Gothic

In this unit, students are exposed to the "darker side" of individuals, as they peer into the texts of such notable writers as Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and even Stephen King. Born from Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, Gothic (sometimes called Gothic horror or Dark Romanticism) is a genre that deals with emotional extremes and dark themes characterized by gloom, mystery (and, many times, the supernatural), and the grotesque. The setting and atmosphere of the gothic tale general is that of dread, and additionally reflects the decay (perhaps the collapse?) of the human spirit. Important elements of Gothic fiction include (but are not limited to) Gothic architecture, castles, darkness, mystery, supernatural, physical and psychological horror (or terror), decay, macabe, identicals/doubles, madness, and curses. Important characters include traditional evils such as maniacs, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, zombies, demons, etc. Notable ones include the Byronic hero, the Devil, and the Wandering Jew. A word on other branches of Gothic: Gothic Romance generally includes the additional theme of nature reverence and conflict with industrialism/mechanization of the world. Southern Gothic generally includes the additional theme of mourning the lost lifestyle of the South (not slavery) as well as perception versus reality in that Aristocricy appears on the outside but it only hides decay. =Authors to be Studied=
 * [[image:poe_1848dtype.jpg width="208" height="240" caption="Edgar Allan Poe" link="Poe"]] || [[image:Hawthorne.jpg width="198" height="240" caption="Nathaniel Hawthorne" link="Hawthorne"]] || [[image:faulkner.jpg width="197" height="242" caption="William Faulkner" link="Faulkner"]] || [[image:oconnor.jpg width="188" height="248" caption="Flannery O'Connor" link="O'Connor"]]  ||

Big Idea: ** Gothic fiction is a movement that both connects and distances itself from earlier American literature, as it relfects the darker side of indivualism and further questions human connection to self and God/Devil. Students will… Students will know… Students will be able to… Influences of the Gothic Movement Master of American Gothic Form: Edgar Allan Poe Hawthorne Short Run because of Civil War—which ushers in Realism—returns in 20th century Southern Gothic:
 * Unit Enduring Understandings: **
 * 1)  Understand what Gothic fiction (and its sub-genres) are.
 * 2)  Understand how American hopes, fears, and anxieties are explored and critiqued by writers in the gothic mode
 * 3)  Understand the social context in which gothic literature emerged and how gothic literature reflects it.
 * 4) Understand the elements used to create suspense such as mood, tone, imagery, etc.
 * 5) Understand poetic devices used to create different moods, tone, reading pace, etc. in poetry.
 * Unit Essential Questions: **
 * 1)  What is Gothic fiction, Gothic Romance, and Souther Gothic and what are the differences?
 * 2)  How does Gothic fiction reflect American society in the 19th and 20th century?
 * 3)  How is Gothic literature different than "slasher" films? What is the difference between been "horrified/terrorized" and being startled or grossed out?
 * 4)  What is psychological horror?
 * 5)  How do authors/poets use elements of writing to create suspense?
 * 6)  How do poets use poetic devices used to create different moods, tone, reading pace, etc. in poetry.
 * Knowledge and Skills **
 * 1)  The differences among Gothic fiction, Gothic Romance, and Southern Gothic
 * 2)  Gothic Elements.
 * 3)  Poetic Elements, especially in poetry in the Gothic tradition.
 * 4)  Gothic literature reflects the social attitudes and beliefs of its time.
 * 5)  Gothic literature influenced and influences other literature
 * 1) Demonstrate an understanding of Gothic fiction
 * 2) Identify and analyze which American hopes, fears, and anxieties are explored and critiqued by writers in the gothic mode
 * 3) Demonstrate an understanding of the centrality of gothic literature to nineteenth- and twentieth-century American literature and culture
 * 4) Analyze the generally skeptical, pessimistic, or critical positions adopted by gothic writers
 * 5) Define genre, theme, character, setting, and plot and apply them to gothic literature.
 * 6) Analyze the social context and describe the social context in which gothic literature emerged
 * 7) Analyze a Gothic story, looking at the elements used to create suspense such as mood, tone, imagery, etc.
 * Historical Background: The Dark Side of Individualism—American Gothic **
 * Spirit and imagery is inspired by Gothic architecture of the Middle Ages
 * “Cavernous Gothic cathedrals with their irregularly placed towers and their high stained –glass windows were intended to inspire fear and awe in religious workers”
 * Gargoyle as mascot—imaginative distortion
 * Romantic movement
 * “reaction against rationalism of the Age of Reason”
 * “Imagination led to the threshold of the unknown—that shadowy region where the fantastic, the demonic, and the insane reside.”
 * Concept of potential evil
 * Darkness of the supernatural
 * Dark, decaying settings—weird and terrifying events
 * Male narrators—insane
 * Female characters—beautiful and dead (or dying)
 * Extreme situations—murder, live purials, physical and mental torture and retribution from beyond the grave
 * Only in extreme situations do people reveal their true nature.
 * Explore human mind in extreme situations to find essential truth
 * Explore mind and its functions
 * Human heart under various conditions of fear, greed, vanity, mistrust and betrayal
 * gloom and pessimism of fiction
 * Faulkner—decaying plantation, fallen aristocracy family isolated in time and place—ghost of the past hounding this not-so-noble characters to madness and death
 * O’Connor—pressures of modern life making grotesques of us all—interesting in “the human heart and its potential for evil.”
 * Mourning the old South—“the old moral and religious order was crumbling
 * Ghosts/Goblins  à Criminals/Conmen/Fools