CHILLERS AND THRILLERS : A BRIEF STUDY OF SOUTHERN GOTHIC LITERATURE

1. CHILLERS AND THRILLERS : A BRIEF STUDY OF SOUTHERN GOTHIC LITERATURE SARAH M. EMERY-HALL, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY Synopsis/Unit Theme: During this three-week mini unit on Southern Gothic literature, AP English 12 students will examine the elements of the Southern Gothic (entrapment, the macabre, the sublime, etc.) through four short stories, brief film excerpts, and two full-length films—one British, and one American. The choices for the unit will allow students to see the breadth of time chronology encompassing the Southern Gothic period, as well as learn to appreciate offshoots of this element in modern literature and film. UNIT GOALS: LITERATURE AND FILMS: Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" Charlotte Perkins’ Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Premature Burial” William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” Cool Hand Luke (film) Stephen King’s It (film) Students will be able to identify and process the main themes found within Southern Gothic literature. Students will be able to compare and contrast literary themes found within Southern Gothic literature to relatively modern films. Students will be able to analyze the causes of behavior and the effects within Southern Gothic literary characters. UNIT LESSON DESCRIPTIONS: THE YELLOW WALLPAPER • Comprehension Strategies: • Drawing on Background Knowledge, Explanation/Discussion of gender roles in Victorian England/United States, early feminism, The Genteel Tradition, early medical practices and effects. • Processing Text: • -Summarizing plot elements, making inferences between household relationships in the story, analyzing literary elements/terms within the text and dialogue of the story, writing alternate ending to the story, viewing BBC adaptation of the short story on film. • Monitoring Comprehension: • Teacher-generated higher-order thinking questions about the story, student-generated AP-style multiple choice questions about the story, Socratic method classroom discussion over the story to clarify any muddled points within, evaluation/prediction writing prompt halfway through the story. • Comprehension Strategies: • Historical/socio-cultural aspects of the American south circa 1930-1950, familial roles—especially with extended families in the same geographic area, civil rights issues/African-American roles during time period, background information on O’Connor. • Processing text- • -Visualizing/predicting plot elements at various points within the story, making inferences between character interactions/relationships in the story, categorizing and distinguishing important vs. less important story information, analyzing Southern Gothic literary terms and elements within. • Monitoring Comprehension- • -Teacher-generated higher-order thinking questions about the story, student-generated AP-style multiple choice questions about the story, Socratic method classroom discussion over the story to clarify any muddled points within, evaluation/prediction writing prompt halfway through the story. • Comprehension Strategies • Southern Civil-War era vocabulary and practices, courtship habits between men and women circa 1870’s-1910’s, funeral practices and tax codes around similar time period in American south, background information on Faulkner. • Processing Text- • Making inferences between familial relationship, between narrator and other story characters, etc., using knowledge of text structure—reordering the events in proper chronology, sequencing and visualizing proper order of events to solve mystery of ‘whodunit’ within the story. • Monitoring Comprehension- • teacher-generated higher-order thinking questions about the story, student-generated AP-style multiple choice questions about the story, Socratic method classroom discussion over the story to clarify any muddled points within, evaluation/prediction writing prompt halfway through the story. • Comprehension Strategies • Funeral practices in antebellum America, early study of medical conditions that mimic death-like states, prior background information on Poe and his other collection of ghastly tales. • Processing Text- • Synthesizing dialogue/narrator information, and Visualizing proper sequence of events/order of events. Distinguishing important from less important information, Analyzing Southern Gothic literary terms/elements. • Monitoring Comprehension- • Teacher-generated higher-order thinking questions about the story, student-generated AP-style multiple choice questions about the story, Socratic method classroom discussion over the story to clarify any muddled points within, evaluation/prediction writing prompt halfway through the story. A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND A ROSE FOR EMILY THE PREMATURE BURIAL UNIT ASSESSMENTS: STATE OF MICHIGAN H.S. CONTENT EXPECTATIONS • Student Oral Project/Video- Delivery of an “Alternate Ending” to one of the stories, that can be shared during parent conferences • Formal Essay of Southern Gothic themes compared and contrasted from one of the short stories to one of the films. www.michigan.gov/documents/ELA11-14open1_142201_7.pdf • CE 1.1.4, CE 1.2.2, CE 1.3.1, • CE 2.1.3, CE 2.2.2, CE 2.2.3, • CE 3.1.1, CE 3.1.4, CE 3.1.9, CE 3.2.1, CE 3.3.1, • CE 4.2.2