Answer each question thoroughly using examples from the film(s) and writing(s) they reference. Please cite your sources -
you may paraphrase or use quotation, but please be sure to cite if even informally (just mentioning the name of the author).
Your answers will be graded for both completion (referencing both the film and the article as the questions ask) and the
strength of your argument.

1. In Carroll's model of the horror genre he says that in his terms 'art horror' is modeled around a physical
response to the monster - draw a connection between the idea of the nature of the horror genre as one that
creates a physical response using Carroll and either Kristeva or Linda Williams. 

2. In Alien we are introduced to two kinds of monsters - the machine within in the character of Ash (the
cyborg) and the alien itself figured against the protagonist of Ripley. Using Gallardo and Clover or
Williams discuss the ways that the film figures the monster(s) and the hero differently along gendered
lines keeping in mind Doherty's assertion that in the male imagination, the true alien is always the female.

 
3. Carol Clover's interest in the 'Final Girl' is partly in her ability to trouble (if not overturn) the usual dynamic
of Hollywood cinema cinematic apparatus where there are two positions - "spectacle and narrative" which
supposes that the male character advances the action and the female character exists as spectacle. Outline
the ways that any final girl from one of the films we've viewed this semester troubles the role of female
characters as purely 'spectacle'. 

4. The monster in The Bride of Frankenstein is emblematic of the iconography of racism in the U.S. Using
Young describe a stereotype or trope used in the film to code the monster as a black man. 

5. In horror films we are often presented with the conflict between the social normative 'woman' (castrated
woman) and the deviant ('castrating') woman. Using Ms. 45 and Read describe briefly how this dynamic is
played out in Ms. 45 and its significance. 

6. Get Out uses the horror genre to address contemporary cultural politics. Using Ryan-Bryant or another
of our authors use Get Out to make an argument about the possibilities of the horror genre to do cultural
critique. 

7. Using any of the films we've viewed explain what Williams means when she says that for women in the
'wet film', "phallic power is granted as long as it is separate from any kind of pleasure." 

8. The differences between the 1973 and 2003 versions of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are organized
around three poles - the nature of the family, the display of gendered bodies and the nature of the Final
Girl's desire. Choose 1 of these poles and discuss using Roche. 

9. Using Doty discuss the confused depiction of the sexuality of Norman Bates in Psycho how does the film
fail or succeed in depicting Norman as "gay" or "straight."

 

 

10. Explain what Berry-Flint means when they state that Genre includes Audience Studies, Industry Studies
and Textural Studies. 

11. Abdi and Calafell claim that The Girl in A Girl Who Walks Home Alone At Night creates a community
rather than a progeny - how is this illustrated in the movie and how does it stray from traditional depictions
of vampires? 

12. It Follows overturns the typical punishment of sexuality seen in the slasher film by creating a monster
where the more sex you have the more you are protected. While some have seen the film as an answer to
victim-blaming, Hahner and Varda point out that the film illuminates the continuous perils of rape
culture. Give one example from the film of how the film addresses or doesn't address questions of consent
using their argument.

ESSAY QUESTIONS: ( 250  words) Answer 1 of the 4 Questions
Be specific and remember to use appropriate and correct terminology. Please cite your sources - you may paraphrase or use
quotation. Your answers will be graded for both completion (referencing both the film and the article as the questions ask)
and the strength of your argument.

1. Using Taylor's assertion that monsters are a projection of the nation's innermost fears do an analysis of how the monsters in It Follows, Jennifer's Body, Carrie or Get Out are projections of American cultural fears and
analyze their significance.

2. The horror genre's most salient feature might be said to be the exploration of what it means to be human by
comparing/contrasting the 'monster' (hybrid, double, half, etc.) to the 'human'. Using a film of your choice,
explore the ways in which 'humanity' is reflected back through the monster with attention to the gendered
dynamics at play.

3. Using two of the following authors: Berry-Flint, Butler, Carroll, or Williams as sources (either to support of
refute your own ideas), evaluate your own spectatorial practice as a critical viewer of horror films - how is your
viewing practice impacted by your own experiences and gender identity in relationship to the text? To the films
typical viewer? Use specific examples from films we've encountered this semester in your answer.

4. Carroll says that by their nature horror fictions reinforce the status quo but we've seen films that use the horror genre to challenge typical notions of race, gender and nationality. Using A Girl Who Walks Home Alone At
Night, Carrie, Ms. 45, The Bride of Frankenstein or Raw make an argument as to how one or more of these
films move away from the monster as 'embodiment of evil' to a site of identification and a source of sympathy and
understanding.