Conventions Of Gothic Literature

Southern Gothic literature, which is a sub-genre of the Gothic writing style, is unique to the American South. Southern Gothic literature has many of the same aspects as Gothic literature; it focuses on topics such as death, madness, and the super natural as well has having many mystical, bizarre, violent, and grotesque aspects. These tools are used "to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South (Wikipedia)."

Poe and Byron are masterful at using vivid, descriptive language to develop the elements of Gothic literature and instill a sense of fear in the reader.

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.

Consolidate that with a southern setting and we understand that it's not quite Gothic, but rather Southern Gothic. The Southern Gothic kind concentrations – now and again inconspicuously, now and again clearly – on servitude, or the fallout of subjugation in the South. You can see this in "A Rose for Emily."

“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.

Gothic literature has been criticized as being a dreary, dark, and death-involving subset of Romanticism (a literary movement accentuating human individuality, imagination, and subjectivity). In addition, gothic lit incorporates several themes- not all about deathly acts - but includes some emotional and surprising themes such as dreams, nightmares, or hallucinations, and grotesque or bizarre occurrences. Two short stories, both written by Edgar Allan Poe, entitled “The Raven,” and “The Black Cat,” as well as the novel The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, all encompass these gothic elements, found throughout each story.

Most Romantic Literature seem to have formulated a communal moral or theme when closely looked at. “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe, “Prey” by Richard Matheson, and “The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga are three short stories that are all in the genre of gothic literature; that have at least two common themes. The two themes that intertwine all these stories together are: a supernatural force being among characters, and the unsightly presences of violence or revenge. All three writings have the use of supernatural forces and some sort of violence or revenge to demonstrate that good things may not always be what they seem and if you underestimate how dangerous or powerful something is it might end up hurting your stature or reputation in the end.

One of the spookiest experiences in Harley’s life was on a cold, dark Halloween night when Harley and her friends, Lauryn and Heidi, got chased by a clown for 3 blocks on a gloomy narrow road. This scenario relates to traits  of Gothic Literature and Magical Realism because, that experience was in a dark setting and contained weird incidents and a disturbing plot. Those two genres are similar because they both usually have unrealistic characters and scary plots. However, in Edgar Allan Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher” is an example of Gothic Literature because, the story’s setting is in an isolated, creepy, and large house with odd characters and a frightening plot line, while Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” is an example of  Magical Realism because the realistic characters are accepting the unimpressed narrative tone in an ordinary way of life. Gothic Literature is a style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death, and gloom. Settings are usually in a isolated and haunted location in a big house or castle with trap doors, dark rooms, and secret passages. Characters are usually supernatural beings or monsters.

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.

Throughout the course of history, literature has gone through considerable changes. Dating back to its humble beginnings in folklore, fables, and storytelling all the way up to the scientific books and dramatic novels of today. Literature is arguably the centerpiece of all mankind. It is useful for record keeping, education, and bringing cultures and societies together. It has allowed us to expand our minds by painting a picture of the beautiful places this world has to offer outside of our corners of the earth. One genre of literature I find especially intriguing is Southern Gothic Literature. It is a subclass of gothic fiction, specifically set

The gothic literary movement is a part of the larger Romantic Movement. Gothic literature shares many of the traits of romanticism, such as the emphasis on emotions and the imagination. Gothic literature goes beyond the melancholy evident in most romantic works, however, and enters into the areas of horror and decay, becoming preoccupied with death. “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe is a powerful example of gothic fiction, whereas James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans serves as the romantic predecessor, illustrating the differences and the similarities between romantic and gothic literature.

Since the 19h century, American Gothic fiction started to exist independently from the British type. In fact, the latter was marked by its use of fantastic, externalized and metaphysical elements as opposed to the boundaries of American Gothic fiction in which were expressed by historical, internalized, racial and psychological characteristics. (Edwards, XVII) In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven, Fall of the House of Usher and The Tell-tale heart and The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym and in Charles Broken Brown’s Edgar Huntly expresses a transformation of certain gothic conventions to an American setting which are the result of 19th century

     The term Gothic refers to a genre that came about in the late eighteenth century. It can be a type of story, clothing, or music nowadays. In this paper it will refer to a style of literature. A very good example of this type of literature is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. There is a sense of foreboding throughout the whole novel, which is one of the basic necessities of the Gothic. This theme of the Gothic has different characteristics that all fit into the story of Victor Frankenstein and his monster and make this one of the first horror stories every told.

on the aid of Hell itself, and to find things familiar in the world of

Gothic literature includes elements of style that is usually portrayed in tales and deals with horror, despair, the grotesque, and mysteries. In the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, there are many elements of gothic literature that is found throughout the book. The term gothic is very broad in literature, and gothic can mean many different things from characteristics of people, feelings and reactions of a specific setting, mood, actions that happen being people, and so much more. All of this thrived in the 19th century. Gothic is categorized by an emphasis on the dark, gloomy, and mysterious. Ideas such as magic, hidden passages, wind, ghosts, and other supernatural elements, love, etc were all elements in the Gothic movement during the 19th century. Specifically, the descriptions of the settings, both outside and inside, in the novel, the actions of the main protagonists in the novel, and the love between Catherine and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights all add on to this idea of a gothic literature or tradition.