Using film and other media to engage lower abilities in classic gothic texts. Amy Keenan The Wellington

Introducing the gothic through media Interesting and engaging Allows ease of access to a more challenging text ‘Secret’ learning Fun!

Using music Helps students relate to the emotions in the text Develops exploration of writer’s vocabulary choice An easy way to access subtext

‘Monster Mash’ 1.Lyrics playing as they enter 2.Read lyrics & discuss 3.Listen & read along, then discuss If you or a TA make notes, which can later be distributed they can be used as a PEE paragraph. Not the only option, but an example starter I’ve used in the past.

Using images Prompts high level discussion and debate Develops understanding, analysis and insight Effective in groups, especially if they’re not taking written notes. Don’t be scared to embrace the cliché!

“Can we watch the film, Miss?” Catch up / filling in the gaps Develop understanding Develop empathy Comparisons o Film to film o Film adaptation to text o Similar film to text

Possible ideas Glee – ‘Thriller’ / ‘Heads will Roll’ mash up Michael Jackson – ‘Thriller’ Rhianna – ‘Disturbia’ ‘Doctor Who’ – ‘Tooth and Claw’ Trailer‘Tooth and Claw’ Trailer ‘Count Duckula’ - ‘There are Werewolves at the bottom of our garden’ - ' 0http:// 0

Using the whole film Study alongside text or after text o How are the same emotions created in the two texts? o Judge the quality of the adaptation o How well does the ‘remade’ Students don’t always need to write something However, it’s a good stimulus for writing o but link the writing back to the original text, e.g. Use Sally’s Song from ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ ( to encourage them to write a song for the creature.

‘Thriller’ 1.The disclaimer: 1.How does that fit with the idea of gothic? 2.Does it make it more or less gothic? 2.How effective is the filmic part of the video? 3.Identify the features of gothic texts within the video. 4.Does the fact that it’s a music video, with singing and dancing, make it more or less scary?

‘Doctor Who’ Familiar to many students Non-threatening, as it’s not seen as ‘too clever’ Contains a lot of the classic gothic traits This proved a good starter for a discussion about the features of the gothic genre and how they have changed