English · Year 9

Active learning ideas

Conventions of the Gothic

Active learning is key to understanding the Gothic, as it moves beyond simply identifying tropes to experiencing their effect. Engaging students in sensory mapping, creative reimagining, and comparative analysis allows them to internalize how Gothic conventions create atmosphere and explore complex themes.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS3: English - Reading: Literature
• KS3: English - Reading: Context and Genre

• 30–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Gallery Walk
• 45 min · Small Groups

Gothic Setting: Sensory Mapping

Students work in small groups to create a sensory map of a classic Gothic setting, like a haunted castle. They will list sounds, smells, textures, and visual details that contribute to the atmosphere, focusing on how these elements evoke fear or awe.

Analyze how the setting of a Gothic novel functions as a character in its own right.

Facilitation Tip

During the Gallery Walk for Gothic Setting, encourage students to not only observe the sensory details but also to discuss how those details contribute to the overall mood and atmosphere of the depicted setting.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Gallery Walk
• 30 min · Individual

Uncanny Object Creation

Individually, students select an ordinary object and reimagine it as uncanny, writing a short descriptive paragraph or drawing it in a way that suggests hidden menace or strangeness. They then share their creations and explain the unsettling elements.

Explain how Gothic writers use the supernatural to explore real human fears.

Facilitation Tip

During Think-Pair-Share for Uncanny Object Creation, prompt students to articulate the specific choices they made to transform an ordinary object into something uncanny, focusing on how these choices evoke unease or mystery.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 35 min · Whole Class

Sublime vs. Terrifying Landscape

Whole class discussion comparing images of landscapes that evoke the sublime (e.g., vast mountain ranges) with those that evoke terror (e.g., stormy seas). Students identify specific features that contribute to each feeling and discuss the psychological impact.

Evaluate how the concept of the sublime creates a sense of awe and terror in the reader.

Facilitation Tip

During the whole class discussion for Sublime vs. Terrifying Landscape, guide students to connect their emotional responses to specific visual elements, ensuring they differentiate between awe and fear within the sublime.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Approach the Gothic not just as a collection of plot devices, but as a genre that reflects historical anxieties and psychological states. Emphasize how atmosphere and setting function as active forces, mirroring internal turmoil, and encourage students to explore the 'why' behind the conventions, not just the 'what'.

Students will demonstrate a nuanced understanding of Gothic conventions by actively creating and analyzing content. Success looks like students articulating how specific elements, like setting or uncanny objects, contribute to the genre's mood and thematic concerns.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Gothic Setting: Sensory Mapping, students might focus only on visual elements and miss the affective impact of sound, smell, or texture.

  During Gothic Setting: Sensory Mapping, redirect students by asking them to consider how specific sounds (creaking doors, wind) or textures (damp stone, cobwebs) contribute to the feeling of isolation or decay, prompting them to add these to their maps.

• During Uncanny Object Creation, students might create something simply strange rather than uncanny, missing the subtle connection to the familiar that creates unease.

  During Uncanny Object Creation, guide students by asking them to identify an ordinary object and then consider what small alteration (a misplaced feature, an unexpected material) makes it feel unsettling rather than just odd, helping them refine their descriptions.

• During Sublime vs. Terrifying Landscape, students may conflate the sublime with simply 'big' or 'impressive' without grasping its inherent terror.

  During Sublime vs. Terrifying Landscape, prompt students to explain what specific elements in the 'sublime' images evoke both awe and a sense of danger or overwhelming power, pushing them to articulate the dual nature of the experience.

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Methods used in this brief

• Gallery Walk