Mexican Gothic

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. In Mexican Gothic there are many allusions to fairytales and other stories and Noemí’s attitude toward them changes over the course of the novel.

• How does Noemí’s attitude toward fairytales change over the course of the novel? (topic sentence)
• Describe one situation from the first half of the novel in which Noemí views fairytales positively, then describe one situation in the later parts of the novel in which Noemí views fairytales negatively.
• In your concluding sentences, explain why Noemí’s attitude toward fairytales has changed.

2. Despite the odds, Noemí successfully breaks the curse on High Place and ends the corruption plaguing the family.

• What elements of Noemí’s personality or history enable her success? (topic sentence)
• Describe at least 3 aspects of Noemí’s personality and/or history that lead to her success. Support your responses with evidence from the text.
• In your concluding sentences, explain how Noemí’s personality makes her a suitable icon of the gothic feminist.

3. There are several female characters in Mexican Gothic and each of them presents a different perspective on the role of women.

• How do the female characters view the role of women differently? (topic sentence)
• Identify at least 2 female characters that view the role of women differently, and then describe how each of them sees the role of women. Support your responses with text evidence.
• In your concluding sentences, briefly explain why this difference in perspective creates tension between the two characters.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. In Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia incorporates the history of European colonialism, imperialism, and economic domination in Mexico. What makes this history an ideal setting for a gothic novel? How does Moreno-Garcia use Mexican folk culture and spiritual practices to emphasize the historical atrocities of European colonialists? What is Noemí’s relationship with both European and Indigenous cultures? As you compose your essay, incorporate at least three quoted phrases from the text that strengthen your points of discussion. Cite your quotations with page numbers.

2. A common theme within Gothic literature is “madness,” particularly regarding women. In Mexican Gothic, Noemí recounts several experiences of altered states of consciousness which leave her questioning her perception of reality. What role does mental health/mental illness play in Mexican Gothic, both in Noemí and other characters? Why might the author include this traditional trope in her modern gothic tale? What larger message is Moreno-Garcia conveying about The Feminist Gothic? As you compose your essay, discuss at least two female characters who question reality and their individual responses to this uncertainty. Incorporate at least two quoted phrases that strengthen your points of discussion. Cite your quotations with page numbers.

3. Eugenics, or the study of how to arrange reproduction within a human population to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable traits, gained popularity at the turn of the 20th century. In Mexican Gothic, the antagonistic Doyle patriarch subscribes to this ideology. What place did eugenics have in Western culture during the 20th century? What role does eugenics play in the novel? How does the Doyles’ fascination with eugenics exemplify the theme of Death, Corruption, and Objectification in the House of Doyle? Incorporate at least two quoted phrases that strengthen your points of discussion. Cite your quotations with page numbers.