Coffeehouse#3 (Tahirjon’s response)

When I read Alan Lloyd Smith on American Gothic, several important ideas existed that I perceived as crucial for my comprehension of fiction literature.

#1 American Gothic literature emerged from the concepts had existed in works prior to the genre becoming a definitive aspect of the English tradition. (page#3)

#2 American Gothic was emerged as a “subaltern” since it closely resembled English writing styles, but some American writers had been influential to English literature due to cultural similarities. (page#4)

#3 Societal boundaries must be explored and tested in order to determine how the literature becomes Gothic. (Page#5)

#4 American Gothic exposed another facet of the Enlightenment period to which magical concepts were sometimes explained, but uncertainty was reinforced for other occurances during a time where secularism and criticism of religious doctrine was becoming widespread. Science became an important element of American gothic as it was combined with supernatural ideas to convey the story. (page#6)

#5 American gothic utilizes terror to reinforce an idea being conveyed by mere horrific descriptions. Therefore the reader’s are psychologically overwhelmed with the broader reality of the situation in the works. (Page#8).

-Tahirjon (Vince) Alesso