A resource created by Lesely Taylor
Consider these points before planning your essay.
1) How do the stories conform to a typical Victorian ghost story? Consider the setting and how the presence of something supernatural is suggested.
2) How are the settings of the stories similar?
3) How is the Red Room described?
4) How does Andrew know that there is something wrong under the stairs?
5) Are the stories written in the first (I) or the third (He) person - what difference does this make?
6) What do the writers do at the beginning of the stories to make readers want to know more?
7) How does the narrator feel about the Red Room when he enters the Red Room?
8) There is a short period of calm before the narrator becomes very frightened. Why would the writer do this - how does this make the next part of the story more intense?
9) Can you identify the use of this technique in 'The Darkness under the Stairs'?
10) What images are used in the stories to describe the feeling of fear in the stories?
11) What words are used to describe the houses where 'the ghosts' are?
12) How are the other people in 'The Red Room' described? In what ways is the narrator a contrasting character?
13) How are the other characters in the Salway story described? What effect does this have?
14) How effective do you find the endings of the stories?
This resource by Lesley Taylor was found free at www.englishresources.co.uk
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