How do I analyze how the Gothic has been used in the paragraph below from Dickens's "The Signal-Man" in regard to imagery and symbolism?From "The...

First, start with defining the characteristics of Gothic
so you know the way to go in your analysis. Gothic characteristics can quickly be
defined as including dismal and eerie locations; mysterious seeming or looking people or
places; death; the supernatural; places of confinement; castles or old buildings, often
in some degree of ruin; spirits and ghosts; darkness, sometimes noted in reverse
language as the absence of light.

Second, note the imagery and
symbolism Dickens creates in the passage. We immediately note an image of descent down
into something eerie and threatening. The image continues with a seemingly reluctant
"drawing near to" the signal-man. The image of hesitancy and reluctance is accomplished
by the three fragment phrases telling of a "downward way," a "stepping out upon," and
the "drawing near to." Similar imagery dots the rest of the paragraph: "dark beard";
heavy eyebrows"; "dismal place"; "jagged stone"; "excluding sky"; "black tunnel";
"forbidding air"; "So little sunlight"; "left the natural world" are just some of the
key phrases that produce Dickens's imagery. Some symbolism is contained in these phrases
as well. For instance, "downward way" and "black tunnel" may symbolize a descent into
hell, while "barbarous, depressing, and forbidding air" may symbolize the environs of
earth-roaming spirits or ghosts.

Finally, analyze how the imagery and
symbolism you have identified does or does not fit in with the characteristics of the
Gothic tradition. For instance, the imagery perfectly fits with the characteristics of
confinement and darkness. The signal-man is set apart and isolated--confined--by the
"jagged stone" of a metaphorical "great dungeon"; doubt of Gothic elements is eliminated
by the metaphorical association of the setting with an imprisoning "dungeon." Another
instance is that the symbolism mentioned above draws a clear association of the setting
and thus, by inference, the signal-man, with the supernatural  symbols for a descent
into hell and for spirits and ghosts.