c. Gothic Fiction

You can click here to download a copy of this week’s text: The Raven by Edgar Alen Poe (includes an introduction, summary and glossary).

For a bit of extension, have a look at a real, classic vampire in this extract from Dracula by Bram Stoker, where we meet the infamous monster for the first time.

 

The first true ‘genre’ that we will be looking at is also one of the oldest and most enduring: the horror genre.

 

 URL: http://prezi.com/blfkn-ifk0m4/the-horror-genre/

Our text for this part of the course will be The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. The text of the poem can be found here, while an interactive version of the poem, explaining some of language and literary features used by Poe, can be found here.

To listen to the poem being spoken aloud (by none other than the legendary James Earl Jones) watch the following clip:

 

 

The Raven is so famous that it has even has even featured on The Simpsons! Have a look at the clip below to see how the poem turns out when Homer takes on the role of the beleaguered narrator and Bart becomes the demonic raven (it’s surprisingly authentic!):

 

Link: http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=251203

 

An introducton to and summary of the poem is available here: Introduction to The Raven

A glossary of difficult words from the poem is available here: The Raven Glossary

If you are still having trouble understanding the poem, or would like to explore it in more detail, you may find it useful to use the following websites:

 

 

Task One: Good and Evil

Poe’s poem explores the dichotomy between good (symbolised through the memory of Lenore) and evil (shown through the devilry of the Raven). Draw a chart with two columns, with Lenore on the top of one side, and The Raven on the top of the other. Read through the poem again, and list under Lenore as many words as you can which have positive meanings, and under the Raven all words used with negative meanings.

 

 

Task Two: The Tools of a Master

 

Poe has used many different literary techniques in order to create the ominous and unnerving atmosphere that has made The Raven so famous. Try to find at least one other example of each of the following techniques:

 

  • Alliteration: When the same consonant is used at the beginning of a series of words creating a regular sound-pattern (‘Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared…’)
  • Assonance: When the vowel-sound in a series of words is repeated, creating a pattern of sound (‘the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name…’)
  • Rhyme: The pattern created when the sound of the final word in two or more lines of poetry is the same (‘…its only stock and store… …till his songs one burden bore-‘)
  • Onomatopoeia:  When the way a word sounds imitates the sound of the object it describes (tapping, rapping, rustling, flutter, croaking)
  • Personification:  When a poet writes about something that is obviously not human as though it were a person. (‘the… sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain‘)

 

 

Task Three: Summarise a Gothic Classic

 

Write one short sentence to summarise the events in each stanza. There should be 18 sentences in total. The first one has been done for you below.

1. I was napping when I heard knocking at my door.

 Alternatively, you can create a storyboard through drawing one picture for each stanza, linking them together.

 

 

Task Four: Modernise a Gothic Classic

 

Rewrite one stanza of The Raven using modern English, as if it was part of a short story. Your aim should be to create a scary atmosphere through the use of descriptive language and the literary techniques discussed above.