Gothic Literature:
Think of gothic literature as that which plunges its characters into mystery, torment, and fear in order to pose disturbing questions to our familiar and comfortable ideas of humanity, society, and the cosmos.
Unit Overview: Glossary
ambiguity - Doubtfulness or uncertainness of interpretation. Much gothic literature is considered ambiguous insofar as it rarely presents a clear moral or message; it seems intended to be open to multiple meanings.
gothic - In the eighteenth century and following, generally used for "of the Middle Ages." Then, through negative association with the medieval--often seen as the "Dark Ages" following the intellectual and social flowering of Rome--the term "gothic" shifts to literature, art, or architecture which attempts to disturb or unsettle the orderly, "civilized" course of society. Gothic works probe the dark side of humanity or unveil socio-cultural anxiety.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
Born to the teenage actors Elizabeth Arnold and David Poe Jr. (in a time when acting was a highly disreputable career), Edgar Allan Poe was raised by a Richmond, Virginia, merchant named John Allan after both his parents died. Allan sent Poe to the University of Virginia, but Poe left after quarrelling with Allan in 1827. Allan had no patience for Poe’s literary pretensions, and Poe found Allan cheap and cruel. Poe then sought out his father’s relatives in Baltimore, where he published his first volume of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems, and later secretly married his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. He moved with his wife and her mother to Richmond, Philadelphia (where he wrote several of his most famous works, including “Ligeia,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”), and then to New York City. Throughout these relocations, he worked editing magazines and newspapers, but found it difficult to hold onto any one job for very long. Poe’s horror tales and detective stories (a genre he created) were written to capture the fancy of the popular reading pub- lic, but he earned his national reputation through a large number of critical essays and sketches. With the publication of “The Raven”(1845), Poe secured his fame, but he was not succeeding as well in his personal life. His wife died in 1847, and Poe was increasingly ill and drinking uncontrollably. He died on a trip to Baltimore, four days after being found intoxicated near a polling booth on Election Day.
Poe was influenced by the fantastic romances of Charles Brockden Brown, Washington Irving, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. However, unlike most of his famous contemporaries, Poe rarely described American life in any direct way in his writings. Often set in exotic, vaguely medieval, or indeterminately distant locations, Poe’s work seems more interested in altered states of consciousness than history or culture: his characters often swirl within madness, dreams, or intoxication, and may or may not encounter the supernatural. His literary reputation has been uneven, with some critics finding his extrav- agant prose and wild situations off-putting or absurd (and his poetry pedestrian and repetitive). Poe’s defenders, however (including many nineteenth- and twentieth-century French intellectuals), see him as a brilliant allegorist of the convolutions of human consciousness. For example, there are many “doubles” in Poe: characters who mirror each other in profound but nonrealistic ways, suggesting not so much the subtleties of actual social relationships as the splits and fractures with- in a single psyche trying to relate to itself.
1. Has anyone ever done anything to you that made you want to get revenge on them? What did they do?
2. Have you ever gotten revenge on someone for something they did to you? What did you do to them in return? Why did you feel a need to get revenge?
3. Explain how the revenge made you feel? Did you get caught? If you had gotten caught, would that have changed the feeling the revenge gave you? Explain.
Read "The Cask of Amontillado" here:
Mini Project Due Oct. 21: Choose ONE of the following projects
- Create an illustrated book cover. The book cover should include a picture (either drawn or clip art) and a brief synopsis of the work in an attempt to pique the interest of a potential reader. Information about the author should also be included on the inside flap.
- Create a travel brochure advertising the Montresor mansion as a tourist attraction. The students will be responsible for illustrating the brochure and for writing the introduction to acquire the interest of potential tourists. Information about the author should also be included in the brochure .
HOMEWORK FOR WEEK OF OCTOBER 21-28:
1. Define each Literary Term on the handout from Oct. 7. Be prepared for a quiz on Oct. 28 Find a copy of the handout here:
Find the definitions for the Literary terms here: http://www.bathcsd.org/webpages/edepartment/literary_terms.cfm A couple of the definitions may require the use a dictionary.
2. Answer the following questions:
"Cask of Amatillado" Literary Term Questions Due Oct. 28
- How does not knowing what Fortunato did to Montressor intensify the horror of this story?
- Explain how Montressor’s family motto is related to the story? To the actions of Montressor?
- How does Montressor manipulate Fortunato? What CHARACTER TRAITS make Fortunato easy prey for Montressor?
- CHARACTERIZE Montressor. What kind of person is he?
- Contrast the setting in the beginning of the story with the setting where Montressor takes Fortunato.
- What is the setting? What details of the setting contribute to the horror of this story?
- What might Fortunato’s name mean?
- Why might Fortunato’s name be IRONIC?
- Explain the MOOD of this story.
- Who is the PROTAGONIST of this story? Justify your answer.
- Who is the ANTAGONIST of this story? Defend your answer.
- Would the story be better or worse if you knew what Fortunato did to Montressor? Explain.
- Who is the narrator of this story? What kind of narrator is he?
- Explain a symbol in the story.
3. Complete #1-7 "Character Analysis Traits" for the character of Montresor http://www.dukeofdefinition.com/characteranalysis.htm Due. Oct 28
4. Write a one paragraph Character Analysis of Montresor based on your answers to the "Character Analysis Traits" questions. Due Oct. 28
5. Read "The Tell Tale Heart" and be prepared for a Reading Quiz on Oct. 28
