Approaches to Teaching Shelley's Frankenstein
Editor(s): Stephen C. Behrendt
Pages: x & 190 pp.
Published: 1990
ISBN: 9780873525404
"An eminently readable collection of essays.... Although the [Approaches] series is directed at college-level teachers, the essays could be easily read by undergraduates."
English Language Notes
"I have used Frankenstein for many years in both Romantic Literature and Science Fiction courses and thought I knew a fair amount about the book. After reading Behrendt's anthology, however, I shall approach class discussions with new enthusiasm and new insights. Indispensable for anyone planning to use this book in class."
SFRA [Science Fiction Research Association] Newsletter
The casebound edition of this title is out of print.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is both a literary work very much rooted in its age and a cultural artifact that transcends period. "Undeniably one of the great and influential works of the English Romantic period," writes the editor, Stephen C. Behrendt, the novel provides "an excellent vehicle for introducing students to the complexities of Romantic art and thought." At the same time, as this volume demonstrates, Frankenstein is often studied in college and secondary school courses focusing not on Romanticism but on science fiction, Gothic fiction, women's literature, or film and popular culture.
The book, like others in the MLA's Approaches to Teaching World Literature series, is divided into two parts. The first part, "Materials," reviews editions of Frankenstein, discusses reference and critical works and recommended reading for students, and lists selected film versions of the novel. In the second part, "Approaches," instructors present classroom strategies for teaching the novel. The essays are divided into four groupings: general issues (e.g., choosing a text, gender and pedagogy, language and style), contexts of study (e.g., biography, Romanticism), course contexts (e.g., science fiction, women's studies, composition), and Frankenstein and film.
Table of Contents
Approaches to Teaching Shelley's Frankenstein
An Overview of the Survey
PART 1: MATERIALS
Stephen C. Behrendt
Editions
Other Works by Mary Shelley
- The Instructor's Library
- Reference Works
- Critical Works
Recommended Reading for Students
A Selected Filmography
PART 2: APPROACHES
Introduction
General Issues
Choosing a Text of Frankenstein to Teach
Anne K. Mellor
Gender and Pedagogy: The Questions of Frankenstein
William Veeder
Feminist Inquiry and Frankenstein
Susan J. Wolfson
Aporia and Radical Empathy: Frankenstein (Re)Trains the Reader
Syndy M. Conger
Probing the Psychological Mystery of Frankenstein
Paula R. Feldman
Language and Style in Frankenstein
Stephen C. Behrendt
Contexts of Study
Frankenstein and the Uses of Biography
Betty T. Bennett
Frankenstein and Marx's Theories of Alienated Labor
Elsie B. Michie
Frankenstein and the Sublime
Anne K. Mellor
Frankenstein in the Context of English Romanticism
William Walling
Specific Course Contexts
Teaching Frankenstein as Science Fiction
Terrence Holt
The Woman Writer as Frankenstein
Marcia Aldrich and Richard Isomaki
Teaching Frankenstein from the Creature's Perspective
Paul A. Cantor and Michael Valdez Moses
Teaching Frankenstein in a General-Studies Literature Class: A Structural Approach
Mary K. Thornburg
Frankenstein in a Humanities Course
Donovan Johnson and Linda Georgianna
Bridging the Gulf: Teaching Frankenstein across the Curriculum
Sylvia Bowerbank
Reading Frankenstein: Writing and the Classroom Community
Art Young
Frankenstein and Film
Lost Baggage; or, The Hollywood Sidetrack
Harriet E. Margolis
The Films of Frankenstein
Wheeler Winston Dixon
Works Cited
Index
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