...This short story has a well representation of his dark writing style. Within the story, misery, a sense of darkness, and a sense of pleasure from the relief of murder is shown in the beginning when Poe writes “The Tell-Tale Heart.” His work had been known for “nightmarish scenes, desolate wastes, and tragic passions” (Bloom 11).With this being said, Poe is representing those gothic qualities. In the statement, “it haunted me day and night” represents misery the man felt when he saw the old man’s eye (“The Tell-Tale Heart” 71). Another quality of his gothic style is distressed,“I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He has the eye of a vulture - pale blue eye, with a film over it” (“The Tell-Tale Heart” 71). Although the other eye of the old man was fine, he felt agony because of how one eye had “a film over it” (“The Tell-Tale Heart” 71). Another statement that is showing Poe’s sense of darkness in his work is, “When it fell upon me, my blood ran cold . . .” it represents the darkness the man felt when he came in contact with the eye in person and how he watched the old man in his sleep (“The Tell-Tale Heart” 71). He would see it everywhere he went and especially, when he would creep into the old man’s house. A sense of pleasure is what he felt when the thought of what a relief it would be when he murdered...
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...English 102 Conflict in Two Times In the short stories, The Lottery, and The Destructors, there are many parallels to be found. Both accounts share a common theme of despair and evil. Similarly, each short story is in the third person point of view which allows the reader to gain insight into what the characters are doing in an objective manner. Even though the events told are set in very different settings and eras, both tales still show that man is a sinner and, without God’s grace, can carry out dreadful deeds, like murder. “The Lottery” is a short story in which the theme of despair and fear is predominant. The story is set in a small town were the people are slowly drawing names for a horrible prize. “A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat…” (Jackson, 1948) This quote shows the fear and tenseness surrounding the setting of drawing names and the reader knows something horrible is looming. The plot begins to thicken as the people continue to draw from the hat. Jackson expresses this with statements such as “Seems like we were just doing this last week,” and “Time sure goes fast.” (Jackson, 1948) The fear not only continues to grow but as the reader one is completely wrapped up in what drastic thing is going to happen. This unknown ending is found in many short stories, such as “The Destructors”, where the reader is shocked by what happened. The characters play an important role in bringing out the conflict to...
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...Outline: I. Short Stories a) Activating Prior Knowledge b) Responding to the Selection c) Short Story Selections 1. Suggested Activities to use with Various Groups II. Oral Tradition Literature – Tall Tales and Folktales a) Analyze characteristics and plots of Folktales and Tall Tales b) Understanding Hyperbole c) Writing a Tall Tale d) Selections of Oral Tradition Literature III. Novel Studies a) Previewing the novel b) Defining and Understanding Elements of c) Character Analysis d) Problems and Solutions of the story IV. Historical Fiction a) Activating background/prior knowledge b) Setting a purpose for reading c) Writing about historical fiction V. Realistic Fiction a) Evaluating Realistic Fiction b) Responding to the selection c) Distinguishing between Fact and Opinion d) Summarizing the Story Chapter 1 – Short Stories: A short story is, like the name says, a short literary composition. The action is compact and every single event is crucial to the development of the plot. The time span covered within the action of a short story could vary from a few hours to days or years. A short story could have elements...
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...Debra Bronstein English 1B Short Story Essay Prompt Essay Due: Monday 10/15 at the beginning of class (100 points) Please write a 4-5 page essay. All papers should be typed, double-spaced, 12-point font (Times New Roman), with one-inch margins. All papers must analyze how the rhetorical/formal/symbolic/narrative elements of the short story contribute to your understanding of the text. Please review these terms from your literary terms quiz and your class notes to remind yourself how authors deploy them in the stories. Please choose one of the following topics. Note: I ask a lot of questions within each of the topics because I want to give you many options to consider; however, this does not mean that you have to answer all the sub-questions. Use them as guides to jumpstart your thinking. 1. Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Jewett’s “A White Heron,” Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” track a particular symbol throughout the short story. Focusing on one of these stories, show how the author uses the development of the symbol in order to reflect the demise or spiritual growth of the main characters. Hint: for “The Things They Carried, you can focus on the word carry rather than on a specific individual symbol. 2. Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” are both narrated by unreliable narrators who go crazy. Focusing on one of these stories, how does the author portray insanity...
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...Form/Genre (Lyric, Narrative, Dramatic)4-6 * 5. Diction (Connotative, Denotative) * 6. Literary Devices (Techniques, Figures of Speech) * Miscellaneous elements: * Tone-attitude of the writer 7 * Mood-atmosphere or general feeling * TYPES AND FORMS OF POETRY 1. LYRIC POETRY- meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a lyre -short, simple and easy to understand 8 A. Kinds of Lyric Poetry B. Sonnets- 14 lines with a formal rhyme scheme or pattern 9 C. Elegy- expresses lament or mourning for the dead 10 3. Ode- noble feeling, expressed with dignity and praises * TYPES AND FORMS OF POETRY * 4. Songs- poem w/ or w/o definite number of syllables and stanza and always accompanied by musical instrument * 5. Psalms- song praising God or the Virgin Mary and containing philosophy in life 11 * 6. Simple Lyric- includes a variety of poems with varying theme and characterized by subjectivity * II. NARRATIVE POETRY * -describes important events in life either real or imaginary 12 * -tells a story * -present dramatic events in a vivid way, using same elements as short stories: plot, characters, dialogue Kinds of Narrative Poetry: 1. Epic- extended narrative about heroic...
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...The Tell-Tale Heart vs. The Black Cat Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat,” have many similarities as well as differences. The two stories can be compared for both have similar themes as well as corresponding plots. However, the two stories also contrast considering their different endings. Both of Poe’s stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat,” have the theme of death and murder. In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the narrator murder’s an old man with “a pale blue eye, with a film over it.” In the story, “The Black Cat,” the narrator murders his wife. The plots of the two stories are also alike for they both begin with the narrator reflecting on his crime, not seeing that he is “mad,” and end with...
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..."The Ugly Duckling": Fairy Tale or Not? “The Ugly Duckling” was a short story written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1844. Although it is nearly 200 years old, the story is still one of the most popular retellings within modern culture. The question, of course, becomes “why?” We all know the story: a fowl is born to a duck family, shunned by its family and community because of its looks, and later develops into a beautiful swan that is envied by everyone for its beauty. Why would this story stand the test of time to not only still be heard on the lips of storytellers around the world, but to also be retold and reinvented through modern day translations? To answer this question, we must first look at the story itself in order to first understand its literary value and then to evaluate its impact on our popular culture. Many would first assume, by its presentation, that “The Ugly Duckling” can be considered a good example of a fairy tale. Bruno Bettelheim, a noted educator and scholar on the role that fairy tales play, has stated that in fairy tales, there is typically a battle between good and evil. Characters are absolute...either good or evil. He also goes on to say that the goal is not to impart a moral, but rather to show that one can overcome any obstacle (Bettelheim 216-217). Based on this criterion, “The Ugly Duckling” falls short of what could be called a fairy tale. Other than the anthropormorphisizing of the animal characters, there is no magic that is done in the...
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...In 1843, a short story by Edgar Allan Poe was published, telling a tale of the madness within one’s mind, written for entertainment. Fifty-six years later, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, discussing mental deterioration, was published. Both stories use different symbolism and themes to create a climatic tale. “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman compare in a way that both characters suffer from a mental illness and the authors show this using repetition and suspense to make the reader curious throughout the story. However, they differentiate because in “The Tell Tale Heart”, the narrator from the beginning is clearly insane whereas in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator makes it less obvious and takes longer to reveal her true mental illness,. Both stories discuss madness but both narrators use different language and metaphors to show that. Although there are many similarities between the stories, one that really stand out it the fact that the main characters in both stories are mentally ill. In the “Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator is isolated from the outside world because of her husband. We see her madness through her eyes. This is an example of a story told by showing, rather than telling. One has to assume that there really isn’t a woman trapped in the wall, it’s all in narrator’s mind because she’s not living in reality. In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the situation is very similar. The narrator is a madman...
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...Comparing the Theme of Madness in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat” This Essay is going to compare theme of madness presented to reader in two short stories ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ and ‘The Black Cat’ both by Edgar Allan Poe. One might argue that the theme of madness is presented quite differently in both short stories if compared to each other. ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ presents us a true madman; the main character kills the old man because of the look of the old mans eye. This is highlighted by the piece, which was extracted from the story itself “I loved the old man. He had never wrong me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes it was this” Furthermore it is clearly shown that the madman liked the old man and he didn’t want old mans money. Madman committed the most atrocious of crimes because of the old mans appearance. However the main character doesn’t think he is mad and strongly believes that the old mans eye was pure evil, and this is highlighted by the quotes from “The Tell-Tale Heart”. “You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded --with what caution --with what foresight --with what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him”. The main character almost tries to compensate the murder by saying that he was nice to the old man before he killed him. Moreover, the main character...
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...Your pencil drops on the floor. You decide to pick it up. Could this affect the rest of your life? The short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe and the song “Tomorrow” by Sixx A.M. bot show that everything you do has consequences. In the beginning of the story, the narrator convinces readers that he isn’t sick. We then find out that he killed a man and started hearing the dead man’s heartbeat in his head which leads him to feel guilty. The speaker in the song talks about the listener’s future and the consequences it will have. The theme: Everything you do has consequences is shown through the symbol of the heartbeat in the short story and the repetition of the word “tomorrow” in the song. Although the theme is arrived in different ways in each sources, they have the same theme: Everything you do has consequences. At the end of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the narrator talks about hearing the dead man’s heartbeat. Obviously he isn’t hearing an actual heartbeat, the heartbeat is a symbol for the guilt the narrator is feeling. Poe writes, “‘But why does his heart not stop beating?! Why does it not stop!?’”, this supports the theme because it shows that you cannot escape the consequences that your...
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...EDGAR ALLAN POE Synopsis Born January 19, 1809, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. American short-story writer, poet, critic, and Editor Edgar Allan Poe's tales of mystery and horror initiated the modern detective story, and the atmosphere in his tales of horror is unrivaled in American fiction. His The Raven (1845) numbers among the best-known poems in national literature. Early Life With his short stories and poems, Edgar Allan Poe captured the imagination and interest of readers around the world. His creative talents led to the beginning of different literary genres, earning him the nickname "Father of the Detective Story" among other distinctions. His life, however, has become a bit of mystery itself. And the lines between fact and fiction have been blurred substantially since his death. The son of actors, Poe never really knew his parents. His father left the family early on, and his mother passed away when he was only three. Separated from his siblings, Poe went to live with John and Frances Allan, a successful tobacco merchant and his wife, in Richmond, Virginia. He and Frances seemed to form a bond, but he never quite meshed with John. Preferring poetry over profits, Poe reportedly wrote poems on the back of some of Allan's business papers. Money was also an issue between Poe and John Allan. When Poe went to the University of Virginia in 1826, he didn't receive enough funds from Allan to cover all his costs. Poe turned to gambling to cover the difference, but ended up in...
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...BRITISH SHORT FICTION IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY This page intentionally left blank British Short Fiction in the Early Nineteenth Century The Rise of the Tale TIM KILLICK Cardiff University, UK © Tim Killick 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Tim Killick has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Gower House Croft Road Aldershot Hampshire GU11 3HR England Ashgate Publishing Company Suite 420 101 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05401-4405 USA www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Killick, Tim British short fiction in the early nineteenth century : the rise of the tale 1. Short stories, English – History and criticism 2. English fiction – 19th century – History and criticism 3. Short story 4. Literary form – History – 19th century I. Title 823’.0109 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Killick, Tim. British short fiction in the early nineteenth century : the rise of the tale / by Tim Killick. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-6413-0 (alk. paper) 1. Short stories, English—History and criticism. 2. English fiction—19th...
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...Introduction Edgar Allan Poe's tale The Fall of the House of Usher is often considered as one of Poe's most sophisticated and therefore a lot of alternative critical interpretations are given. This tale might even be Poe's tale with the most reviews. These reviews mainly deal with the decay of the house or the role of Roderick Usher (cf. Magistrale 66). That is the reason why I have chosen this short story of Edgar Allan Poe. I was amongst other things fascinated by the complex composition and the impossibility of understanding the story with the first reading. I will analyze Poe's tale with regard to comparing the degeneration of the house to the degeneration of one of the main characters, Roderick Usher. At first I will sum up how the mansion and Roderick Usher are characterized, thereupon I will analyze how you can regain the description of the mansion in the description of Roderick Usher and why they have to collapse together in the end and explain it amongst others with the help of Poe's 'theory of totality' and symbolism. The Outside: Description of the House of Usher The description of the House of Usher can be divided into two parts. In the first one it is said that the mansion in which Roderick Usher is living together with his sister Lady Madeline lays in a grim and plain neighborhood. The narrator, who is an old childhood friend of Roderick Usher and sees and describes the scenery, tells the reader of a strong dark feeling which overcomes him, when...
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...BRITISH SHORT FICTION IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY This page intentionally left blank British Short Fiction in the Early Nineteenth Century The Rise of the Tale TIM KILLICK Cardiff University, UK © Tim Killick 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Tim Killick has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Gower House Croft Road Aldershot Hampshire GU11 3HR England Ashgate Publishing Company Suite 420 101 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05401-4405 USA www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Killick, Tim British short fiction in the early nineteenth century : the rise of the tale 1. Short stories, English – History and criticism 2. English fiction – 19th century – History and criticism 3. Short story 4. Literary form – History – 19th century I. Title 823’.0109 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Killick, Tim. British short fiction in the early nineteenth century : the rise of the tale / by Tim Killick. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-6413-0 (alk. paper) 1. Short stories, English—History and criticism. 2. English fiction—19th...
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...BRITISH SHORT FICTION IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY This page intentionally left blank British Short Fiction in the Early Nineteenth Century The Rise of the Tale TIM KILLICK Cardiff University, UK © Tim Killick 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Tim Killick has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Gower House Croft Road Aldershot Hampshire GU11 3HR England Ashgate Publishing Company Suite 420 101 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05401-4405 USA www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Killick, Tim British short fiction in the early nineteenth century : the rise of the tale 1. Short stories, English – History and criticism 2. English fiction – 19th century – History and criticism 3. Short story 4. Literary form – History – 19th century I. Title 823’.0109 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Killick, Tim. British short fiction in the early nineteenth century : the rise of the tale / by Tim Killick. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-6413-0 (alk. paper) 1. Short stories, English—History and criticism. 2. English fiction—19th...
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