"IT'S ALIVE!" Bringing Critical Thought to Life with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Victor was a learner. He had a passion for acquiring new information and using it to innovate and create. In Mary Shelley’s famous novel, Frankenstein, the title character, Victor Frankenstein, stated that “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn...” In the story, Victor exposed an unchecked curiosity for learning as well as his own tragic flaw. Although learning is generally a positive process, understanding how acquisition of valuable information goes together with personal and societal ethics is something that a learner must fully grasp when encountering content, if they intend to apply it successfully. Through critical thinking and discourse, fostered by student choice and individualized learning opportunities, students are able to think differently about a text and draw conclusions about its relevance to their current world.

The type of critical thinking required to comprehend and analyze encountered information and its connection to real life areas of advancement is an absolute necessity that ninth grade ELA students experience as they encounter Shelley’s text in Pre-AP/GT English courses at Eaton High School. These students explore, consider, and discuss the “moral liability” of “knowledge” and “progress” as a part of a problem based learning opportunity that allows for student choice while also facilitating real world connections to the text. As part of this project, students in ninth grade Pre-AP/GT English are presented with the driving question of “Does knowledge or progress ever become a moral liability?” They are asked to utilize resources and processes of their choosing to explore both sides of an area of advancement and then choose varied platforms and tools in which to communicate their findings in ways that answer that driving question. The findings are curated into a “Live Binder” that is shared with peers and other school and community members.

Students are given a wide variety of options for how to present up to date research in ways that not only answer the given problem but also present both sides or an issue and advocate for a perspective that has been developed through meticulous research and and discussion. Some students choose to use WeVideo or YouTube to help create and edit videos in the format of interviews or commercials, while others use similar tools to create podcasts or radio shows. Some prefer approaching their topics through graphic design with visual advertisements in Canva, or written argument in journal or blog entries using Blogger or Smore. Whatever the platform, a truly beneficial part of this experience comes in when a student is given the freedom to choose a tool or resource that they are confident in using and that communicates their voice effectively while helping to share their knowledge with the community around them.

As students develop argumentation, research, and independent communication skills throughout this project, they are able to display those over the course of a week set aside for formally sharing findings with the school community. While presenting their inventive and relevant creations, these students confidently defend their research and conclusions in a dissertation style setting, which is not only challenging but truly impressive to witness. It is in a forum such as this where it becomes apparent that our students are not only being given the freedom to explore content and required texts but they are also being provided opportunities to develop their own viewpoints on critical societal issues while shaping an ethical compass of their own, all while being able to connect it to their reading.

Victor Frankenstein also said, “I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.” However, what Victor was lacking was a true understanding of what to do with that information, which students in our freshman Pre-AP/GT English classes are acquiring and applying through research into their own opinions, in-depth analysis, and critical discourse. These invaluable learning experiences are things that will help to not only develop lifelong learners but also facilitate learning that encourages an approach to new discoveries with a critical eye and solid ethical grounding.