Foundational Horror In-Class Essay

Students will select one of the following three prompts.

1. Consider your Foundational Horror novel; write a well-organized response in which you make a case for which subgenre or genres best describes your book.  Include specific quotes, characters, examples, or other information from the text.  It is possible your novel fits multiple genres.

2. As we learned in our opening WSQ, Horror stories are often written as a reaction to a social fear of the time period.  Consider your novel, as well as its historical context; which social fear, or event might your book be reacting to?  Be sure to consider direct quotations and specifics from the novel, as well as references to historical events.  You may even want to include secondary quotes and support to help your argument.

3. Write a literary analysis that discusses the literary merit and literary devices in your novel.  Consider things like tone, mood, symbolism, analogy, imagery, or many others to make your case.  This prompt is the most open-ended but requires specifically analyzed quotes, and an understanding of literary devices.