A. Introductory exercises (individually)

1. Write your answers in your score and answer sheet (discuss in class).

The Gothic              

1.       What are the first thoughts that come to your mind when you think of “gothic”?

2.     Identify the word "gothic"; clarify the etymology (origin) of the word.

3.     Mention 3 gothic novels from the Romantic Period and 3 gothic novels from the 20^th century.

4.     List at least 5 characteristics of a gothic story.

5.     Find a picture of gothic architecture. Copy and paste it onto your score and answer sheet.

6.     Are there any Goths in your school or community?

7.     Have you ever seen ads for or attended any Goth gatherings or listened to any Goth music?

The Romantic Period                            

8.     When was the Romantic Period?                                          

9.     List 5 authors / poets from the Romantic Period.

10.  Which of the poems below do you think is from the Romantic period? Copy the poem onto your score and answer sheet.

11.   Write down all the Romantic characteristics you can find.

12.  Match the poets with the right pictures, the right poems and the date of the poem. Record it in your score and answer sheet.

Poems by                                                                                                                                    

1. Ted Hughes

2. William Wordsworth

3. John Donne

             A                                              B                                                  C

Dates:              1633                1804                1967

I

 I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud 

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

II          

THE FLEA.

MARK but this flea, and mark in this,
How little that which thou deniest me is ;
It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee,
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.
Thou know'st that this cannot be said
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead ;
    Yet this enjoys before it woo,
    And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two ;
    And this, alas ! is more than we would do.

O stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where we almost, yea, more than married are.
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is.
Though parents grudge, and you, we're met,
And cloister'd in these living walls of jet.
    Though use make you apt to kill me,
    Let not to that self-murder added be,
    And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.

Cruel and sudden, hast thou since
Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence?
Wherein could this flea guilty be,
Except in that drop which it suck'd from thee?
Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou
Find'st not thyself nor me the weaker now.
'Tis true ; then learn how false fears be ;
Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me,
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.

 

III         

Lovesong    Listen

He loved her and she loved him.
His kisses sucked out her whole past and future or tried to
He had no other appetite
She bit him she gnawed him she sucked
She wanted him complete inside her
Safe and sure forever and ever
Their little cries fluttered into the curtains

Her eyes wanted nothing to get away
Her looks nailed down his hands his wrists his elbows
He gripped her hard so that life
Should not drag her from that moment
He wanted all future to cease
He wanted to topple with his arms round her
Off that moment's brink and into nothing
Or everlasting or whatever there was

Her embrace was an immense press
To print him into her bones
His smiles were the garrets of a fairy palace
Where the real world would never come
Her smiles were spider bites
So he would lie still till she felt hungry
His words were occupying armies
Her laughs were an assassin's attempts
His looks were bullets daggers of revenge
His glances were ghosts in the corner with horrible secrets
His whispers were whips and jackboots
Her kisses were lawyers steadily writing
His caresses were the last hooks of a castaway
Her love-tricks were the grinding of locks
And their deep cries crawled over the floors
Like an animal dragging a great trap
His promises were the surgeon's gag
Her promises took the top off his skull
She would get a brooch made of it
His vows pulled out all her sinews
He showed her how to make a love-knot
Her vows put his eyes in formalin
At the back of her secret drawer
Their screams stuck in the wall

Their heads fell apart into sleep like the two halves
Of a lopped melon, but love is hard to stop

In their entwined sleep they exchanged arms and legs
In their dreams their brains took each other hostage

In the morning they wore each other's face

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13. In the Romantic period reason was not that important to the artist, but feeling and imagination were. Reality was not depicted objectively anymore, but it was depicted in the way the artist experienced reality.

 

Romantic artists were fascinated by the nature, the genius, their passions and inner struggles, their moods, mental potentials, the heroes. They investigated human nature and personality, the folk culture, the national and ethnic origins, the medieval era, the exotic, the remote, the mysterious, the occult, the diseased, and even satanic. Romantic artist had a role of an ultimate egoistic creator, with the spirit above strict formal rules and traditional procedures. He had imagination as a gateway to transcendent experience and spiritual truth.

 

Knowing this, which of the 3 paintings below do you think is from the Romantic period? Copy the painting onto your score and answer sheet.

 

I

 

II

 

III

 

 

2. Do individually, then compare with your partner and discuss.

Find the words that are prominent features of gothic fiction and write them in your score and answer sheet:

Roman, devil, darkness, cursed families, suspense, horror, fiction, death, madness, secrets, haunted houses, film, nightmares, dungeon, dragons, castle, garden, church, villains, school, nature, vampires, monk, cartoon, creepy, terror, ghosts, priests, murder, humour, knights, screams, mystery, moans, dark hallways,  supernatural, frightening, herbs, ruins, forbidden love, hilarious, secret rooms, fear, graveyard, villa, imagination, gloomy, lady, decay, kings, hereditary curses, monsters.

3. Gap-fill exercise (individually). Write your score in your score and answer sheet.

A little bit of history

Fill in all the gaps, then press "Check" to check your answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if an answer is giving you trouble. You can also click on the "[?]" button to get a clue. Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints or clues!

The word Gothic comes from the tribe of the ”Goths" who once Italy to split up the Roman . The Italians are responsible for the association of the name gothic, by which they meant “”. The word Gothic, as we know it today, stems from the time of the Middle Ages and was used to indicate the artistic trend and style which was a reaction to the Roman style preceding it. The reaction of the Gothic movement to was “We do not have to be afraid of God anymore, we should praise him”. This is how the with their high spires, flying buttresses and large were created, instead of the dark and fortress like churches of before. With this another style of was created, namely long dresses with decorations, long trains, pointed sleeves etc. And these changes in fashion were for both men and women. At first people wore plain, clothing but then they started wearing shirts with frilly collars and sleeves. The gothic style soon became popular and was soon developed in . Numerous paintings and were made in this style in the periods between the 12th and the 16th century. In spite of the fact that the Gothic style was more and more influenced by , Gothic kept its negative name. With this style we more or less end the Middle Ages and a new style, called , came about, which again was a reaction to the previous style. Here they went back to the simple basic forms and austerity. In contrast to the cheerful stoicism of .


Round about 1800 Gothic revived. In this period it was more and more linked with mystery and the . In the 19th century Gothic became fashionable once more. Many churches were built in that style to remember “the century of faith”. Gothic consisted of a combination of terror, horror and the mysterious side of life and death. In this era the was introduced.

Gothic in its form arose at the beginning of the 1980s. It is actually seen as a kind of counterpart of the movement, which arose from the same thought: it was time for something new, something extreme, and something that is out of the . But just like punk and all other trends, Gothic retreated into the background again.


Over the past few years Gothic has emerged and because of bands like Within Temptation, (which is not a real Gothic band), Gothic has become unlocked to a audience. As with most trends, there are real “Goths” and “”, people who want to join in. The real “Goth” does not see “Gothic” as a trend, but as a “way of life”. Being Gothic should come from the not from the way you dress.
 

 Check   Hint 

 OK 

 OK 

 

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B. Topics for discussion:

 

1. What gothic elements did Bram Stoker and Anne Rice draw on to create their gothic novels? List 8 gothic elements used in Dracula and in Interview with the vampire. Write them down in your score and answer sheet and then compare with your partner and discuss.

 

2. Discuss (in groups of 4) how Bram Stoker or / and Anne Rice uses setting to enhance the atmosphere of horror in the story. Write down (in your score and answer sheet) the page numbers (and which edition you have read) of the scenes you have found and why you think this is a good example.

 

3. First write down (in your score and answer sheet) what you know about the Goth subculture. Then find more information on: the period the Goth subculture started, what genre it came from, whether there are different types of Goths, styles of dress, make-up, hair, music (mention some bands), what they believe and the influence of the gothic novel on the Goth subculture (add pictures).

 

Compare notes and discuss (in groups of 4) what you think of this subculture; what did you know already and what was new to you?

 

4. As a class, test your conceptual understanding by sharing, discussing and comparing your ideas about the gothic against those of others (a class discussion will conclude this activity).

 

C. Writing assignments

 

1. Write an essay

 

Would you like to be a vampire and have eternal life? Think of the power you would have! On the other hand, would you want to be 16 for the  rest of your long eternal life? What are the advantages and disadvantages of living for ever? Write an essay of 500 - 750 words on this subject, in which you state your opinion about immortality and give arguments.

 

Present your ideas to the rest of the group.

 

2. Write an essay

 

In 1976 Anne Rice wrote the first part of a series of five novels, ‘The Vampire Chronicles’. These chronicles are the most popular in a genre of modern stories that use vampires as sympathetic protagonists rather than monsters or villains. Although there are vampires in both Dracula and Interview with the vampire not all gothic novels are about vampires. Nevertheless, it is interesting to compare the vampires in these two novels: what do they have in common and in what way do they differ from each other? Write an essay of 500 - 750 words on this subject.

 

Present your ideas to the rest of the group.

 

 

 

D. Some more writing

 

1.Write an e-mail to Anne Rice

 

Click on the picture, scroll down to "e-mail Anne" and read it.