Exploring the gothic genre 

Overview

This overview is for lessons 10-12 within the ‘Exploring the gothic genre’ learning sequence. Students are introduced to an extract from chapter 2 of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ and are taken through an analysis of the extract at whole text, paragraph and individual word and sentence level. Explicit vocabulary instruction supports the development of students’ metalanguage as the terms ‘archetype’ and ‘connotation’ are unpacked, using supporting examples from the extract. At key moments in the sequence, students engage in thinking routines that enable them to draw connections between their prior knowledge and new information, and reflect on their learning. 

During these lessons, students will:

• draw on their prior learning to make predictions and ask questions of gothic villains through the ‘see, think, wonder’ thinking routine

• develop their understanding of metalanguage through unpacking the term ‘archetype’

• practise their annotation skills in preparation for analysing a new extract from Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’

• consider the language forms and features used by Bram Stoker in his description of Count Dracula

• practise their close reading skills

• analyse how language forms and features have been used in an extract from Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’

• apply their understanding of the extract through creating a visual representation of Count Dracula

• utilise new vocabulary in context and explain the difference between key terminology

• revise their knowledge of nouns, noun groups, adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases.

These lessons address the following outcomes: 

A student:

• EN5-2A: effectively uses and critically assesses a wide range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing a wide range of texts in different media and technologies

• EN5-4B: effectively transfers knowledge, skills and understanding of language concepts into new and different contexts

• EN5-6C: investigates the relationships between and among texts

Students continue to explore extracts from Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ and examine how language forms and features can be used for emotional and visceral impact. Students are introduced to a new extract, in which the Count is described in detail, through pre-reading activities. This is to prepare them for a more in-depth exploration of the extract in succeeding lessons.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• draw on their prior learning to make predictions and ask questions of gothic villains through the ‘see, think, wonder’ thinking routine

• develop their understanding of metalanguage through unpacking the term ‘archetype’

• practise their annotation skills in preparation for analysing a new extract from Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’

• consider the language forms and features used by Bram Stoker in his description of Count Dracula.

Outcome content 

• S502EP3: consider how aspects of texts, including characterisation, setting, situations, issues, ideas, tone and point of view, can evoke a range of responses, including empathy, sympathy, antipathy and indifference

• S506UA5 investigate and describe the recurring features of particular genres, eg westerns or science fiction, focusing on their storylines, iconography, value systems and techniques

• S506UA11: use appropriate metalanguage to identify, describe and explain relationships between and among texts

The coding for this content point comes from the English Textual Concepts and Learning Processes resources for Stage 5 English – Stage 5. 

Students continue their study of the extract from Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ that was introduced in the previous lesson. They identify, describe and explain how language devices suggest that Dracula is fulfilling the archetypal role of the villain within the narrative. They then transfer their understanding of the extract through completing a ‘sketch to stretch’ activity.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• practise their close reading skills 

• analyse how language forms and features have been used in an extract from Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ 

• apply their understanding of the extract through creating a visual representation of Count Dracula.

Outcome content 

• S502EP3: consider how aspects of texts, including characterisation, setting, situations, issues, ideas, tone and point of view, can evoke a range of responses, including empathy, sympathy, antipathy and indifference

• S502UA2: understand that authors innovate with text structures and language for specific purposes and effects (ACELA2553) 

• S506UA11: use appropriate metalanguage to identify, describe and explain relationships between and among texts

The coding for this content point comes from the English Textual Concepts and Learning Processes resources for Stage 5 English – Stage 5. 

Students hone in on Bram Stoker’s word choice in the extract describing Count Dracula. They examine how a word’s connotations can be effectively employed by writers to create meaning and evoke a response in their readers. Students also identify parts of speech within Stoker’s sentences, which will become the focus of the beginning of the next lesson sequence.

Learning Intentions

Students will:

• utilise new vocabulary in context and explain the difference between key terminology 

• revise their knowledge of nouns, noun groups, adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases.

Outcome content 

• S504UA2 examine and evaluate the cohesion of syntax and content in familiar and unfamiliar texts

• S506UA11: use appropriate metalanguage to identify, describe and explain relationships between and among texts

The coding for this content point comes from the English Textual Concepts and Learning Processes resources for Stage 5 English – Stage 5.