Version élève → Anglais · Lycée général · 2de · Seconde

Séquence 11 · The modern Prometheus

Why do we keep retelling the story of Frankenstein's creature?

Bonjour !

Dans cette séquence de anglais, tu vas chercher à répondre à la grande question écrite en haut de la page. Elle se fait en 3 séances. Pour chaque séance : lis la consigne, étudie les documents, réponds aux questions sur ta feuille ou sur l'ENT, puis recopie l'essentiel dans ton cahier. Tu peux imprimer cette page avec le bouton « Imprimer ».

À la fin, je serai capable de :

Les mots importants

myth and adaptationif + past, would + base verbthe creature, the creatorpitching a project

Ressources de la séquence

Les notions, les repères et les pistes pour aller plus loin, utiles pour toutes les séances.

Les notions à maîtriser

Myth
An old story that explains the world; Prometheus gives fire to humans and is punished.
Adaptation
A new version of a story in another form or time.
Second conditional
if + past, would + base verb: If I created a robot, I would teach it to love.

Repères

DateÉvénement
1816At Lake Geneva, Byron proposes a ghost-story contest; Mary Shelley imagines Frankenstein.
1818First edition of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.
1831Revised edition with the author's introduction.
1931James Whale's film with Boris Karloff fixes the image of the monster.

Pour aller plus loin

Sources et bibliographie

Mon parcours : je choisis mon rythme

Séance 1 · From Prometheus to Frankenstein

75 min

Séance approfondie : cours développé, documents sourcés, activités exigeantes avec coups de pouce.

La question du jour

What does an ancient myth have to do with a 19th-century novel?

Mon plan de travail

Le cours à lire · Telling a story: past simple and past continuous

To tell a story, use the past continuous for the background (It was raining) and the past simple for the events (Mary had an idea). Vocabulary: myth, retelling, adaptation, creator, creature.

Document 1 · A ghost story contest

Text written by the teacher.

In the summer of 1816, it was raining almost every day. Mary Godwin, eighteen years old, was staying near Lake Geneva with Percy Shelley and the poet Lord Byron. One evening, Byron challenged everybody to write a ghost story. A few nights later, Mary had a terrible vision: a scientist was giving life to a body made of dead parts. This became Frankenstein. Its subtitle, The Modern Prometheus, refers to the Greek god who stole fire from the gods to give it to humans, and was punished for it.

Source : teacher's synthesis.

Pour bien lire ce document :

to challenge: to ask someone to do something difficult; to steal (stole, stolen): to take without permission.

Activité 1 · Understand

15 min
Essentiel

Supports : Documents

Consigne :

Read and answer.

  1. Where was Mary in 1816?
  2. What was Byron's challenge?
  3. Who was Prometheus?

Ce qui est attendu (5 pts) : Reading

Activité 2 · Practise

15 min
Essentiel

Supports : Lesson

Consigne :

Past simple or past continuous?

  1. It (rain) ___ every day.
  2. Byron (challenge) ___ his friends.
  3. While she (sleep) ___, she had a vision.
  4. Prometheus (steal) ___ fire.

Ce qui est attendu (7 pts) : Language

Activité 3 · Produce (spoken)

25 min
Travail à rendre

Supports : Lesson, documents

Consigne :

Record 1 minute: tell the story of the birth of Frankenstein to a friend. Sentence starters: In 1816,… / While they were… / That is why the subtitle….

Ce qui est attendu (8 pts) : Production

Trace écrite · document à compléter (papier ou ENT)

Complète la trace écrite avec les mots de la banque, puis recopie-la dans ton cahier.

lifePrometheus

Victor Frankenstein is a modern __________: he steals the secret of ______.

Séance 2 · The creature speaks

75 min

Séance approfondie : cours développé, documents sourcés, activités exigeantes avec coups de pouce.

La question du jour

Is the creature a monster, or did others make him one?

Mon plan de travail

Le cours à lire · Reading a plea

In the novel, the creature speaks very well: he learned to read alone. He talks to his creator with old forms: thou / thee = you, thy = your, drivest = drive. He compares himself to Adam (the first man) and to the fallen angel (Satan).

Document 1 · Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, chapter 10

Novel, 1831 edition (public domain).

Remember, that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Every where I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.

Source : Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, 1831, chapter 10 (text on Wikisource).

Pour bien lire ce document :

bliss: great happiness; misdeed: bad action; fiend: devil; benevolent: kind.

Activité 1 · Understand

15 min
Essentiel

Supports : Documents

Consigne :

Read and answer.

  1. Who is « thou »?
  2. How does the creature describe himself before and after?
  3. What does he ask for?

Ce qui est attendu (5 pts) : Reading

Activité 2 · Practise

15 min
Essentiel

Supports : Lesson

Consigne :

Rewrite in modern English.

  1. I am thy creature
  2. whom thou drivest from joy
  3. misery made me a fiend
  4. I shall again be virtuous

Ce qui est attendu (7 pts) : Language

Activité 3 · Produce (written)

25 min
Travail à rendre

Supports : Lesson, documents

Consigne :

Write Victor's answer to the creature (80 to 100 words). Sentence starters: You say that… / I am afraid that… / If I made you happy,….

Ce qui est attendu (8 pts) : Production

Trace écrite · document à compléter (papier ou ENT)

Complète la trace écrite avec les mots de la banque, puis recopie-la dans ton cahier.

goodmisery

The creature says he was ______ and that ______ made him a monster.

Séance 3 · Pitch your adaptation

75 min

Séance approfondie : cours développé, documents sourcés, activités exigeantes avec coups de pouce.

La question du jour

How would you retell Frankenstein today?

Mon plan de travail

Le cours à lire · Imagining: second conditional

To imagine a new version, use the second conditional: if + past, would + base verb. If the creature lived today, it would be an AI. A pitch is a short, persuasive presentation: title, format, story, message.

Document 1 · Model pitch

Model text written by the teacher.

Our project is a graphic novel called Spark. It is set in a city in 2080. Victor is a young engineer who creates an artificial intelligence. If people accepted Spark, it would help everybody; but they are afraid, so Spark is alone. Our message: the real monster is fear. If you read Spark, you would never look at a robot the same way!

Source : teacher's model text.

Activité 1 · Understand

15 min
Essentiel

Supports : Documents

Consigne :

Read the pitch and answer.

  1. What is the format?
  2. Who is the creature?
  3. What is the message?

Ce qui est attendu (5 pts) : Reading

Activité 2 · Practise

15 min
Essentiel

Supports : Lesson

Consigne :

Complete with the second conditional.

  1. If the creature (have) ___ a friend, it (not / become) ___ violent.
  2. If Victor (listen) ___, he (understand) ___.
  3. If I (make) ___ a film, I (choose) ___ a woman scientist.
  4. If people (be) ___ kind, the story (end) ___ well.

Ce qui est attendu (7 pts) : Language

Activité 3 · Produce (spoken)

25 min
Travail à rendre

Supports : Lesson, documents

Consigne :

Record a 1-minute pitch for your own adaptation of Frankenstein. Sentence starters: Our project is… / If the creature…, it would… / You should watch/read it because….

Ce qui est attendu (8 pts) : Production

Trace écrite · document à compléter (papier ou ENT)

Complète la trace écrite avec les mots de la banque, puis recopie-la dans ton cahier.

formatwould

A pitch gives the title, the ______, the story and the message; I imagine with if + past, ______ + verb.

Fiche à trous · je complète

Complète le texte avec les mots de la banque (sur papier ou dans le document de l'ENT).

1818fiendfirewould

Prometheus stole ______ from the gods.

Mary Shelley's novel was first published in ______.

The creature says: « misery made me a ______ ».

To imagine, I use if + past, ______ + base verb.

Ce que j'ai appris

Les 3 idées que je retiens :
Une phrase en anglais que je veux retenir :
Ce qui reste difficile pour moi / ma question pour le professeur :