The Gothic
One example of the "bleak setting" found in Gothic literature:
What are abandoned castles, decaying mansions, or remote/isolated lands...?
Characters in Modern Gothic are usually this.
Who are ordinary people with whom readers can relate to or recognize?
Magical realism combines realistic settings with these types of occurrences.
What is "fantastic events"?
The narrator who is grieving the loss of his wife Lenore in "The Raven" is an example of this Gothic genre characteristic.
What is "tortured characters"?
Gothic literature features characters in this state:
Who are tortured or tormented characters (either physically, mentally, or even supernaturally)?
Modern Gothic stories often end this way, leaving readers with unresolved questions.
What are "ambiguous endings"?
The characters in magical realism typically react to strange events in this way.
What is an "unimpressed, nonchalant tone"?
In Julio Cortázar’s "House Taken Over," the siblings’ reactions to "they" taking over the house illustrates this characteristic of the Magical Realism genre?
What is "an unimpressed or nonchalant tone" (because they don't seem to care, they just shut the door and live with it!)?
This element creates the emotional atmosphere that makes the READER feel uneasy, fearful, or melancholy.
What is MOOD?
Modern Gothic often places unsettling events in this kind of location to heighten just how strange and disturbing the story's events are.
Magical realism authors ground their stories with this type of character and setting, which creates an almost dreamlike quality for readers when the fantastic events are introduced.
What is "realistic and recognizable"?
In Joyce Carol Oates’s Modern Gothic story "Where Is Here?," what detail about the stranger’s visit makes the ordinarily familiar house feel threatening and odd?
What is...?
The stranger’s knowledge of the house’s layout, his oddly specific memories, the way he remembers the space as smaller and darker, and his excitable manner.
This is how an author makes the description so dramatic in Gothic literature.
What is the intense, exaggerated language; the use of onomatopoeia or vivid imagery; the repetition to build tension...?
This is the biggest difference between the traditional Gothic and Modern Gothic genres.
What is the use of supernatural, unrealistic, or unfamiliar elements in traditional Gothic to unsettle readers?
This is the reason Magical Realism is not considered Fantasy.
What is...?
Magical realism integrates fantastic events into everyday life without making a big deal of it. Fantasy builds wholly separate worlds where the fantastic is expected.
Typical of the Gothic genre, the physical house of Usher is a (recurring) symbol in the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" for these reasons.
What is the decaying, fissured, and oppressive house mirroring Roderick’s deteriorating mental/emotional state?
What is the house’s collapse paralleling Roderick's death?
...but I'll take another answer if you can convince me!
This device repeatedly uses an object or image to stand for a larger idea in Gothic texts.
What is "recurring symbolism"?
Why "normal life is interrupted in disturbing ways" functions and is effective at creating suspense.
...in other words, what impact does this element have? Why does it work?
What is...?
It creates discomfort by contrasting ordinary details with disturbing events, making the uncanny feel possible.
Magical Realism was a genre often used as a political allegory, which means what?
What is...?
Authors use fictional, fantastical events to critique or comment on real-world issues.
One way the genre of Ten by Gretchen McNeil (mystery/teen slasher) connects to characteristics of another genre we've learned about this unit:
What is...?
Be specific!