12yr olds English project.....Advice please!

[Alarica]

Hi all!

I'll try to keep this short, but i would really appreciate any ideas!
My 12yr old, yet again has been given this English project and lessons at school. I'm a bit concerned to be honest because i challenged the school and the teacher has no idea what shes doing.

Essentially, i'm looking for gothic literature or films anyone can recommend i can give my daughter to read or watch to give her a better insight into gothic horror.

The project is 'the detective genre/horror genre'. They are doing Sherlock Holmes stories (but havent been told who wrote them), and for the horror element are doing Mary Shelley and Frankenstein.

Slap in the middle of the list of points for the project is the bit i challenged 'write an explaination of what the term 'gothic' means and where it originates. When i asked in which context the teacher said 'i have no idea, just get her to write about all types. Literature, culture and horror'.

The aim at the end of this project is to write their own gothic horror story. Yet they havent and wont be covering anyones work other than Mary Shelley.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks everyone!

Alarica

Originally Posted by Alarica

Hi all!

I'll try to keep this short, but i would really appreciate any ideas!
My 12yr old, yet again has been given this English project and lessons at school. I'm a bit concerned to be honest because i challenged the school and the teacher has no idea what shes doing.

Essentially, i'm looking for gothic literature or films anyone can recommend i can give my daughter to read or watch to give her a better insight into gothic horror.

The project is 'the detective genre/horror genre'. They are doing Sherlock Holmes stories (but havent been told who wrote them), and for the horror element are doing Mary Shelley and Frankenstein.

Slap in the middle of the list of points for the project is the bit i challenged 'write an explaination of what the term 'gothic' means and where it originates. When i asked in which context the teacher said 'i have no idea, just get her to write about all types. Literature, culture and horror'.

The aim at the end of this project is to write their own gothic horror story. Yet they havent and wont be covering anyones work other than Mary Shelley.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks everyone!

Alarica

Yeah, and I'm fucking Lady Dianna.

[Alarica]

So nothing constructive to offer then?

Originally Posted by Alarica

So nothing constructive to offer then?

Considering you came here and only made one post, it's quite obvious you're a troll - and not a very good one.

Why don't you just go use google or wikipedia if you're that interested. It would be far quicker than posting on this ungoth forum.

[Saya]

Originally Posted by Alarica

So nothing constructive to offer then?

Wikipedia has a good selection to choose from in regards to literature, and a huge list. I hate to be stereotypical but I would recommend the works of Edgar Allan Poe, makes good reading and the teacher would definately have heard of him.

As for films I know none of which would be appropriate for kids.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_novel

[PinstripesAndPithHelmets]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. I really find Frankenstein to be an form of early science fiction moreso than horror.

Try vampire stories like Dracula or Carmilla, or even some of the 19th century's other science fiction authors. Jules Verne and H.G. Wells spring to mind, but there are many other horror/sci-fi authors to choose from.

[Alarica]

Troll? And you call yourself a goth and yet deem yourself to be higher than me and in a position to judge me based on my post to help my 12yr old daughter. Did not occur to you that perhaps i just wanted to get a wider opinion from people i thought may offer a different perspective than that of people i already know, in order to help my daughter gain a better understanding. But thank you for being the first 'goth' to speak to me, and blatanly show you are no better than anyone else who insultingly judges on 1st appearance.

Thank you Saya, i'll have a look on there. Dont think i'll be able to steer away from stereotypical unfortunately!!

Originally Posted by Alarica

Troll? And you call yourself a goth and yet deem yourself to be higher than me and in a position to judge me based on my post to help my 12yr old daughter. Did not occur to you that perhaps i just wanted to get a wider opinion from people i thought may offer a different perspective than that of people i already know, in order to help my daughter gain a better understanding. But thank you for being the first 'goth' to speak to me, and blatanly show you are no better than anyone else who insultingly judges on 1st appearance.

Thank you Saya, i'll have a look on there. Dont think i'll be able to steer away from stereotypical unfortunately!!

Oh do fuck off philistine; http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

You will find on that site most works of classic literature that have ever been published.

Now kindly fuck off.

[Alarica]

Thats the extent of your response? You clearly do not have anything constructive to add, so jog on. Take a good hard look in the mirror next time you start crying like a bitch because someone insulted you and took the piss. I'm just glad the people i know are more tollerant of people from all walks of life so i dont have to put up with the small minded minority, such as yourself. You may want to look at your own attitude before calling me a philistine, or indeed look up the meaning of the word in a dictionary. Tosser

Originally Posted by Alarica

Thats the extent of your response? You clearly do not have anything constructive to add, so jog on. Take a good hard look in the mirror next time you start crying like a bitch because someone insulted you and took the piss. I'm just glad the people i know are more tollerant of people from all walks of life so i dont have to put up with the small minded minority, such as yourself. You may want to look at your own attitude before calling me a philistine, or indeed look up the meaning of the word in a dictionary. Tosser

I live in Camden, so the likelihood of anyone "insulting me" on account of my appearance is zero.

Plus I wouldn't care anyway - I'm not like you... I've done my homework, I've got my arguments, I'm stylish, sexy and don't give a damn what a minority of screaming idiots may think about me. I have no victim complex, unlike most of the twats who populated this place.

I know that, as a petty little housewife you thought you were going to "hurt my feelings" with that little comment... unfortunately my coat is made of duck feathers.

Why don't you get back to being a proper mother rather than wasting your time on the internet?

[Man In Room 5]

I'm going to have to side with Helpman on this. This entire story sounds unrealistic and almost too troll-like to be true. I didn't have to read assigned novels until I was 14 and in high school. At 12 I was allowed to read whatever I wanted and simply log my reading and write reports. Of course, they push students harder today but I wonder, is your daughter going to a private school or something where they are more advanced? I also can't believe her teacher didn't say who wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories. It sounds like your school bought their educational program pre-made and the teacher isn't familiar with it yet (a common problem IMO). Lastly, I can't believe anyone would come here for advice rather than Google or Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a great place to start and Saya gave the link above. My only caveat would be not to use Wikipedia as a source, just scroll down to the bottom of the article and see what sources they used and then go find those so you can cite them directly. (Your 12 year old daughter is probably already smarter than most of Wikipedia's writers). Dracula, Frankenstien, Carmilla, Castle of Otranto, Wuthering Heights, the works of Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle, and several other gothic texts can be found free at Project Gutenberg. They also have free texts on Gothic architecture and Jordane's Origins and Deeds of the Goths--probably the only decent history about the real, historical goths.

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Other good sites would be;

http://www.gothicsubculture.com
http://thesicklytaper.com/
http://www.litgothic.com/index_fl.html

Really, in retrospect, it sounds to me like you just came here to outsource your daughter's homework.

[Alarica]

I'll happily post the actual letter my daughter came home with for this project if you like. And no, she doesnt go to a private school. She goes to one where she is daily called a goth or emo and yet doesnt regard herself as either. her last school did this english project on 'goths' and when i challenged the teachers each time they said 'it was a department decision i dont really understand it'. I am just as confused by the work shes been given, believe me.

I have used wikipedia and google, but also know from personal experience that actually it can be far better and more informative to get the opinions of a group of individuals than from a site such as wikipedia. I have books by Edgar Allan Poe, Dostoyevsky etc i was curious to see if anyone else had an idea of authors she could read seeing as the aim is to write a gothic horror story.

Calling someone a troll or even troll-like makes you no better than any other small minded stain that screams prejudice abuse at those different from themselves.

I was hoping to get a mildly intelligent and open minded response from this site. so now you see why this was my first post and why i havent registered before now. I do not need to outsource her homework. I am more than capable of helping her myself. My point was to see if perhaps someone had read or seen anything that i hadnt that might be of use.

I do however appreciate your reply, more so because you manage to speak your mind without being as obscenely rude as Sir.helpmann

Originally Posted by Alarica

I do however appreciate your reply, more so because you manage to speak your mind without being as obscenely rude as Sir.helpmann

Sniff my ass crack.

[Saya]

Hey, I wish my mom was that involved with my homework. And we always did assigned novels since grade four, although we didn't do gothic horror until high school.

And don't mind Helpmann, he's a troll with a little creativity and a thesaurus XD

Originally Posted by Saya

Hey, I wish my mom was that involved with my homework. And we always did assigned novels since grade four, although we didn't do gothic horror until high school.

And don't mind Helpmann, he's a troll with a little creativity and a thesaurus XD

Today troll has become a label that stupid people can use in chat rooms/forums for people whom they disagree with.

[Man In Room 5]

You might try to find these books too now that I think of it. You probably can't turn in a report that only cites webpages and no books.

Davenport-Hines, Richard.--- Gothic.
Edmundson, Mark.-- Nightmare on Main Street.
King, Stephen.--- Danse Macabre.
Varma, Devendra.--- Gothic Flame, The.
Wright, Bruce. ---Nightwalkers: Gothic Horror Movies.
Fleenor, Juliann.--- The Female Gothic.
Punter, David---The Gothic

While you're at Project Gutenberg also download The Tale of Terror
A Study of the Gothic Romance by Edith Birkhead.


Those are some of the best studies of gothic I can think of....until mine is finished.

[Saya]

Originally Posted by Sir. Helpmann

Today troll has become a label that stupid people can use in chat rooms/forums for people whom they disagree with.

Awww is someone a gwumpy twoll? Forgot he just called Alarica a troll? Haven't been fed have you?

[Alarica]

Originally Posted by Sir. Helpmann

Sniff my ass crack.

That may well be appropriate bedroom talk between you and your boyfriend, but saying it to me just proves that you lack the verbal capacity to have a normal conversation even on the internet.

And yes i am a housewife and mother and very proud of the fact thank you. I happen to raise my children to be accepting of people from all walks of life and only when faced with someone of low intelligence such as yourself sir.helpmann, who repeatedly criticise and insult them should they feel it necessary to judge and comment.

[Balthazar]

Originally Posted by Sir. Helpmann

Considering you came here and only made one post, it's quite obvious you're a troll - and not a very good one.

She isnt. I am.

There was no need to attack her like that. I'm assuming you're one of the territorial elitists whose only purpose in life is to make others feel just as miserable as you because daddy didn't love you enough. Or maybe a little TOO much. It's ok, you can tell us. If you need to cry, you go ahead and cry.

It's quite obvious Alarica came here assuming that she'd at least get some pointers, which obviously she did, however I fail to see how her story gives the slightest inclination of "trolling"

If she had said "My 12 year olds got an english project to do, help me out fuckers!" then I could maybe see your point, but as she quite innocently asked for help, you had no right to speak to her like that. Elitist cuntrags like you are the reason the scene gets a bad name.

However, I have to hand it to ya. You did quite well for someone with low level downs.

[$haDe]

Originally Posted by Balthazar

She isnt. I am.

There was no need to attack her like that. I'm assuming you're one of the territorial elitists whose only purpose in life is to make others feel just as miserable as you because daddy didn't love you enough. Or maybe a little TOO much. It's ok, you can tell us. If you need to cry, you go ahead and cry.

It's quite obvious Alarica came here assuming that she'd at least get some pointers, which obviously she did, however I fail to see how her story gives the slightest inclination of "trolling"

If she had said "My 12 year olds got an english project to do, help me out fuckers!" then I could maybe see your point, but as she quite innocently asked for help, you had no right to speak to her like that. Elitist cuntrags like you are the reason the scene gets a bad name.

However, I have to hand it to ya. You did quite well for someone with low level downs.

He is good at arguement but have pity for his perspective, it's excessively narrow.

[Geoluhread]

Originally Posted by Saya

And don't mind Helpmann, he's a troll with a little creativity and a thesaurus XD

Quoted for truth.

[Solumina]

Dispite what the site may say this really isn't a literary site anymore but hey it is on of the first things to pop up on a google search of goth so plenty of people show up to ask questions. I'll try to mention things that I haven't seen anyone else mention to give you some additional options.

I'm not quite sure how mature your child is but an interesting read is Shadows Over Baker Street, it is a collection of short stories about Sherlock Holmes that are written by various authors in the tradition of HP Lovecraft. Lovecraft also is a great source of horror and he wrote both short stories and novels though his stories may be a bit much for a twelve year old.

Flannery O'Connor is an interesting read if you want some southern gothic. I personally didn't read her novels but did enjoy a collection of her short stories. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a pretty prime example of gothic literature as is The Phantom of the Opera (the novel, musical, and first movie are all quite well done but I wouldn't pay much attention to the most recent film adaptation)

[Metabolik]

Originally Posted by Sir. Helpmann

Sniff my ass crack.

Your kinda retarded... you know that, right?

Originally Posted by Metabolik

Your kinda retarded... you know that, right?

I think you mean you're... retard.