Vocabulary
Define the word, "spacious." Then, describe what a spacious house might suggest about the siblings' social class.
Large/roomy. Could suggest that they live in a luxurious/upper class house and have money.
Where does "House Taken Over" take place?
Argentina
Describe the TONE (author's attitude) of "House Taken Over." This is the tone mainly used in Magical realistic writing.
Unimpressed/matter-of-fact/calm/accepting, etc.
Compared to the long confusing poetic lines in "The Fall of the House of Usher" how does Julio Cortazar write in "House Taken Over"?
HTO: Short, simple, direct descriptions and dialogue. The normal activities contrast with the fantastical events. They do not have time to process and act out of necessity.
FHU: Long, winding sentences packed with dramatic descriptions and imagery and descriptions to immerse the reader into a creepy world of Usher.
What two conflicting elements does the literary genre, "Magical Realism" blend together?
Give an example.
Fantasy and reality.
What is a vestibule?
An entrance.
Describe the narrator and his sisters routine around meals
The narrator cooks a hot lunch and Irene prepares a cold dinner that they can wrap up and eat later.
as the house is taken over, they lose more of the ability to have fancy hot meals and instead rely on cold snacks
What could we INFER about the siblings' character. They have what kind of hobbies?
Boring
List two similarities between "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "House Taken Over."
Siblings, Haunted House, Upper Class
Give an example of an unimpressed tone moment
Irene: cont. knitting "I guess we'll have to live on this side"
Narr: Gets his tea first before telling Irene, "I liked that sweater it was grey"
Define the word, "obscure" and give an example of something you consider obscure in context.
Not well known; niche
ex.An underground band with a small cult following.
With an interest in stamp collecting, knitting, and French literature, what part of society does the narrator and his sister represent?
Upper, Middle, or Lower
Upper-class society and sophistication
What does, "cleaning the dust" represent in our story
the daily activism and work the couple did to try to restore Argentina
How do Usher in FHU and the siblings in HTO show nerves/anxiety differently in their stories.
--Usher has physical and mental illnesses that make him a shell of himself
--The siblings act relatively normal and unbothered during the day but have trouble sleeping at night
How did the siblings support themselves
they had many farms
Define the word, "muffled," and describe what this word might suggest about the force in the house.
--something difficult to hear because something is softening the sound
--the force is mysterious and cannot be detected or described precisely. Not much information is known. But, the word "muffled" suggests that something is being suppressed or hidden
Identify the preposition:
We heard their muffled sounds beneath the library.
beneath
Describe the MOOD (the feeling the reader gets from reading the story) of "House Taken Over.
unsettling, mysterious
Why because we cannot figure out what is happening
To do again
--Gothic: Overt fear, violence, torture, death etc. in a spooky setting
--MR: Subtle building of a growing threat in a realistic scary situation
Define the word, "unvoiced," and describe why this word captures the essence of the story as a whole.
--not spoken
--Throughout the text, the narrator and his sister try to ignore the supernatural activity and live their daily lives, making adjustments as the house is taken over. They only seem to talk about it when they have to.
What might the mysterious force symbolize in the historical sense?
The overtaking of Argentina
What does the Oak Door represent
The government
How are the houses in each story similar? How are they different?
Both are mansions however, HTO the mansion is well-kept as the main characters actively work to maintain it.
Give an example of "realistic recognizable characters" in "House Taken Over."
What are some things the main characters do that feel everyday to us
--Daily Routines, Descriptions of the House, etc.
So, knitting, meal prep, etc.