“Gothic literature found a home with writers of the American South, who used the crumbling landscape of the antebellum era as the backdrop for their tales of fantasy and the grotesque. Major twentieth-century American authors who often identified with this genre include Flannery O’Connor…William Faulkner, Truman Capote, and to a lesser extent, Eudora Welty.”

•Francis Russell Hart: “fiction evocative of a sublime and picturesque landscape--depicting a world in ruins.”

•“Explores the psychology of human existence on several unique levels.” Elizabeth Kerr

•Explorations of the subconscious through dreams, good vs. evil polarity in the characters, and the use of setting and atmosphere evoke a vivid emotional response in the reader.

•Southern Gothic fiction focuses on “…themes of terror, death, and social interaction.”

•Like medieval gothics, the plantation homes resembled castles and the quasi-feudal order (slavery). The decaying antebellum South are evocative of the decaying medieval castles.

•Southern Gothic embodies a poignancy derived from personal and community experiences of its authors.

As we read excerpts and stories by William Faulkner & Flannery O’Connor, keep these ideas in mind. The combination of tradition, family, community, changing racial structures provides Southern authors with a multitude of plot and story lines that fit the Southern Gothic ideal. The decaying way of life and the changing structure of the south can be seen in 20th and 21st century writings.

We will begin by reading a selection of

the novel, Prince of Tides by modern

author Pat Conroy. As you read, please

use your DIDLS formula. Choose a

couple of paragraphs you find

beautiful or powerful, and apply the

acronym to that section. Please type it

neatly and turn it in on: