The Fifth Child open-ended responses

Students completed the following task yesterday: For each of the following you must respond in several well-developed paragraphs, and provide apt and specific references to the text: 1. Carolyn Kizer, in her 1988 book review of the novel, says that Lessing has created a "nightmare of social collapse." How might one see this novel as a commentary on society instead of just a horror story of what happens to one family? Today, students selected one of the following topics to respond to: 2. Gothic Elements: Women in distress. As an appeal to the pathos and sympathy of the reader, the female characters often face events that leave them fainting, terrified, screaming, and/or sobbing. A lonely, pensive, and oppressed heroine is often the central figure of the novel, so her sufferings are even more pronounced and the focus of attention. The women suffer because they are often abandoned. The novel focuses on Harriet’s thoughts and actions, and we are left to make assumptions about David. Do you feel that Harriet and David are sharing the responsibilities equally? Consider their pursuit of happiness, their obligations as parents, and their duty to each other to maintain a marriage. 3. Frankenstein/The Fifth Child Select two themes that the novels share and explain their treatment. What does each novel reveal about the themes present in them? What do they have in common? Provide specific examples from the text.