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Listen & Learn: Mary Shelley

Posted by: Jaksyn Peacock
Learn about the author of Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

Pre-listening vocabulary

  • radical: believing in extreme changes to society or government
  • philosopher: someone who gives their thoughts about important questions
  • chaotic: messy and eventful
  • step-sibling: a sibling by marriage and not by blood
  • half-sibling: a sibling that a person shares only one parent with
  • elope: to run away and get married, especially when parents disapprove
  • science fiction: a story genre that deals with science and technology

Listening activity

Gapfill exercise

Mary Shelley was an English novelist. She is best known for her novel Frankenstein, which she began writing when she was eighteen years old. Shelley was born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin in London in 1797. Her parents were both famous and radical philosophers during the French Revolution. Shelley’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, died less than two weeks after giving birth to her. Shelley had a chaotic . She grew up with five step-siblings and half-siblings. When she was only sixteen, she eloped with the Percy Shelley. She had and lost her first child the next year. Shelley got the idea for Frankenstein on in Geneva, when she was challenged to write a “ghost story.” She published it in 1818. Four years later, Percy drowned in a storm. She saved his and kept it in her desk drawer until her death in 1851. Shelley wrote seven novels in her life. Her work contains some of the earliest examples of science fiction.

Comprehension questions

See answers below

  1. Mary Shelley’s parents were both writers and
    a. scientists
    b. politicians
    c. philosophers
  2. Shelley got the idea for Frankenstein
    a. while visiting her mother’s grave
    b. while on vacation in Geneva
    c. while eloping with Percy Shelley
  3. She began writing Frankenstein when she was
    a. sixteen
    b. eighteen
    c. twenty

Discussion/essay questions

  1. In the past 200 years, Frankenstein has inspired plays, movies, and TV shows. Frankenstein’s monster has become an iconic character. Why do you think Frankenstein is such a long-lasting story?

Transcript

Mary Shelley was an English novelist. She is best known for her novel Frankenstein, which she began writing when she was eighteen years old. Shelley was born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin in London in 1797. Her parents were both famous writers and radical philosophers during the French Revolution. Shelley’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, died less than two weeks after giving birth to her. Shelley had a chaotic childhood. She grew up with five step-siblings and half-siblings. When she was only sixteen, she eloped with the poet Percy Shelley. She had and lost her first child the next year. Shelley got the idea for Frankenstein on vacation in Geneva, when she was challenged to write a “ghost story.” She published it in 1818. Four years later, Percy drowned in a storm. She saved his heart and kept it in her desk drawer until her death in 1851. Shelley wrote seven novels in her life. Her work contains some of the earliest examples of science fiction.

Answers to comprehension questions

1c 2b 3b

Written and recorded by Jaksyn Peacock for EnglishClub
© EnglishClub.com

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