Intro to Gothic Fiction Film Mini Unit: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Want to introduce your students to Gothic Fiction but don't have a lot of time? This mini unit is perfect for you and fun for students!

This is a NO PREP, quick 4-day unit:

Day 1: Gothic Fiction PowerPoint & scaffolded notes and How Author's Create Suspense (+ Film) PowerPoint & scaffolded notes

Day 2&3: Show students the 2018 film based on Shirley Jackson's Gothic classic novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle and have them fill out the viewing while watching (The film is, as of this posting, available on Amazon/Amazon Prime.). Assign the discussion question for homework on day 3.

Day 4: Class discussion based on the discussion question. These questions work great in teacher-led class discussion or in a seminar style student-led class discussion (which is what they were designed for). They can also be used as writing prompts. The discussion (or writing) also serves as an assessment of your students' understanding of Gothic fiction and suspense.

This mini-unit can also be extended to a larger unit on Gothic fiction, which is what I have used it for. I have followed this up with both a unit reading Gothic short stories in my American Literature classes and with a genre study where students chose their own Gothic books to read independently in my junior/senior elective literature classes.