Romanticism- Romanticism was a literary movement that centered around themes of nature, human nature, and past. It served as a contrasting style of writing when compared to Classicism, a form of writing that existed previous to Romanticism, which included themes of balance, clarity, and order.Gothic Romanticism is a genre, similar to Romanticism, that not only incorporates values of nature, human nature, and past into its plot, but also uses mysterious, dark, and supernatural events to create a feeling of suspense. Gothic Romanticism, like Romanticism, was a revolt against Classicism.
Southern Gothic Romanticism- Southern Gothic Romanticism is a sub-genre to Romanticism. It still holds the common values of nature, human nature, and past seen in Romanticism; but it also includes the addition of a Southern American setting. Other characteristics of Southern Gothic Romanticism are ironic events; themes of violence, imprisonment, freakishness, and sense of place; ironic or unusual events; and the grotesque.
Washington Irving- Washington Irving was the author of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", a famous Halloween story which, ironically, was written before Halloween existed.
Edgar Allen Poe- Edgar Allen Poe, known as the Father of Gothic Romanticism, is the author of the Gothic Romanticism short stories and poems, "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Fall of the House of Usher", and "The Raven". Charles Baudelaire- the European Author of the Gothic Romantic poem, "Spleen", a poem through which he describes a process of depression followed by insanity.
Nathanial Hawthorne- Nathanial Hawthorne was the Romantic author of "The Scarlet Letter" and "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment". Through these works he criticizes the human nature of hypocrisy and taking what is given for granted.
Flannery O'Connor- Flannery O'Connor, the author of "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find," is a writer famous for her ironic Gothic Romanticism short stories. Through her short stories, though there are many translations of her stories that can be created, she stresses the faults found in mankind, such as selfishness and hypocrisy.William Faulkner- William Faulkner, the author of "A Rose for Emily" is a Southern Gothic Romanticism writer. Using sense of place, violence, imprisonment and freakishness he creates a plot twisting story that wonders readers and criticizes not further investigating problems that need solving in "A Rose for Emily".
Wallis Willis- Wallis Willis was the author of a negro spiritual, "Swing Low Sweet Chariot". Through this song, he relayed a piece of what being a slave was like and what brought hope to slaves when they faced the troubles of slavery.
Negro Spiritual- A type song sang by slaves on the plantations when slavery was a prominent feature of American states.This typed of song often relays a spiritual message but can also express the slaves' desire for freedom. An example of a negro spiritual would be "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" by Wallis Willis.
Call and Response- Call and response is a style of music in which a singer sings a certain line of lyrics and other singers reply with a "response" to the music.
Motif- Motifs are distinct features in Gothic Romanticism that help develop the plot, mood, and tone of the story. They can help to create the suspense that compels the reader to continue reader. A few examples of motifs found in Gothic Romanticism are hidden chambers, romance, and dangerous creatures.Situational Irony- Situational irony is a type of irony that occurs when an expected outcome does not happen. Situational Irony can be seen in "A Rose for Emily" when Emily kills Homer Baron, because the audience does not expect Emily to kill someone who she could potentially marry, although doesn't. Even the townspeople within the story supposed them to be married and were stunned when they found Homer's dead body in the upstairs of Emily's house.
Dramatic Irony- Dramatic irony often occurs when the audience knows something that the characters in the story don't know. An example of this is found in "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" when the audience knows that Mrs. Crater wants a man to marry her daughter, but Mr. Shiftlet does not know this until later.
Verbal Irony- Verbal Irony is a type of irony in which a statement does not mean what it says. An example of this would be when a person says,"My farts smell like roses," when really their farts are do not smell any better that a baby diaper.
What is the theme of this unit?
The theme of this unit is that mankind has faults and these faults are exercised blindly. This blind exercise of fault can be seen in a majority of the Gothic Romanticism short stories we have read thus far. In "A Rose for Emily" by Faulkner, the townspeople do not take the responsibility to know about Emily's well-being, so they were not able to help Emily overcome her mental disease that caused her to have a desire to sleep with corpses. In "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the human nature of greed, taking what is given for granted, and not being grateful are criticized when the elderly subjects of Dr. Heidegger's experiment are given the water of the fountain of living waters.
This theme relates to the world because it is found in everyday life. People blindly make immoral decisions or judge others who take immoral decisions that they do themselves. This theme is not only found in unit; there are other stories that portray this theme from past English experience. This theme can be seen in The Scarlet Letter, by Hawthorne, when the entire town shuns Hester for her sin while completely ignoring the fact that they, themselves, could be guilty of their own sins. It can also be seen in Fahrenheit 451(to give an example from an outside text), by Ray Bradbury, when Mildred, Guy Montag's wife, lacks the close connection with her husband that ideally exists between a husband and wife and doesn't think anything of their separation because she is too busy spending her life with her technology. When William Faulkner, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the other discussed authors of the unit write with this theme present in their works help open the eyes of people today and help them realize the immorality of their actions. Although their stories can be considered depressing, they can still have a positive impact on the world.
