Kinds of passages. Part of your participation in discussion will be to suggest passages to discuss. For each of the classes on Frankenstein, I will make this formal and ask you to submit to me a passage you have identified. Your three passages should be of the following three sorts.
• Important. This is a passage that seems to be especially significant for the reading and to be something we might talk about for that reason.
• Puzzling. I use “puzzling” as a simple label for a passage that raises a question either about itself or about the work as a whole. The point of discussing the passage is to consider possible answers to this question.
• Interesting. This is a passage that you find personally interesting. The point of discussing it is for you to call people’s attention to something they might not have noticed and for you to find out how others react to it.
These categories will often overlap—a passage might well seem important, be puzzling, and interest you for that reason—so don’t worry too much about whether you’ve chosen the right category for it. Just assign the passage to one of these categories by what you say about it; that is, (i) say what seems important about it, (ii) ask a question about it, or (iii) say why it interests you.
Your assignment. The table below indicates which sort you should identify for each of the discussions of Frankenstein. For each of these classes you should send by e-mail before class or turn in on paper at the beginning of class a sentence of the appropriate sort (i), (ii), or (iii) which refers to a passage in the reading for that day. (I will not grade your sentences but your completion of this exercise contributes towards your participation grade.)
| (i) important | (ii) puzzling | (iii) interesting | |
| Fri 1/12 | Arnold, Cash, DeNormandie, Fritsch, Hanson | Holden, Kimp, Llamas, Meng, Newkirk | Niezer, Powell, Sanders, Stall, Wafer |
| Mon 1/15 | Niezer, Powell, Sanders, Stall, Wafer | Arnold, Cash, DeNormandie, Fritsch, Hanson | Holden, Kimp, Llamas, Meng, Newkirk |
| Wed 1/17 | Holden, Kimp, Llamas, Meng, Newkirk | Niezer, Powell, Sanders, Stall, Wafer | Arnold, Cash, DeNormandie, Fritsch, Hanson |
Referring to passages. When you indicate passage—either for the purposes of this exercise or as a suggestion for class discussion, always give a page numbers. I’d suggest you also indicate quarters of pages by means of the letters ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’, or ‘d’. That sort of reference may be enough by itself to identify the passage, but you may also need a brief description or the quotation of a few words. (Here’s an example: “On p. 17b-c, Walton says that while he worked on whaling ships to get used to hardship, he studied science at night—which was the more important preparation for him?”)