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Home » Walpole, Horace » The Castle of Otranto
The Castle of Otranto
Horace Walpole
The Castle of Otranto is considered the first "gothic" novel, a genre that loves melodrama, mystery, hidden places, ancestral curses, and fainting heroines. Its roots are the "romance," which was a tale of heroism (not love as it is now known), and the Romantic movement in literature, which focused on emotion and the sublimity of nature. When The Castle of Otranto was first published, it was said to be a translation of a lost medieval transcript, and received positive attention. But when it was next published, the truth was revealed--that the story was quite modern and written by a priviledged author. Critics then panned it, but it survives today as the seminal Gothic literary novel. |
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Source: Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, (London: Thomas Lownds, 1765) | ||||
Lexile Level: TBD | Origin: British | Genre: Literature, Gothic |
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| Reading Level: 7 | Language: English | File name: co | ||
| Sunshine State Standards: LA.A.2.3: The student constructs meaning from a wide range of texts. LA.D.2.3: The student understands the power of language. LA.E.2.3: The student responds critically to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. | ||||
Theme: Intrigue, finding truth, mystery, suspense |
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| Reading Strategy: Note taking | ||||
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This collection of children's literature is a part of the Educational Technology Clearinghouse and is funded by various grants. Copyright 2009 by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida.