1. Introductory Materials & Notes English 10 & 10-A Mrs. Humbertson
Gothic Literature AKA Dark Romanticism: Collection 1 - Ourselves & Others
Introductory Materials & Notes
English 10 & 10-A Mrs. Humbertson

2. A.
STARTER: Choose one of the quotes, copy it in your notebook, & discuss how it applies to one of your greatest fears. B. C.
Music:

3. What are our class’s top 10 fears?

4. Other Sources:

5. What happens to us when we feel fear?
Video:
Video:

6. OURSELVES & OTHERS Part One: Gothic Literature
This collection explores how we interact with people – family, enemies, neighbors, classmates – with whom we disagree & examines the human condition under adverse circumstances.
“We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves…” especially if their perceptions of a situation may not be reciprocated.

7. When did Dark Romanticism become popular?
Visible in gardens & courtyards
Seen in architecture (gargoyles & stained glass, for instance) of the Middle Ages (especially in castles & churches)
Included in Literature (short stories, novels, & poems)
Also included poetry, art, & photography

8. Application to Literature
Any kind of romantic or human interest aspect
Adds fear or terror
Popular among female writers
Stresses an atmosphere of mystery, horror, and dread.
Plot involves hidden secrets which threaten to protagonist
Many have become best sellers!

10. Famous American Gothic Writers
Edgar Allan Poe
Steven King

11. Gothic Literature: Characteristics
Set in Medieval times
Dark, mysterious, evil tone
Sinister Settings - Dark castles, palaces, chambers, haunted mansions
Isolated settings
Inclement weather
All come together to emphasize the sense of evil

12. More Characteristics
Presence of ghosts, spirits, vampires, and other supernatural entities
Mysterious disappearances and reappearances
Supernatural or paranormal occurrences

13. More Characteristics
Religion, usually Christianity or at least spirituality, is confronted.
A gothic “double” is used in which a character who seems to be good is linked with another who is evil
GOTHIC%20CHAPBOOKSX.HTM

14. More Characteristics Blood, pain, death Cruelty Eroticism
Characters with “aberrant psychological states”
Events are “uncanny, macabre, or melodramatically violent bordering between reality and unreality

15. Purpose of Gothic Lit
To evoke “terror” versus “horror” in the reader because of situations bordering reality/unreality
Often used to teach a message
May lack a Medieval setting but will develop an atmosphere of gloom and terror

16. Differentiating between them
Horror
“An awful apprehension”
Described distinctly
Something grotesque
So appalling, unrealistic
Depends on physical characteristics – you see what happens as opposed to imagining it
Terror
“A sickening realization”
Suggestive of what will happen
Depends on reader’s imagination
Sense of uncertainty
Creates an “intangible atmosphere of spiritual psychic dread”

17. Examples of Horrors & Thrillers
Horror Movies
“Saw”
“Nightmare on Elm Street”
“The Cabin in the Woods”
“Texas Chainsaw Massacre”
“The Conjuring”
Thrillers
“Silence of the Lambs”
“Seven”
“The Dark Knight”
“Shutter Island”
“The Machinist”
“The Shining”
“Jacob’s Ladder”

18. STOP NOTES

19. Why do people like horror stories and psychological thrillers?

20. Scary Stories

21. American Gothic
Important from the mid-18th Century through modern times
Related to “Romantic Period”
Criticizes “national myth of new-world innocence by voicing the cultural contradictions that undermine the nation’s claim to purity and equality” - Teresa A. Goddu
Tells of historical horrors that make national identity

22. Southern Gothic
Customary setting because it’s the source of values not necessarily welcome in the rest of the country
Poe was the first Southern gothic writer
Common themes: race, alienation, sense of “otherness”

23. Cyber gothic literature
Situations seem unrealistic during this time period but possible in the future
Dark setting
Nothing natural; all man-made
Characters’ bodies are often altered, making them less human-like
Based on knowledge and a “technologically enhanced future”