Lesson 26: Compare Charlie to the monster in Frankenstein About this lesson Students read an excerpt from Chapter 13 of Frankenstein and then work in pairs to select a quotation that reveals aspects of both the monster and Charlie.

We determined a theme in “Flowers for Algernon” and analyzed how it is developed through the characters, structure, and plot. Let’s Review! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute Directions: Briefly review the previous learning.

Read Chapter 13 of Frankenstein. Today we will: Read Chapter 13 of Frankenstein. Compare the monster in Frankenstein to Charlie in “Flowers for Algernon.” Let’s Prepare! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute Directions: Read the slide. Briefly explain how this lesson prepares students for another lesson and/or the end-of-unit assessments. Throughout the lesson, compare students’ responses and work to the student look-fors. Determine the students who need additional support with reading, understanding, or expressing their understanding of complex, grade-level texts. During this lesson or before the next lesson, support those students individually or in a small group using the Additional Supports for Diverse Learners.

“Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes You will need: “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes The excerpt from Chapter 13 of Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley A highlighter Your reading log Let’s Prepare! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~ 5 minutes Directions: Distribute the texts. Access and distribute highlighters. Ask students to locate their theme handout and their reading log.

Listen as I read aloud an excerpt from Chapter 13 of Frankenstein and follow along with your copy. As I read, highlight any references to knowledge or learning that the monster makes. Let’s Read! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~ 12 minutes Directions: Say: “I’m going to read aloud an excerpt from Chapter 13 of Frankenstein. Before we read, let’s quickly remind ourselves what we know about Dr. Frankenstein from the earlier excerpts we read.” Ask students to quickly review what they know about Dr. Frankenstein from Chapter 4 of the novel. Read aloud the purpose setting statement at the top of the excerpt. Say: “As I read aloud the excerpt from Chapter 13, follow along with your copy of the text. As I read, highlight any references to knowledge or learning that the monster makes.” Read aloud the excerpt from Chapter 13 of Frankenstein as students follow along. Pause at various points during the read aloud to prompt students to highlight references to knowledge or learning. Possible Supports During the Lesson: During the read aloud, provide a synonym or student-friendly definition for difficult words. For example, when reading, “I admired virtue and good feelings and loved the gentle manners and amiable qualities of my cottagers, but I was shut out from interactions with them, except through means which I obtained by stealth, and which rather increased the desire I had of becoming one among my fellows,” say, “I admired virtue and good feelings and loved the gentle manners and amiable or likeable qualities of my cottagers, but I was shut out from interactions with them, except through means which I obtained by stealth or secret, and which rather increased the desire I had of becoming one among my fellows.” Possible words for this text/section: hasten: move quickly relate: tell endeavoring: trying minute: small or detailed slothful: lazy hapless: unfortunate or unlucky obtained: gained cursory: quick or beginner’s vacancy: emptiness distinguished: recognized “a mere scion”: a small offshoot “lowest degradation”: biggest loss of self-respect conceive: understand forth: forward vice: sin loathing: hatred induced: caused esteemed: respected unsullied: not spoiled instances: cases or situations loathsome: repulsive agile: able to move quickly subsist: exist bore: was able to withstand exceeded: go beyond “dispel them”: make them disappear amiable: likeable stealth: secret “doted on”: showed how much he loved recurred: repeated Student Look-Fors: Possible references to highlight: “Presently I found that [the stranger] was endeavoring to learn their language.” “I improved rapidly in the knowledge of language.” “in two months I began to comprehend most of the words uttered by my protectors.” “I also learned the science of letters as it was taught to the stranger.” “I should not have understood the purpose of this book had not Felix, in reading it, given very minute explanations. Through this work I obtained a cursory knowledge of history and a view of the several empires at present existing in the world; it gave me an insight into the manners, governments, and religions of the different nations of the earth.” “Every conversation of the cottagers now opened new wonders to me. The strange system of human society was explained to me.” “The words induced me to turn towards myself. I learned that the possessions most esteemed by your fellow creatures were high and unsullied background united with riches.” “I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me; I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge. Oh, that I had forever remained in my native wood, nor known nor felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat!” “Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind when it has once seized on it like a lichen on the rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling, but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death—a state which I feared yet did not understand.” “If they had, all my past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing.”

Copy these sentences in your reading log. Then complete this stem: These sentences mean…. “These wonderful narrations inspired me with strange feelings. Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base?” Let’s Work With Words! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~ 7 minutes Directions: Read aloud the quotation from Chapter 13 of Frankenstein: “These wonderful narrations inspired me with strange feelings. Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base?” Prompt students to copy the sentences in their reading log and complete the sentence stem on the slide: “These sentences mean....” After 2 minutes, ask 1-2 students to share how they paraphrased or interpreted the quotation. Prompt students to use the following stems to guide the conversation. “Another way to say these sentences is…” “I made meaning of these sentences by...” “I looked at….” Use teacher talk moves so students clearly express their ideas (Goal One), listen carefully to understand others’ ideas (Goal Two), provide evidence to support their claims (Goal Three), and establish new ways of thinking (Goal Four). Possible Supports During the Lesson: If students are not providing answers similar to the Student Look-Fors: Ask: “What does the monster learn about in the previous paragraph? Why does he call them ‘wonderful narrations’? How is he learning?” Ask: “What does it mean to ‘inspire’ someone?” Ask: “What does listening to Felix teach Safie about history cause?” Ask: “What does the monster wonder about humans?” Student Look-Fors: Students should understand that “virtuous” and “base” are antonyms. Students should understand that “these wonderful narrations” is referring to what Felix is reading to Safie. Another way to say these sentences is “After hearing about the history of the world, I had strange feelings. How could humans be both so good and so bad at the same time?”

“These wonderful narrations inspired me with strange Write down what you notice about the second sentence in your reading log. Then answer this question: How does what you notice help you understand the sentence? “These wonderful narrations inspired me with strange feelings. Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base?” Let’s Work With Words! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~ 7 minutes Directions: Ask: “What do you notice about the second sentence? How does what you notice help you understand the sentence?” Give students 60 seconds to write their answers in their reading log. Then conduct a whole-class discussion for students to share what they notice about the second sentence, describe how the sentence is put together, and explain how those ideas contribute to their understanding of the second sentence. Possible questions: “What are the parts of the second sentence?” “Can we rearrange or divide the second sentence into two or more sentences? What do we have to remove or change?” “What phrases or clauses do you notice? How do those help you understand this sentence?” “Are there any conjunctions in this sentence? What do those conjunctions mean?” During the discussion: Mark the grammatical elements students notice on the sentence and record any additional comments on the board or chart paper. Prompt pairs to use the conversation stems learning tool. Use teacher talk moves so students clearly express their ideas (Goal One) and listen carefully to understand others’ ideas (Goal Two). Student Look-Fors: Students should understand that “virtuous” and “base” are antonyms. Students should recognize that “yet” signals a contrast between what comes before and after its use. Students should recognize that “so virtuous and magnificent” further describes “so powerful” Students may also notice that the sentence can be rearranged several different ways: “Indeed man was so vicious and base yet at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent.” “Was man, indeed, so vicious and base yet at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent?” “Man was, indeed, at once so vicious and base, yet so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent.” “While man was, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, he was also so vicious and base.””

Reread paragraphs 4, 6, and 8 of Chapter 13 from Frankenstein. Review the progress reports for April 30-May 18 in “Flowers for Algernon.” In your reading log, record a quotation from each text which reveals similar aspects of the monster’s character and Charlie’s character. Let’s Express Our Understanding! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~ 15 minutes Directions: Divide the class into pairs using an established classroom routine. Purposefully pair together students with different reading levels to engage in paired/partner reading of paragraphs 4, 6, and 8 of Chapter 13 from Frankenstein. Once pairs have reread the paragraphs from Frankenstein, direct them to review the progress reports for April 30 through May 18 in “Flowers for Algernon” and locate two quotations (one from each text) which reveal aspects of the monster’s character and Charlie’s character. Ask the pairs to record the quotations in their reading log. Conduct a brief whole-class discussion to examine how the quotations in each text reveal similar character traits for the monster and Charlie. Establish norms for the discussion and identify what you will be looking for during the discussion. Start the discussion by asking: “What quotation did you select from Frankenstein? What aspects of the monster’s character are revealed through that quotation? How are those aspects similar to Charlie Gordon in ‘Flowers for Algernon’?” Use teacher talk moves so students clearly express their ideas (Goal One), listen carefully to understand others’ ideas (Goal Two), provide evidence to support their claims (Goal Three), and establish new ways of thinking (Goal Four). Prompt students to use the conversation stems learning tool during the discussion. Conclude the discussion by asking: “What quotation did you select from ‘Flowers for Algernon’? What aspects of Charlie’s character are revealed through that quotation? How are those aspects similar to the monster from Frankenstein? Possible Supports During the Lesson: Provide students with the quotations from the Student Look-Fors. Ask them to select one quotation from each text and explain in their reading log the aspects of character that are revealed through each quotation for each text. Student Look-Fors: Possible quotations: Frankenstein “Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base?” “And what was I? Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property.” “I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling, but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death—a state which I feared yet did not understand.” “But where were my friends and relations?” “Flowers for Algernon” “What's wrong with a man becoming intelligent and wanting to acquire knowledge and understanding of the world around him?” “Before, they laughed at me and despised me for my ignorance and dullness; now, they hate me for my knowledge and understanding.” “It was as if he'd hidden this part of himself in order to deceive me, pretending--as do many people I’ve discovered--to be what he is not. No one I've ever known is what he appears to be on the surface.” “I find that I don't communicate with people much any more.” “It's not his fault d he can't understand! He can't help what he is! But for God's sake ... he's still a human being!”

In this lesson, you read another excerpt from Frankenstein. You also selected quotations from two texts which reveal aspects of similar characters. Let’s Close! Teaching Notes Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute Directions: Read this slide