Note: In case the bookstore runs out of the book, Great Horror Stories, you can read both stories here: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/poe/fact.html
and https://www.gutenberg.org/files/23172/23172-h/23172-h.htm
Group 'A' should answer 2 of the following 4 questions and bring them to class on Friday. Your responses should be at least a few sentences long (no one word or one sentence answers), and should be descriptive: explain why you read the story this way. Don't be afraid to be confused, or wrong; simply say, "based on what I read, I think this..." or "I'm not sure what the answer is, but in this passage, it seems to suggest..." I would rather you think out loud on paper and not be 'right' than to say nothing at all.
Answer TWO of the following:
Q1: How might both stories be about the 'taboos' of late 19th century society? In other words, how are Poe and Bierce forcing their readers to think about topics they might prefer to ignore, even if they're always lurking in plain sight? Give at least one specific example.
Q2: Both stories also try hard to sound like factual, first hand accounts of an unbelievable story. Bierce includes Hugh Morgan's actual diary, and Poe's narrator includes letters and exact times of day. Why do you think they do this in works that are clearly fictional? What does it add to the story?
Q3: Though these stories are no longer terrifying or particularly scary to us, what do you think might have frightened their original audiences? What information does each author reveal to us by the end of the story that might be surprising or upsetting? Does any of this still retain its thrill?
Q4: The OED claims that 'art' is "The expression or application of creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting, drawing, or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power." How might one of these stories qualify as art under this definition? Cite a specific example from the story to illustrate this.
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