Students explore gothic horror across its full emotional range — from Poe’s obsessive grief and dreamlike unease through to playful, theatrical spookiness — comparing how rhythm, imagery, and tone shape whether a text genuinely unsettles or simply entertains. Every deck is packed with discussion questions and hands-on activities distributed throughout — no worksheets, no passive comprehension tasks.
What’s included:
• Deck 1: The Raven (Poe) — grief, obsession, and rhythm as dread
• Deck 2: Annabel Lee (Poe) — gothic romance and devotion beyond death
• Deck 3: Goblin Market excerpt (Rossetti) — temptation and sisterly sacrifice
• Deck 4: Spellbound (Brontë) — isolation and ambiguous entrapment
• Deck 5: Fairy-Land (Poe) — dreamlike unease and the uncanny
• Deck 6: Songs — “Thriller” (Jackson) & “This Is Halloween” — horror as playful performance
• Deck 7: “Vincent” (short film) — imagination, gothic homage, and Poe’s legacy
• Deck 8: Cross-Text Comparison — Poe’s range, real dread vs. theatrical spectacle, temptation and legacy
• Deck 9: 6-Week Teaching Sequence & Portfolio Assessment — full pacing guide plus annotation, comparative discussion, and creative writing tasks
Culminates in a portfolio-style assessment combining analytical annotation with original creative writing — ideal for a summative task that captures both skills in one product.
Perfect for: Year 7-8 English, poetry units, cross-media literacy, gothic literature and genre study, Halloween-season teaching, portfolio assessment design
File information: Non-editable PDF, Not an editable PowerPoint / How to use: Upload to your LMS for digital learning / Print selected pages for classroom use / Display pages to guide discussion and activities / Adapt in presentation or design platforms if desired (formatting may vary)