Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Reading Exercise for Clive Barker's "Midnight Meat Train"

Have these lists ready for class discussion:

1) First make a list of the elements of the story that are directly filmable, i.e. action, setting, dialogue, etc.

2) Then make a list of those elements of the story that are indirectly filmable, i.e. internal monologue, emotional or psychological states, subjective perceptions, elements such as Leon's fascination with the city, that require some kind of filmic interpretation or projection.

3) Make a list of all the literary devices and genre elements you observe in the narrative.  This means symbolism and characterization (i.e. how a character is described in the text) along with all the narrative tropes you have come to associate with the horror story: violence, suspense, mystery, supernatural occurrences, uncanny moments, Freudian elements, etc.