... mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."1 Therefore, it makes sense that if mortals cannot bear the darkness, they [should not] not go there. If man dislikes "black night and yawning chasms,"2 then should he not even consider them? Shouldn't man ... and Edgar Huntly, are deeply influenced by early English Gothic writers such as Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe, and Mary Shelley.57 Wieland, or The Transformation, for example, is about the Wieland family and all of the paranormal events that happen to them. Next is "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irvi...

• Word Count: 3126
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... illumination,--but rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance. He kept vigils, likewise, night after night, and sometimes in utter darkness; sometimes with a glimmering lamp; and sometimes, viewing his own face in a looking glass, by the most powerful light which he could throw upon it. He thus typified the constant introspection wherewith he tortured, but could not ... the people. He feared that if found out, he would be humiliated like Hester Prynne was. Also, he feared that Roger Chillingsworth, Hester Prynne's husband, would take revenge upon him for ...

• Word Count: 2932
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... torture himself by keeping all-night vigils and scourging his body ruthlessly. One night, in order to relieve his guilt, he walks to the scaffold and stands there openly like Hester did. He does this, however, in the pitch-black darkness of the night, so the situation is not exactly the same. As he stands ... been converted into an angel. "But did your reverence hear of the portent that was seen last night? a great red letter in the sky--the letter A, which we interpret to stand for Angel. For, as our good Governor Winthrop was made an angel this past night, it was doubtless held fit th...

• Word Count: 3653
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School