at the significance of Chapter 5 to the novel as a whole. Focus on the relevance and effect of writer’s use of language to describe setting, character and what it shows about social and historical influences.

The novel Frankenstein was created by a woman named Mary Shelley. She made up the tale when telling ghost stories with her family, who later told her she should publish the story because it was good. She officially published her story in 1831.  ‘Frankenstein’ or ‘The Morden Prometheus’ is about a young student – Victor, who discovers the secret of creating a new life, and by gathering body parts he creates a monster who promises revenge on his creator after being rejected from society.  In the novel, chapter 5 is seen as the key chapter for the reason that this is where the real story about revenge and consequence begins. In this chapter we (the audience) are introduced to the gothic genre of the novel “It was on a dreary night of November" and "the rain pattered dismally against the panes." Both indicate the shady and gloomy atmosphere of the gothic era.

We are brought to the place where the creation is created and is first described “his yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath”; with fear Victor runs away from his apartment leaving the ‘monster’ alone and abandoned. Bad parenting as being one of the main themes of the novel is shown when Victor gives life to his ‘monster’- like a new born baby, and deserts him. This can be related to Mary Shelly’s life. Shelley lost two of her children within a two year period, it was said that she did not cope very well with the loss of her babies and she blamed herself for their deaths. By some means writing this book lets out some personal feelings, and by creating a new life form in her novel suggested that she wished that she could bring back her children back to life. The quotation also shows that the language used is very descriptive, and the talk of yellowing skin barely holding in the muscles and blood vessels, is a nauseating image. To put things in to view, and to show contrast, Shelly also states Frankenstein's creation as good, signifying that even though the creation was vile to the eye, somehow the creator found beauty within the created.

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Chapter 5 links what happens on later in the story. This is shown by the setting, language, character behaviour and the gothic ideas. Shelly uses descriptive words to create imagery and atmosphere in the setting as well as the character behaviour.  Applying words such as "dreary", "dismal", "horrid", "disgust", "miserable", and "wretched" to a sentence immediately paints an image of gothic atmosphere.  A dramatic example is when Shelly describes Victor Frankenstein holding "the corpse of (his) dead mother...a shroud enveloped her form...the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel". Further on in the chapter happiness is shown when Clerval ...

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The structure here is okay. As mentioned above, the introduction is poor with the inclusion of irrelevant contextual information. I liked how paragraphs are used, as there is a clear signpost for each, making clear the point which is about to be explained. There is a sustained focus on the question, and all points seem relevant to the argument. The conclusion seems rushed and jumbled, and doesn't really offer any insight. There are few spelling, punctuation and grammar errors in the essay, yet plenty crop up in the conclusion. The conclusion is your last chance to win some extra marks, and by simply summarising your points and offering an unfounded comment such as "Reading the novel is educational and teaches a lot" will not gain you credit.

The analysis here is good. I was a bit disappointed to see the essay open with sentences such as "She officially published her story in 1831". Having spent a few hours reading Frankenstein essays here, this seems to be the norm. However, examiners are looking for an introduction which poses a clear argument based on the question, and I would advise you stand out from the rest with your essays and don't include useless context in the introduction. The language analysis here is good, looking at individual words, but beyond that the lexis and semantic fields Shelley utilises. Being able to analyse language in a sophisticated way, looking at how it shapes meanings rather than simply stating it is used, will gain credit from examiners. I liked how this essay refers to the novel as Shelley's construction, for example "Shelley also quickly changed the atmosphere all of a sudden". This allows the essay to go beyond simply retelling the story and narrating the plot, to looking at techniques in detail and exploring why they are used and the effects they have. The question prompts you to do this, but it is surprising how many candidates simply retell the plot of chapter five in this instance. I'm not sure the significance of chapter five is addressed well, however, as simply stating it is a turning point does not offer a detailed enough discussion. It is vital you engage will all sections of the question.

This essay responds well to the task. I particularly like how they have highlighted the key terms in the question. This is something you should always do in an exam before you start writing, as it focuses your attention on what the examiners want. It is clear that this method is worthwhile, as this essay is focused on the task throughout and looks at every part of the question. There is a good awareness of the gothic genre here, being the context of production and influencing Shelley's style. This is weaved well into the analysis. However, the discussion of science and its progress is not included in a sophisticated way. Having a paragraph solely on science isn't brilliant, especially when it includes no analysis of quotations. I would advise trying to construct your paragraphs to incorporate the contextual features with the analysis, as this makes for a more convincing argument.