I was able to understand five Major claims Teresa made throughout her article. The first one is that the popular, the disturbing, and the hauntings of history infiltrate American literature. For example, America does not have enough history to actually represent the gothic concept. The Gothic genre has the ability to seep into other genres and can appear in categories like romanticism. Gothic moments can thus occur in all areas of American literature, from fables to narratives. The genre enables and limits critical readings. Lastly, I interpreted that American Gothic literature criticizes America 's national myth of a new-world innocence by voicing the cultural contradictions that undermine the nation 's claim to purity and equality when