Don T Ask Jack Short Story

The Capturing Effects of Gothic Elements There is an overwhelming amount of techniques an author can use to make their story better than their competitors; there is not one method that is better than the rest, but there are more effective elements used than others to reach out and grab the reader’s attention and emotion. The use of gothic elements in short stories and poems are the building blocks for a truly spectacular and captivating story. Edgar A. Poe is without a doubt one of the most well-known writers for his incredible ability to cause his readers the urge to quench and shiver from his unsuspecting short stories. In one of his very famous pieces, “Black Cat,” he uses numerous gothic elements. However, the element that attracts …show more content…
There are many stories of children finding something, and they are afraid it may be alive or a possessed object. In the short story “Don’t Ask Jack,” that sadly becomes the truth. There is a classic toy that kids for generations have loved to play with, and that is the Jack in the Box. For the kids in Neil Galman’s short story, they did not find it as enjoyable, but more of a nightmare becoming a reality. These kids grew up in a normal house and a normal family, but what was in the attic was abnormal. The Jack in the Box, supposed to be an inanimate toy, in the attic was believed to be supernatural or an object sent from the devil in the kid’s mind. Every time the kids would open the Jack in the Box it would explode out just as they all did, but this Jack in the Box had a special talent or really a supernatural act of evil. The kids would play with the Jack in the Box, not for the same reason as all the other kids would, but to discover their future secrets. The Jack would tell the kids his secretes about their future and the kids never fully understood how it could be, but how could they not believe it when what Jack said always seemed to come true. Jack would tell the kids scary and mysterious details regarding their future that they would end up finding true. Jack also told secrets in relation to the future for when they were all grown up. When the time came a few …show more content…
The violence in the “Black Cat,” brings out the darkness inside everyone and it may not be to the norm, but the audience will end up loving it. The supernatural in “Don’t Ask Jack,” makes you question if there really is any such thing as supernatural in the world. Finally, the mystery in Sharp Objects will leave you constantly having the hunger to read more and that is just a few of the ways authors use gothic elements to keep the readers continually desiring