Gothic Short Stories

LO: To closely examine and understand language features used in The Signalman.

Keywords:

I M _ _ E _ YA _ J E_ _ T _ V E S

Share in pairsPeer mark using the success criteria below: WWW: You have a clear beginningEBI: You needed to explain what happened to Beowulf at the end

You have a clear plot-line You have a beginning, middle and end You explain what happens in chronological order You use dialogue to help build a sense of the character in the storyYou explain where the story takes placeWrite a target statement outlining what

you need to do to improve.

Language FeaturesAdjectives

Verbs

Consider how these features build tension in The Signalman – remember this is a Gothic short story.

Words to describe or enhance a noun.• They live in a beautiful house• The horrifying forest was dark.

A word used to describe an action to form the main part of a sentence.• “I can hear him coming!” Sally whispered.• Fred was a very kind boy.

Why do we use these features?

What does imagery mean?Definition: Descriptive words to form images

“…gloomy red light, and the gloomier entrance to a black tunnel…”

He pulled out his handkerchief, and wiped the drops from his heated forehead.

Typical colour of a handkerchief = white

One could suggest that the white handkerchief represents innocence. The Signalman’s action implies he is wiping (verb) away his worries of the deaths he’s witnessed and is protecting himself with purity.

Imagery: “Wiped the drops from his heated forehead”. Adjective: Heated

This implies that the Signalman is feeling anxious and stressed, which is supported by the adjective “heated”.

Can you identify the adjectives and verbs?

In pairs, analyse the quotations below. You can use the teacher help sheet with the questions or you can challenge yourselves and go it alone.

• “Just then, there came a vague vibration in the earth and air, quickly changing into a violent pulsation, and an oncoming rush that caused me to start back, as though it had force to draw me down.”

• “…in a gloomy red light, and the gloomier entrance to a black tunnel, in whose massive architecture there was a barbarous, depressing, and forbidding air.” Challenge yourself – Can you analyse another sentence

from the story?

Plenary

Write a sentence using exactly 12 words to explain

why we use language features.