Personal Responsibilty

A major theme in Frankenstein is personal responsibility; does Victor Frankenstein bare any responsibility to the monster he created? What about the monster's victims? When a conflict arises who bares the responsibility?

We look at a poem by Native American author Jennifer Greene who comments on the attitudes of white and Native Americans living in close proximity to their stereotypes, and to the generational conflict it creates. 

Then we examine several generic situations to determine the responsible party in each scenario.  

Students are asked to write reflections at each point to consider the role of responsibility in conflict and how their own sense of responsibility determines their actions. 

Class begins with a discussion about the underlying theme in Frankenstein of personal responsibility, not only in our family relationships but in broader arenas like scientific research.  

I pass out the poem by Jennifer Greene titled, "For Those Who Hate".  We listen to her read the poem on Montana's Public Instruction website.

Then I have students perform a choral reading of the poem, with different students taking different lines.

We read the poem twice this way.

The students pick up on several subtexts in the poem. They immediately understand that this a poem about the personal responsibility of one generation to the next. 

One of the students picks up on the sarcasm in the poem and the effect that it has on the meaning. We agreed that the poem was a type of satire, and that she is trying to make a point about those who are bigoted and prejudiced.   One of the students reacts very negatively to the poem, she felt tone of the poem contradicted the ideas the poem suggested.

We discuss the cyclic nature that perpetuates hate and the ways different cultures have overcome their hatred. 

I have students take out a piece of paper and write about a time when they feel like they were wronged by another person and they responded in a way that made things worse. I asked them to reflect on what they could have done instead. 

Next I ask students what the writing prompt has to do with personal responsibility. One of the students responds that it has to do with our responsibility to the way we responded to the situation.