V Terror and Horror

V Reality and Insanity

V Confinement
V Justice and Injustice
V Setting
V The Supernatural
V merican Gothic is the birthplace for the
modern horror genre
(examples Stephen King or the new movie 

M
V Characters experience terror and dread as they
anticipate an event (creates tension and
suspenseM and then horror when the even
occurs
V The supernatural is a common theme within
this genre to create the terror and horror the
characters feel
V merican Gothic often exhibits a dream-like
reality
V Often the narrator is relating and interpreting
events and within the storyline, he/she looses site
of reality
V The narrator often represents the fractured psyche
and exhibits insanity ² this is when people began
to be interested in why behind people·s insanity
V s a reader, we need to be aware that the narrator
in the Gothic genre is most often NOT trustworthy
and the reader needs to interpret the actions of the
story independent of the narrator·s comments
V The characters in merican Gothic often
experience confinement
V The sensation of Claustrophobia often adds to
the dark mood/tone of the genre as well as the
tension and suspense
V Example: |
 
 
V Often the disaster and events of the storyline
revolve around righting wrongs
V For example, the fall of the house of usher was
righting the injustice of the family of usher,
wiping out the family line.
V The setting is often central to the storyline in
gothic genre
Often the setting is so important to the piece that it
almost acts as one of the characters and often reflects
the dark mood/tone or the character·s psyche
V Often gothic fiction is set within the middle
ages, where there is no technology and people
live off the land, by candle light, in old creepy
run down castles
V Gothic literature often features the
supernatural, such as ghosts, vampires,
monsters, etc.
V The supernatural is often proven to be false oo
a symptom of the fractured psyche of the
narrator
V Examples:
Bram Stocker·s x 
ary Shelley·s 






V The raven is written in Trochaic Octameter

V Eight trochees per line (a trochee is the reverse of an iambM
V Grief and Loneliness are central to
understanding what is actually going on in the
poem
V lso, the ravens were named after this poem
and as we read through it, you will see
references to ravens and the color purple which
is how the football team got their colors
V Crows/Ravens are the only bird besides
Parrots that can be taught to mimic
V lliteration
V Repetition
V Illusions
V Tone
V Mood
V Symbolism
V The refrain