How should I weave context into my answer?

Context is a contentious topic when writing an essay. It can be difficult to determine what is too much, what is too little, and what is relevant to your question. It should treated as a supplement - something to briefly aid your discussion and support your inferences - as opposed to an unrelated, waffling piece of information about the era or the author.

If you select a question pondering the signifcance of science in Shelley's Frankenstein, for instance, you could weave context into your answer by researching scientific developments at the time of writing. Galvanism could be used as a solid contextual reference; it was a new concept of the era in which electricity was used to reanimate lifeless matter, just as Frankenstein reanimates the Monster. It is effective because it relates directly to the novel, directly to the question, and could be used to evaluate a reader's reaction at the time. A weaker example might be mentioning Volta's 1800 development of the battery. This is because, though it is scientifically relevant, it is not applicable to the novel, and cannot help support a point.