American Gothic Compare and Contrast Essay

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Recommended: Analyze the themes ( one or more) in the “A Rose for Emily”

What do you think of when you hear the words American Gothic? If you thought of death, heartbreak, loneliness, then you are correct. The writing period of American Gothic was one that people decided to write about the other side of the happy endings. the heart breaks and the funerals and the thought of being lonely forever. They tell you about the reality of things and what the truth is, how things really happened and it doesn’t sugar coat anything. In “A Rose for Emily” Emily becomes a sad and depressed person who will do something completely unexpected. In “The Lottery” the townspeople have a twisted tradition that takes place once a year. These two stories have a lot of comparison and contrast dealing with theme, foreshadowing and imagery. Both “ The Lottery” and “ A Rose for Emily” are American Gothic, they focus more on the dark side of life. For example “ Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head.”(Faulkner 1). This shows fear and death, that is the basis of American gothic, also the mood is a mood in both stories where its so slow that, it seems fast, every other line gets goosebumps going. Never knowing when the next plot twist is going to be. The stories help readers understand the true but sad facts of life, of how death eventually comes for everyone. It focus on the dark times. In the lottery a good quote that explains this concept of Death and dark times is “ It isn't fair” she said as a stone hit her head Old man Warner was saying “ Come on come on everyone” “ It isn't fair it isn't right” screamed ms. Hutchinson, then they were upon her. This shows the cruelty and the ignorance of human nature and behavior. So both “A Rose for Emily” and "The Lottery” are great examples of American Go... ... middle of paper ... ...s have a lot of comparison and contrast dealing with theme, foreshadowing and imagery. These stories are more different because in “A Rose for Emily” she feels the need to get married to fit in with the other women in her town, but in contrast to “The Lottery” they have the norm of killing someone and they don’t want to fit in with everyone. Analyzing literature is important because it helps understand society in a physiological and sociological way. These two stories say a lot about society. They say that there are traditions people follow to fit in and some do it to not fit in. In conclusion literature has a big reflection on society. Works Cited Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily" The Language of Literature. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2002. 517-25. Print. Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery” The Lottery and Other Stories. New York: Farrar, 1991. 1-5. Print.

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