Gothic Literature Lesson Plan

If you're an English teacher, you know the groans and complaints that come when you pull out a short story and try discuss imagery or plot. "Why do we have to know this?" "When will I ever have to use this again?" Those questions are the biggest pet peeve of a literature teacher that is trying to teach students analyzation skills that they can use in any field in the future. What to find a way to end this insanity? Using the secondary students' inherent love of the world of the horror and gore is a great way to trick them into learning. Here is a unit based on Gothic literature that I have found students enjoy, as they get to explore their favorite stories and movies, and can hardly tell they're learning.

I. Objectives
1. Students will be able to use a plot outline to map out a story.
2. Students will be able to analyze a Gothic story, looking at the elements used to create suspense such as mood, tone, imagery, etc.
3. Students will practice oral speaking skills and cooperative learning skills as they work with a group to produce an oral story telling.

II. Lessons

Day 1:
1. Journal: What is your favorite scary story and why?
2. Discussion
3. Hand out or place a dark or eerie picture for students to look at. Ask them to write a short story based on the picture. It can either talk about what is going on in the picture or any feelings inspired by it.
4. Share and discuss why the picture conveys these feelings and what images gave them this mood or feeling.

Day 2:
1. Journal: What is your favorite scary movie? Why?
2. Share and discuss ideas. Direct students to discussing what about them scares them. Direct it toward key images and the importance of the visual and audio aspects of the movies to how they feel.
3. Define Imagery on the board. Have students highlight any imagery they used in their stories. Have them record them on the board. Ask what makes these images strong or weak?
4. Read "The Yellow Wallpaper" and discuss how imagery creates the setting and mood.

Day 3:
1. Introduce the ideas of plot. Divide the students into groups, each with a part of the plot diagram, i.e. exposition, character, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, conflict, and theme. Have them each define their term and find the example in "The Yellow Wallpaper." Students should write their findings on a wall text and present it to the class.
2. In pairs, have the students read "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and finish a plot outline of their own. Finish for homework.

Day 4.
1. Journal: What are you most afraid of? Why?
2. What is Gothic literature? Create a Power Point presentation with the history of the Gothic including the characteristics of Gothic literature, i.e. dark settings, strong imagery, damsels in distress, deep villains, dark themes about human nature, hidden secrets, etc. Student enjoy learning where things like vampires, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc come from.
3. Have students identify Gothic elements in some of their favorite movies and stories, brainstorming on the board. Direct students to looking at specific elements that create the mood and tone. Students should be able to identify various images and literary elements.

Day 5:
1. Read "Tell Tale Heart" and identify Gothic elements and do plot outline.
2. Answer the question "Why is Poe considered one of the greatest Gothic authors ever?"
3. Discuss findings.

Day 6.
1. Plot and Gothic Elements Quiz
2. Handout a KWL chart. Have students brainstorm what they know about the vampire myth and what questions they have. Then do a think, pair, share, recording their findings on the board. Hand out an article about vampires from wikipedia.org. Students will read the article and take notes, seeing if they can identify answers to their questions an interesting facts.
3. Have students read an excerpt from "Dracula's Guest," and identify the characteristics of the literary vampire. Have them compare and contrast in a Venn Diagram.

Day 7:
1. Show a clip of "The Horla," as shown on youtube.com. Ask students to take note of Gothic elements and key images.
2. Have students predict what the story is about and record their ideas on a sheet of paper.
3. Play Part I of the radio show of "The Horla," as produced by the One Act Players. While students read they should keep track of key plot points, Gothic elements, and production elements of the actual show.
4. Discuss their ideas and ask them to predict what will happen in the next part of the story.

Day 8:
1. Review the predictions and findings of the radio show.
2. Listen to Part II of "The Horla." Have students continue their notes.
3. Discuss the Gothic elements and imagery used in the radio show. Also discuss the production elements that the radio players use to convey the story.
4. Ask students the question "Is the Horla a vampire?" Have them compare and contrast their research to their article notes and have a class discussion.
5. Homework: Find a scary story and outline the Gothic and literary elements.

Day 9:
1. Discuss radio show productions. Brainstorm the effective elements, such as sound effects, voice inflection, music, etc.
2. Hand out "Gothic Spook Hour," an assignment where the students must get in groups, choose a scary story, and adapt it to a radio show script
to be performed in front of the class. Students must make use of imagery and Gothic elements to tell their story and create the correct mood. Students will have to hand in a script, complete with plot outline, and an outline of the literary and Gothic elements that make it a Gothic inspired story.
3. Form groups and have students choose stories.

Day 10:
1. Model the radio show for the class or show a clip of Garrison Keillor and discuss the elements that you used. Hand out radio show/script grading rubric.
2. Class work day

Day 11 and 12:
1. Class work days

Day 13, 14, 15:
1. Class performances. It's best to have music stands for students to use for scripts.

Day 16:
1. Have groups evaluate their members and their own performance. These scores will be averaged and added in as part of the final score.

III. Assessments:
1. Quizzes on terms and elements
2. Formative and summative assessments during class.
3. Students abilities to put the Gothic elements to practice in story telling.
4. Teacher and self assessments of final project