Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Miss Halliday, and I'll be your teacher for today guiding you through the learning.

As you all know by now, I'm a massive fan of gothic literature, and therefore I can't wait to dive into today's lesson and explore "Frankenstein" in more depth with you, listening to all your incredible ideas and suggestions along the way.

Let's get started.

So today's lesson is called "A Written Analysis of Frankenstein", and by the end of today's lesson, you will be able to confidently explain Shelley's intentions.

Here are some key words that you will need to unlock today's learning.

We've got writer's intentions, irresponsible, method and convincing.

We're going to take a look at the definitions of these keywords.

If you would like to take a moment to pause the video while you jot them down, please feel free to do so at your own pace.

So first of all, the writer's intentions are what they hope to achieve through writing the text.

So basically why they wrote the text.

To be irresponsible means to not behave in a sensible or a responsible manner.

A method is anything that the writer does intentionally.

So this could be something like as simile, it could be as large as the plot, or it could be as small as an individual word that the writer chooses to use.

And finally, a convincing analytical response is really well evidenced with a clear line of argument and a formal academic tone.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We're going to begin by discussing Shelley's intentions before moving on to you writing your response, a really exciting part of the lesson.

But let's start first by looking in more depth at why Shelley wrote "Frankenstein" and how you can discuss this in your response.

So let's begin with a quick discussion task.

Why is it so important to understand what kind of views a writer held or what the period that they lived in was like? So I'm gonna invite you to pause the video while you discuss that question with the people around you, or think about it independently if you're working at home.

Off you go.

Great discussions, and many of you really clearly understanding that the reason that we need to understand what views a writer might have held or what their society was like is because it gives us the why, so that we can think not only about how a writer does something, but also why they've done it.

And this forms part of your analysis.

And as Alex points out, understanding the writer's views can give us a much deeper understanding of their intentions in writing the novel.

So basically what they were trying to achieve when they sat down to write this novel.

And I think that's really important because actually, we were not there.

And when most of these writers wrote the text, we weren't there, okay, especially with Mary Shelley who wrote this in 1818.

We were not there in 1818 to sit over Mary Shelley and ask her questions about why did you create the creature? Why is Victor so hubristic? So what we've got to do is make predictions based on what we know about the time period to try and kind of guess why the writer might have done something.

So it's really important to have that knowledge about what maybe the writer was like, maybe what they thought, and also what the time period that they inhabited was like as well, so that those predictions that we can make are as accurate as possible.

So well done if you got those ideas.

Now when writing a critical response, it's really important to always have this question of why in the back of your mind, every time you write something, that question of why is important and it's worth exploring.

So here are some questions that you should be asking yourself as you are writing.

Why did the writer create that character? Why did the writer use that word? Why did the writer make that illusion? And finally, why did the writer write the text? And that's the biggest question of them all.

What was the writer trying to achieve when they sat down to write this text? So these are the kinds of questions that you should have in the back of your mind when you are writing an analytical response.

Because that will make it much more explorative and much more convincing and thorough if you are considering the reasons as to why, as well as just what and how.

So let's practise answering some of these questions then, and let's practise this kind of deeper level of analysis of the writer's intentions.

So I'd like you to discuss the following questions.

Why did the writer create the character of the Creature? So why did Shelley create the Creature? Why did Shelley use the word negligently when Victor refers to the spark that he's so negligently bestowed? Why did the writer, also known as Shelley, make the allusion to Prometheus in the novels alternative title, "The Modern Prometheus"? And finally, why did the writer Mary Shelley, write the novel Frankenstein in the first place? So let's have a practise then at answering some of these questions.

You can either use the people around you to discuss these questions with, or you can consider them independently if you would prefer or if that's what's easier for you.

So pause the video and have a go at answering some of these questions.

Great discussions, and it's so nice to see so many of you drawing together all the different strands of learning that you've encountered throughout this unit to create really kind of solid and well evidenced answers to these questions that would be fantastic if you were to include them in your analytical response to this lesson.

So now that we've practised that, let's have a look at how it looks in writing.

So here's how answering these questions in your own head can help your response to be stronger.

So we're gonna start with our topic sentence.

In Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", Victor Frankenstein is portrayed as a highly careless and thoughtless character who transgresses against the laws of nature to create another being who ultimately ends up destroying everything he knows and loves.

So here what we have is that kind of introductory statement, the thesis statement where we say what the writer has done, and that in this case it is the fact that Shelley has portrayed Frankenstein as careless.

So I'd like you to discuss now what is it that we need to do next in our response? So what do we need to consider and respond to next? So I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you consider that with the people around you.

Off you go.

Great discussions.

And many of you really impressing me by telling me that we need to give that example and we need to explain how Victor is portrayed as careless.

Now in literature, we know that giving an example means getting a quotation from the text, okay? Because every single one of our ideas and opinions has to be evidenced by the text.

So let's see how that looks in action.

This is illustrated when Victor himself tells the creature that he negligently bestowed a spark of life unto the creature.

And notice the embedded quote there.

So the quotation sits within the sentence really nicely.

So there we see, we've used evidence.

Now we've already established that we need to now explain how Victor is portrayed as careless.

And in order to do that, we need to ask ourself this golden question of, but why? Okay, so, but why has Shelley used that word negligently? Because to me that's the word that stands out in that quotation the most as being the most important or significant.

So I'd be asking myself at this moment, but why? Why has Shelley used the word negligently? And here's the response.

Shelley's use of the adverb negligently illustrates Victor's regret and remorse as he admits that animating the creature was careless and thoughtless, and that in hindsight, he would not repeat the same mistake again because the creature has destroyed several of his family members and friends both directly and indirectly.

So here we see that really clear response to that question of why, that is how you analyse methods.

You state what the method is and then you ask yourself, but why has it been used? Okay, and that's exactly what we've demonstrated here.

What we now need to do is again, think, but why? But why is that important? Okay, what do we learn from this? So you're asking yourself here the question that Andeep's come up with of, well, why did Shelley characterise Victor as irresponsible and careless? Okay, why would she do that? So here, I'm gonna invite you to pause the video while you consider that question with the people around you before we see Andeep's ideas.

Off you go.

Again, some great discussions there.

Now let's see how this question answered would look in an essay.

Many critics have read Frankenstein as a response to the scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Perhaps, in characterising Victor as irresponsible in his creation of the creature, Shelley is warning her readers about the potential dangers of the rapid advancement of science that continued into the 18th and 19th centuries.

Shelley especially raises concern about scientific advancement when it is paired with a lack of moral conscience and a disregard for the consequences of unethical experimentation.

So here again that really clear answer of, but why? Why did Shelley characterise Victor as irresponsible and careless? Well as a response to her concerns about scientific advancement and how far people would push the moral boundaries.

So she's showing us the mistakes of society or what she sees as the mistakes of society through the character of Victor.

And that is the whole reason as to why he was created.

And I feel like some of you're gonna get really sick of me saying that word, why, throughout this lesson.

But I can't emphasise to you how important it is to keep asking yourself why because that's what creates a really, really explorative response is at every stage thinking, but why? But why, but why? Okay, why has writer done that? What's the effect of the writer's method effectively is what you're asking.

So there's how it looks in an essay, and those were some of the kinds of questions that you should be asking yourself as you're writing your response.

So what we need to do now is we've given our opinion, we've evidenced it, and we've explained why, why and why again.

And what we need to do now is summarise what we've covered in our analytical paragraph for our reader.

So we need to revisit those same ideas that we've just covered in a more succinct and concise way.

But before we do that, I'd like to check for understanding.

True or false, at each stage in your response, it is useful to consider the question of why, is that true or is that false? And I'm really hoping for 100% here 'cause I feel like every single person can get this right.

So pause a video and have a go at getting it right now.

And I think we've got 100%.

So a massive well done to everybody that's said true.

Yes, it's so important to always consider that question of why as you are writing your response.

So now for a slightly harder question, and I'd like you to justify why that is a true statement.

Why is it useful to consider the question of why? So here are two justifications that you have to choose between as the reason as to why it is important to consider that question of why.

So pause the video and pick the justification that you think is the correct one, off you go.

And fantastic if you selected B, you're absolutely right, considering that question of why allows you to maintain a really clear focus on the writer's intentions and also explain what they might have hoped to achieve by writing the text.

So really well done there.

It's really important always to consider why, and I hope, I think we've got that now.

So well done, so onto the first task of the lesson where you are going to complete the analytical response that we looked at previously by rearranging the sentence fragments to create a summary sentence for our incomplete paragraph.

Now the punctuation has been removed to make it harder.

So you will need to add it in as you put the fragments together.

So here are your sentence fragments.

So all you're doing is rearranging these fragments to make a summary sentence that summarises our argument from our previous paragraph that we looked at together.

So pause the video and have a go at that task now.

Great work and well done for giving that a really good go.

So here's how you might have arranged the sentence fragments you might have put, thus, in characterising Victor as irresponsible and careless, Shelley uses his character to illustrate the disastrous consequences of scientific experimentation that is undertaken by individuals without respect for moral and natural boundaries.

And obviously that revisits what Shelley did, but also why she did it.

So that's how you might have arranged the fragments.

If you want to take a moment to pause the video and read the response in full now that you have the summary sentence so that you can see a really strong model of analytical writing, then please feel free to do so.

If not, then feel free to carry on.

So onto the second part of our lesson now and the bit I'm definitely most excited about because I will get to see your fantastic written responses.

So let's move on to writing your response.

So here's the question that you are going be writing a response to.

Using the extract as inspiration, how does Shelley present Victor to Frankenstein as irresponsible in Frankenstein? And this extract can be found in your additional resources.

I'd like you to discuss, well, can you think of any other words for irresponsible? 'cause it's really important to consider alternative synonyms for the main question focus word.

So pause the video and have a go at coming up with some synonyms or alternative words for irresponsible.

Off you go.

Really great suggestions there.

And a real variety of different words that you could use instead of irresponsible.

So we've got negligent, careless, reckless and thoughtless.

Now it's important to come up with these words so that you're not repeating that word irresponsible 50 million times in your response.

And actually in Frankenstein, there are different ways in which we could view Victor Frankenstein as irresponsible because each of these words negligent, careless, thoughtless, reckless, means something very, very slightly different.

And that can help us to generate different ideas that all fit within our same larger argument that Victor Frankenstein is irresponsible.

So what I'd like you to consider now is using these words, consider in what way is victor irresponsible? So how is he negligent, how is he careless? How is he reckless? And how is he thoughtless in the novel? So pause the video while you discuss that with the people around you and share some ideas together.

Again, some really fantastic discussions there.

And I'm really looking forward to seeing your writing, 'cause I can see that so many of you have such an in-depth understanding of victor's mistakes in this novel.

So really well done.

So here are some of the ways in which victor behaves irresponsibly.

Andeep states, well transgressing against the laws of nature and the boundaries of morality to create the creature was irresponsible and Jacob adds.

Yep, rejecting and shunning the creature was careless.

Victor's rejection of the creature made it a fiend.

And I love here that Jacob has used evidence from the text to support his opinion.

That's really great practise in English.

And Jun replies, agreeing to create the second creature, the mate for the first one, was irresponsible and thoughtless because it hurt the creature and it catalysed a devastating chain of very violent events.

A really perceptive point there from Jun.

So thank you to our woke peoples for those suggestions.

And if you hadn't got any ideas about this, then feel free to pause video and jot some of these ideas down that you can use in your response.

If you're ready to move on, then move on with me.

Let's check for understanding.

So which of the following words is not a synonym for irresponsible? So which does not mean irresponsible.

Is it A, careless B, thoughtless, C, immoral, or D, negligent? Pause the video while you make your choice.

Fantastic work and well done to those of you that selected C, you are absolutely right.

Although being irresponsible is immoral, they don't mean the same thing.

Being immoral means not doing the right thing in a more general sense, being irresponsible is an example of being immoral because it means perhaps not taking care of something or not behaving in a responsible and sensible manner, which falls under the kind of umbrella idea of being immoral.

So well done if you identified that immoral is not necessarily a synonym for irresponsible.

Now before you can write your response, you need to make sure that you have undertaken the following steps.

Make sure that you have read the extracts and highlighted any evidence that you think you might want to use in your response.

And also make sure that you have planned your response using paragraph outlines.

If you haven't planned your response, you cannot and should not start writing.

Planning is just as important as writing, and therefore you need to make sure that when you are writing you have a very comprehensive plan that you can refer back to to make sure that your response is as strong and as considered and convincing as possible.

So make sure that you've undertaken those steps before you move on with this lesson.

Now if you have undertaken those steps, I'd like you to consider this question, what is it that makes a really clear and convincing response? So pause the video and think about what it is that you need to demonstrate in your response that would make it convincing and clear.

Off you go, great discussions.

And I can see that many of you have a really detailed understanding of what makes a good analytical essay.

And that's great because it means that you'll keep that in mind as you are writing.

If you weren't sure, here's what you need to be demonstrating when you come to write up your response.

So, as Sophia points out, a clear response follows the same line of argument.

And in this case, that line of argument is that Victor is irresponsible.

A good essay focuses on the writer's methods.

So how they do what they do, a clear essay uses key vocabulary really accurately.

So it doesn't just use vocabulary because you know, you think it sounds more sophisticated, but it actually chooses the most specific and appropriate word in that context to use in that moment.

And a great response uses embedded quotations, which we looked at earlier in the lesson.

We saw an example of an embedded quotation, and that is where the quotation fits within the sentence grammatically and the sentence flows as one.

If you were to take the quotation marks outta the sentence, it should still flow grammatically and make perfect sense.

And that's how you check whether you've embedded your quotation properly or not.

And finally, a convincing response always links back to the writer's intentions.

And again, this question of why.

Why did they do what they did? Why have they chosen that word? Why have they made that character? Why have they written the novel, okay? So we've always got to keep that question of why in mind at every point in our analytical response.

So there's what makes a really cracking essay.

If you need to take a moment to jot down some of those things that you need to include, then please feel free to pause the video and do so.

Onto the writing now and I cannot wait to see your responses.

So just to run through the task again as a reminder, you are going to be writing a response to the essay question using your notes to help you.

Okay, I'm not expecting you to do this without your notes.

You can absolutely have your notes open as you're writing this, and you should have your plan next to you so that you can keep referring back and seeing where you're going with your essay next.

So here's your question again, using the extract as inspiration, how does Shelley present Victor Frankenstein as irresponsible in Frankenstein? Now as we've just established, you will need to include an introduction that explains your argument.

So what it is that you hope to prove, at least three analytical paragraphs which have really clear topic sentences.

By this stage now in your education, you should absolutely be hitting three analytical paragraphs.

Okay, we need to have enough ideas and enough evidence on the page to make the response convincing.

And you can't do that if you've got less than three analytical paragraphs.

And each of those, as we've said, needs to have a really clear topic sentence so you have a very clear direction for that paragraph.

Your quotations, if at all possible, should be embedded and they should be taken not only from the extract, but also from the rest of the text.

So some of the other extracts that we've studied as part of our study of Frankenstein, some analysis of why Shelley chose specific words or methods and what they show us.

So what effect do they have on our impressions of the characters? The essay should have a really clear focus on Shelley's intentions.

So again, why she wrote the novel and what she was trying to warn readers about.

And finally, we should be using vocabulary accurately.

We're not just whacking in bits of impressive vocabulary 'cause we think it sounds fancy.

No, we are using the most appropriate and the most specific vocabulary for the opinions and ideas that we are trying to express.

So bear that in mind, please, as you are writing.

Now, this task will require real resilience because your hand will start to hurt, but I have no doubt that you will be able to power through the pain and produce something that is absolutely fantastic and demonstrates how much you love and know about Frankenstein.

So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you undertake this task.

Enjoy it, and do your best, that's all we can ask.

So that's what I'm looking for, effort and enthusiasm.

Off you go, fantastic resilience, effort and enthusiasm.

All three ticked off there.

So a massive well done.

I'm really impressed with your work.

We're going to undertake some self-assessment now to see how well you have completed this task.

So you are going to assess your work by identifying the following.

Where have you included an introduction that explains your argument? So what you hope to prove.

Where have you used really clear topic sentences? Where have you used embedded quotations? Where have you analysed why Shelley used really specific words or methods and what she was trying to achieve by using them? Where have you mentioned Shelley's warnings about scientific advancement in the absence of moral conscience? And where have you talked about Shelley's concerns about playing God using science? And finally, I'd like you to highlight any key vocabulary that you have used accurately.

'cause remember, we've always got to use it accurately.

So what I'm gonna do now is invite you to pause the video while you undertake that self-assessment.

And I want you to take this really seriously because reflection is just as important as the first draught.

Because when we reflecting, we understand not only how to improve this response, but also how to improve any of our future responses that we write.

So this needs the absolute highest level of your concentration and effort.

So pause the video and undertake the self-assessment now.

Fantastic reflective practise there.

Really well done.

So to summarise the learning from today, remember that it's really important to understand the context in which a text was produced because this enhances our understanding of why it was created.

To ensure that you keep focused on the writer's intentions in your response, you can ask yourself why the writer has done something at each stage in the writing process, Victor Frankenstein is characterised as irresponsible to reflect Shelley's concerns about ethical implications of some scientific experimentation and progress.

Furthermore, a convincing analytical response should follow one line of argument, and it should have a really clear focus on the writer's methods and their intentions because that is what makes a response really convincing.

I'd like to thank you for coming to today's lesson and giving your analytical responses the amount of effort that you did, I was absolutely blown away by your resilience and your knowledge of the text.

So really well done today, great job.

I hope you have a lovely rest of your day and I really look forward to seeing you next time when you join me for another lesson.

Thank you and see you later, bye.