This material (which is a solo journalling role playing game) is intended to be used after reading Frankenstein (or before reading Chapter 24) as a creative writing activity in the advanced English classroom, but it can, however, also be used as a writing for pleasure activity without having read the novel. In this case some basic knowledge about the characters and the story is strongly recommended in order to enjoy it most. 

The writing prompts in this game seek to foster an immersion into Frankenstein’s mind and world by putting the player into Victor’s position in his final chase of his Devilish Creation across the arctic. This part has kindly been kept very general by Mary Shelley (although this passage takes up several weeks, in which numerous things could have occurred). In this game, the player, as Victor Frankenstein, is invited to imagine Victor’s experiences by drawing several prompts per day from a stack of regular playing cards. There is total of 54 individual situations that can be combined in a myriads of ways to create a unique experience even when played a second or third time. These situations are then written down in a journal.

As this manuscript has not primarily been written for teaching purposes, but with an authentic readership in mind (English-speaking role-players) and meant to be used as a “real-life“ activity, it thus can be considered authentic material, which is in itself motivating for students as they feel - while being creative and self-directed - that they are part of the real world around them. That's also why this game will be enjoyable for you - the teacher - as well!

In order to use authentic texts in the EFL classroom, the teacher has to set up the activity carefully. Especially in this case where the manuscript, including the rules and writing prompts, is rather complex. That's why two pages of Teacher's notes are also included in this material. 

Enjoy!

This game is a a scenario based on Chris Bissette's game "The Wretched".

Feel free to listen to my Audio Journal to get an idea of what might be the outcome of this game. If you want to play the game yourself though, you should only listen for a few minutes as you might be spoiled or influenced by my interpretation of the prompts.