This Frankenstein anticipation guide prepares students to read the original novel by Mary Shelley. It activates prior knowledge, engages students with the novel’s key theme subjects, and sets a purpose for reading before the first page. Grades 9–12 ELA.
Before you grab the PDF, two resources worth knowing about:
- Frankenstein Pre-Reading Activities (FREE) 15 pre-reading lessons and activities to use alongside the anticipation guide
- Frankenstein Lesson Plans (PURCHASE) 21 complete lessons including the anticipation guide lesson with standards, discussion structure, connected readings, and extension tasks
→ Download the Frankenstein Anticipation Guide PDF
The most important theme subjects are on the front page of the handout. Some teachers use only page one. If students are discussing the statements in groups, some groups will finish more quickly than others. You can bring the class back together to discuss the first statements even if some groups did not finish.
Key Subjects in the Frankenstein Anticipation Guide
The anticipation guide covers eleven theme subjects from the novel. Here is a brief explanation of how each one connects to Frankenstein and why it is worth discussing before students begin reading.
Science Fiction
Many consider Mary Shelley the inventor of science fiction as we know it. The genre is not for everyone — or is it? This statement invites students to consider whether science fiction can be important literature before they encounter Shelley’s cautionary tale about what can go wrong when scientific ambition outpaces ethical judgment.
Ambition
Frankenstein warns against blind ambition, especially ambition that produces unintended consequences. The doctor’s pursuit of greatness leads him down a dehumanizing path. He isolates himself from the people who matter to him, and his achievements may have disastrous results for everyone around him. This theme subject connects directly to the Romantic critique of reason, science, and industrial society.
Nature vs. Nurture
Shelley engages with the philosophies of John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau through her hypothetical creature. Rousseau believed that humans were naturally good before being corrupted by society and negative experience. The creature’s arc is Shelley’s thought experiment on this question: what happens to a being who is born sensitive and intelligent but meets only rejection and cruelty?
Science and Industry
The debate over the consequences of technological development surrounds us as much now as it did in 1818. The Romantics argued against the dehumanizing effects of the industrial revolution. Shelley wondered what unintended disasters could develop from scientific experiments. Students might connect this to contemporary topics: artificial intelligence, designer genetics, social media, climate change. The conversation Shelley started is still running.
The Value of Passion
The Romantics celebrated overwhelming emotion. For them, being overcome by horror, joy, or grief was really living. A well-ordered, emotionally contained life was beneath them. This is partly a response to the Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason and rationality — and it is one of the qualities that makes Frankenstein feel alive two hundred years later.
Appearances
Shelley both accepts and rejects the importance of physical beauty in Frankenstein. The beauty of characters like Elizabeth and Justine is presented as an outward expression of their virtue and value. At the same time, the creature demonstrates sensitivity, intelligence, and genuine compassion — qualities that society never gets to see because it cannot see past his appearance. This contradiction runs through the entire novel.
Natural Settings
Both the doctor and his creature find solace in the natural world. Shelley believed that human beings are their best selves beside tranquil lakes and on majestic mountains. This is one of the defining ideas of Romanticism. Current research in psychology on the therapeutic value of nature confirms what Shelley, Wordsworth, and Thoreau were saying two centuries ago.
Revenge
“Seek revenge and you should dig two graves, one for yourself.” — Confucius
By the end of the novel, both the doctor and the creature are consumed by revenge. Both achieve their goals — the death of the other. Neither profits by it.
Parenthood
“I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed.”
“I created a rational creature and was bound towards him to assure, as far as was in my power, his happiness and well-being.”
Shelley puts Dr. Frankenstein on trial in the mind of the reader for abandoning his creation. The doctor’s own parents serve as a deliberate contrast: they are attentive, loving, and duty-bound. Victor only recognizes his obligation to his creature when he is near death — and even then, he is not sure he was wrong.
Mystery, Suspense, Tension, and Surprise
As the unit progresses, students will analyze how Shelley structures Frankenstein to create specific effects in the reader. The original contest — proposed by Lord Byron on a rainy night in 1816 — was to write a ghost story. What Shelley produced was something more disturbing and more enduring than anyone expected.
The Monster
Students may feel they already have a clear picture of Mary Shelley’s monster before reading the original. They do not. The pop culture versions of the creature are fun and often ingenious, but they bear almost no resemblance to the original. Shelley’s creature is thoughtful, eloquent, persuasive, and pitiable. In many ways, he is the Romantic hero of the novel. This statement is worth revisiting after students finish the book.
Running the Anticipation Guide Lesson
The lesson works best as a three-stage activity.
Into: Start with what students already know or think they know about Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. Pop culture versions of the story — films, Halloween costumes, the word “Frankenstein” used casually — are worth surfacing and setting aside. The original novel will surprise them.
Through: Students complete the anticipation guide individually, then share and discuss responses in small groups. Each group chooses one discussion to share with the class. The discussion topics — science fiction, ambition, nature vs. nurture, the value of emotions, appearances, spending time in nature, revenge, parenthood, narrative effects, and prior knowledge of the monster — map directly onto the novel’s central concerns.
If the unit will end with a culminating task, this is a good moment to introduce it. Students who know their final task can begin gathering evidence as they read.
Beyond: Based on today’s discussion, students make predictions about how the original Frankenstein will differ from what they’ve seen in popular culture. Which discussion topic was most interesting to them? Which theme subject will they address in their culminating task?
Connected reading: “How a Teenage Girl Became the Mother of Horror” from National Geographic
Connected reading: “How Romanticism Rebelled Against Cold-Hearted Rationality” from The Conversation
Helpful clip: “Everything You Need to Know to Read Frankenstein” (6 minutes) from TED-Ed — previews the plot and gives historical context.
Frankenstein Anticipation Guide Statements
Copy and paste freely. These are the eleven statements from the anticipation guide handout.
- “Science fiction is purely for entertainment. You cannot learn or think about anything important through reading science fiction.”
- “The most important thing in life is to be an important person. Achieving greatness is even more important than enjoying life, having friends, or acting morally.”
- “People are shaped by their experiences. The way a person thinks and acts is mainly a result of how life has treated them.”
- “Science and industry lead to disaster. Humankind would be happier if we lived simpler lives in harmony with nature.”
- “It is important to feel emotions powerfully. Whether you are feeling guilt, love, sadness, horror, or joy, you should go big.”
- “The way someone looks is not really important.”
- “I enjoy spending time in nature. Spending time in nature is good for my mental health.”
- “Revenge is completely pointless. Nothing can be gained through it.”
- “Parents have a duty to love their children no matter what.”
- “I enjoy stories that include mystery, suspense, tension, and surprise.”
- “I can already describe the monster of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.”
The complete anticipation guide lesson with standards alignment, discussion structure, connected readings, and extension tasks is part of the Frankenstein Lesson Plans product. For the complete unit including all 21 lessons, reading quizzes, and a final test, see the Frankenstein Unit and Teacher Guide.
More Frankenstein teaching posts:
- Frankenstein Pre-Reading Activities
- Frankenstein Reading Schedule
- Frankenstein Reading Questions
- Frankenstein Discussion Questions
- Frankenstein Essay Prompts
- Frankenstein Unit Plan
- Frankenstein Unit Test
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M. Towle is a veteran Language Arts and Social Studies teacher with fourteen years of classroom experience in urban schools in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. M. Towle holds an M.A. in Holocaust and Genocide Studies and is the founder of TeachNovels.com.