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Monday, 10/24: Introduction to The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Monday, 10/24: Introduction to The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Watch the video Why the Victorian mansion is a horror icon and make notes. Consider these as we look at the initial description of Hill House.
The Haunting of Hill House Audio: You can listen to this YouTube channel as you read. There's a break down of where the chapters start in the comments; it's a good professional reading and I think the narrator's voice adds nicely to the experience of the story.
Reading Schedule: Be sure that you stay current on the reading so that you can fully participate in class discussion! Bring your journaling to class each meeting.
Journal Page Focus topics: For each reading, I will assign a specific focus for your notes. Click the arrow for the running list:
Ch. 1 Character Chart- Who are these people? (Dr. Montague, Eleanor, Theo, Luke)
Ch. 1 Eleanor's "fairytale" drive to Hill House
Ch. 2 HILL HOUSE Setting/Tone
Ch. 3 Hugh Crain Lore & Legend
Ch. 4 Paranormal Activity!
Ch. 5 Eleanor's Interior Voice
Ch. 6 Power Quote(s)
Ch. 7 Eleanor's Interior Voice (again...)
Ch. 8 The Merging
Ch. 9 "Journey's End in Lovers Meeting..."
The Haunting of Hill House Theme Topics- As you read and journal, consider how these thematic topics appear and what Jackson seems to be saying about them.
Identity and Fragmentation
Vulnerabilty and Power
Desire to know the unknowable
Power of Place/Environmental memory
Loneliness and Isolation
Imagination, Reality, and the boundaries between
Family dynamics/disintegration
The meaning of “home”
Freedom and Personal Autonomy
Long term effects of guilt & emotional burdens
Eleanor's Fairytale Journey
Eleanor's Fairytale Journey
Revisit the pages that detail Eleanor's drive to Hill House. Identify a minimum of 5 "stops" on the map that allude to fairytales/folklore/myth. Create your Map of Eleanor's Fantasy Life including each of these "stops" with a visual, quote, and some commentary about what the details of the particular example you've chosen tell us about Eleanor.
Hill House Eyes image.pptxHow do details of setting contribute to our understanding of theme and character? How does the house function as a symbol for human experience?
From Chapter 2, choose a detail (or a few related details) and write an analytical paragraph (7-8 sentences) about their symbolic value. Use the FRQ3 prompt and the themes list here to focus your writing.
He reached out a hand and held it carefully over the location of the cold. "They cannot explain this, " he said. "the very essence of the tomb, as Theodora points out. The cold spot in Borley Rectory only dropped eleven degrees," he went on complacently. "This I should think, is considerably colder. The heart of the house."
- p. 87
Eleanor's Interior- Chapter 5 Evidence Collection and Thesis Statement Workshop
Eleanor's Interior- Chapter 5 Evidence Collection and Thesis Statement Workshop
Using the Graphic Organizer Silhouette, collect quotes that illustrate Eleanor's interior monologue during Chapter 5. Consider how her mental and psychological awakenings, discoveries, revelations, questions, and changes in consciousness develop her character and support overall thematic ideas being explored in the narrative.
On the outside of the silhouette, you should collect evidence of the paranormal activity & what OTHERS say to or about Eleanor. Make a list of thematic ideas and character descriptors for Eleanor. On the right of the silhouette, you will write a complex thesis responding to the following prompt.
How does Jackson connect the paranormal activity to Eleanor's interior monologue in Chapters 4-6 of The Haunting of Hill House as a vehicle for exploring theme?
Sample: In Chapters 4-6, the paranormal activity experienced by the group is linked to Eleanor's inner feelings of...... This connection highlights (thematic choices)....
The "Photo Negative" scene- Chapter 6:
The "Photo Negative" scene- Chapter 6:
Re-read the "photo negative" scene (pgs. 128-131) in which Eleanor and Theodora walk a path through the trees toward the supernatural picnic. Place your sticker on your journal page, and around it, record quotes about the events and the setting that illustrate the fear, paranoia, and threat of the weird, unsettling experience both women have.
You should have a minimum of 7-8 though there are certainly more that you can list. Arrange them however you like: in a list, around the edge of the sticker, in rays moving out from the sticker, etc. The organization is up to you. Use color/images if you like.
If you don't finish in class, please finish tonight. We will look at your collections and talk more about the scene tomorrow before moving on to the Ch. 7 activity.
Planchette's Messages- Chapter 7
Planchette's Messages- Chapter 7
Consider the simple responses of planchette in the context of the larger themes and character arcs. HOW do the messages actually reveal more complex ideas being explored in the novel?
Compare planchette's messages to the 2nd Haunting Attack. Do you see words/images repeated? What is significant about planchette's messages "Waiting" and "Want to BE home" when coupled with Eleanor's "I'll come" surrendering moment?
Finally, return to the first paragraph of the chapter. In light of what we now know happens, what do we make of Eleanor's seemingly idyllic experience alone in the Hills? Has she "invited" the interaction with Planchette and the attack?
Mad Girl’s Love Song
Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead,
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head)
The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary darkness gallops in.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head).
God topples from the sky, hell’s fires fade:
Exit seraphim and enter Satan’s men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I fancied you’d return the way you said
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head).
I should have loved a thunderbird instead:
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head).
What is the impact on meaning of this particular "shape" for this particular voice?
Annotate the poem FOR Hill House and Eleanor. What specific and detailed connections can you make? What larger thematic ideas cross between the two? How does the closed form structure of the poem mimic the "closed" environment of Hill House?
Rotating Conversations:
Inside circle will rotate every 2 minutes
Have a new conversation in each rotation about the connections you made between novel & poem.
Add insights from your peers to your own annotation if you like!
BONUS ASSIGNMENT: The Haunting of Hill House Netflix series changes Jackson's story in significant ways, but seems to still capture many, if not all, of the thematic elements we've been studying. Watch the series (yes, the whole series- it's just one season) and compare the two texts in a giant Sketchnote (I can provide large paper or you can use posterboard), showing how the changes still retain much of the 'heart' of the book. Include the little 'easter egg' references that the show leaves in and if you hear some of the direct quotes (they're in there!) include them as well.
The "look" of your completed comparison can vary, but I want to see evidence of thoughtful comparison, creativity, and effort in neatness, organization, and visual quality. This can be completed anytime before Christmas Break! (100 points)
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