PCA English students build their own monsters

By: Riya Patel, PCA Senior

Mrs. Angie Miller’s Senior English students were assigned to read Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. Frankenstein narrates the story of a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who obsesses over natural philosophy and chemistry. He is in search of the secret to life, and after years of continuous labor, he finally finds the answer. Victor decides that he will act upon his knowledge, and deems that a creation of an eight-foot man with body parts from various dead human beings would be perfect.

As part of their unit of study, the literature students were tasked to create “The Perfect Monster”, or any perfect creature of their liking, such as the “Perfect Doctor”, “Perfect Movie Hero”, or “Perfect Disney Princess”. They had to use at least seven different body parts to enhance the overall performance of their creations. For example, they could use Princess Ariel’s throat to show that their character sings well or the actor Dwayne Johnson’s muscular arms to show strength. On September 9, the students presented their creations to the class and explained how each part of their monster worked.

This activity allowed students to relate with the characters in the context of the novel, as well as expand their imagination. Mrs. Miller commented, “The Build Your Own Monster” project we complete in conjunction with our study of Frankenstein offers students the opportunity to express their creativity while connecting with Victor Frankenstein’s quest to assemble his very own designer creature.”