Close Reading in the Gothic Horror Novel: The Monkey's Paw

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 4

The Monkey's Paw

A lesson in close reading within the Gothic Novel

Horror

Horror is a genre of speculative fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. It creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere. Horror is often divided into either the psychological horror and supernatural horror sub-genre. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society. Prevalent elements include ghosts, demons, vampires, werewolves,  dystopian and apocolyptic worlds, serial killers, psychopaths, cults, and dark magic.

Gothic

In the late 1800s the gothic emerged as a literary genre. Gothic novels are commonly set in isolated, mysterious, and often strange settings; involve characters, including a fallen hero, with complex family dynamics; and feature melodrama, the supernatural, and architecture. Several other genres grew out of the gothic, at least in part: the mystery/detective genre, science fiction, horror, and the weird tale.

Bram Stoker's Dracula

Overlapping genres

The Monkey's Paw has all the elements of the Gothic novel, the horror story and many elements of the melodrama.

Video: listening and reading. 

Summary of the story: 

The short story involves Mr. and Mrs. White and their adult son, Herbert. Sergeant-Major Morris, a friend who served with the British Army in India, comes by for dinner and introduces them to a mummified monkey's paw.

Three wishes are granted to the owner of The Monkey's Paw, but the wishes come with an enormous price for interfering with fate.

First wish: 200 dollars, paid by son's death

Second wish: return of dead son

Third wish: undoes second wish, story ends

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing – A literary device in which a writer provides the audience with hints and clues about what will happen next.

• Foreshadowing usually appears toward the beginning of a story.

• Foreshadowing allows readers to make better 

predictions about what will happen next.

Foreshadowing, closely related to structure.

the clues should not be confused with the theme!!

picture (Starwars): the shadow of Darth Vader behind Anakin foreshadows who Anakin will grow up to be

think about the literature you've read, can you name an example of foreshadowing...

Othello: the emphasis on Desdemona's chastity and innocence and Othello's appreciation for all that, foreshadows that the downfall of everything will be caused by adultery

Final Assignment

Answer the following questions about the text, your teacher can also send you this set of questions in teams: