A PRESENTATION GIVEN BY COLLEGE STUDENTS

1. Gothic
Literature

2. Gothic is not synonymous
with Horror. Though Gothic
fiction may have some
horrific elements, there is a
surprising lack of the kind of
gore that is a trademark of
Horror.

3. Gothic
often relies in heavily on
literature
the disturbing power of
the
unseen
as opposed to the seen,
and it taps into the
primitive and deeply
psychological to
genuinely
disturb the
reader
instead of just going for the cheap thrill.

4. Gothic
Fiction was a
branch of the
larger
Romantic
movement
that sought to
stimulate
strong
emotions in
the

5. The Gothic
tradition had its
origins in 1764 with
the publication of
Horace
Walpole's The
Castle of Otranto.
The Castle of Otranto (1764) contained all of the elements
that constitute the genre. It is usually regarded as the first
Gothic novel.

6. Horace Walpole
by extension is arguably the
forerunner to such authors as:

7. Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823)

8. Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

9. Bram Stocker (1847-1912)

10. Mary Shelley (1797- 1851)

11. Criteria for Gothic
Fiction

12. Narrative Devices

13. There are different resourses in
order not to make your Gothic
story boring to the reader
• Use accurate vocabulary to make it more vivid.
E.g: crackle, rumble, wail, howls,etc.
• Use a wide range of adjectives, not only the
common ones. E.g:
grim, gloomy, decrepit, creepy, spooky, etc.
• The use of commas is also important to change
the dynamic of the story.

14. How to create
Suspense or
Tensiongood writers should:
• describe things in a way that worry us
• make us care about the characters
• make a character sound foolishly unaware
of danger
• make us expect terrible things to happen
• use a variety of sentences to vary the
speed of the story

15. How to create
expectation
• include phrases and words that call
reader’s attention
• characters must be developed as
interesting ones
• include adjectives that make the reader
visualize them better
• Use comas in its different usages, for
providing a dramatic pause, adding extra
information, or separating items on a list

16. Setting & Atmosphere

17. The name of Gothic genre comes from medieval
architecture, because it often harks to medieval era in
spirit and subject matter and also uses Gothic buildings as
settings
This style of fiction places heavy emphasis on
atmosphere, using setting and diction to build suspense
and a sense of unease in the reader.

18. It has several characteristics that
distinguish it from other types of
writing....
• medieval or medieval-type • omens, portents, visions—often
setting the story is based on a
• gloomy and very strong prophecy
architecture • evokes terror through the
• woman in distress needing to depiction of physical and, more
be rescued often, psychological violence
• bad, nasty, evil, controlling, do • explores the nightmares under
minating, lustful villain who has the surface of the “civilized”
the power, as king, lord of the mind and/or aberrant
manor, father, or guardian, to psychological states.
demand that one or more of the
female characters do
something intolerable.
• apparently supernatural events

19. Gothic
Settings
•Unnaturally still and
quiet Unusual
•Dark and gloomy
•Wide,remoteand
desolated
• Spooky places
•Exotic locations
•Secret passages
•Cold
• Odd

20. Closer to the construction of
Setting, it is the presence of
certain animals in this type of
genre. which are
They are animals
common in such places as
Castles, Abandoned
houses, Woods, Basements, etc.

21. ANIMALS IN GOTHIC LITERATURE
In the gothic genre, which is well known for being a
branch of the romantic movement, nature is always
present, and so do animals. But not any animals can
be found in gothic stories. They usually are:
• black cats
• crows
• bats
• Frogs
• Owls
...And they share certain characteristics; they are
most commonly nocturnal, of bad omen and some
are ugly.

22. Crows
."Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into
smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it
wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I
said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the
nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian
shore!'

23. Black Cats
“…Pluto - this was the cat's name – was a remarkably
large and beautiful animal, entirely black, and
sagacious to an astonishing degree. In speaking of
his intelligence, my wife, who at heart was not a little
tinctured with superstition, made frequent allusion to
the ancient popular notion, which regarded all black
cats as witches in disguise…”("The black cat")

24. Bats
It was not until Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula that
vampires actually transformed themselves into bats.
In the story, Dracula rules bats. He often assumes
bat-like characteristics and his presence at night is
often signified by a bat hovering outside a potential
victim’s window.

25. We achieve the Gothic
Criteria
through the use of…

26. Descriptions
• Make an appropriated choice of words
• Catch readers' attention, produce impact
• Describe characters and places in detail Using
adjectives to cause sense of fear , horror
• Try to make the readers worry and care about them
• Create suspense, intrigue...

27. Characters
•
DOLEFULL, LOOKI
NG
SAD, DEPRESSING,
AFLICTED, LAMENT
ABLE...
Symbolic
significance of
interactions
between the
•Spooky,eerie,
natural and the
supernatural mysterious, stra
nge, spectral...

28. Beginnings & Endings

29. IF WE THINK ABOUT
BEGINNINGS…
There are many things to take into
account:
• the writer should grab the reader’s attention
by
- using rhetorical questions, and
- addressing the reader directly
• the beginning should tells us what the rest of
the story would be about
• the mood used in the opening should be
different from the mood of the ending

30. ONCE WE DEALT WITH ALL
THAT,the ending should be well
developed
and every mentioned thing must be
clarified at the end of the story.

31. High School Gothic Literature

32. The Gothic in Architecture, Art, and
Literature

33. Sources
*Charles, A; Durant, R; Grant, D; Menon, E & Turner, B. (2008). "Building Skills
in English" . United Kingdom: Heinemann
*Meyers Spacks, P. (2006). Novel Beginnings. Experiments in Eighteenth-
Century Fiction. Chapter 7 Gothic Fiction. United Kingdom: Yale University
Press New Haven & London
*Foster, N. (2012) "What characterizes Gothic Fiction?"
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-characterizes-gothic-fiction.htm
*The Castle of Otranto. (2010). In Wikisource, The Free Library.
http//en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Castle_of_Otranto
*MacLeod, K. Incompetech. Royalty Free Music.
http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/index.html?genre=Horror&page=1
*You tube, Broadcast Yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YxXcDohJH4
*You tube, Broadcast Yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLsTrHtdKN4