91 pages 3 hours read

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1818

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Vocabulary

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This section presents terms and phrases that are central to understanding the text and may present a challenge to the reader. Use this list to create a vocabulary quiz or worksheet, to prepare flashcards for a standardized test, or to inspire classroom word games and other group activities.

Letters 1-4

1. prudence (noun):

good judgment; the ability to govern one’s actions using reason and caution

“I shall do nothing rashly; you know me sufficiently to confide in my prudence and considerateness whenever the safety of others is committed to my care.” (Letter 2, Page 7)

2. conciliating (adjective):

having a soothing or calming effect on an angry person; placating

“Yet his manners are so conciliating and gentle, that the sailors are all interested in him, although they have had very little communication with him.” (Letter 4, Page 12)

3. fastidious (adjective):

concerned about details or cleanliness; fussy

“You have been tutored and refined by books and retirement from the world, and you are, therefore, somewhat fastidious; but this only renders you the more fit to appreciate the extraordinary merits of this wonderful man.” (Letter 4, Page 14)

4. deduce (verb):

to reach a logical conclusion through reason

“I imagine that you may deduce an apt moral from my tale; one that may direct you if you succeed in your undertaking, and console you in case of failure.” (Letter 4, Page 15)

Chapters 1-4

5. reverence (noun):

a feeling of deep respect or awe toward someone or something

“There was a show of gratitude and worship in his attachment to my mother, differing wholly from the doting fondness of age, for it was inspired by reverence for her virtues and a desire to be the means of, in some degree, recompensing her for the sorrows she had endured….” (Chapter 1, Page 18)

6. celestial (adjective):

relating or belonging to the sky or the heavens; exceptionally good

“The saintly soul of Elizabeth shone like a shrine-dedicated lamp in our peaceful home. Her sympathy was ours; her smile, her soft voice, the sweet glance of her celestial eyes, were ever there to bless and animate us.” (Chapter 2, Page 23)

7. immutable (adjective):

unchanging; unable to be changed

“Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.” (Chapter 2, Page 27)

8. ardent (adjective):

enthusiastic or intense

“I will not lead you on, unguarded and ardent as I then was, to your destruction and infallible misery.” (Chapter 4, Page 38)

9. emaciated (adjective):

thin and weak, often due to illness or starvation

“My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement.”  (Chapter 4, Page 39)

Chapters 5-8

10. unbridled (adjective):

unrestrained or wild

“My own spirits were high, and I bounded along with feelings of unbridled joy and hilarity.” (Chapter 6, Page 55)

11. prognosticate (verb):

to predict a future event or outcome

“Your summits are clear; the sky and lake are blue and placid. Is this to prognosticate peace or to mock my unhappiness?” (Chapter 7, Page 59)

12. dirge (noun):

a funeral song; a lament for the dead

“This noble war in the sky elevated my spirits; I clasped my hands and exclaimed aloud, ‘William, dear angel! This is thy funeral, this thy dirge!’” (Chapter 7, Page 60)

13. absolution (noun):

formal forgiveness; a release from guilt or obligation

“I did confess; but I confessed a lie. I confessed, that I might obtain absolution; but now that falsehood lies heavier at my heart than all my other sins.” (Chapter 8, Page 71)

Chapters 9-12

14. benevolent (adjective):

well-intentioned, kindhearted

“I had begun life with benevolent intentions and thirsted for the moment when I should put them in practice and make myself useful to my fellow beings.” (Chapter 9, Page 74)

15. calamities (noun):

disasters; damaging events

“I was tempted to plunge into the silent lake, that the waters might close over me and my calamities forever.” (Chapter 9, Page 74)

16. scourge (noun):

a thing or person that causes great suffering, pain, or damage

“On you it rests, whether I quit forever the neighbourhood of man, and lead a harmless life, or become the scourge of your fellow-creatures, and the author of your own speedy ruin.” (Chapter 10, Page 85)

17. opaque (adjective):

solid; unable to be seen through

“Before, dark and opaque bodies had surrounded me, impervious to my touch or sight; but I now found that I could wander on at liberty, with no obstacles which I could not either surmount or avoid.” (Chapter 11, Page 87)

Chapters 13-16

18. loathsome (adjective):

causing hatred; disgusting

“I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man.” (Chapter 13, Page 105)

19. amiable (adjective):

friendly; behaving in a pleasant manner

“Rely, therefore, on your hopes; and if these friends are good and amiable, do not despair.” (Chapter 15, Page 118)

20. myriads (plural noun):

very large amounts

“There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my enemies?” (Chapter 16, Page 121)

21. imbibed (past tense verb):

absorbed or consumed

“Suddenly, as I gazed on him, an idea seized me, that this little creature was unprejudiced, and had lived too short a time to have imbibed a horror of deformity. If, therefore, I could seize him, and educate him as my companion and friend, I should not be so desolate in this peopled earth.”(Chapter 16, Page 127)

Chapters 17-20

22. abject (adjective):

the most extreme, referring to something bad

“Yet mine shall not be the submission of abject slavery.” (Chapter 17, Page 131)

23. penury (noun):

extreme poverty

“It contained but two rooms, and these exhibited all the squalidness of the most miserable penury.” (Chapter 19, 148)

24. precarious (adjective):

not secure; at risk of falling or collapsing

“Even if they were to leave Europe, and inhabit the deserts of the new world, yet one of the first results of those sympathies for which the daemon thirsted would be children, and a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth, who might make the very existence of the species of man a condition precarious and full of terror.” (Chapter 20, Page 150)

Chapters 21-24

25. machinations (plural noun):

schemes or plots

“Have my murderous machinations deprived you also, my dearest Henry, of life?” (Chapter 21, Page 161)

26. dissipate (verb):

fade or disappear, especially in reference to an emotion

“She looked forward to our union with placid contentment, not unmingled with a little fear, which past misfortunes had impressed, that what now appeared certain and tangible happiness, might soon dissipate into an airy dream, and leave no trace but deep and everlasting regret.” (Chapter 22, Page 175)

27. delirium (noun):

an excited or incoherent state of mind caused by fever or intoxication

“He endeavoured to soothe me as a nurse does a child, and reverted to my tale as the effects of delirium.” (Chapter 23, Page 184)

28. tumultuous (adjective):

loud and disorderly

“The work was soon finished: in a few minutes a tumultuous sea rolled between me and my enemy, and I was left drifting on a scattered piece of ice, that was continually lessening, and thus preparing for me a hideous death.” (Chapter 24, Page 191)

29. omnipotence (noun):

unlimited power

“All my speculations and hopes are as nothing, and like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained in an eternal hell.” (Chapter 24, Page 194)

30. tranquility (noun):

a state of calm or peacefulness

“Farewell, Walton! Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries.” (Chapter 24, Page 200)
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