The Supernatural Vampires, monsters, ghosts, ghouls, hauntings, werewolves, etc… Imagery of Things rotting and breaking down. This might be people, places or objects. Horror and terror bits – for characters and readers. Isolation and loneliness Characters living stranded or separated from their normal lives. Blurring of sanity/insanity Characters unsure if what they are seeing is real or imagined. Characters who might be going mad. Does the audience even know? Sex and Sexuality Does this one need explaining? Lust, desire, sex, etc! Multiple Narrators More than one narrative The action might switch from character to character, or from form to form (ie diary entry to narration). Crime, lawlessness and abuse Murder, theft, cruelty, and general bad behaviour. Absolute power A character controlling other people or places, in total control. Remember what absolute power does to people? The Satanic/ Arcane Satanic: to do with the devil and hell. Arcane: secret, mysterious, understood by few people. Identify examples of the Gothic in this extract from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, highlight them, then copy them into the boxes above. It was on a dreary of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs. How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such
Depraved (adjective) Morally corrupt. Wicked. Duality (noun) An example of a contrast between aspects of something (ie, man is both good and evil) Ethics (noun) Moral rules which affect a person’s behaviour. Eugenics (noun) The science of improving a population by controlled breeding. Feral (adjective) Totally wild, like an animal. Metamorphosis (noun) A change from one living state to another. Perversion (noun) The corruption or ruin of something’s original state. Professional (noun) A person a job which requires a qualification. Respectability (noun) Being accepted and valued within your field (ie, doctors being respected). Restraint (noun) Self control. Savage (adjective) Fierce, violent, uncontrolled. Subconscious (noun) The part of the mind you’re unaware of, but influences your actions). Supernatural (noun) Something outside the laws of nature – like ghosts, vampires, etc. Unorthodox (adjective) Goes against what is normal or expected. Victorian (adjective) Something which happened while Queen Victoria ruled.
TEN VOCABULARY QUESTIONS adjective means ‘horrifyingly bad’? Feral. Abhorrent. Savage. Depraved. Which noun is the part of the mind you’re unaware of, but which influences your actions? Subconscious. Supernatural. Consciousness. Ethics. Which noun is a change back to the way your ancestors used to be (ie, becoming like a caveman)? Duality. Repression. Aberration. Atavism. Which adjective means ‘fierce, violent, uncontrolled’? Depraved. Feral. Abhorrent. Savage. A metamorphosis is… A change from one state to another. A moral rule that affects behaviour. A hint at a hidden meaning. An unwelcome and unexpected change. adjective means ‘morally corrupt or wicked’? Abhorrent. Unorthodox. Depraved. Which adjective describes something which goes against what is normal or expected? Depraved. Unorthodox. Abhorrent. Savage. Which adjective describes something which is wild and animalistic? Unorthodox. Feral. Abhorrent. Savage. What name is given to two opposites which cannot exist without each other? Duality. Aberration. Atavism. Repression. An aberration is… An unwelcome and unexpected change. A story with a hidden meaning. A hint at a hidden meaning. A moral rule that affects behaviour.
How is Hyde presented in this extract? Sample Answer How does the writer achieve it? Identify a technique/ interesting use of language Use a quote Stevenson describes Hyde trampling “calmly over the child’s body.” This seems to be a contradiction: trampling is an angry, out-of-control action and it should not be possible to do it calmly. Perhaps Stevenson is hinting that Hyde has a contradictory nature early on, foreshadowing the events to come. It’s a very emotive thing to happen. A young child is usually seen as totally innocent, so trampling her and leaving her “screaming” is especially shocking. From the start, the audience is positioned against Hyde and given a strong indication of his brutal nature. What is the writer’s intention? Link to purpose and audience Writer’s message Writers’ attitude Why is it effective? Link to the actual words used What does it make you feel/do? What are the Does it have an emotional impact? Read the sample paragraph provided. Tick the bullet-points which have been achieved and draw arrows to where this happened (using different colours will make it easier to spot). Go back to the paragraph yesterday. Choose a you didn’t include. Use a purple pen to add this to your work. How did a thyroid complaint affect Robert Louis Stevenson? It left him with distended bones. It made him unable to read as a child. It left him fascinated by medical science. It made him deeply religious. How did his influence Robert Louis Stevenson? She encouraged him to explore the darker side of Edinburgh. She was deeply religious and told him old folk tales. She encouraged him to write poems and stories. She encouraged him to travel the world.
relevant subject terminology where appropriate. What do these descriptions of places tell us about Stevenson’s fascination with the city streets? Sample Answer How does the writer achieve it? Identify a technique/ interesting use of language Stevenson the two in one and Stevenson great ‘new town’ What is the Link to purpose and audience
town’. This has influenced his work, with this fascination reflected in the vibrant description of London and the gloomy, run-down version. The characters who inhabit streets reflect their surroundings. “Smiling saleswomen” are juxtaposed with slouching “tramps”, and even the schoolboy mentioned is menacing as he carries a “knife”. The sense that London’s night-time streets are a place to be feared is obvious, and suggests that further crimes may be committed in the “sinister” streets. As a Stevenson was drawn to these dark places against his parents’ wishes, and it is little surprise that he chose to put his villain in similar dark and dingy locations – Stevenson learned to associate them with criminality, making them the perfect setting for a story about a man exploring the darker, immoral side of his personality. writer’s intention? Writer’s message Writers’ attitude Why is it effective? Link to the actual words used What does it make you feel/do? What are the connotations? Does it have an emotional impact? Context Does it link to Victorian society, values or beliefs? Does it link to Stevenson’s own life? Read the sample paragraph provided. Tick the bullet-points which have been achieved and draw arrows to where this happened (using different colours will make it easier to spot).
What is the writer’s intention? Link to purpose and audience Writer’s message Writers’ attitude Why is it effective? Link to the actual words used What does it make you feel/do? What are the connotations? Does it have an emotional impact?
In his first appearance in the book he is described as “a hearty, healthy, dapper, red-faced gentleman, with a shock of hair prematurely white, and a boisterous and decided manner”. How does the writer achieve it? Identify a technique/interesting use of language Use a quote Why is it effective? Link to the actual words used What does it make you feel/do? What are the connotations? Does it have an emotional impact? Context Does it link to Victorian society, values or beliefs? Does it link to Stevenson’s own life? Lit AO1: Use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations. Lit AO1: Read, understand and respond to texts, maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response. Lit AO2: Analyse the language, form and structure used to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate. Lit AO3: Show understanding of the relationships between and the contexts in which they were written. How does Stevenson present Dr Lanyon in this scene? Sample Answer
How and why have Jekyll’s behaviour and appearance changed? Sample Answer How does the writer achieve this? Lit AO1: use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations. Identify a technique/ interesting use of language Use appropriate terminology Use a quote Jekyll seems to be terrible addiction, “bitter bad” drug, running away and staff. Stevenson aims potion has monstrous Hyde, destroy Jekyll fine build of a allowing man’s dual What is the writer’s intention? Lit AO1: Read, understand and respond to maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response Lit AO2: Analyse form, language and structure used to create meanings Link to purpose and audience What is the writer’s message or attitude?