Look up the word gothic on the OED online and trace it's etymology back to its origins. Look at the definitions and textual citations - how do these reflect on your conception of the term before you searched for it? How does the word's definition contribute to your understanding of the Gothic as a genre? What sort of expectations do you have about what the texts and films we will be looking at will be like? Also, consider how these first lines (from the texts we will be reading) influence your expectations - what do they reveal about the body of the text, and the genre as a whole?
She touches me and takes her hand away abruptly, it's so clear that there is no one there.
I was sent to stay with her two years after the war had ended, but in her house it to be war-time.
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.
On the first day of the holiday Laurence Manders woke to hear his grandmother's voice below.
Once there lived a miller by trade who was actually an evil wicked witch.
Harriet and David met each other at an office party neither had particularly wanted to go to, and both knew at once that this was what they had been waiting for.
Hush, mother says.
