Improving Spark Notes for Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Anime picture of Creature from Frankenstein

Source: https://alchetron.com/Kyoufu-Densetsu-Kaiki!-Frankenstein

My question: how to get online students to read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and not just read an online summary of the novel. My solution: assume that students will encounter Spark Notes or some similar website in an era of “No Fear Literature.” Instead of trying to replace Spark Notes encounters, I extend those encounters by leading students back to the original and guiding them through a process of improving upon the notes by observing what is left out of them. Who knows if they still read the whole novel to get there, but my experience has shown me that they do encounter Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein with a fresh appreciation of the language and complexity of the original. 

Here’s the assignment.