Themes and Tropes (ideas that come up again and again) in Gothic LiteratureThere are three tasks for you to complete:

1. Read this brief list of ‘ingredients’ for Gothic stories. Then highlight and label at least five of these tropes in each of the three stories below.

1. Darkness2. Isolation3. Madness – extreme emotional states and confusion over what is real or

unreal4. Frame Narratives - confusion over what is real, piecing together rumour,

folklore, local history, diaries, letters5. Disease and illness6. The church and organized religion7. Vulnerable female characters who are often victims8. The supernatural9. Death and the afterlife10. Outsiders and people who society does not approve of

2. Now your turn: Mrs Butler has been locked in the four-storey block! Write a paragraph about what happens to her, using at least 4 Gothic tropes. You can use the starting sentence: She heard the door slam shut, and the key turn in the lock.

3. And finally… What is a ‘frame narrative’ and why do Gothic stories use them so much? Research this question, and write:

a brief definition of frame narrative three bullet-points of why one might be used.