Year 8 · English · Gothic fiction · Lesson 1
What is Gothic fiction?
The conventions of Gothic fiction, famous Gothic novels, and how Mary Shelley creates a Gothic atmosphere in Frankenstein.
24-minute video lesson
Teaching, worked examples and 20 practice questions solved step by step.
Watch free for a monthWhat your child will learn
- Describe what Gothic fiction is
- Identify Gothic conventions
- Explain pathetic fallacy
- Find Gothic features in a 19th-century extract
- Explain the effect of a writer's word choices
The method
- Gothic fiction aims to create fear, mystery and suspense.
- Conventions: dark isolated settings, storms and night, villains and victims, the supernatural.
- Pathetic fallacy: weather that reflects the mood.
- Answer with a point, a short quotation, and an explanation of the effect.
Key words: Gothic, convention, atmosphere, pathetic fallacy, supernatural, suspense, villain.
Worked examples
The first three practice questions from the lesson, with every step.
Question 1
Which Gothic convention is shown here? “Thunder crashed and the wind howled around the old house.”
- Step 1: Look for setting, weather, character or the supernatural
- Step 2: Stormy weather (pathetic fallacy)
Answer: Stormy weather (pathetic fallacy)
Question 2
Which Gothic convention is shown here? “A pale figure in white drifted silently along the corridor, and then was gone.”
- Step 1: Look for setting, weather, character or the supernatural
- Step 2: The supernatural (a ghost)
Answer: The supernatural (a ghost)
Question 3
Which Gothic convention is shown here? “The young woman was locked in the tower, with no one to hear her cries.”
- Step 1: Look for setting, weather, character or the supernatural
- Step 2: A trapped, vulnerable victim
Answer: A trapped, vulnerable victim