Hello and a warm welcome to today's lesson.

Thank you so much for joining me.

My name is Miss Halliday, and I will be teaching you today.

I'm massively looking forward to today's lesson because we are going to be reading my absolute favourite chapter from "Frankenstein", which is chapter five when Victor animates his Creature.

So it's a really significant moment in the novel.

I can't wait to share it with you.

So let's get started.

So today's lesson is called Reading an Extract from "Frankenstein": A fateful night, and by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain how Shelley crafts an unsettling atmosphere on the night of the birth of the Creature.

Here are some keywords that you will need for today's lesson.

We've got unsettling, atmosphere, pathetic fallacy, tension and summary.

Here are the definitions of these keywords.

So unsettling means unnerving and it makes you feel anxious or uncomfortable.

Atmosphere is the tone or mood of a place or a scene.

Pathetic fallacy is when the weather reflects the mood of the characters.

Tension is that sense that something ominous or bad might happen imminently.

And finally, a summary is a short account of the events of a text.

If you'd like to take a moment to pause the video and jot those keyword definitions down, then please feel free to do so.

Here's today's lesson outline.

We're going to start by looking at chapter five of "Frankenstein", where Victor narrates the fateful night where he brought his Creature to life.

We're then going to move on to looking at how Shelley crafts an ominous and foreboding atmosphere.

But let's start first with that fateful night.

I'd like to begin the lesson with a quick discussion task.

If you were going to create a perfect human being, what would it look like to you? So you might want to do this task by drawing like a cartoon stickman and labelling it, or you can just discuss it.

But here's an example, you might think that a perfect human being would have a bright and beaming smile.

So what I'm going to do now is invite you to pause the video while you discuss that question and ponder what you think the perfect human being would look like or be like with the people around you.

Off you go.

Fantastic ideas and some really creative contributions there.

So a massive well done and well done for interacting so respectfully with one another.

Excellent work.

We're now going to read an extract from "Frankenstein".

Now this extract is taken from chapter five in the moment of the novel where Victor Frankenstein brings his creation to life for the first time.

So, I'm going to read this extract, and if you could be following along, that would be great, thank you.

As I'm going to ask you some questions to check your understanding of the text.

So make sure you're prepared for those.

"It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils.

With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet.

It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out.

When, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the Creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs." So, what I'd like you to do now is consider the following questions.

So first of all, what kind of atmosphere is created here? And how does Victor feel before he brings his creation to life and why? And what I've done to help you is I've highlighted some relevant sections of the text in purple for you to direct your conversations and discussions.

So what I'd like you to do now is pause the video and discuss those two questions, either with the people around you or considering them independently if you prefer to work alone.

So pause the video and off you go.

Great discussions and some really strong comprehension skills being demonstrated here, some great inferences being made.

So first of all, in terms of what kind of atmosphere is created here, we have this really ominous and kind of foreboding atmosphere as we get the distinct sense that something bad is about to happen.

And that's largely because of the weather.

So we get this dreary night in November with the pattering rain.

So the writer Shelley uses the weather to really kind of create this atmosphere of suspense, mystery and tension.

Now in terms of how Victor feels before he brings his creation to life, well, he feels very, very anxious in this moment and he actually describes his anxiety as almost amounting to agony.

So he is so nervous and he's in so much anticipation to see, you know, the accomplishment of his toils that he actually feels somewhat in physical pain.

So he's very nervous, but he's very eager and he's very excited to see what his creation will be like after he's animated it.

So well done if you've got any of those ideas.

Fantastic work and let's carry on reading.

"How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe or, how delineate the wretch him with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion and I had selected his features as beautiful.

Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips." Really terrifying description there of the Creature.

So, I would like you to consider the following questions now, having read that.

First of all, what does the word catastrophe tell us about Victor's feelings towards his experiment? And secondly, what impression of the Creature are we given? Again, I'd like you to discuss this if at all possible, but if you are working independently, then please feel free to consider these questions on your own.

So pause the video and have a go answering those questions on screen now.

Fantastic discussions and really well done.

I heard some people talking about this word catastrophe in a lot of detail, and I was really impressed to hear this idea that it shows us how disgusted and disappointed Victor is with his Creature.

The word catastrophe means a disastrous event.

So clearly Victor is not happy with the product of his experiment and he views it as somewhat of a disaster and a nightmare, a real kind of tragedy in a sense.

So the fact that he calls it a catastrophe, it shows us his disappointment in this moment.

Now, in terms of how the Creature is described, well he's described in a really grotesque manner and in a very hyperbolic fashion.

So there's lots of exaggeration here about the way the Creature looks.

It's described as very physically repulsive and frightening, especially because of all this, the fact that we can see his skin and his arteries beneath, and the fact that obviously he's got these black lips and these dun white eyes.

Okay, so really horrifying description of the Creature almost is characterised as being half dead and half alive, which it sort of is, really.

So yeah, a very horrifying description there of the Creature, very unpleasant.

And that's because we're seeing it through the eyes of Victor for the first time.

Let's check for understanding.

Which word shows us Victor's regret and disgust towards his Creature? Is it A, lustrous; B, catastrophe, or C, pains? I'm gonna invite you now to pause the video while you make your answer selection.

And a massive well done if you selected answer B, well done.

That word catastrophe means a disaster, a nightmare, or a tragedy.

So therefore it shows us Victor's real regret and disgust towards the Creature.

Great work.

Let's carry on reading together.

"The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature.

I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.

For this I had deprived myself of rest and health.

I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.

Unable to enjoy the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, continued a long time traversing my bed chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep." So I'd like you to consider, well, how does Victor feel towards his creation? And how do you know? So pause the video and answer that question amongst yourselves now.

Great work and again, similarly to the last time we discussed this, Victor's feeling a real sense of regret, but also that kind of disgust.

And he's absolutely repulsed by his creation here.

And he says, you know, the beauty of the dream vanished.

So he is feeling very disillusioned.

He's feeling disappointed that this experiment has not created something as beautiful and as perfect as he he'd imagined because he designed this Creature so carefully, he'd selected body parts for it to make it as beautiful as possible.

And he actually doesn't find it beautiful at all.

And his disgust here is really evident because he says, "I'd worked so hard for two years for this, I deprive myself of rest and health." So he's feeling very angry that he feels that he sacrificed his entire wellbeing and life to pursue something that has turned out to be a huge disappointment to him.

So well done if you got the idea that Victor's feeling really disappointed, disillusioned, and regretful.

Let's continue reading.

"At length, lassitude succeeded to the tumult I had before endured; and I threw myself on the bed in my clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness.

But it was in vain: I slept indeed, but I was disturbed by the wildest dreams. I thought I saw Elizabeth in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt.

Delighted and surprised, I embraced her; but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death.

Her features appeared to change.

And I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms. A shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel." So just to clarify some vocabulary there, well first of all, lassitude is a state of mental weariness or exhaustion, and tumult is a state of confusion and disorder.

So Victor here is saying that his kind of tiredness has finally won over his state of confusion and disorder and he just really needs to rest for a while.

So the question I'd like you to answer here is, well, why might Victor be unable to sleep soundly? So I'm gonna invite you now to pause the video while you consider that question with the people around you or independently if you'd prefer.

Off you go.

Again, some fantastic contributions there and really perceptive thoughts.

And I think there's two ways to look at this.

I think first of all, we can say that actually Victor can't sleep soundly because we know that he's run away from his Creature.

So that means that the Creature is wandering Victor's house unattended and therefore Victor may not be able to sleep because he's worried about the Creature imposing on his bedroom and disturbing him while he's trying to rest and terrifying him further.

I also think that Victor might not be able to sleep because he feels so disappointed and troubled by what he has done because he's realised how utterly terrifying and horrifying his experiment was.

And therefore he perhaps is so troubled by his own actions that he also can't sleep for that reason.

So I think we can look at that in two ways.

There's one this idea of regret, but then there's also this kind of fear of the Creature as well that Victor feels.

So well done if you've got either of those ideas and a special mention if got both, fantastic.

Let's continue.

"I started from my sleep with horror, a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed: when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch, the miserable monster whom I had created.

He held up the curtain of the bed and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me.

His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks.

He might have spoken, but I did not hear.

One hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs." So I'd like you to consider here, well what is a wretch and what does this word choice tell us about the Creature? And secondly, what does Victor think that the Creature wants with him? So again, I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you take a few moments to consider those questions on screen.

So off you go.

Some fantastic discussions there and a massive well done to anybody who identified that a wretch is a very miserable or wicked being.

Now, the fact that Victor calls his Creature a wretch shows us how much he despises and hates it.

You wouldn't call something that you were fond of a wretch 'cause it would be very disrespectful.

So he, a Victor is being very rude and very harsh towards his creation because he's so disgusted and appalled by the way it looks.

So the word wretch really shows us his hatred and his disgust here.

Now, in terms of what Victor thinks the Creature wants with him, well we're told that he tried to speak and that he had this grin on his face and that he held his hand out towards Victor.

Now Victor seems to think that the Creature wants to detain him, which means to trap him or imprison him.

So Victor thinks that the Creature is being threatening and violent towards him.

What I actually think is that the Creature holds his hand out as a kind of friendly gesture or a gesture of affection, or perhaps the Creature is asking Victor for some affection there.

But Victor takes this action to be really aggressive and kind of malevolent and sinister, and he thinks that the Creature is trying to harm him.

And I think that this is really unfortunate because I think because the Creature can't communicate properly, Victor kind of sees it as a much more sinister and wicked being than it actually probably was in the beginning.

So it's a really sad moment for me anyway in the novel as I think that the Creature's very misunderstood at this point.

And Victor assumes the worst of the Creature simply because of the way that it looks.

So he judges it based on its physical appearance and he, I think he judges him incorrectly.

I think he just wants some affection.

So my heart does break for the Creature here.

And let's carry on reading.

"I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited; where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, and catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I'd so miserably given life.

Oh! no mortal could support the horror of that countenance.

A mummy again endued with animation, could not be so hideous as that wretch." And just to clarify some bits of vocabulary, demoniacal means demon-like, and countenance is a person's face.

So I'd like you to consider now why does Victor hate the Creature so much? So I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you jot your ideas down or preferably discuss them with the people around you if that is possible for you today.

So pause the video and off you go.

Great work.

And it's fantastic to see so many of you empathising with the Creature as much as I do here because I think the way that Victor treats, it's really, really unfair.

Now, in terms of the reason as to why Victor hates the Creature, it's completely to do with the way it looks.

And that's really unfortunate.

Victor takes one look at his creation, finds it hideous and repulsive, and so decides to run away from it.

Now, we in today's society know that it is absolutely not acceptable to judge somebody by the way that they look.

And unfortunately, that is exactly what Victor is doing here to the Creature.

And he's rejecting it because of its physical appearance.

And that's really sad in this part of the novel.

So I feel really sorry for the Creature here and I don't really like Victor very much here.

So thank you very much for your opinions and ideas.

Great work and great discussions.

Let's continue.

"I had gazed on him while unfinished he was ugly then.

But when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived." Now Dante was an Italian poet who wrote a really famous poet which features some very, very vivid descriptions of hell.

And we're going to think more about why Shelley brings up Dante at this moment in just a second.

But let's carry on reading first.

"I passed the night wretchedly.

Sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly that I felt the palpitations of every artery.

At others, I nearly sank to the ground through languor and extreme weakness.

Mingled with this horror, I felt the bitterness of disappointment, dreams that had been my food and pleasant rest for so longer space were now become a hell to me.

And the change was so rapid, the overthrow, so complete." So what I'd like you to think now is considering what we discussed before about Dante and how he wrote this famous poem which had these depictions of hell, I'd like you to think well by stating that not even Dante could have created something so horrifying.

What do you think Victor is saying about the Creature here? So I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you consider that question with the people around you now.

Off you go.

Great work.

And it's fantastic to see so many of you already able to explain this really eloquently.

So in a really articulate way.

Now, we know that Dante described very vivid depictions of hell.

And Victor in this moment says that he doesn't think that anything could be as possibly as hideous as the Creature, not even something that Dante could have imagined up.

So he is basically saying that the Creature looks worse than something that is fresh out of hell.

That's a very harsh thing to say about the Creature, especially given that he was the person who designed its physical appearance.

So I think Victor is really unfair on the Creature in this moment.

And it makes me really not like him as a character at this point in the novel because I think that this kind of trauma that he's experiencing is very much self-inflicted.

And the way that he's treating the Creature and speaking about the Creature is unbelievably disrespectful and hurtful.

So well done if you've got those ideas, excellent discussions and very empathetic conversations there.

"Morning, dismal and wet, at length dawned, and discovered to my sleepless and aching eyes, the church of Ingolstadt, white steeple and clock, which indicated the sixth hour, the porter opened the gates of the court, which had that night been my asylum and I issued into the streets, pacing them with quick steps as if I sought to avoid the wretch whom I feared every turning of the street would present to my view.

I did not dare to return to the apartment which I inhabited, but felt impelled to hurry on, although drenched by the rain which poured from a black and comfortless sky." Now I'd like to take a moment for us to think about how it would feel to be the Creature right now.

So I would like you to put yourself in the Creature's shoes.

You have just been brought to life.

Your creator has run away from you and hidden from you.

How do you think that you would feel in that moment? So I'd like you to pause the video and share your predictions about how you think you might feel if you were a Creature at this point in the novel.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

And I'm really glad to see that so many of you were able to handle this discussion really maturely and really empathetically.

So well done.

And thank you for that.

I think it's fair to say that many of us said that we would feel utterly heartbroken at being treated in this way and we would probably be very confused.

We've only just been brought to life.

We don't know anything, we don't know anyone.

All we know is that we're being rejected by the one person that we feel should have to take care of us, the person who is responsible for our life and has brought us into this world.

So well done if you identified that you would be very upset, you would be heartbroken, and you'll be very confused by Victor's treatment of you if you were the Creature in this moment.

So for the first task of the lesson, I'm going to ask you to write a very short summary of the events of the night that Frankenstein brings his Creature to life.

Now, to help you do this, I've created a table that will help you to identify the very key bits of information that you will need to include in your summary.

So you'll need to consider who or what.

And here's an example.

So obviously we're talking about Frankenstein 'cause he's the person that does something in this scene.

We're going to think about what it's that he does.

So he did what? When did he do it? Where did he do it and how did he do it? So I'm going to give you a few moments now to pause the video while you populate that table with the events of chapter five of "Frankenstein" that we've just read.

Off you go.

Fantastic work.

So here's what you might have put.

Frankenstein brings his creation, the Creature, to life on a dreary night in November.

In his laboratory, in his house through galvanization using electricity to infuse a spark of being.

So that is a very, very brief summary of what Frankenstein does in chapter five of the novel.

What you are going to do now is write this up into a summary of key events of the extracts.

And Jun has a really golden tip for us here.

And he says, "Use discourse markers such as firstly, secondly, then next, finally, to help you show the sequence of events." So you're basically going to write up the events of this chapter using discourse markers to help you organise your summary.

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

Fantastic, some great summaries there.

And here's what you might have written, in the extract, Victor Frankenstein brings his creation to life on a dreary night in November in a workshop all laboratory in his house.

Victor describes his anxiety as he uses galvanization to bring the Creature to life.

Unfortunately, discourse marker, Victor is disgusted by the ugliness of the Creature and rejects it, running away from it to his bedroom.

There, Victor finds himself suddenly exhausted and collapses onto his bed.

He falls asleep, but is haunted by the nightmares of his adopted sister, morphing into the decaying corpse of his late mother.

Next, Victor wakes up to the sight of the Creature who has stretched his arms out to Victor.

Terrified, Victor once again runs away and seeks refuge in a courtyard.

Finally, morning comes and Victor remains determined to avoid his frightful creation.

And as you can see from this response, I've highlighted the use of discourse markers in purple to show you an effective way of using them to show causality and chronology in your summary.

So well done if you've got anything that resembled this.

Onto the second part of our lesson now where we're going to have a look at Shelley's use of atmosphere.

Let's begin with a quick discussion.

What is the key aim of Gothic literature? I'm going to invite you now to pause the video while you discuss that question with the people around you.

Off you go.

Great discussions and well remembered that Gothic literature aims to unsettle its readers.

And what I'd like you to think now is, well, how did Shelley manage to make us feel unsettled in the extract? So I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you have a think about exactly what it was that made you feel so unsettled and so unnerved when you were reading that extract from chapter five.

So pause the video and off you go.

Fantastic and well done because I heard so many of you talking about the fact that Shelley creates this really ominous and unnerving atmosphere to unsettle us.

So here we have the extract that we've just read again, and Jun says, "Well, I know that setting contributes to atmosphere." So I'd like you to discuss using the snippet of extract that I've put on screen for you.

Well, where is the scene set and how does Shelley make the setting frightening? So I'm gonna invite you now to pause the video, as I said, while you use the snippet of extract to discuss the two questions on screen now.

Fantastic ideas.

Now, we asked our Oak pupils the very same questions, so let's hear what they have to say, and you can compare your answers with theirs.

So Aisha says, "The setting's really dark, it's set in November, so it would be very dark outside." And Andeep says, "We're also told that Victor's candle was nearly burnt out, which shows that the room was dark." So again, we start to see these really gothic conventions of darkness creeping into this extract already.

And Jacob adds, "Shelley uses pathetic fallacy with the rain pattered dismally." And if you remember, pathetic fallacy is one of our key words of the lesson, and it means when the weather reflects the mood.

So well done to Jacob for identifying that method that Shelley is using here to create that ominous atmosphere.

And finally, Jun adds, "Well, the pathetic fallacy reflects the anguish or the misery that both Victor and the Creature experience here." So there Jun is really explaining the effect of the pathetic fallacy.

So I'm super impressed with Jun and Jacob there, and a massive well done if any of you managed to identify Shelley's use of pathetic fallacy, I'm really impressed.

So as we've said, Shelley deliberately creates this ominous and unnerving atmosphere to unsettle us, but she also builds tension and that creates a really unsettling atmosphere.

So I'd like you to discuss now, well, which lines when you read this make you feel the most tense, make you feel like something bad is about to happen? And also, how does Victor feel here? So I'm going to invite you to pause the video while you discuss those questions with the people around you.

Off you go.

Fantastic discussions.

And I was really impressed by how many of you were able to identify exactly which lines made you feel tense and showed that building up of suspense.

So Aisha said, "Shelley builds tension by telling us that Victor was feeling so anxious, he was almost in agony.

This also makes us feel unsettled and anxious." And Izzy adds, "Did you notice that Shelley switched focus in the middle of the extract as well? Well, that made me feel really unsettled." And Andeep replies, "Well yeah, I noticed that right at the moment when the results of the experiment were about to be revealed, Shelley goes back to describing the weather to prolong our wait for the results of the experiment, thereby building tension." And that's a really perceptive point from both Izzy and Andeep there, because they're right, just as we're about to see the results of the experiment, Shelley goes back to describing that it was one in the morning and the rain was pattering dismally.

So she kind of distracts our attention away from the results to prolong the big reveal of the Creature, thereby building tension.

So, let's check for understanding.

How does switching focus allow Shelley to build tension? I'm going to give you a moment to pause the video while you read the answer options and decide which you think is the correct explanation or effect of Shelley building tension.

Off you go.

And a massive well done if you've got C.

Switching focus prolongs our wait for the results of the experiment, thereby allowing Shelley to build up as much tension as possible in the lead up to the big reveal of the Creature.

So well done.

So onto the last task of the lesson now.

You're gonna answer the question, how does Shelley create an unsettling atmosphere? Now, I wanted to give you a little bit of help here because this is a difficult task.

So I've given you some analytical prompts that you can use, if you would like, to help you write this up, I'd just like to reiterate, you don't need to use them.

They are just there if you want to use them.

So don't feel that you have to use them.

It's just, it's up to you, basically.

You might say something like this though.

Shelley uses setting/pathetic fallacy, you choose one, to create an unsettling atmosphere in the extract.

This is illustrated when Shelley writes that, and then you'll give me a quotation from the extract.

And this creates an unsettling atmosphere because, and at that point you would explain the effect of Shelley's language choices.

As I said, you don't have to use them, they're just an idea for if you're still getting started.

So don't feel pressured into using them.

It's completely up to you.

I'm gonna invite you now to pause the video while you undertake this task and before we share some ideas together, off you go.

Fantastic work with great responses, and I could see many of you making really good use of the keywords from today's lesson.

So here's what you might have written.

Shelley uses pathetic fallacy to create an unsettling atmosphere in the extract.

This is illustrated when Shelley writes that the rain pattered dismally against the panes.

This creates an unsettling atmosphere because rain is miserable weather, which creates an ominous atmosphere because we increasingly get the sense that something terrible is about to happen.

Furthermore, the rain could also be representative of the anguish and sadness that both the Creature and Frankenstein will experience as a result of this fateful night.

It foreshadows the heartache and loss both characters will experience later in the novel.

Now, I'd just like to pick out this by Lancet, the fact that it does make use of many of the keywords from this lesson such as pathetic fallacy, atmosphere, and unsettling.

And we also have that fantastic embedded quote in on the third line where it says, "This is illustrated when Shelley writes that the rain pattered dismally." Notice how the quote is part of the sentence.

And that actually, if we took those quotation marks out, that sentence would still read grammatically correctly and smoothly.

So that is how you know that whether or not you've embedded a quotation.

So this is a really great response here and well done if yours is similar.

So to summarise the learning from today, well first of all, on a dreary night in November, Frankenstein brings his creation to life.

He then unfortunately, immediately despises his creation because it is hideous and ugly.

He then shuns the Creature and runs away from it, which is heartbreaking.

And the description of this fateful night is deeply unsettling.

Shelley uses pathetic fallacy and setting to create an ominous atmosphere, and she cleverly builds tension in the lead up to the reveal of Frankenstein's monster.

Thank you so much for coming to today's lesson.

It's been amazing to hear all of your amazing ideas and suggestions, and I massively look forward to seeing you next time.

Thank you, and bye.