Assignment

From the following 8 questions, SELECT ONLY 5 to answer in your blue book. These essay questions call for short answers, so be brief but complete in your responses, to ether words, be SUM to address each part of the question.

1. Outline some of the basic conventions or characteristics of Gothic fiction. What settings, character types, common themes, or other elements typically feature in the Gothic? How does Kristeva's notion of "abjection" explain one possible function of Gothic fiction?

2. Identify a prominent supernatural incident from The Castle of Otranto to and explain how it contributes to one of the novel's primary themes; the influence of the past upon the present. What does the specific form taken 1w the supernatural suggest about the novel's perspective on the past?

3. Describe the actual cause of the Usher family's "fall" in Poe's story. What really leads to Roderick Usher's demise, and what does this suggest about the powers of the diseased imagination?

4. Discuss the professional activity and private research surrounding Rev. Jennings' "supernatural" experiences. Given the specific context(s) into which the spectral creature appears, what might be one possible cause for Jennings' experiences, other than the actions of the spiritual realm?

5. Analyze Rimbaud's poetic speaker's religious debate in "Night in Hell." What does he blame for his spiritual situation? How does the phrase "I am the slave of my baptism" contribute to this idea?

6. Explain the significance of Faust's conversation with the Earth Spirit early in Goethe's play. What does Faust long to obtain from this spirit? What does the spirit's response to Faust suggest about his character at this point in his story?

7. Evaluate Goethe's overall presentation of magic and the supernatural in Faust. Does it seem to be a beneficial or harmful force? Does it accomplish for Faust the effects he desires? How do the Witch's Kitchen and Walpurgis Night scenes further comment on the qualities of the supernatural?

8. Explain how the setting and other factors might have an impact on the passenger/speaker's frame of mind in "Demons." Does the poem draw any direct (or implied) connections between his mood and what he sees in the blizzard?