Socio-Cultural Context IRP EntrySociety and Culture of your novel

Step One: Annotate all the time

Annotate your book with sticky notes or a separate page with notes on it. What are you looking for?

1. Asking questions and Making Predictions2. Definitions… Wordstudy skills3. Opinions of Characters and Events in the novel4. Watch out for Wikipedia Moments (depends on the book)5. Is there a different culture/time period? What are you learning about it?6. If it is a similar society to yours then what are the details? SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES. How would you describe what

influences the characters, just like what Ms. McKee did on her slide. (BUT DID YOU KNOW moments….)

Step Two: Select a PassageChoose a passage from your novel/story that speaks directly to either the place/ time/ circumstances that the book is set in.

Step Three: Write Up

Paragraph and Image 1 : Where? Where does this novel take place? Is it a different country/ world/ planet/ community? What do you know about this place? What are they best known for? What are some characteristics? How does this place influence the characters in the novel?

Paragraph and Image 2: When? What time period does this novel/story take place in? What is notable about this time period? Do you know anything about it? What are some social movements/political problems/news worthy moments that were going on at the time? How does the time period influence the characters?

Paragraph and Image 3: Conflict? Major Issue? What is the main conflict of the novel and does it have anything to do with the “where” and “when”?

Socio- Cultural Context Sample Entry: Frankenstein

Frankenstein- Shelley“Two years passed in this manner [studying under M. Waldman at the university], during which I paid no visit to Geneva, but was engaged, heart and soul, in the pursuit of some discoveries which I hoped to make. None but those who have experienced them can conceive of the enticements of science. In other studies you go as far as others have gone before you, and there is nothing more to know; but in a scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder.”(Frankenstein, 41)

Where: Switzerland/Germany/ England Dr. Frankenstein grows up in an affluent family living in a small village in the forests of Geneva. The family has a large estate and Frankenstein spends much of his youth exploring the wilderness which surrounds him. He is fascinated by its power and potential and has a passion for the natural sciences. He wishes to learn about the elements and the rules that govern nature. His parents encourage him to study science, but he appreciates untraditional studies.

Switzerland was also plagued by religious tension during this time and peasant revolts. This makes me think that Frankenstein is very sheltered as he never references the hardships of others, although his parents adopt a young girl when Frankenstein is also quite young. Frankenstein’s parents are very giving people, but he seems to not share the same quality. Although he does grow up to love this girl and wishes to marry her. Despite their love he allows the monster to kill her so perhaps his selfishness is unending.

Frankenstein’s Monster meets a peasant family and this story line makes more sense when I know about the religious struggle between their two families. The other family has more than a personal dislike of this peasant daughter.

When: 1700’sFrankenstein takes place over a number of years in the mid 1700’s. At this time in Europe the Scientific Revolution is well under way. Members of the upper classes, who have access to higher education, are questioning the world around them in a much more profound fashion. No one believes that fruit flies spontaneously appear in rotten food or that the earth is flat. There is more and more exploration of the world around us, but also the human body. This is significant to my novel because Dr. Frankenstein wishes to manipulate the laws of nature and push it as far as possible.

Along these lines there was another system of thought, which was prominent at this time: the occult. Occult scholars were much more off the beaten track, but wished to explore the same things as budding scientists, but they took their exploration much farther into the spiritual realm. They believed that there must be a way to transform less valuable metals into gold and, like Frankenstein, to measure the soul and possibly manipulate life as we know it.

The scientific revolution has progressed to the point in 1760 that the occult is frowned upon by the educational institutions, but it does not hold Frankenstein back as it seems to be a perfect combination of spiritual and scientific inquiry.

Issues/ Conflict:

Peasant Revolts (1653) and religious tension inform the novel just as much as the Scientific Revolution.

The monster meets a peasant family and lives on their land for a time. They combine the struggle of the peasants as well as the religious problems. The man of the family is now old and blind and they struggle to make ends meet. The daughter of the family has married a man who belongs to a different culture and religion which creates problems for the family.

These minor characters, and their struggles have a huge impact on the monster. He learns to love and be compassionate simply by observing them. Rather than kill Frankenstein’s family he wishes to keep to himself, but when the peasants finally meet him they are terrified and turn on him, which leads to his renewed hatred of mankind. It is a heartbreaking development in the novel and one which is at the heart of the novel.