Gothic Stories.

All of the stories except “To be Taken with a Grain of Salt” are definite

articles.  “The Red Room” has a title that greats suspense, because it starts

with “The” which means there is only one of them.  Then it makes us ask

“Why is there a red room?” and “What is in it?”  It also makes us ponder

“Why is the red room red”.  This title is good and would probably make me

want to read the story.  It catches your eye before you even read the first

sentence.  Another story with a good title is “The Adventure of the Speckled

Band”.  Again we know this is unique because it starts with “The”.  We want

to know what the speckled band is.  Is it some kind of hair band or a group

of people: and why are they having an adventure?  This is an excellent title

and builds up curiosity, and again makes you want to read on.  Another story

I am going to evaluate is “The Body Snatchers”.  This title is quite

mysterious.  Again it’s unique because it starts with “The”.  It is mysterious

because it makes us think of graveyards.  It makes us wonder why someone

is snatching bodies.  And what use would they have for them.  This is an

excellent title and makes us think a lot, this is good because then we want to

read on.

To analyze the stories even more I am going to look at the openings of a few

of them.  “To be taken with a Grain of Salt” Is an effective opening because

the writer mentions physiological experiences as though an unbelievable

tale of supernatural is about to be told.  This builds suspense and makes us

want to read even more to find out what this story is.