In H.P. Lovecraft's famous essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature," Lovecraft claims that "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown." Explore how one or more of the authors we have studied utilize the unknown to create a sense of fear for their readers. Through at least one of the texts that we have studied, explore the characteristics of Gothic fiction and how they contribute to the overall mood/feel/purpose of the story. And one for each: Characterization in "The Fall of the House of Usher" Allegory in "Rappaccini's Daughter" "Bartleby" as a ghost story Goodness in Flannery O'Connor (either story or both stories) Tradition in "The Lottery" Keep in mind that you are under no particular obligation to pursue any of these topics and are encouraged to consider and pursue your own. Also keep in mind that you have the following creative option which you can use once over the course of the semester: Write a short story in response to one of the stories that we have read. Your story can be a rewriting, continuation, or spin-off. It can also be a completely original story which partakes of the same genre or style for instance, if you wanted to write a gothic story, or a dialect story, even if they had nothing to do with the particular texts other than that, that would be appropriate.