Choose Your Own Short Story

READ

[Source]

Choose one story from the following short stories (sure you can read more than one, but for this unit having one under your belt will suffice).

Choose one from the following:
"Everything That Rises Must Converge"-Flannery O'Connor
"The Black Cat"-Poe
"Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?"-Oates
"A Good Man is Hard to Find"-O'Connor

DO THE FOLLOWING ON YOUR BLOG
Create Socratic Questions (one question for each type) covering the story you've chosen. Write your questions and the answers on a blog post. Be sure to answer each question you ask using complete sentences.

Anytime you want me to check your progress comment below 

and I'll look at what you've been writing.

The Gothic Short Story (Write Your Own)

Note: You will need to be in class to get the due date and to draw for what motifs you'll need to include in your story.

Words to know
Motif (there's a sheet you can download from this file)

Gothic Romanticism: Hawthorne, Poe and Baudelaire

Gothic Romanticism - slideshows

In class we will be reading "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe. When reading "Spleen" by Baudelaire note the similarities and differences between the American approach to Dark Romanticism as compared to Baudelaire's European approach. Need a little help? Check out some reading here and/or here.

READ: "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment"
READ: "The Fall of the House of Usher"
READ: "The Masque of the Red Death"

ANSWER ON YOUR BLOG: 

1. There are many interpretations of “The Fall of the House of Usher”. One interpretation suggests that Usher’s nervousness and weakness are the results of Madeline Usher’s being a vampire. Using details from the story, write an analysis of the story that supports this interpretation.
2. How do the Gothic fiction writers express—either directly or indirectly—a criticism of human nature. Explain what the writers criticize about human nature, and how they communicate this criticism to the reader. Do the writers have similar attitudes toward human nature? Explain.

Anytime you want me to check your progress comment below 

and I'll look at what you've been writing.

[The Father of Gothic Fiction: Edgar Allen Poe]

Essential Questions for this Unit

"Rain, Train and Speed"-JMW Turner National Gallery

On your blog answer the essential questions:

1. How are the Romantics' beliefs of optimism and individualism reflected in their writing?
2. What is Romanticism, Gothic Romanticism and Southern Gothic Romanticism? How are they similar how are they different?
3. How is the Southern Gothic movement a response to literary movements that have preceded it as well as a manipulation of Romantic literary conventions?
4. How did the American culture prompt the dark sides of Romanticism (think Gothic and Southern Gothic)?
5. How do the writings of these time periods influence the writings of today? 

Feel free to add to your answers as you progress through the unit.

Anytime you want me to check your progress comment below and I'll look at what you've been writing.