Herrmann’s Class Creates Monsters for Frankenstein Unit

According to Britannica, Frankenstein came out in 1818. The author, Mary Shelly, wrote in genres of science fiction, philosophy, gothic, and romance. Frankenstein tells a story of a scientist who creates an artificial being and has to deal with the consequences of it.

According to the handout from the AP class, the task was to work together as a class to effectively create the perfect progeny and a poem to welcome him/her/them into the world. Some criteria that had to be met was that everyone must participate equally, adding one body part and one line to the collective poem, students had to keep the amount of body parts under 16, the parts must be homemade, and the project must be school appropriate.

Katie Herrmann, an AP Literature and Composition teacher at Arrowhead’s North Campus, said, “The theme of whether it is ethical to create human life artificially inspired this activity.”

According to Herrmann, presentations of the monsters the classes created were held December 21st during hours 6/7 and 8/9. Other spectators, who selected the winner, were present during the unveiling of the creations.

Sophia Dickson, a junior, said, “We used this project to explore the different themes in the novel. In building the creature, we explored ethics and questioned if Victor Frankenstein had the right to make the monster in the first place. We often discussed whether Victor’s action of creating the creature was a rape of nature. Did Victor have a right to make life and exclude the woman out of reproduction in the first place? Did he have obligations as a creator to mentor his creation once it was made?”

According to Herrmann’s Class Criteria, everyone on the winning team was allowed to drop their lowest multiple choice quiz score. Winners would be selected by freshman, teachers, and administrators. Criteria that was taken into consideration was creativity, plausibility (creature has four limbs and a head, but does not need to be in human form), and smooth physiology.

“My experience with the project was a pretty enjoyable one. It was really fun to collaborate with my classmates to make something in real life that relates to the topics we discussed in class. It was also really fun to do something that was different than the assignments we usually do,” Dickson said.

Students in each class presented their creation in class but had time in class to work. The students presented and organized their monsters in a Google Doc that showed the specific body part, who created/designed that part, a line of poem, and a picture.

“I’d like to raise awareness of the engaging and important topics of study in this course,” Herrmann said.