UNIT

1 INTRODUCTION

LAUNCH TEXT | EXPLANATORY MODEL

This selection is an example of an

explanatory essay. In this example,
the writer includes narrative, or
storytelling, elements to help explain
a topic. This is the type of writing you
will develop in the Performance-Based
My Introduction to
Assessment at the end of the unit.
As you read, look at the way the Gothic
writer includes both explanatory and
narrative elements to convey ideas. Literature
What important details does the writer
include to convey information in a
vivid way?

H
1 ow does someone fall in love with a particular kind of writing
NOTES or an author who has long departed this life? What draws us to
find in words the echoes of our own fears or longings? For those of us
lucky enough to have a literary passion, the story of how we met our
first love is probably just like tales of other first meetings—funny or
quirky, full of accident and coincidence. My literary passion is Edgar
Allan Poe, and I met him—in print—when I was fourteen years old.
2 It was just after a huge storm that had featured an alarmingly
beautiful display of lightning and wind. The power had been knocked
out, and I was sitting at a window, watching the wet night grow darker.
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I had been living with my grandmother for a few weeks while my
parents “figured things out.” I loved my grandmother, but I couldn’t
shake the sadness and anxiety I was feeling. The storm had been a
welcome diversion. As the clouds cleared, a fog rose and filtered the
moonlight, casting a bluish hue over the yard. The scene was moody
and solemn, but beautiful. My grandmother broke my reverie by
bustling into the room, carrying two lit candles and a book. “It’ll take
hours for the electric company to get all the way out here to fix the
power,” she said. “Why don’t you read? I’ll go find some batteries for
the flashlights.”
3 She set the book and a candle on the floor, and rushed out as
though she had to catch the batteries before they fled. I picked
up the book she had left on the floor. It was a collection of old
stories—just a paperback and not much to look at. I turned to one by
SCAN FOR
6 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE MULTIMEDIA
 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is the allure of fear?

Poe—“The Cask of Amontillado.” Set during the carnival season in

an unnamed European city, the story features an unhinged narrator NOTES

named Montresor who plots revenge on an acquaintance. I liked the

gruesome setting of a mysterious burial vault. In Poe’s descriptions,
I could practically smell the dust and mold. And I was stunned by
the horrible ending. But what struck me most was how Montresor
spoke directly to the reader—to me. He expected my sympathy as
he brought his terrible revenge. Up to that point, all the stories I had
ever read had set the criminal or lunatic at a distance. They didn’t
draw me into a mind that was a truly scary place to be. This one did.
4 I finished Poe’s story and turned to another. My grandmother
came back with a flashlight, and I kept reading. There were more
stories by Poe and others by authors whom I had never heard of
but who came to feel like friends—Amelia B. Edwards, Horace
Walpole, Ann Radcliffe. I later learned that these stories were part
of the Gothic tradition, but I didn’t care about that. I fell into them
and was carried away, like someone swimming in a river. In all of
them, characters were driven by intense emotions of love or hate
or jealousy. Some featured ghosts or monsters, but others featured
regular people whose sorrow made them ghostly or monstrous. They
were tales full of darkness and light, just like the storm I had enjoyed
with its thunder and lightning. They were stories that made all I felt
and feared seem less of a burden.
5 That evening spent in darkness both real and imaginary never
left me. The stories helped me understand that life is not easy and
people are complex—simultaneously strong and weak, wonderful
and terrible. Though I could not articulate it then, I can now: The
stories helped me see that life can be a mansion full of secrets and
dark passages, but also of beauty and light. They helped me choose
to embrace it all. After another week at my grandmother’s, I went
home, armed with stories to see me through whatever might come.
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 WORD NETWORK for THE LITERATURE OF FEAR

Vocabulary A Word Network

is a collection of words related to a
topic. As you read the selections in
this unit, identify interesting words unhinged
related to the idea of fear, and
add them to your Word Network.
For example, you might begin by vault FEAR
adding words from the Launch
Text, such as unhinged, vault, and
revenge. Continue to add words as revenge
you complete the unit.

Tool Kit Word Network Model

My Introduction to Gothic Literature 7

UNIT
1 INTRODUCTION

Summary
Write a summary of “My Introduction to Gothic Literature.” A summary is
a concise, complete, and accurate overview of a text. It should not include a
statement of your opinion or an analysis.

Launch Activity
Conduct a Horror-Story Election Consider this question: Which
character is the best horror-story hero? © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

• Form two “parties” to gather and choose candidates for an election. You
will be voting on the best horror-story “hero.” In this case, the heroes
are the monsters and other villains.
• With your party, discuss the main characters from horror stories with
which you are familiar. Include characters from movies and television,
as well as books. When you feel you have discussed the characters
thoroughly, nominate a candidate who will represent your party in a
whole-class election.
• Choose a party member to deliver the campaign speech telling why your
candidate is the best horror-story “hero.”
• After both campaign speeches have been delivered, hold a class election.
Then, tally the votes for each candidate. If you vote against your own
party, be ready to explain why.

8 UNIT 1 • INSIDE THE NIGHTMARE