Journal : What do you think of when you hear the term “Gothic”? What does it make you imagine, see, hear, etc. ?

Gothic Literature

Gothic: creation of literary works that employed such late medieval backdrops to explore dark aspects of human nature and the supernatural.

Gothic: - emotional extremes - Dark themes -Dark side of human nature -The things we fear and often don’t like to talk about painting by Henry Fuseli, titled “The Nightmare”

History: - Gothic refers to a style of architecture started in the middle ages. - Ex: Notre Dame Cathedral - Synonymous with the Middle Ages = uncivilized & dark. - Enjoyed a revival in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France

Beginnings of Gothic Literature - First Gothic novel: The Castle of Otranto, by Horace Walpole, Suspenseful, medieval, remote setting, supernatural - Based on Gothic architecture and draw from previous supernatural literature, such as Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Hamlet

Beginnings Continued… - Ann Radcliffe: The first great Gothic writer. - A Sicilian Romance (1790), Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), and The Italian (1797). - Wrote The Italian as a response to Lewis’s The Monk - Gave rise to division in Gothic literature: “Terror Gothic” and “Horror Gothic”

Reasons - Industrial revolution and political setting in the 18 th and 19 th Centuries made people afraid. - Gives an opportunity to have an emotional outlet for fears “Prse de la Bastille” (“Storming the Bastille”) by Jean-Pierre Houël ( )

Gothic Fiction in the Nineteenth Century - The Contest: Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley and John William Polidori at the Villa Diodati on the banks of Lake Geneva in the summer of Birth of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and Polidori's The Vampyre (1819).

Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus - Written by Mary Shelly in Mary conceived an idea after she fell into a “waking dream” during which she saw "the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together." - Theme of the dangers of science & playing God. - Considered the first Sci- Fi novel, but written as a tale of terror.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula - Written in Didn’t invent the vampire, but has been responsible for many interpretations of the vampire in the 20 th and 21 st centuries Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker’s Dracula

American Gothic - Poe: The connection between Gothic fiction and detective fiction. - Transformed Gothic into a psychological process. Relying on tone, mood, and setting. - Wrote: “The Raven,” “Tell-Tale Heart,” etc. “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” “The Raven” - Edgar Allen Poe

Gothic Today - Everything from Vampires to Monsters - Point more toward horror - Authors: Ann Rice, Clive Barker, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Stephenie Meyer, etc. - Types: Urban Legends, Ghost Stories, Horror Novels, Suspense and Horror Movies

Characteristics of Gothic Lit. - A castle, ruined or intact, haunted or not - Ruined buildings, which are sinister - Dungeons, underground passages, crypts, labyrinths, dark corridors, etc. - Shadows, a flickering candle, or light failing - Omens and ancestral curses - Magic, supernatural beings, or suggestion of supernatural - A passion-driven, willful villain- hero, or villain - A curious heroine with a tendency to need rescuing - A hero with a hidden identity, revealed at the end - Horrifying events or threat of horrifying events.

Terror vs. Horror Terror - Intense, sharp, overmastering fear. - Psychological. Horror - an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; a shuddering fear. - Physical, more animal in nature.

How do they do it? - Setting: Dark and sinister - Mood/Tone: melancholy - Literary devices: relies heavily on Imagery to make you feel and see what’s going on. - Also use similes, metaphors, characters, etc.

The Plot Outline

Plot Exposition: What we need to know to start the story. It inclues: Characters: direct the action. Usually a protagonist and antagonist, as well as major and minor characters Setting: Where, when, it takes place Conflict: The problem Inciting Incident: What starts the action Rising Action: Events leading to the climax Climax: The point of no return, the turning point Falling Action: Events that lead to the resolution Resolution: How the conflict is resolved for good or bad Theme: The message/purpose of the book or story.

More Plot Elements Point of View: Who’s telling the story. (is it a character, a narrator, the author, etc.) Protagonist: The hero or “good guy” in the story. Antagonist: The villain or “bad guy” in the story. Tone: Author’s attitude toward the subject of the story Mood: How the author wants you to feel

Literary Elements: Used to create a picture and help you see and feel the story. Metaphor: a direct comparison between two unlike things. Example: He is a pig. Simile: a comparison using like or as Example: He ate like a pig. Imagery: language used to invoke the senses Symbol: Something used to represent something else. Ex: red light represents stop