Option 1: Select two of the assigned stories from Week 2 (Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers,” or Wharton’s “Afterward”) and explain how and why these stories use the gothic genre as a vehicle for critiquing patriarchal society. If you choose this option, you will need to perform close readings of relevant supporting quotations.
Option 2: Although produced 20 years apart, Hitchcock’s Rebecca and Psycho have a lot in common. If you choose this topic, you will need to identify the ways in which these films establish tension and terrify viewers. And beyond the ways that these films build suspense (through lighting, music, etc.), what makes them scary? That is, what deeper fears do they tap into?