English Homework Project
Year 9: The Gothic
Task 1: The Chamber
Read the following opening of the story called ‘The Chamber’ then
complete the following tasks.
Emily looked around her room, they certainly had made this old
Victorian house into a beautiful hotel; she particularly liked the
large, crimson, four poster bed that dominated the room. Hopefully,
she would be warmer once in bed as she felt decidedly coldsomewhat irritating when she considered how much she had paid
for the room. She looked around the room trying to decide where to
place her jewellery. She saw a small, old-fashioned dressing table
and placed her pearl choker carefully on the top, she didn't want it
to get scratched as it was her most precious item- it belonged to her
great, great grandmother and was a family heir loom. She fingered
the pearls delicately; she loved the way the bulbous pearls always
caught the light and always felt blood-warm to the touch. Tonight,
however, she noticed that in fact the pearls felt cold and they had
lost their lustre. 'How odd,' she whispered and, for some reason, she
looked nervously around the room.
She heard in the distance the clock tower announce that midnight
had arrived and she realised that she ached for sleep. She had a
busy day tomorrow as she would be meeting her fiancé’s parents for
the first time. As Emily approached the bed she glanced at the
ornate, gold-leaf mirror. What she saw reflected in the mirror made
her blood freeze. She caught her breath. Her eyes widened. Her
hand went instinctively to her throat.....
Answer the following questions. You may need a dictionary to help you.
Write your answers in the gaps underneath each question.
1. What is an heir loom?
2. What time was it?
3. What does lustre mean?
4. What does bulbous mean?
5. The pearls are described as blood-warm to the touch. Why is the word
blood so effective here?
6. Write down all the words associated with temperature.
7. Read paragraph two carefully. How does the author create
dramatic tension?
8. Can you think of an old fashioned word for room?
Story continuation....
What do you think will happen next? Your task is to write the next part of the story.
Continue the story, trying to match the style of the opening of the story. Think
about how you are going to create a tense atmosphere for your reader. Are you
going to include a dramatic twist or ending? Think about the type of vocabulary
that would be appropriate and effective.
Plan your ideas on this page then write the continued story on the following pages
of lined paper.
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Task 2: New Moon by Stephanie Myers
Read the following extract and then answer the questions in
the spaces given.
The stone antechamber was not large. It opened quickly into a brighter, cavernous room,
perfectly round like a huge castle turret …which was probably exactly what it was. Two stories
up, long window slits threw thin rectangles of bright sunlight onto the stone floor below. There
were no artificial lights. The only furniture in the room were several massive wooden chairs, like
thrones, that were spaced unevenly, flush with the curving stone walls. In the very centre of the
circle, in a slight depression, was another drain. I wondered if they used it as an exit, like the hole
in the street.
The room was not empty. A handful of people were convened in seemingly relaxed conversation.
The murmur of low, smooth voices was a gentle hum in the air. As I watched, a pair of pale
women in summer dresses paused in a patch of light, and, like prisms, their skin threw the light in
rainbow sparkles against the sienna walls.
The exquisite faces all turned toward our party as we entered the room. Most of the immortals
were dressed in inconspicuous pants and shirts - things that wouldn’t stick out in the streets
below. But the man who spoke first wore one of the long robes. It was pitch-black, and brushed
against the floor. For a moment, I thought his long, jet-black hair was the hood of his cloak.
“Jane, dear one, you’ve returned!” he cried in evident delight. His voice was just a soft sighing.
He drifted forward, and the movement flowed with such surreal grace that I gawked, my mouth
hanging open. Even Alice, whose every motion looked like dancing, could not compare.
I was only more astonished as he floated closer and I could see his face. It was not like the
unnaturally attractive faces that surrounded him (for he did not approach us alone; the entire
group converged around him, some following, and some walking ahead of him with the alert
manner of bodyguards). I couldn’t decide if his face was beautiful or not. I suppose the features
were perfect. But he was as different from the vampires beside him as they were from me. His
skin was translucently white, like onionskin, and it looked just as delicate-it stood in shocking
contrast to the long black hair that framed his face. I felt a strange, horrifying urge to touch his
cheek, to see if it was softer than Edward’s or Alice’s, or if it was powdery like chalk. His eyes
were red, the same as the others around him, but the colour was clouded, milky; I wondered if
his vision was affected by the haze.
He glided to Jane, took her face in his papery hands, kissed her lightly on her full lips, and then
floated back a step.
Answer the following questions on the ‘New Moon’ extract in
the spaces below.
1. Using a dictionary find a definition for ‘antechamber’.
2. Using a thesaurus find 3 synonyms (words that mean the same) for
‘cavernous’.
3. Rewrite the following sentence in words of your own. ‘A handful of
people were convened in seemingly relaxed conversation’.
4. What words are used to describe the speaking voices of the people in
the room?
5. Which one word, from the text, best describes the man who ‘wore one
of the long robes’?
6. A simile is used to describe the man’s skin. Can you identify the simile
and say why you think it was chosen?
7. Choose 2 metaphors from the passage and explain their meanings.
8. How does the description of ‘the man’ compare with a stereotypical
picture of a vampire?
Now have a go at writing the opening paragraph to your own
vampire novel. Who are your characters going to be? How are
you going to create the right atmosphere in the opening
paragraph? Think about the language and description that you
use.
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Task 3: Vampires
Read the extract from a novel called ‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker. Once you have read
the extract, complete the following activities.
8 May.--I began to fear as I wrote in this book that I was getting too diffuse. But now I
am glad that I went into detail from the first, for there is something so strange about
this place and all in it that I cannot but feel uneasy. I wish I were safe out of it, or that I
had never come. It may be that this strange night existence is telling on me, but would
that that were all! If there were any one to talk to I could bear it, but there is no one. I
have only the Count to speak with, and he-- I fear I am myself the only living soul
within the place. Let me be prosaic so far as facts can be. It will help me to bear up, and
imagination must not run riot with me. If it does I am lost. Let me say at once how I
stand, or seem to.
I only slept a few hours when I went to bed, and feeling that I could not sleep any more,
got up. I had hung my shaving glass by the window, and was just beginning to shave.
Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, and heard the Count's voice saying to me, "Good
morning." I started, for it amazed me that I had not seen him, since the reflection of the
glass covered the whole room behind me. In starting I had cut myself slightly, but did
not notice it at the moment. Having answered the Count's salutation, I turned to the
glass again to see how I had been mistaken. This time there could be no error, for the
man was close to me, and I could see him over my shoulder. But there was no
reflection of him in the mirror! The whole room behind me was displayed, but there
was no sign of a man in it, except myself.
This was startling, and coming on the top of so many strange things, was beginning to
increase that vague feeling of uneasiness which I always have when the Count is near.
But at the instant I saw that the cut had bled a little, and the blood was trickling over
my chin. I laid down the razor, turning as I did so half round to look for some sticking
plaster. When the Count saw my face, his eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and
he suddenly made a grab at my throat. I drew away and his hand touched the string of
beads which held the crucifix. It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed so
quickly that I could hardly believe that it was ever there.
"Take care," he said, "take care how you cut yourself. It is more dangerous that you
think in this country." Then seizing the shaving glass, he went on, "And this is the
wretched thing that has done the mischief. It is a foul bauble of man's vanity. Away
with it!" And opening the window with one wrench of his terrible hand, he flung out
the glass, which was shattered into a thousand pieces on the stones of the courtyard
far below. Then he withdrew without a word. It is very annoying, for I do not see how I
am to shave, unless in my watch-case or the bottom of the shaving pot, which is
fortunately of metal.
When I went into the dining room, breakfast was prepared, but I could not find the
Count anywhere. So I breakfasted alone. It is strange that as yet I have not seen the
Count eat or drink. He must be a very peculiar man! After breakfast I did a little
exploring in the castle. I went out on the stairs, and found a room looking towards the
South.
The view was magnificent, and from where I stood there was every opportunity of
seeing it. The castle is on the very edge of a terrific precipice. A stone falling from the
window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything! As far as the eye can
reach is a sea of green tree tops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm.
Here and there are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the
forests.
But I am not in heart to describe beauty, for when I had seen the view I explored
further. Doors, doors, doors everywhere, and all locked and bolted. In no place save
from the windows in the castle walls is there an available exit. The castle is a veritable
prison, and I am a prisoner!
Use a dictionary to find the definitions of the following words from the extract. If
there are any other words you’re not sure about, add them to your list too.
Word from extract
Diffuse
salutation
Prosaic
Demoniac
Crucifix
Precipice
Chasm
Definition
Make a list of all the clues you can find that the Count might be a vampire. You
might need to ask a friend or relative for some advice on what traditionally makes a
vampire. Use evidence from the text to help you.
Clues
Evidence
Couldn’t see the
Count’s reflection
“I had hung my shaving glass by the window, and
was just beginning to shave. Suddenly I felt a hand
on my shoulder..”
Task 4: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Read the following extract from the novel and then colour
code it with the list of features below.
It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that
almost amounted to agony, collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being
into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally
against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light,
I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs.
How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite
pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as
beautiful. Beautiful! -- Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries
beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances
only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun
white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.
The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for
nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself
of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had
finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to
endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, continued a long time traversing my
bed chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep.
Colour code the text with the following words and techniques.
●Horror ingredients/conventions
●Words which have a feeling of horror
●Words to show this was written in the 1800s
Words which show the character’s fear
●Words which show the mixed feelings the character has about his creation
●Words to describe the monster
Frankenstein Research Task
Use the internet or books from the Resource Centre to research the following
information about the novel and its author.
Answer the questions on the following pages of lined paper. Add more if you need
to.
1. Who was Mary Shelley married to and why was he famous?
2. Who were Shelley’s parents and what were they famed for?
3. Who wrote ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ and what was this narrative
about?
4. Who was Dante? What is he most famous for writing?
5. Who was Prometheus and what happened to him?
6. What was the first ‘gothic novel’? When was it published?
7. What are some of the conventions of the traditional Gothic novel?
8. What was the story behind the creation and writing of Frankenstein (e.g
where was Shelley, who was she with etc)?
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Frankenstein: The Setting
Draw this scene from chapter 5 and annotate your work with quotations.
It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that
almost amounted to agony, collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of
being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered
dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the halfextinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive
motion agitated its limbs.
Task 5: Create your own monster
Re-read the passage where Mary Shelley’s monster comes to life to
remind yourself of the monster, Victor Frankenstein’s reaction to it and
the atmosphere that is created.
Now imagine that you, like Dr Frankenstein, have created a monster. Write a
description of the moment it woke up.
Try to include the following:
A spooky setting for your tale
Describe in detail what the monster looks, smells, feels and sounds like. Does it
speak to you? How does it move?
Describe your own feelings when you see the monster come to life.
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Draw a picture of your monster, labelling it with details of its features.
Task 7: Susan Hill
The Woman in Black
Read the following passage and show your understanding by answering the
questions in as much detail as you can. Remember to write in full sentences.
In this passage the narrator is in an overgrown graveyard on a lonely marsh when - for the
second time - he sees a ghostly woman in black.
In the greyness of the fading light, her face had the sheen and pallor not of flesh so much as
of bone itself. Earlier, when I had looked at her, although admittedly it had been scarcely
more than a swift glance each time, I had not noticed any particular expression on her
ravaged face, but then I had, after all, been entirely taken with the look of extreme illness.
Now, however, as I stared at her, stared until my eyes ached in their sockets, stared in
surprise and bewilderment at her presence, now I saw her face did wear an expression. It
was one of what I can only describe - and the words seem hopelessly inadequate to express
what I saw - as a desperate, yearning malevolence; it was as though she were searching for
something she wanted, needed - must have, more than life itself, and which had been taken
from her. And, towards whoever had taken it she directed the purest evil and hatred and
loathing, with all the force that was available to her. Her face, in its extreme pallor, her eyes,
sunken but unnaturally bright, were burning with the concentration of passionate emotion
which was within her and which streamed from her. Whether or not this hatred and
malevolence was directed towards me I had no means of telling - I had no reason at all to
suppose that it could possibly have been, but at that moment I was far from able to base my
reactions upon reason and logic. For the combination of the peculiar, isolated place and the
sudden appearance of the woman and the dreadfulness of her expression began to fill me
with fear. Indeed, I had never in my life been so possessed by it, never known my knees to
tremble and my flesh to creep, and then to turn cold as stone, never known my heart to give
a great lurch, as if it would almost leap up into my dry mouth and then begin pounding in my
chest like a hammer on an anvil, never known myself gripped and held fast by such dread
and horror and apprehension of evil.
1) Which three words does the narrator use to describe the expression on
the woman’s face?
2) Re-read the third sentence (“Now, however” to “…an expression”).
How does the way that sentence is written build up tension?
Explain one way.
3) The woman’s face suggests a contrast between death and illness, and fierce
energy.
a) Choose from the text two groups of words which show this contrast. Use no
more than four words in each box.
Death/illness
Fierce energy
b) Explain why you think the contrast is effective.
4) In the whole text, how does the writer’s use of language show the narrator’s
growing fear?
You should comment on how the writer:
- uses descriptions
- suggests the narrator’s feelings
- creates a dramatic mood