Rosalie Ham's novel "The Dressmaker", published in 2000, is set in the 1950s in an Australian outback town called Dungatar. In the novel, Ham uses genre conventions such as gothic, romance, mystery, and revenge tragedy to intrigue the reader's expectations of the novel and allow them to understand it better. This essay will demonstrate how Ham employs these conventions in “The Dressmaker” through the use of imagery and figurative language. In the opening paragraph of the novel, imagery is used to convey the stylistic conventions of the Australian Gothic genre. Ham's use of descriptive language in the opening paragraph creates the image of the haunted house element of the Gothic genre, where the house on top of the hill that is "seen from the surrounding plains – a shaky lighthouse in a vast sea black..." illustrates how it is geographically isolated from the rest of the city by "casting a shadow over the city" that portrays a sense of darkness. Although Mad Molly's house is not literally haunted, the stylistic manner in which it is illustrated in the opening paragraph is identified as Australian Gothic. Furthermore, Tilly believes herself to be cursed, which is another defining characteristic of the Gothic genre that Ham's novel focuses on. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Ham describes this in the novel through the use of descriptive expressions such as “it's guilt and evil inside me: I carry it with” me, inside me, all the time. It's like a black thing, a burden..." (184), here Tilly expresses her belief that she is cursed, the uncertain feeling of being somehow a murderer, the word "evil" which creates a sense of the element dark of the Gothic genre. This is further represented by the juxtaposition of Tilly with "Morgan Le Fay" and a "Banshee" (192), as Tilly calls herself, thus carrying forward this idea of ​​the Gothic convention of a curse, which in reality is simply imposed on her by the people of Dungatar. Furthermore, Ham portrays elements of romance in "The Dressmaker", this romance is later interrupted to create meaning and impact in the novel "The Dressmaker" offers compassion, kindness and love through the characters Teddy, the football hero and Tilly, the outcast who come together , this love story between Tilly and Teddy is interrupted by his tragic death. Ham, therefore, could demonstrate that this normal romantic convention employed is not the focus of the novel, but the focus is the relationship between mother and daughter. Therefore, the purpose of the romantic convention may have been to make the reader realize the central fulcrum point of the novel. Furthermore, Ham demonstrates the characteristic of detective novel conventions in his novel through the use of comic imagery. The detective conventions of this novel use humor and act more like a parody, the District Inspector acts as the detective and Sergeant Farrat his assistant. This is evident in the conversation between Tilly and the district inspector: "The district inspector was captivated by Tilly's plunging necklines..." (263), here the Pettyman case that the inspector was there to solve is made less serious , through this use of humor in the novel. Therefore, the use of detective fiction in the novel is used as a comic effect in a way to lighten the desperation of the lack of law and order in the city. Finally, the novel moves towards the genre conventions of revenge tragedy where pain.