writersforensicsblog.files.wordpress.com/2009

Mary Shelley• Born in 1797 in Great Britain• Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft was

outspoken about her liberal views, and wrote and published her most famous work, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, shedding light on the oppression of women.

• Her father was the philosopher William Godwin. Godwin is extremely left wing, he was a devout atheist and carried beliefs about open marriages.

• Mary Shelley’s mother died 6 months after giving birth to Mary, and her father got remarried to Jane Clairmont, which produced a step sister for Mary named Claire.

A Brief Biography

http://thebsreport.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/percy_bysshe_shelley.jpghttp://scienceblogs.com/clock/upload/2006/08/Mary%20Shelley.jpg

Biography Continued• Mary meets Percy Bysshe Shelley when

she is 16, and he is already married• In the summer of 1816 Mary and Percy go

to Geneva with Lord Byron, his physician Dr. Palidori and Mary’s step-sister Claire

• The summer was hardly a summer at all, the group was forced to spend much of their trip indoors due to poor weather.

• One night’s events turned to the telling of ghost stories, they read from the German collection Fantasmagoria and made up their own.

• From here, a competition was born, and all set out to write their own horrific tale.

Frankenstein is BORN• After many days, the group began sharing their tales. Byron

wrote a short story “The Burial” which was published later as a postscript to a larger work of his

• Percy Shelley wrote “The Assassins” which did not go on to any publishing.

• It was Palidori, Byron’s physician, who wrote The Vampyr, the first vampire tale to be published and English, and it is speculated that it is the sole inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula which was published 78 years later.

• Mary Shelley had little to contribute until one night she had a nightmare that roused her from her sleep. She wrote her dream into a short story, and her soon-to-be husband loved it so much, he encouraged her to write a novel.

• Two years later, Mary Shelley published Frankenstein, Or the Modern Promethius

Why Does All of This Matter?

• How might the background of an author effect or change the story he/she is writing?

• How might the circumstances in which an author begins a text matter?

• Do you think this matters at all? What are the arguments against looking at an author before reading a novel?

• Can you relate to Mary Shelley?

Your very own Frankenstein• What makes something scary?• Is there a formula or set of rules to

making a truly good ghost story?• What is your favorite ghost story?• Can you remember any good

ghost stories?• What is the difference between a

ghost story and an urban legend?• Campfire time!