This is the link to the slides about the Gothic Novel.
It may be useful for our next english test.
http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dd5rxqxf_199fbsf9fhg
Monday 24 November 2008
Monday 17 November 2008
HEROINES IN JANE AUSTEN
In the Austen's novels we can find the character of the Heroine. We can find many heroines in Austen's novel: Elizabeth in "Pride and Prejudice", Elionor and Marianne in "Sense and Sensibility" and Catherine in "Northanger Abbey". Elizabeth and Jane, in the novel, are two of five sister, they are different in comparison to their sister. They are described whit an exact disposition, Elizabeth has a strong personality, nothing can submit her, she has intelligent but has a lack: the pride, she is accused to be proud by mr Darcy. Elionor in "Sense and Sensibility" rapresent the personality of the autor; she has a great control of herself, she doesn't let excessive emotion get better of her. Marianne is sensitive and intelligent, but haven't the importance of her sister because she doesn't try to please by other people. In "Northanger Abbey" the protagonist, Catherine, is different by the other heroines, she hasn't a strong emotional power, but in the novel, when she is in the abbey, she act with judgement and good skill. She can aquire a great mental power. At the end of all novels there is a happy ending in which all heroines get marry.
Wednesday 12 November 2008
Terror and horror in the past
The concept of terror and horror is born from the idea of fear. In the opinion of Freud is frightening an encounter with something that is felt as threatening by our balance and so understood as dangerous for our life. This something is often the unknown, in different forms (both mental and physical). Freud defins this fear “upsetting”: it is that something new that causes wariness and fear, because is other from us and from what we know.
Later the generally fear has been divided in two kinds: terror and horror. Terror is more mental and is a fear that stimulates the person and makes him react; horror, instead, is more physiological and is a fear that annihilates and paralyses the person, making him unable to react.
The english writer Ann Radcliffe was the first one to define this distinction: in her opinion terror was carachterised by “obscurity” or indeterminacy, and it’s this one that leads to the sublime. She says that it “expands the soul and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life”. Instead horror “freezes and nearly annihilates them”. She also thought that neither Shakespeare nor Burke looked to positive horror as a source of the sublime, even if they believed that terror was it, giving to horror a meaning more negative.
The indian man of letters Devendra Varma wrote that “the difference between Terror and Horror is the difference between awful apprehension and sickening realization: between the smell of death and stumbling against a corpse”.
Later the generally fear has been divided in two kinds: terror and horror. Terror is more mental and is a fear that stimulates the person and makes him react; horror, instead, is more physiological and is a fear that annihilates and paralyses the person, making him unable to react.
The english writer Ann Radcliffe was the first one to define this distinction: in her opinion terror was carachterised by “obscurity” or indeterminacy, and it’s this one that leads to the sublime. She says that it “expands the soul and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life”. Instead horror “freezes and nearly annihilates them”. She also thought that neither Shakespeare nor Burke looked to positive horror as a source of the sublime, even if they believed that terror was it, giving to horror a meaning more negative.
The indian man of letters Devendra Varma wrote that “the difference between Terror and Horror is the difference between awful apprehension and sickening realization: between the smell of death and stumbling against a corpse”.
Tuesday 11 November 2008
“Horror vs. Terror” nowadays.
What’s the difference between horror and terror?
Both involve fear and repulsion, but terror is more immediate and more emotional.
Horror is the feeling of revulsion that usually occurs after something frightening is seen, heard, or otherwise experienced. It is the feeling one gets after coming to an awful realization or experiencing a deeply unpleasant occurrence.
By contrast, terror is usually described as the feeling of dread and anticipation that precedes the horrifying experience. In other words, horror is more related to being shocked or scared, while terror is more related to being anxious or fearful.
CINEMA
Horror
Horror movies are characterised by scaring scenes that provoke emotions like fear, disgust, and abhorrence.
Stories and characters are often inspired to Gothic novels, for example Dracula (by Bram Stoker), Frankenstein (by Mary Shelley) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson).
The plots generally include supernatural beings, evil characters and monstrous creatures, like The curse of Frankenstein or The Mummy.
Night of the Living Dead and the sequel Dawn of the Dead by George Romero are centred on zombies.
The Phantom of the Opera and Poltergeist are characterised by the presence of ghosts, spirits and haunted houses.
Other typical elements are Satanism and demoniac possessions, as we can see in The Exorcist.
Horror cinema also includes science-fiction, extraterrestrials, alien invasions and supernatural beings, like Alien (Ridley Scott) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Subgenres of horror
- Vampire films, like Nosferatu, Carmilla, Dracula and Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola (adaptations of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula) and Interview with the Vampire (based on the novel by Anne Rice).
- Body horror, or biological horror, a horror fiction in which the horror is principally derived from a sense of physical "wrongness" with the body. Some examples are Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski), The Fly, Eraserhead (David Lynch), Hellraiser, and The Thing.
- Slasher films typically involve a psychopathic killer (usually wearing a mask) who stalks and murders a series of victims, as it happens in Scream, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13rd or Child’s Play.
- Splatter film is a type of horror film that focuses on gore and violence through the use of special effects and excessive blood and guts. The term "splatter" was coined by George Romero to describe his film Dawn of the Dead. Another popular example is Hostel by Quentin Tarantino.
Terror
Other subgenres of horror cinema use terror instead of horror to scare the audience.
- Psychological horror relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, and emotional instability to build tension. Well-known examples of psychological horror fiction include The Sixth Sense, The Blair Witch Project, The Shining (Stanley Kubrick) and the recent The Others.
- J-Horror is a term used to refer to Japanese contributions to horror fiction. It tends to focus on psychological horror and tension building (anticipation), particularly involving ghosts and poltergeists. Some popular movies are The Ring, The Grudge and Dark Water.
- Horror thriller, where conflict between the main characters are mental, emotional, and physical. Two recent examples of this include the Saw series of films and 28 Days Later. Other well-known examples are Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs.
LITERATURE
Horror literature is a branch of fantastic literature which has the aim of horrifying and scaring the readers using the technique of suspence.
The most important author of horror literature is Edgar Allan Poe. He was born in the 19th century, but we can find in his works, especially the Tales of Mystery, the same themes of Gothic novel like the taste for mystery and distress, the research of psychological aspects, in particular obsessions and nightmares.
Another exponent of horror literature is Howard Phillips Lovecraft, whose production (in particular The Myths of Cthulu) influenced the world of novels, movies, comics and cartoons. His works are inspired by his nightmares and they are deeply linked to the human unconscious.
Between the contemporary we can't forget Stephen King, author of many horror fiction best-sellers.
To who has to comment my post:
I know it's long and boring, but I can't cut anything.
Sorryyyy :)
Alessia
Both involve fear and repulsion, but terror is more immediate and more emotional.
Horror is the feeling of revulsion that usually occurs after something frightening is seen, heard, or otherwise experienced. It is the feeling one gets after coming to an awful realization or experiencing a deeply unpleasant occurrence.
By contrast, terror is usually described as the feeling of dread and anticipation that precedes the horrifying experience. In other words, horror is more related to being shocked or scared, while terror is more related to being anxious or fearful.
CINEMA
Horror
Horror movies are characterised by scaring scenes that provoke emotions like fear, disgust, and abhorrence.
Stories and characters are often inspired to Gothic novels, for example Dracula (by Bram Stoker), Frankenstein (by Mary Shelley) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson).
The plots generally include supernatural beings, evil characters and monstrous creatures, like The curse of Frankenstein or The Mummy.
Night of the Living Dead and the sequel Dawn of the Dead by George Romero are centred on zombies.
The Phantom of the Opera and Poltergeist are characterised by the presence of ghosts, spirits and haunted houses.
Other typical elements are Satanism and demoniac possessions, as we can see in The Exorcist.
Horror cinema also includes science-fiction, extraterrestrials, alien invasions and supernatural beings, like Alien (Ridley Scott) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Subgenres of horror
- Vampire films, like Nosferatu, Carmilla, Dracula and Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola (adaptations of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula) and Interview with the Vampire (based on the novel by Anne Rice).
- Body horror, or biological horror, a horror fiction in which the horror is principally derived from a sense of physical "wrongness" with the body. Some examples are Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski), The Fly, Eraserhead (David Lynch), Hellraiser, and The Thing.
- Slasher films typically involve a psychopathic killer (usually wearing a mask) who stalks and murders a series of victims, as it happens in Scream, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13rd or Child’s Play.
- Splatter film is a type of horror film that focuses on gore and violence through the use of special effects and excessive blood and guts. The term "splatter" was coined by George Romero to describe his film Dawn of the Dead. Another popular example is Hostel by Quentin Tarantino.
Terror
Other subgenres of horror cinema use terror instead of horror to scare the audience.
- Psychological horror relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, and emotional instability to build tension. Well-known examples of psychological horror fiction include The Sixth Sense, The Blair Witch Project, The Shining (Stanley Kubrick) and the recent The Others.
- J-Horror is a term used to refer to Japanese contributions to horror fiction. It tends to focus on psychological horror and tension building (anticipation), particularly involving ghosts and poltergeists. Some popular movies are The Ring, The Grudge and Dark Water.
- Horror thriller, where conflict between the main characters are mental, emotional, and physical. Two recent examples of this include the Saw series of films and 28 Days Later. Other well-known examples are Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs.
LITERATURE
Horror literature is a branch of fantastic literature which has the aim of horrifying and scaring the readers using the technique of suspence.
The most important author of horror literature is Edgar Allan Poe. He was born in the 19th century, but we can find in his works, especially the Tales of Mystery, the same themes of Gothic novel like the taste for mystery and distress, the research of psychological aspects, in particular obsessions and nightmares.
Another exponent of horror literature is Howard Phillips Lovecraft, whose production (in particular The Myths of Cthulu) influenced the world of novels, movies, comics and cartoons. His works are inspired by his nightmares and they are deeply linked to the human unconscious.
Between the contemporary we can't forget Stephen King, author of many horror fiction best-sellers.
To who has to comment my post:
I know it's long and boring, but I can't cut anything.
Sorryyyy :)
Alessia
Tuesday 4 November 2008
The Heroines In Jane Austen's Novels
All Jane Austen's novels have a detailed description of all the characters, in particular in each novel there is a strong female figure.
The characters have a fullv range of parents, the parents in fact influence a lot the decisions of the children, so this relationship beetwen parents end the children has a great influence on the marriage choise.
In spite of this all the heroines manage to marry the real love at the end of the stories .
So these characters are called heroines because they don't accept the rules imposed by the parents, and also because they can distinguish themselves by the common opinion of the 18th century.
Elionor and Marianne are the heroines in the novel "Sense and Sensibility".
Marianne is the incarnaion of the sensibility and Elionor is the incarnation of the sense. In fact Elionor is much self-controlled than Marianne. They are heroines because at the end of the story they both become two complete women.
In "Mansfield Park" Fanny Price has a wealthy and beautiful cousin than can't be compared with her, because she is shy in the relationship with the other people and refuses to settle down for a man.
The heroine of "Emma" is Emma Woodhouse that is one of the most irritating and self-obsessed Austen's charaters. She has no respect for the other people, only Mr.Knightley knows how Emma really is. Under his authoritative aspect she grows up as a person.
In "Pride and prejudice" the heroine is Elizabeth Bennet, an intelligent person that feels himself more intelligent to the rest of her family.
The first impression for her is absolutely the most important thing for knowing a person, but her personality is modified by experience.
She is an all-around character.
Catherine Morland at the contrary is the most immature Austen's heroine.
She is "Northanger abbey"'s heroine.
In "Persuasion" we can find the most mature Austen's heroine: Anne Elliot.
Anne is persuaded not to marry her real love, but after eight years he still loves her. So learninig from her mistakes she never will be persuaded not to marry her real love.
The characters have a fullv range of parents, the parents in fact influence a lot the decisions of the children, so this relationship beetwen parents end the children has a great influence on the marriage choise.
In spite of this all the heroines manage to marry the real love at the end of the stories .
So these characters are called heroines because they don't accept the rules imposed by the parents, and also because they can distinguish themselves by the common opinion of the 18th century.
Elionor and Marianne are the heroines in the novel "Sense and Sensibility".
Marianne is the incarnaion of the sensibility and Elionor is the incarnation of the sense. In fact Elionor is much self-controlled than Marianne. They are heroines because at the end of the story they both become two complete women.
In "Mansfield Park" Fanny Price has a wealthy and beautiful cousin than can't be compared with her, because she is shy in the relationship with the other people and refuses to settle down for a man.
The heroine of "Emma" is Emma Woodhouse that is one of the most irritating and self-obsessed Austen's charaters. She has no respect for the other people, only Mr.Knightley knows how Emma really is. Under his authoritative aspect she grows up as a person.
In "Pride and prejudice" the heroine is Elizabeth Bennet, an intelligent person that feels himself more intelligent to the rest of her family.
The first impression for her is absolutely the most important thing for knowing a person, but her personality is modified by experience.
She is an all-around character.
Catherine Morland at the contrary is the most immature Austen's heroine.
She is "Northanger abbey"'s heroine.
In "Persuasion" we can find the most mature Austen's heroine: Anne Elliot.
Anne is persuaded not to marry her real love, but after eight years he still loves her. So learninig from her mistakes she never will be persuaded not to marry her real love.
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