LESSON 9: DYSTOPIAN MONSTERS AND GOTHIC ANDROIDS
Grade: 9-12 (Elective course)
Duration: 54 minutes
Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will…

• Discuss the conclusion to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
• Offer feedback to peers about their note-taking.
• Examine the ways in which Frankenstein and Blade Runner do and do not fit within the parameters of their respective genres.
• Begin crafting the arguments to be embedded in their comparative analyses.
• Investigate the influence that preconceived classifications/labels/identifications have on an individual’s conception of the subject that has been classified/labeled/identified.
  • Guiding questions:
    • “In what ways do labels limit analysis? In what ways do they facilitate analysis?”
    • “What are the dangers of blindly accepting a particular classification? What are the dangers of refusing to acknowledge a particular classification?”
    • “How necessary – for texts or otherwise – is the determining of classification?”

MATERIALS

• Blade Runner DVD/Blu-ray (for review/reference)
• Copies of Frankenstein (for review/reference)
• Devices (laptops/tablets) for writing
• Blade Runner/Frankenstein Comparative Analysis Assignment/Rubric [Click here to access!]
• Slideshow for prompts [Click here to access!]
• Projector

PROCEDURE

• Students will begin class by going to our classroom Google Group.
  • Once there, students will read through the Notes and Quotes submitted by their peers.
    • Every student will identify one quotation presented by a peer and write about why they finding it intriguing.
    • Every student will also identify a question posed by a classmate and write a corresponding answer.
  • After students have been given time to independently engage with the Notes and Quotes, four groups will be organized for the purposes of sharing their findings!

• Each group will then be given a sheet of chart paper and asked to address one of four prompts:
  • Group A: List all the ways in which Frankenstein fits the definition of a Gothic text.
  • Group B: List all the ways in which Blade Runner fits the definition of a dystopian text.
  • Group C: List all the ways in which Frankenstein differs from other Gothic texts.
  • Group D: List all the ways in which Blade Runner differs from other dystopian texts.
• After each group has been given the opportunity to map out their findings on their chart paper, they will report to the rest of the class.
  • This will, ideally, lead to some lively discussion.

• Class will conclude with a review of the Blade Runner/Frankenstein Comparative Analysis Assignment, with student questions/concerns being addressed accordingly.

HOMEWORK

• Complete first draft of the Blade Runner/Frankenstein Comparative Analysis Assignment!

[next up: lesson 10]