Sharpe+Gothic+Unit+Rationale


 * "That’s what they mean by the love that passeth understanding: that pride, that furious desire to hide that abject nakedness which we bring here with us, . . . carry stubbornly and furiously with us into the earth again." **--William Faulkner


 * Gothic Literature Unit for 11th Grade **

The Gothic genre is one of the most forgotten ones in high school English classrooms. The idea of “gothic” has also been misrepresented in modern times. When someone hears the word “gothic,” more often than not they would picture a pale, Satanic, dark make-up covered hermit that would sooner set you on fire than give you a smile. With this unit, I intend to reverse the distorted image that this particular term has come to have. Students will be introduced to this mysterious and rich genre starting with its origins in the 18th century, its cultural significance, and the influence that the authors studied in this unit have had on modern entertainment.

To go along with this Gothic overarching concept, the “big questions” for my unit are: “How powerful are human emotions and secrets?” and “What effects can they have on individuals and society? ” In order to get the most out of Gothic literature, we have to look beyond physical terror to the secrets and feelings of characters in the text. Anyone can discuss plot and examine symbolism. It would be more beneficial to pull out why Gothic characters are particularly maniacal or psychologically unstable.

 An opportune time to study Gothic literature is at the start of autumn when a chilly wind kicks up and night falls earlier since atmosphere is crucial in the Gothic genre. In the first lesson of this unit, students will step into the gothic atmosphere by reading and discussing Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death.” The second lesson will be spent learning key terms and characteristics of Gothic literature. The three following lessons will then move onto the short stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe. The objectives for the Poe lessons are to ensure the students can identify gothic elements and judge character motivation and emotion. William Faulkner will take up the last half of the unit as we study his short story “A Rose for Emily” for two lessons and his novel //As I Lay Dying// for the final three lessons. The objectives for the Faulkner lessons are to study how secrets can affect society and to continue the discussion of extreme human emotion.

Throughout the unit, students will be expected to keep a reading journal in which they record personal reflections of the reading material. Their reflections should include their initial reactions to the text as well as brief explanations of character emotions and secrets throughout the text. Students will be assessed through one long writing assignment: choose one text to analyze, a presentation created from their individual writing assignments, and a group project: a media publication reporting a crime that takes place in one of the texts.

Students will be engaged in this unit because many characteristics of the Gothic genre mirror the characteristics of adolescence. Most importantly, Gothic literature is about human emotion and the characters of these texts go to emotional extremes. These texts also sympathize with the outcast and carry themes of loneliness, confusion, and uncertainty—all things that teenage students often feel as they move closer to adulthood. These human emotions are rampant in Gothic literature in addition to fear or terror. Students might find these texts disturbing but they will certainly find them interesting and worthwhile because of their intensity.


 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Jennifer Sharp<range type="comment" id="167006">e **