New
New
Year 8

Context for Gothic literature: science and religion in the 19th century

I can explore important contextual ideas that impact Gothic literature, focusing on the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species’.

New
New
Year 8

Context for Gothic literature: science and religion in the 19th century

I can explore important contextual ideas that impact Gothic literature, focusing on the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species’.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The Enlightenment period represents a philosophical shift in thought, whereby reason and rationale were celebrated.
  2. There was an emphasis on learning the ‘truth’ about things; people thought this would bring them knowledge and freedom.
  3. The Industrial Revolution occurred in Britain in the 18th century, and then again in the 19th century.
  4. Galvanisation is the process of using electricity to try to create life.
  5. Scientific advancements were contested by religious people, who dismissed them as heresy.

Keywords

  • Innovation - the process of coming up with new ideas or inventions

  • Industrial Revolution - the period in which industries began replacing manpower and physical labour with machinery/technology

  • The Enlightenment - the period in which people began to value reason and rationale as a means to pursuing truth, knowledge and freedom

  • Rationale - a set of logical reasons for a belief or idea

  • Galvanisation - the process of using electricity to try generate life

Common misconception

Students often think that scientific advancements have always been celebrated.

In reality, scientists faced a lot of backlash for their ideas, mostly because many of them contradicted the teachings of the Bible.

At the end of learning cycle 2, ask students how they feel about advancing technologies in today's society. Perhaps give them some examples of some of the new robots and transports being developed and ask them how they feel about these.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
  • Depiction or discussion of serious crime

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following is a date from the 19th century?
1706
Correct answer: 1807
1909
2010
Q2.
What is a century?
a period of ten years
Correct answer: a period of one hundred years
a period of one thousand years
a period of ten thousand years
Q3.
What does the word 'industry' mean?
a person who owns a company
Correct answer: the manufacture of goods
the centre of a community
a person's place of work
Q4.
A revolution is...
an exact copy of something that already exists
a place where people go to seek comfort
Correct answer: a new way of doing things
the recycling of old materials and processes
Q5.
What does 'to advance' mean?
to become worse at something
Correct answer: to improve at something
to move backwards away from something
that something is extremely difficult
Q6.
Which of the following can be considered a 'gothic' description?
bright, clear and sunny
ancient, noble and rich
Correct answer: decaying, abysmal and wretched
soft, luxurious and expensive
plain, dull and void

6 Questions

Q1.
In which century did the first Industrial Revolution in Britain start to take place?
16th
17th
Correct answer: 18th
19th
20th
Q2.
Which of the following inventions was not developed in the 19th century?
the lightbulb
the telephone
the train
Correct answer: the internet
the car
Q3.
The was a shift in thinking, whereby reason and rationale were celebrated. There was an emphasis on learning the ‘truth’ about things.
Correct Answer: Enlightenment
Q4.
What did people in the Enlightenment era think that 'having the truth' would bring them?
Correct answer: knowledge, happiness and freedom
wealth, goods and prosperity
peace, kindness and love
family, friendship and connections
Q5.
What theory did Charles Darwins' book 'On the Origin of Species' present?
the theory of time
the theory of gravity
the theory of galvanisation
Correct answer: the theory of natural selection
the theory of Enlightenment
Q6.
Why were some people fearful of theories like Darwin's?
they were not proven properly by scientific evidence
Darwin was a convicted criminal so people didn't trust him
Correct answer: they contradicted existing prominent religious beliefs
some of Darwins' other theories had already been disproved
People did not like to think of themselves as animals