This post if for
freshmen only.
Southern Gothic
Literary Tradition
Gothic literature is fiction in which strange, gloomy settings and mysterious, violent, often supernatural events create suspense and terror. Southern gothic literature uses gothic motifs to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South.
Following are a few characteristics of gothic and southern gothic literature:
The gothic novel tries to evoke chilling terror and gloom by exploiting mystery and horror. Gothic is about haunting and possession. We are supposed to feel a chill at some point in the story, and this emotional response is in part the point of the gothic experience. Paradoxically, this fear is a source of pleasure. "Tis so appalling--it exhilarates," Emily Dickinson says in a poem.
In a Gothic work, there is usually confusion about good and evil. What does ‘good’ actually mean? What about ‘evil’? And how can we tell the difference?
Gothic reveals a fear of institutions, such as religion, education, or marriage.
Gothic shows the dark and hidden side of things. It rips open the lies and shows a world of cruelty, lust, perversion, and crime hidden beneath society’s rules and customs.
Gothic tears through censorship and explodes hypocrisies. It exposes the world as a corrupt, reeking place.
Gothic is a reaction to the conventional, common sense, and enlightened world. If society is supposed to be orderly and sensible, gothic shows how it really isn’t.
- Southern gothic tips stereotypes on their side and kicks them in the gut. Sweet Southern belles are crafty and greedy, chivalrous gentlemen are sneaky and perverse, and righteous preachers are manipulative and evil.
Our Prezi presentation on Southern Gothic Literature can be found
HERE.
Your task: We've tackled two short stories that can be considered Southern Gothic - "Good Country People" and "A Rose for Emily." We also viewed
Night of the Hunter - again, classic Southern Gothic. Select one of the stories, and in a paragraph explain how one aspect of the story meets one of the criteria listed above.
Be sure that your response is thoughtful and thorough and includes a cited quotation. Keep in mind all of the elements of a good paragraph: topic sentence, set-up, cited quotation, explanation
(claim - evidence - warrant). Write in formal third person. Follow all of the Road to Formal Essay Writing criteria (which can be found
HERE.) Post your paragraphs in the comments below. Include you name. you may comment on your peers' entries for extra credit.
The text for "A Rose for Emily" can be found
HERE. The text for "Good Country People" can be found
HERE.
