‘Remixing Gothic Contradictions’ at first seemed as a seemingly obscure topic when I first entered my English 1102 class this semester, however, I worked through all the Artifacts through the semester, I realized how ubiquitously the themes in Gothic literature are present in life. For example, in Dracula, the motif of the Christian symbols in Transylvania resembles those I encounter in day-to-day life here in the Southern United States. In large cities, such as Atlanta, I see less emphasis on religion placed in society, but when I travel towards the more rural areas, I see more churches and people involved in the religion in general, just as Johnathan Harker noticed in the contrast between England and Transylvania. This was what I believe was the lifeblood of the course, these themes are what makes literature so interesting and relatable, and is what made me come to class everyday yearning to learn and make more connections.
Another primary goal of this class was to propagate our competence in communication through the various different modes like infographics and videos, both written and verbal. Our assignments, especially in the latter part of the semester has been focused on the collaboration with other colleagues, which definitely aided us in those skills, necessary in the increasingly interconnected world. The process of creating these artifacts highly built upon the consequential revision process, WOVEN. My personal goals in this class were to improve my verbal
Various authors develop their stories using gothic themes and characterizations of this type to lay the foundation for their desired reader response. Although Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Peter Taylor’s “Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time” are two completely different narratives, both of these stories share a commonality of gothic text representations. The stories take slightly different paths, with Poe’s signifying traditional gothic literature and Taylor approaching his story in a more contemporary manner.
The world of the gothic is a place where the threshold of uncertainty is emphasized and asserted. Gothic literature is the playground of humanity’s deepest anxieties and fears; it teases with the audience by confronting the elements of society that are most seldom mentioned. In gothic literature, this anxiety causing shadow element is known as the liminal. To further clarify what the luminal is, it is something which hides in metaphorical shadows that exist just beyond the reader's attention. When the liminal emerges it is meant to provoke a fearful response in the audience that is fueled by personal anxiety. Perfect liminal elements cause a subconscious response of fear in both the audience and the characters of the story. This kind of liminal
Halberstam, Judith. (1993). Technologies of Monstrosity: Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. Indiana University Press, 36, 333-352. Spencer, L. Kathleen. (1992). In Purity and Danger: Dracula, The Urban Gothic, and the Late Victorian Degeneracy Crisis. The John Hopkins University Press, 59, 197-225.
“John B McLemore lives in Shittown, Alabama,” Brian Reed quoted. Many people today can relate to some of the problems John faces in S-Town. Most of these problems are derived from southern gothic characteristics within the podcast. The podcast uses many different southern gothic characteristics in order to make it more interesting. Many of the examples of these characteristics are more modern so that they relate to our current society. S-Town is a piece of contemporary Southern Gothic Literature because of its use of social issues, irony, and outsiders.
It is often suggested that Gothic originates from the margins and presents a challenge to dominant culture. Is Gothic always transgressive? This essay aims to analyse the transgression displayed in gothic texts that expose realities which society chooses to ‘abject’. (Kristeva, 1: 1982,)
In these gothic literature short stories regarding romanticism the authors often use many elements that pertain to fear, however, the most prevalent themes in: “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, “Prey” by Richard Matheson, “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, and “The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga are grotesqueness and violence. The authors utilize grotesqueness and violence in order to furthermore portray a dismal mood, foreshadow events to come, and to further entice the reader.
Gothic literature uses wide ranging themes and gothic elements to convey its story. Gothic literature short stories can range from romance to horror to supernatural occurrences. Horacio Quiroga’s “The Feather Pillow,” Richard Matheson’s “Prey,” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” all incorporate the following gothic elements: violence, revenge, hallucinations, nightmares, and psychological issues.
The American Gothic Genre, which focuses on the paranormal aspects of life, began in the 1700s and is still used today. Kelly Link is the author of “The Specialist’s Hat”, and the author of many literary collections. She's received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and has co-edited a number of anthologies. She uses imagery, intimidating diction, and literary devices to convey the emotion and theme of snakes, hollowness, and death in this story.
Once upon a time in the dark gloomy household of the Kelly family lived John (Father), Mary (Mother) and Jimmy (Son). Jimmy is 16 years old and is an only child. His parents are very over protective and struggle to accept he is growing up and not letting him go out and enjoy life. This family has just recently lost their sister and grandparents in tragic car crash leaving 45 people dead. They are facing being sued over dangerous driving and mounting a curb causing them to run down and kill 42 other people. The stress level for all of them have hit the roof, and are to starting to fight between themselves while people protest outside their house.
Although Moers’ essay is not entirely focused on the formalist approach, there is a good deal that holds the same values. Moers talks about Gothic fiction as a genre and how the time period influenced Mary Shelley’s alteration of
All too often the gothic literature genre is reduced in its interpretation to gloomy weather and archaic haunted houses. These patterns do exist, but they do not define the genre. Gothic literature found its niche in the 18th and 19th centuries, and during the Victorian era it served a more nuanced purpose than simply to scare readers. Many gothic authors used a monster as a vessel to symbolize topics that the Victorian era sensibilities would label as “monstrous.” They are the incarnation of the taboo subjects society is trying to repress. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Tell-Tale Heart”, the authors use Freudian symbolism along with literary symbolism to demonstrate the repercussions of repressing “id” desires.
Introduction Boundaries are important as they indicate a limit a person not supposed to cross, it important that people respect boundaries as once boundaries are crossed, it can affect the relationship between two people or society as a whole. Crossing boundaries come with consequences. In regards to this assignment we will be looking at consequences of challenging boundaries in the gothic novels Wuthering heights and Frankenstein. The social and cultural background of the genre gothic novel According to Mullan, (2014), gothic fiction began as a sophisticated joke Horace Walpole first applied the word gothic to a novel in the subtitle – ‘a gothic story’- of the Castle of Otranto, published in 1764. According to Tiffin (2011) the historical context of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century is important to the gothic form, as
Gothic literature is a style of writing that contains elements of both horror and romance. This genre allows readers to experience a mix of horror and romance intertwined. Within the gothic genre there are elements of supernatural events, beings, and gloomy day settings. This style of writing became popular in the late 18th century and early 19 century. Many give credit to it’s uprising to author Horace Walpole, who wrote The Castle of Otranto (1764). His book contains all the elements that constitute the gothic genre. Frankenstein fits perfectly into the gothic category because the gloomy and mysterious setting is placed where most readers think of it as
In the present form of media, scary stories portrayed through movies and literature are in popular demand. These gothic stories use several elements to create fear in the reader. A common element in most gothic literature is the aspect of transformation. Transformations are most definitely what creates the tone of fear in the plot of the story. These changes can range from a shift in the tone to the characterization of an individual.
During the course of this semester; the variety of writing styles and essays assigned to me in my communication skills class encouraged the development of my writing skills, as well as provided me with more self-assurance in my abilities. My writing, research, and presentation abilities enhanced through practice, determination, and the understanding I gained during this course. With every single writing assignment, I learned new innovative approaches and skills, which enhanced my abilities to improve my thoughts logically, enabling me to write more clearly, and to organize my papers more effectively. At the beginning of this semester; despite the fact that I already knew the terminology MAP: message, audience, purpose; I never really