Gothic Reading Comprehension Skills

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📚 Part 1: Gothic Elements

Read the following excerpt from "Dracula" by Bram Stoker:

"The castle is on the very edge of a terrible precipice. A stone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything! As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree tops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm. Here and there are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the forests."

1. Which gothic elements are present in this passage? Select all that apply:

Isolated location

Supernatural elements

Threatening landscape

Ancient architecture

2. How does the author create an atmosphere of danger?

✍️ Part 2: Language Analysis

Read this excerpt from "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson:

"The street was small and what is called quiet, but it drove a thriving trade on the week-days... Two doors from one corner, on the left hand going east, the line was broken by the entry of a court; and just at that point, a certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street."

3. What is the mood created by this description? Choose one:

Peaceful and welcoming

Mysterious and foreboding

Bright and cheerful

Busy and chaotic

4. Identify two words from the passage that contribute to its gothic atmosphere:

1. _____________

2. _____________

5. Why do you think the author chose to describe the building as "thrusting forward"? Explain the effect: