Romance: is it all hearts, flowers, and candy

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Romance is it all hearts, flowers, and candy?
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a romance

• Most simply, a romance is a book that presents
  life in unrealistic ways.
• In the 1800s and before, the term described books
  in which people had extraordinary experiences,
  such as encounters with the supernatural and
  magical trips to faraway places.

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The Romantic Period in British Literature

• Lasted from the late 1700s into the 1830s
• Characteristics include
• Supporting new ideas, instead of traditional ones
• An emphasis on emotion and nature
• A sense of possibility

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Gothic Literature

• A genre that was a very popular branch of
  Romantic Literature
• It paved the way for the modern mystery,
  science-fiction, and horror novels.

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What is gothic?

• The most unrealistic form of romance.

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The First Gothic Novel

• Horace Walpoles The Castle of Otranto
• Published in 1764

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Otrantos Characters
Hippolita
Prince Manfred
Matilda (18)
Isabella
Conrad (15)
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Gothics Characteristics Include

• Family drama
• An ancient curse
• Death gloom
• The supernatural
• Mystery
• Suspense
• Fear
• Terror horror

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• Mood is a key element in the gothic.

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What about Frankenstein?

• Frankenstein is a classic gothic novel.
• Mary Shelley began writing the book in a
  competition between friends to see who could
  write the best ghost story.

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The basics

• In Frankenstein a young man named Victor
  Frankenstein uses his knowledge of science to put
  together body parts and create a monster. The
  story is filled with murder, extreme emotion, and
  suspense.

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Real Life Context

• In the early 1800s, when Mary Shelley wrote
  Frankenstein, many people wondered if people
  could be brought back to life.
• There were even scientific experiments done to
  see whether life could be revived by applying
  electric shocks.

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Gothic in Frankenstein

• Frankenstein contains elements of gothic listed
  earlier, plus other gothic characteristics
  including
• The grotesque
• A concern about the limits of science and
  societys morals
• Conflict between good and evil

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Gothic explores societys fears.

• During Mary Shelleys time, people didnt know
  how science would change their world.
• Today, were still not sure where science will
  lead us, and theres fear about what might
  happen. What are some examples?

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Cloning

• What would happen if you could make 5 versions of
  yourself just like you?

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Frankenfood

• Bioengineering changing the DNA of everything
  from viruses to our food to our children scares
  many people.

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Cloning in the Movies

• The funny side of cloning appears in Multiplicity
  and Austin Powers.
• But cloning goes horribly wrong in films like
  Jurassic Park and last years Godsend.

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Create Your Own Gothic

• To show of your new knowledge of the gothic, pick
  one of the following to do
• Write the tagline for your own gothic film.
• Write the opening line (or lines) to your own
  gothic novel.
• For both options above, also decide which of
  societys fears you the film or novel would
  explore.