Frankenstein
1. How has Frankenstein influenced your thinking about the relationship between the desire for knowledge and the importance of ethical considerations? Take a position and defend it by referring to the novel and any other sources that you deem relevant, focusing on making a persuasive argument in support of your position.
2. In what sense is Frankenstein a tragedy? Take the theory of tragedy that we have discussed (based on Aristotle’s Poetics) and show that it applies to Shelley’s novel, arguing as you do so that this novel is or is not a tragedy and tracing out some significant implication of that claim.
3. How does narrative shape character? Consider the effect of various narratives on the Daemon in Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the effect that any of the narratives that we have studied has had upon you, your ideas, beliefs or way of being.
4. Can The Cat’s Table be read as a conventional Bildungsroman? Make an argument for or against this possibility.
5. Can The Cat’s Table be read as a conventional Künstlerroman? Make an argument for or against this possibility.
6. Can The Cat’s Table be read as a conventional, heroic quest? Make an argument for or against this possibility.