1. Do you think that the so-called “Goths” in today’s twenty-first century youth culture embody any of the traits and beliefs that define Gothic literature/architecture or the beliefs of the Romanticists? If so, which ones, and why? If not, why not? 2. Give an example of a film, television show, or play you have watched that seems to fit the Gothic genre. Describe at least its setting, characters, and mood, and also any other details that make you believe it fits the genre.
3.Characters in Gothic literature present their tales to us as “case studies,” in which they describe all the internal and external forces that have caused their situation to exist. Choose which of the following “forces” you think is MOST responsible for controlling the events in our lives, and explain why you think that one compared to all the others is the strongest factor. Choose from heredity, fate/destiny, the will of supernatural beings, society/peers, personal choice, fear, authority figures, past or present traumas, mental health issues, or love.
4. Imagine someone wanted to terrify you. What types of things or situations would cause you that kind of anxiety and dread just to think about the possibility of them coming true? If someone wanted to horrify you, what would have to happen to accomplish that? Can you think of something that would give you the sort of “fun terror” that good Gothic literature is supposed to create in a person? If so, what is it?
5.What purpose(s) do you think Gothic literature served for its authors during the Romantic period? We already know what purpose it is supposed to have for us as the audience (to terrify and horrify). But what personal, political, or social goals might an author try to satisfy in writing these stories of misfits, mysteries, monsters, melancholy, and the macabre? Discuss at least two such goals.