The silver light of the moon was cloaked by the thick clouds . Yet, a ray of gray light trickled down upon the muddy pathway. Fallen branches and twisted twigs caught on to my ankle, and I could hear the leaves crunch underneath my worn out sandals. I could feel the sharp ends of the debris scraping against my pale skin. I tried to avoid them, yet I could barely make out anything on the path through the intense darkness of the night; not even the lantern could cut through it. The wind was so bitterly cold that it gnawed against the tips of my ears on nose-turning them a numb cherry red. I could smell my sinuses freezing up, making me feel sick.
There was no sensible movement for miles on the abandoned ally, it was completely vacant, except for one ancient house that seemed to moan along with the howling wind. It threatened to collapse at any given moment with the wind clashing against its decrepit panels. My mother had always told me to avoid the alley, especially at this hour and alone. Yet, that one house had always intrigued me. I couldn't hold back my curiosity much longer.
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I realized that the moans were not from the boards, rather they came from inside of the house. And that it was not something making the noise, rather someone. As I slowly approached the house, my steps seemed to get heavier, my heart pounded harder, and the knot in my stomach pulled so tightly that it sent a sharp pain down my spine. I shook it off, and layed my foot on the creaky wooden staircase; I had never been this close to the house, and now, it was right under the soles of my feet. The inside, ironically, was in much better condition than the outside. Yet, all the walls were lined with a thick coat of dust- I could even taste it in the dry air as I struggled to breathe. The moans on the lower level intensified, and they gradually went from a low rumbling growl, to a high pitched
cold, harsh, wintry days, when my brothers and sister and I trudged home from school burdened down by the silence and frigidity of our long trek from the main road, down the hill to our shabby-looking house. More rundown than any of our classmates’ houses. In winter my mother’s riotous flowers would be absent, and the shack stood revealed for what it was. A gray, decaying...
Elements of Southern Gothic Literature Literature comes in all types of styles and one type is Southern Gothic. But what makes a story develop into this type of Southern Gothic style? There are many characteristics that are apparent in literature, so what conditions are distinct that would give them the term Southern Gothic literature? What kind of elements do we call for when trying to find this type of literature? Southern Gothic is a literature that has a style all its own.
section of a story form the rest of the novel making it feel and sound
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Novels, written in various styles, maintain their value because each one presents the reader with a new thought to consider. Sometimes however, rather than expanding on an entirely new style to “suggest a thought” authors borrow characteristics from other novels to express themselves. These borrowed traits are then molded into a new shape. Authors from the Romanticism era did just that. They borrowed traits from Gothic literature to express their thoughts. Although the novels are unique and valued for their distinctiveness, the borrowed traits remain a parallel between the two genres. Traits such as deterioration of characters, love combating sin, return to animalistic priorities, and alienation of human emotion are all depicted in characters in Romantic literature. These traits are the cornerstones of Gothic literature. Characters from the Romanticism era have been profoundly impacted by Gothic Literature, as is evident in the parallels that exist between Great Expectations and Wuthering Heights compared to Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray.
I peered around through the rain, desperately searching for some shelter, I was drowning out here. The trouble was, I wasn’t in the best part of town, and in fact it was more than a little dodgy. I know this is my home turf but even I had to be careful. At least I seemed to be the only one out here on such an awful night. The rain was so powerfully loud I couldn’t hear should anyone try and creep up on me. I also couldn’t see very far with the rain so heavy and of course there were no street lights, they’d been broken long ago. The one place I knew I could safely enter was the church, so I dashed.
Southern Gothic is a specific genre of literature that ties together stereotypical elements of an old South with aspects of classical gothic work. There are six defining features usually present Southern Gothic story: an act of violence (physical or mental), imprisonment (literal or figurative), a strong sense of place (of typical Southern nature), an “innocent” character, a grotesque element, and an outsider. Alice Walker’s short story, “The Flowers”, clearly illustrates a strong sense of place, an innocent character, and a grotesque element.
Utilizing gothic elements to establish a narrative in movies is an extremely popular and effective way of telling a story. Filmmakers have adapted their creative thoughts on gothic elements to film to provide the same impact that past Gothic writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickenson and Nathaniel Hawthorne so effectively used in their literature. In the article “Elements of a Gothic Novel” by Robert Harris he provides a list of the core gothic elements. Robert Harris gives most of the credit to Horace Walpole for creating the gothic elements. “The Gothic Novel was invented almost single-handedly by Horace Walpole, whose The Castle of Otranto (1764) contains
In the late 1800’s, the many cultural changes in England brought changes to Gothic literature. Instead of situating fear in the outlying regions of the countryside, writers brought terror inside the heart of the city; London. Through the mangling of everyday settings and situations, Gothic tales began to create suspense and terror in its readers through fantastical supernatural events that occur within their neighborhoods. Bram Stoker’s Dracula serves as an example of this shift as Count Dracula moves from the sparsely inhabited countryside to the more populated hunting grounds of London. The “urban gothic” as defined by Kathleen Spencer takes social and cultural trends of the time and creates fictions that center on the insecurities and familiar surroundings of Victorian England. In response, the actions and behaviors of characters change as well. In one example of urban gothic fiction, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson utilizes the norms and expectations of society to create a disturbing narrative that addresses the emerging concerns of decadence in Victorian high society. The advancement of Gothicism from focusing on the supernatural to exposing the unnatural is also evident in Jekyll and Hyde when compared with Walpole’s The Castle of Ortranto. In Walpole’s narrative, terror comes from ghostly or other worldly revenge. The initiation of fear comes from an outside source. In Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde, the terror lies within the psychological issues of mankind.
Southern Gothic Literature is a subgenre of Gothic fiction writing, which takes place in the American South. The Southern Gothic style is one of that employs the topics such as death, bizarre, violent, madness, and supernatural. These tools are used “to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South (Wikipedia).” The view of the South which is self-identified as the “national” or “American” view is basically a colonial Romance, with the rest of the nation identified with the forces of the light and the South with the forces of the darkness (Wacker 107).The authors of Southern Gothic typically use damaged characters to make their stories better, and to show deeper meanings of unpleasant Southern characteristics. These characters are diverse from society due to social, physical or mental disabilities. However, not all characteristics of the characters are bad; it is that a mixture of good and bad is found in most of the characters. Two authors who express the Southern Gothic writing style are William Faulkner, who wrote “A Rose for Emily,” and Flanner O Conner, the author of “Good Country People” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”
Gothicism is a sub- genre for many Romantic writers. This genre includes Gothic conventions such as macabre emotions of terror, fear, paranoia, mystery, ancient prophecy, omens and the supernatural(Shodganda, 2014, p. 39). Gothic literature constitutes of horror and romance as a primary theme. The nature of the French Revolution in 1789 encouraged many writers to explore the morbid aspects of Gothic literature. Furthermore, the revolution had a significant impact on Romantic writers because they were concerned with the turbulent effects of the events and its aftermath. However, there has been arguments on how Romanticism is related to Gothic literature. This paper will therefore discuss the relationship between Romanticism and Gothic literature through the works of Mary Shelley and Lord Byron. These writers explored the notions of Gothic literature in their work. Their thorough examination within their text has enabled readers to examine and interpret the relationship between Romanticism and Gothic Literature.
on the aid of Hell itself, and to find things familiar in the world of
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Gothic is described as something that is destructive and barbaric which attracts and disrupts what is considered civilised. Therefore to a certain extent Jackson is right. however the “very act of speaking about these socially unspeakable is an ambiguous gesture (Punter p.417).” This is where the element of superstition and the paranormal come in. In Horace Walpole’s The Castle Otranto and Matthew Lewis’ The Monk this element of paranormal and superstition gives way or embodies the contradiction of society which Jackson speaks of, or at least some of them. Its is important to recognise however, that though the message or the plot of these stories are sometimes sarcastic or even impractical they do manage to interrogate society and its social norms. But still, while some things are addressed others are repeated and left unsolved and this is what I will try to explore. What does The Monk and The Castle of Otranto have to say about their society as well as how plot and character might impact on the message the reader ends up receiving.
There is one known very influential writing style called Gothic Literature. It is not only considered to involve the horror or gothic element but is combined with romance, superstition, women in distress, omens, portents, vision and supernatural events to name a few (Beesly). The history and beginning of this era is not well known. From a few writers came this writing style that has impacted the world. A famous artists known for this type of writing is a man named Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote many short stories and poems that include horror, gothic, and romance just mentioned.