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Features of a horror story flashcards
A horror narrative essay
Comparing the speckled band and lamb to the slaughter
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Recommended: Features of a horror story flashcards
Typical Horror Story in Lamb to the Slaughter and The Speckled Band There are many different types of horror e.g. comic horror, gothic horror, and mystical horror. In a murder mystery, there is usually a mystery, victim, villain, weapons, secrets, cliff-hanger endings and a detective. These create the typical mood of uncertainty which is present in a typical horror story. The facts in the case are not revealed until the last minute creating a mystical atmosphere. The Speckled Band is set in the Victorian era and includes a cold-blooded killer which fits the genre of the time where there were many such incidents such as with Jack the Ripper, suicidal, disgusting and mystical deaths. Lamb to the Slaughter is set in the more modern 1950s and the beginning gives the impression of a romance novel but this homeliness aurora creates an even more sinister atmosphere when the result comes unexpected to the reader. This discussion will focus on the resemblance and non-resemblance The Speckled Band and Lamb to the Slaughter have to a stereotypical horror story. Helen Stoner, the victim in The Speckled Band is the image typical victim of a horror story. She is passive, timid and introvert, 'dressed in black and heavily veiled'. She is dominated by men, 'five little livid spots' where her stepfather hurt her and scared, 'It is not cold that makes me shiver'. Her fear is emphasized in her use of words related to horror, 'terror', 'fear', 'grey', 'restless', 'frightened' (p.152 Stories Then and Now, Heinemann 1993). She puts her trust in the detective, 'Oh, sir, do you not think you could help me too, and at least throw a little light throu... ... middle of paper ... ...creates an even more satisfying feeling for the reader. The words used in this story are archaic as they are not used in everyday modern life. The sentences tend to be longer than in Lamb to the Slaughter and are broken up by semi-colons. The language is old-fashioned which reflects the time in which it was written as well. The language is also quite formal whereas in Lamb to the Slaughter, it is more informal, 'For God's sake..'. This reflects the also informal and comfortable atmosphere Lamb to the Slaughter sketches which creates an uncertainty, about what is going to happen, with the reader. The Speckled Band's formal language creates a more sinister atmosphere and the many clues, and also red herrings to fool the reader, intrigues the reader to follow Holmes' case and attempt to solve it by themselves as well.
Anti-Semitism is the hatred and discrimination of those with a Jewish heritage. It is generally connected to the Holocaust, but the book by Helmut Walser Smith, The Butcher’s Tale shows the rise of anti-Semitism from a grassroots effect. Smith uses newspapers, court orders, and written accounts to write the history and growth of anti-Semitism in a small German town. The book focuses on how anti-Semitism was spread by fear mongering, the conflict between classes, and also the role of the government.
When Roald Dahl used repetition to add to the scare factor in his short story, “Lamb to Slaughter”. Throughout the story he used repetition to emphasize things. Like when he repeats “They always treated her kindly.” and “The two detectives were exceptionally nice to her.” It was to emphasize that they treated her as the victim rather than a suspect. The repetition used made me curious when reading the story. Whenever I saw something repeated, I asked myself ‘Why would they do that?’ I became intrigued and wanted to read more and find out. By repeating, Roald created suspense and anticipation for the reader to get to the climax, prompting the reader to keep reading. In conclusion, repetition definitely made the story scarier.
When a young boy is found brutally murdered in a small Prussian town called Konitz, once part of Germany, now part of Poland, the Christians residing in the town lash out by inciting riots and demonstrations. Citing the incident as an act of Jewish ritual murder, better known as blood libel, Christians rendered blame on the Jews. Helmut Walser’s Smith, The Butcher’s Tale, details the murder account and the malicious consequences of superstitious belief combined with slander and exaggerated press propaganda. Foreshadowing the persecution of Jews which would take place three decades later, Smith analyzes and explains the cause and effect of anti-Semitism in Imperial Germany at the turn of the century. Utilizing Smith’s book as a primary source,
In “Lamb to the Slaughter”, Roald Dahl uses diction, details, and syntax to emphasize the matter-of-fact tone that is consistent throughout the entire story. Diction is a key element of tone that conveys this matter-of-fact tone. For example, Mary Maloney says to herself after killing her husband, “All right… So I’ve killed him” (Dahl 320). This sentence is lacking emotion. It states a pure fact, without going into further detail and captures a turning point in Mary Maloney’s way of thinking. By telling herself “all right,” Mary distances herself from the murder. She is detached from her own story and does not reveal any qualms about murdering her own husband. Similarly, Dahl uses the next sentence to describe Mary’s thoughts by explaining,
Grief in Slaughterhouse Five It seems as though all we hear on the news lately is bad news. So it goes, right? After all, if we took to heart all the tragedies that occur everyday in the world, we'd never get out of bed in the morning. We would have an overload of grief so heavy that we'd probably all die of a broken heart.
In Slaughterhouse- Five, Kurt Vonnegut’s themes of war and time travel to tell the story of World War II in Dresden through the eyes of Billy Pilgrim. Vonnegut uses flashbacks and blackouts to bring Billy back and forth throughout different eras of his life in order for him to develop a way to cope with the bombing in Dresden.
Paula Bohince grew up in rural Pennsylvania town and still resides there. (Bohince, Paula). The theme and setting reflects a young innocent girl raped in a Pennsylvania town. The poet writes the poem from the victim’s perspective. The words give a creepy feeling of what has happened. The poem describes a young girl who was brutally taken advantage of and relays the devastating affect it had on her. The diction is very fitting for the poem. It creates a very vivid picture of the devastating affect the attack had on the girl. The diction creates a gruesome picture and tone for the reader. The use of words like transparency, black lamb and maggots generates a rejected feeling in the girl. There is no place she can hide and her feelings are constantly being eaten away.
Silence of the Lambs, is commonly said to be one of the most famous thrillers made. After watching the film for the first time, I noticed the director had many interesting themes and concepts. Some of these themes included, good vs. evil, the search for peace, judging a book by its cover, and gender and sexuality in the workplace. The theme I found most interesting, and what I found the director made most apparent, was gender and sexuality in the workplace. The director showed that gender and sexuality in the workplace was the most noticeable theme because of the constant contrasts set between Clarice and her male co- workers, her continuous denial about her femininity, and the amount of danger Clarice runs into because as a women, she is always having to do things on her own.
Slaughterhouse 5, also know as The Children’s Crusade, has its intent aimed at showing the innocent people that end up having to partake in war. Many scenes and characters in the book encompass this by reflecting the childish nature in each character or how ordinary they appear to be. The main character is the epitome of this theme, with Billy Pilgram being an otherwise bland (other than the fictional aspect of his “time travel” or the reality of his mental disorder), innocent, average American sent out to war. In my opinion, Billy is also a way for the author Kurt Vonnegut to put some of his own personal views and experiences into his book, since the entire first chapter is Vonnegut explaining his inability to write a serious book of his own first hand account of the Dresden Firebombing.
Lamb to the Slaughter, by Roald Dahl, instantly grabs a reader’s attention with its grotesque title, ensuing someone’s downfall or failure. The saying “lamb to the slaughter,” usually refers to an innocent person who is ignorantly led to his or her failure. This particular short story describes a betrayal in which how a woman brutally kills her husband after he tells her that he wants a divorce. She then persuades the policemen who rush to the scene to consume the evidence. This action and Patrick’s actions show the theme of betrayal throughout the story which Roald Dahl portrays through the use of point of view, symbolism and black humor.
The topic of dehumanization has an interesting dynamic in Demme’s film The Silence of the Lambs. This consists of the fact that the Clarice Starling’s own humanity is consistently undermined and almost immediately rectified by Dr. Lecter. Lecter in himself is an ironic character since while he has no fear about killing someone through cannibalism. One of the highest symbolic forms of dehumanization possible, he still respects and guards Starling’s humanity. This character receives even more complexity as Lecter is revealed as more and more calculating and cold throughout the series, almost appearing desensitized to most human emotions, interactions and concerns. Lecter’s analytical, observant, and almost sociopathic outlook on his surroundings contrasts heavily with Starling’s earnest desire to discover the secrets behind Buffalo Bill’s identity and reasons, a desire to
Slaughterhouse Five is the story of Billy Pilgrim who has become “unstuck in time.” He travels back and forth being able to see his birth, death, and all the years between his birth and death. During the times he travels back and forth they either happen repeatedly or out of order. A major theme in Slaughterhouse-Five would be War and Death. In the beginning of the story, Billy Pilgrim talks about the bombing of Dresden, which it killed almost 100,000 Germans. Some parts of the story are based on Vonnegut experiences. Vonnegut survived a war which it could lead to having some kind of lasting effect on him. In chapter one Billy or Vonnegut, goes to Dresden again with his old friend Bernard O'Hare. Where he meets his wife and sensed
“Lamb to the Slaughter” when Patrick seems anxious: “He had now become absolutely motionless, and he kept his head down so that the light from the lamp beside him fell across the upper part of his face, leaving the chin and mouth in shadow. She noticed there was a little muscle moving near the corner of his left eye.” the reader can infer that something is troubling Patrick and he will end up regretting it later on in the story. Then another example of foreshadowing is after Mary finds out what is troubling her husband, her behavior is odd:“When she walked across the room she couldn't feel her feet touching the floor. She couldn't feel anything at all-
As humans, our fears always find a way to haunt us, no matter how hard we run or hide from them. In “Stonehearst Asylum”, Silas Lamb, an asylum superintendent, finds himself in this situation when an asylum doctor by the name of Dr. Edward Newgate travels to his asylum to take up residency. Dr. Newgate eventually discovers that Lamb and his staff members are actually asylum patients when he stumbles upon the previous staff in a locked dungeon. Eliza Graves, his lover and ally, instructs him to leave the asylum before it’s too late, but he refuses to do so. Graves is forced to abandon him after he attempts to free the captured staff, leading to his capture and eventual preparation for execution. Newgate stops Lamb from executing him by revealing
The “Little Shop of Horrors” was first a film created by Roger Corman, which was distributed as a B-movie in 1960—back when Jack Nicholson was first starting to make a living as a working actor. It slowly gained recognition and fame throughout the years, until acquiring a cult status. The low-budget film from the 1960s came to earn popularity mostly because it was turned into a musical by Alan Menken (music) and Howard Ashman (book and lyrics) that was premiered off-off Broadway. It is also what Brandeis University’s theater club Tympanium Euphorium presented between Nov. 19th to the 22nd at the SCC Theater.