Summary Of Magical Realism In 'Where Is Here'

The short stories “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe and “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar are two well known works of literature that encompass unique literary styles. Poe utilizes Gothic literature in his story, a style of writing that incorporates elements of darkness, gloom, drama, and intense descriptions. On the other hand, Cortazar uses Magical Realism and its realistic characters, setting, and fantastic and unusual events to tell his tale. Despite the two being completely different genres, they share many similar traits, specifically relating to fear.

With our imagination we can have many thoughts in our mind, we can think of how we want to be in the future. Everybody in this world has their own way of thinking. “In the Gothic stories, “The Fall of The House of Usher written by Edgar Allan Poe and “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar the authors write about how both stories have some type of interest that makes the reader want to be very eager about the story. The imagination can overcome reason through issues such as: fear, paranoid, delusion, etc. The House of The Fall of Usher talks about how Mr. Usher is trying to get over his “dead” sister and the narrator is trying to help him. They begin to hear things inside the house, and realize that the sister was alive at the end. House Taken Over about a bother and sister that share a house that’s been passed over from previous family members and normally they have a typical daily routine but at night they come across “spooky” occasions.

Both Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” have similar settings because both take place in a spooky large houses. However, in Poe’s story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,”the setting is different because it was dark,gloomy and old house in the middle of nowhere. By contrast, Cortazar’s “House Taken Over,”the house is a little more modern and bright, well taken care of and the environment is greener.Gothic Literature is literature that has bleak or remote setting, a gloomy or melancholy mood. Also, characters or sometime tormented in a physical or psychological way. Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the house of Usher” is a good example of gothic literature because the setting of the story is very bleak and dark,and the characters in them are tormented physically and psychologically . for example, in the story, it states ,”With the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit (13).” This sentence proves my claim because the quote is saying that the character’s spirit feels tormented when he starts to walk into the house. Therefore, “The Fall of the house of Usher” is gothic literature because it shows it shows characters in the story being tormented.

The “Fall of the house of usher” is classified as Gothic literature due to its dark theming as well as its macabre atmosphere , While very similar to “The Fall of the House of Usher” , “House taken Over” is not classified as gothic literature it is classified as Magical realism due to its more magical senses as well as mystery behind the unknown forces that are taking over the house.

“Fear is not real. It is the product of thoughts you create. Danger is very real, but fear is only a choice.” Fear is not something that is always real, such as when Usher was scared but there was nothing to fear yet, but the danger at the end of the story, especially for Ushers friend, was something to fear for. In the Gothic Literature short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe, the setting is somber and creates an illusion of darkness. On the other hand, “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar, portrays the idea of magical realism in, which setting is more realistic and less gloomy. Although Gothic Literature and Magical Realism are similar, there are also many differences, especially in their settings.

Alex’s spookiest experience was when she was watching a t.v. show and it actually convinced her that a women could communicate with the dead. This is related to gothic literature because they both have supernatural elements. However, it's also related to magical realism because it was realistic but also contained surreal elements. Edgar Allan Poe’s “Fall of The House of Usher” is an example of gothic literature because it resembles a dark and mysterious plot. While Julio Cotazar’s “House Taken Over” is an example of magical realism because the house gets taken over by Nazi’s, but seems as if ghost’s took over.

One of Diana spookiest experiences of her life was when her cousins and Diana would hear weird sounds in the night. This scenario relates to the traits of Gothic Lit and Magical Realism because the sounds did happen so it's reality. Gothic Lit and Magical Realism are similar because they are both scary, mysterious, and are dramatic. Edgar Allen Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher” is an example of Gothic Literature because it has a dark and gloomy setting in a large old mansion. While Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” is an example of Magical Realism because it has a mysterious ending.

The spookiest experience Kaylee ever had was the time she almost died at surf camp. She was trying to go where the water wasn't breaking into waves and as soon as she got just about there, a 3 foot wave came and was just about to crash and she was in the range to get hit so when it finally crashed it took her under the water and flipped her over about three times to the point where she couldn't breathe and she almost died. This scenario is related to the traits of gothic literature and magic realism because they both show life threatening situations. It is also different however, because Magical Realism is more relatable to a person with a normal life that has been interrupted with strange events, while in Gothic Literature one cannot

Gothic literature is a style characterized by multiple elements, such as fear, death, gloom, as well as romantic elements like nature, individuality, and high emotion. Magical realism, on the other hand, began as a painting style. It then evolved into the literary style associated with Latin America, which puts fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction. One of the most important elements of these genres is the setting of the stories. In The Fall of the House of Usher and House Taken Over, the setting creates atmosphere, reflects genre, and reflects characters.

To begin, “The term Gothic fiction refers to a style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death and gloom, as well as romantic elements, such as nature, individuality, and very high emotion. These emotions can include fear and suspense.”. (Greaver, 1). This specific style of writing began in the late seventeen hundreds. Gothic fiction was created in order to keep a narrower set of viewers or readers more intrigued and interested. “The term Gothic actually originated as a term belittling the architecture and art of the period, which was dark, decaying, and dismal. The settings were often old, dilapidated buildings or houses in gloomy, lifeless, fear inducing landscapes.” (Greaver, 1). Gothic literature is often explained as an illusion that is unexplainable. “Gothic fiction hovers between the uncanny and the marvelous, offering little

One of the spookiest moments of my life, was exploring an abandoned warehouse and the door slammed shut, an entire flock of birds started to fly at me. This scenario is similar to the traits of Gothic Literature and Magical Realism because it is a description of the eerie setting and events. Gothic Literature and Magical Realism are similar because they both illustrate ideas of suspense and mystery throughout. Edgar Allen Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher”is an example of Gothic lit because they have the people of the story have physiological problems and are going crazy.While Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” is an example of Magical Realism because it takes place in a realistic setting that includes ordinary details of everyday life.

Gothic literature usually brings to mind Edgar Allen Poe and dark foggy London streets but that's not all gothic literature is. Gothic literature usually has themes of mystery and eerie settings or characters. Themes such as physical and mental decay and isolation, abandonment, and entrapment are very prominent in Prey by Richard Matheson, The Feather Pillow by Horacio Quiroga and The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe.

Gothic Literature is a writing style that has dark setting, it has an overall atmosphere of mystery, exoticism, death. A Gothic story will revolve around a large, ancient house or an obscure setting that conceals a terrible secret or that serves as the refuge of an especially frightening and threatening character

Gothic literature and magical realism are similar because they both are most likely a fantasy or not believed to be true realism and realistic setting. In Joyce Carol Oates “Where is Here”, dramatic description happens and gives further details to the story. For instance, “The stranger wandered around the property while the mother set the dining room table’’ (69). However Julio Cortazar's “House Taken Over” is similar because it has realistic setting & details. This is proven in “The dining room, a living room with tapestries, the library and three large bedrooms in the section most recessed, the one that faced toward Rodriguez Pena”(39). Therefore, the two stories are similar because they both show signs of good detail and setting. Jordan Scott

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.