Investigating Poe's Style and Purpose: October 27, 2016

Focus: What does Poe want us to understand differently, and how is he revealing this to us?

1. Warming up with a Level 1 scavenger hunt

• Please make a copy and save it in your Gothic Literature folder.

2. Discussing "Fall of the House of Usher" in grid groups to get to Level 2 and 3 thinking

Please bring in quotations from the story as you discuss (and note them in your grids).

Topic #1: In this story, what do the characters fear? What do they do to feel safe? Does it work?

Topic #2: Poe wrote "The Fall of the House of Usher" during a time of shift in the United States. The aristocracy (the upper, upper class), which depended on the oppression of lower classes and on the preservation of "pure, royal blood," was crumbling and giving rise to the middle class. How does this 19th century historical tension relate to the story? What multiple meanings might the title of the story hold?

Topic #3: What does this story help us understand about fear? American society? Human nature? 

3. Introducing the speech component of American Literature

HW:
1. Bring headphones to class tomorrow.

2. Make sure that your Gothic journal is complete and inside your Gothic Literature folder.

3. Continue working on your ELIC-inspired memoir. All rough drafts should now have my feedback. If you'd like further feedback or a conference, please ask me by Wednesday afternoon.

Final drafts are due November 1 by 3:00 pm (I extended the deadline by one day).

4. If you wish to revise the content of your cultural hysteria essay (not just the grammar), you must conference with me. 

All revisions must be submitted by November 11, which is the end of 12 weeks.