ENG 112 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Ross Macdonald, Rex Stout, Genre Fiction
Document Summary
Introduces social issues but doesn"t follow up: page 3: the rise of mixed genres, production of mixed genres - such as the techno thriller from jurassic park to draw in larger audiences. 5 recognizable features of pop lit: quests, clear personal moral code, the need for escape, the exotic. S. s van dine: proof of how self-aware golden age fiction had become (including rules" such as) Points to note: holmes chivalric attitude toward women (seen as fragile, need to be protected) India: the empire background to this tale, note: britain"s need for an empire is never questioned. The story"s plot: is an old one but a good one cold-blooded murder by a desperate man for financial gain. Plot is also tangled up with the story"s many gothic features. Isolated house full of family secrets: evil gothic villain who preys on an unwitting female, the use of doubles, sense of fate.
