English 11 2.2.3 Quiz

​Understand Gothic Writing

English 11 2.2.3 Quiz

• A literary style involving elements of horror, suspense, and the supernatural, often set among medieval ruins, haunted castles, or dark forests.

• Sometimes called Dark Romanticism — was a literary movement that was part of the larger Romantic movement. It focused on the darker, twisted side of nature and humanity.​

• Writers of the Romantic era felt that the new industrial machinery of the era was unnatural, soulless, and potentially evil. So their writing focused on the beauty of nature and the importance of preserving humans' connection to the Earth.

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​Gothic Writing

​Gothic Writing

• Gothic writing explores the dark side of humanity and nature.

• ​Gothic writers wondered what monsters might be waiting for us in the forest

• Gothic writers explored feelings of tension, fear, sorrow, and guilt.

• Their stories share a gloomy, haunting tone and a dark, even macabre mood — which help them achieve their goals of creating an aesthetic impact that leaves readers feeling unsettled.​

​Gothic Writing

• Eerie settings, supernatural events, and a focus on psychology

• Aesthetic Impact: ​The emotional or sensory effect of a work.

Multiple Choice

What is one of Edgar Allan Poe's lasting legacies?

• He made the first horror film.

• He is the father of the epic poem.

• He is the architect of the short story.

• He was America's first librarian.

Multiple Choice

What sense did Edgar Allan Poe believe the "unity of effect" in a poem should arouse in the reader?

• A sense of beauty

• A sense of pride

• A sense of generosity

• A sense of faith

Multiple Choice

Which of these would be a typical aesthetic impact of a piece of Gothic writing?

• Hope

• Love

• Gratitude

• Fear

Multiple Choice

Which of these story ideas would be considered Gothic writing?

• Two sisters decide to hike across the country and photograph and catalogue the wildlife they see.

• A young boy and his dad capture a horse in the country and tame it until it becomes a beloved family pet.

• A girl with special powers to heal others grapples with the notion that she also has the power to harm people.

• A university student meets a charming girl while working during his summer vacation.

Multiple Choice

Which of these is a typical theme in Gothic writing?

• Virtue

• Violence

• Pride

• Courage

Multiple Choice

Which feature of Gothic writing does this passage from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter most illustrate?

They averred that the symbol was not mere scarlet cloth tinged in an earthly dyepot, but was red-hot with infernal fire, and could be seen glowing all alight whenever Hester Prynne walked abroad in the nighttime. And we must needs say it seared Hester's bosom so deeply, that perhaps there was more truth in the rumor than our modern incredulity may be inclined to admit.

• Human madness

• Death and mortality

• The supernatural

• Nature's power

Multiple Choice

Which of these might be a typical setting in Gothic writing?

• A foreign land

• A crowded slum

• A green pasture

• A noisy factory

Multiple Choice

Which of these is a feature of Gothic writing that makes it different from other Romantic genres?

• Heavy symbolism

• Emotional expression

• Notions of beauty

• A predictible plot

Multiple Choice

Which feature of Gothic writing does this passage from Herman Melville's Moby-Dick best illustrate?

The White Whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating in them, till they are left living on with half a heart and half a lung. [. . .] All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby Dick.

• Death and mortality

• Guilt

• Nature's power

• Obsession

Multiple Choice

What concepts were valued immediately prior to the Romantic era?

• Rationality and logic

• Death and suffering

• Heaven and the afterlife

• Beauty and nature