..."Poe Literary analysis" In the short story "The Tall-Tale Heart" Edgar Allan Poe shows craziness through the mans actions. The man goes to the old mans house every night for seven nights. He goes there for one reason and that's to get the old mans evil eye. He had nothing wrong with the old man other than he doesn't like his eye. The man goes into his bedroom opens the door to see if the eye is open or not. As Poe says, "And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously--oh, so cautiously--cautiously (for the hinges creaked)--I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye." (Poe). The man does this every night at twelve o clock for seven nights to get the old mans vulture eye. He will sit there watching the old man sleep....
Words: 516 - Pages: 3
...Example of a Fish Tale: Old Stormalong – A Massachusetts Tall Tale retold by S.E. Schlosser “Now everyone knows that Alfred Bulltop Stormalong was the ultimate sailor. He was the captain of a mighty ship known as the Courser, which was so wide that she couldn't sail into Boston Harbor and so tall that the mast was hinged into the middle so it could be taken down to avoid the sun and the moon whenever they passed by. Her keel was so deep that no harbor in the world could take her, so she spent all her time in deep water. The Courser only went through the English Channel once. It was a tight squeeze, so Old Stormalong had the sailors coat the entire outside of the ship with soap. Even then, Old Stormalong barely slid the boat through, and so much soap scraped off one side of the boat at Dover that the cliffs there became permanently white. After that, the English very politely asked Old Stormalong to go around the long way, and that is what he did. The deck of the Courser was so long that the sailors had to ride horses at a full gallop from stem to stern when it was their turn to keep watch. Old Stormalong was the only man strong enough to handle the wheel of the Courser, and it took all of his muscle to prevent the ship from knocking down the smaller Caribbean islands whenever a hurricane blew into the ship.” A strong imagination is needed to create and write a tall tale. However, most tall tales have a basic structure, such as: 1) a character who is ‘larger-than-life’; 2)...
Words: 360 - Pages: 2
...Teacher and Author: Teaching Middle and High School Using Literature Sandra Coleman Grand Canyon University RGD 545 Professor Karen Foster February 27, 2008 Teaching Middle and High School Student Using Literature 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...
Words: 7115 - Pages: 29
...Most people enjoy reading short stories and their rewritten versions. The main genres admired by readers today are comedy, romance, mystery, etc. The original version of the short story Tell Tale Heart has a greater impact on the reader than a rewritten version of the story. There are similarities in the mood and irony, while there are differences in the pacing and character development. To begin with, there are similarities in the mood and irony of the text. First, the mood of Poe’s text begins with a calm, stable mood. As it approaches the end of the story it becomes more and more agitated. In Smith’s version of the story, the mood begins calm like any normal day for a nosy neighbor like Elaine. As this story approaches its end the mood becomes more anxious, similar to Poe’s. Poe used words such as “ dreadfully nervous, and pale”. To describe the mood of the passage. Smith uses words like “terror-stricken and washed out”. These words help emphasize a similar indecisive mood....
Words: 498 - Pages: 2
...world which Poe would have known was more superstitious and dangerous than what we know today. For example, in the 19th century having a coma could be mistaken for death, as a result, it was not uncommon to be buried alive, Poe included live burial in many of his works – to exploit public fears. One of the main assets of his work however is his ability to build intense suspense. By using a variety of techniques Poe was able to create tension and mystery in his (short) stories: Poe employs excessively detailed descriptions and repetition to delay the reader’s arrival at the final climax; Poe does this because he wanted to give time for the suspense to build up before arrival at the inevitably blood-curdling climax. For example, In tell-tale heart before the murderer kills the old man there is a substantial amount of repetition and more complex sentences : ” cautiously -- oh, so cautiously -- cautiously (for the hinges creaked), I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye.” As a result of this delay, the reader becomes even more inquisitive over what events will happen next. The narrator’s use of unnatural language hints at the abnormal mental state of the narrator: He describes the old man’s eye as ‘Evil’ or ’Damned’- damned in this case meaning satanic or cursed. The reader, therefore, has cause to doubt the sanity of the narrator and therefore, what he is going to do. Furthermore the narrator in TTH enjoys recounting, in gruesome detail, and...
Words: 804 - Pages: 4
...century gothic horror? “The monkey’s paw” by W.W Jacobs and the “Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe are two short gothic horror stories written in the late ‘19th’ century. “The tell-tale heart” was written during the Victorian era and is based upon the conventions of the gothic horror. It’s a story about a servant who determined to get rid of an old man’s eye. “The monkeys paw” is also written in a gothic style this means that tension, mystery and suspense is very important factors. “The monkeys paw” is about a friend who has control over a curse of a shriveled monkey paw that grants three wishes to each man that gets hold of it. In both the stories the real names of the characters were not given. They were either initials like Mr. White or the characters were just simply referred to the old man or the man or I. This is the way that gothic fiction is created, by just giving initials or simple reference builds up more suspense. There are only two characters in “the tell tale heart” a old man who is murdered at the end of the story and another character who we don’t know anything about except that he is a killer, and he’s mad. The names may not be given to indicate that this may happen to anyone in the ‘19th’ century. One of the most well known techniques used in both stories is the way the author creates suspense and mystery. The use of repetition is used a lot by Edgar Allan Poe in the tell tale heart. An example of his repetition would be “I moved it slowly- very, very slowly...
Words: 359 - Pages: 2
...The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (add the year yourself!) [pic] TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story. It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture -- a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever. Now this is the point. 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. And every night about midnight I turned the latch of his door and opened it oh, so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern...
Words: 2359 - Pages: 10
...Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) was a Gothic writer he wrote over 100 books and poems.’ The Tell-Tale Heart is a story where Poe uses detail, exaggeration, choice of words and the time of day to keep us reading on the edge of our seats. Those are just a few ways which makes the story a good read. When the story first opens we are dragged right into the action, when he is protesting to what we believe is a wrong doing, These words are the classic case of "The lady doth protest too much" and the reader wonders why the narrator tries to explain himself so much, we wonder what he could of done, the suspense begins First, his use of first person instead of third starts building up the suspense; right at the beginning we are introduced to the narrator and his character ‘True! – Nervous – very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?’ After reading these lines the reader is immediately begins being drawn to the story and its tension, the reader must question everything about the narrating character before reading on, as a reader we must ask ourselves, Is the man really mad? Can we believe what he says? All of this begins putting the reader on edge right from the start. Next we have the use of different words and styles, when we read the story we read it as if the narrating character is confessing to the crime he has done, this also adds tension. Poe also uses repetition ‘I undid the lantern cautiously -- oh, so cautiously – cautiously’ When reading...
Words: 373 - Pages: 2
...Natalie Reynolds English 1102 section 97 Mandi Sena January 22, 2014 Techniques Gothic Literature, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. The Gothic literature feel is achieved through manipulating literature elements to portray the story or poem how the writer/speaker wants. There are ten main elements that can be manipulated; the setting, the environment, atmosphere, protagonists, emotions, damsels in distress, foreboding, the supernatural, decay of characters, and finally, drama. When writing gothic literature one must use their personal techniques in manipulating the elements to achieve the gothic qualities desired; William Faulkner, Edgar Allan Poe, and Sylvia Plath all use different techniques in their writing and this is what gives each of their pieces of literature a different feel. For example in William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily he uses techniques unique to himself. Such as, writing the story in an alternating kind of way to help the readers to carry the action forward in their own minds by suggesting doubt in the story line, this allows us to be surprised at the end when we find out what really happens. This back and forth style of writing is prominent throughout the whole story, but the biggest example is that Emily starts out dead and then the writer proceeds to continue the rest of the story from back when she was alive. His story also has a creepy setting where anything can...
Words: 953 - Pages: 4
... The Blind Owl is a book like no other I’ve read; it was full of twists and turns and murder, and for the most part a lot of confusion on my end. The main character, who’s name we never learn, is full of thoughts and even does some horrible things in order to mask these thoughts.The book opens with the narrator talking to the shadow on his wall and through this dialogue we come to understand his situation. Of course the book starts with death; a beautiful lady dies in the narrator's room and he proceeds to paint because she was so beautiful and he is an artists but he struggles to do so but then he cuts up her body, stuffs her in a suitcase and proceeds to dump her body by a tree. As we progress we learn of his current situation with his wife or as he lovingly refers to her as “the bitch” and their lack of a relationship; he does end up murdering her but this does not really solve his problems. As he felt with the death of the other women he ends with a heavy weight on his chest. Since this was written by Sadeqh Hadeyat during the reign of Reza Shah many people see the issues that Iran was going through in this book, however, I struggled to find these similarities. There were parts throughout the book and even characters I felt could have been Reza or even actions he took but I believe they may have been more of a stretch than they really are. We see these beautiful women both the one at the beginning and his wife as things he could never have, he wanted his wife but she didn't...
Words: 767 - Pages: 4
...The story the tell tale heart by Edgar Allan Poe is one of his shorter stories but interesting one at that. The story is mysterious and equivocal at times. The most interesting thing in the story is the narrator. The narrator is trying to prove his sanity throughout the story. If the narrator is trying to prove a Saturday but only she confesses heinous crime he is all but insane. The narrator opens up the story by admitting he is "very very dreadfully nervous" type of person. He then states he is not mad, to reveal that he is a madman and capable of a heinous crime. The narrator speaks of his sensitivities that allow him to hear "all things in the heaven and the earth," also in hell. The sensitivities are part of the reason he became obsessed with the old man's eyes which in return murders the old man for his Vulture eye. The narrator starts his story off with the fact that he "loved the old man," adding "He never wronged me." This is when he leads into his obsession and the vulture eye. He goes into great detail about the eye "A pale blue eye, with a film over it." Only A madman would obsess that much over an eye to have no motivation to kill the old man but the obsession of the vulture eye. In this paragraph the narrator contradicts himself with his mental ability to love and hate at the same time. He then wants to prove to us his sanity by how "wisely" he would proceed with caution foresight and dissimulation he executes his deeds. He then goes into how every night...
Words: 963 - Pages: 4
...narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” is unreliable. Here are three instances in the story that support my claim. Firstly, the narrator begins by stating that he has unusually acute hearing and could hear things in heaven, earth, and hell. He also makes many, almost desperate attempts to persuade the audience that he is not mad. This led me to believe that he is mad, yet not in the way of which he speaks. For example, he does carry out his plan with much caution and plan for every detail. However, while he is explaining his cause to kill the man, he says that he loved the old man and had never been wronged by him, yet wanted to murder him because of his eye. Again, when he hears the old man groaning, he says, ”I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart.” Secondly, the narrator claims to have listened to the man’s heart and to have found that “Yes, he was stone, stone dead.” However, later on in the story he declares that the heart is still alive and that the police officers are about to hear it. This proves that he is unreliable, as he is clearly contradicting himself. Finally, he says, “…I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased—and what could I do?” I believe that the heart was not actually beating as he said, but that it was merely his conscience. For, despite his loud talking, the narrator was perfectly able to hear the beating heart. The police also did not seem to hear the heart from the narrator’s...
Words: 336 - Pages: 2
...is a symbol of death in this story. There are seven (7) rooms in this castle, six of them were densely crowed and inside them you could appreciate the sound of life. The seventh room was decorated with black velvet tapestries and the windows were scarlet; in this room was the ebony clock. This room was placed as a symbol of death, as a symbol of the final stage on human’s life. Every person in the masquerade was afraid to go inside, this is a symbol of the fear that humanity feels for death. At the end, the prince Prospero and all of the revellers died in this room. This black room represents how dark can be the death, and represents our inability to prevent it. The detailed description of a room plays an important paper in “The Tell-Tale Heart” too. The old man’s room “was as black as pitch with the thick darkness” (Poe). The selection of the words used by Poe is alerting us that something sinister is going to happen in that chamber. As we sleep we are vulnerable, we lose our guard against the surroundings. Our rooms are designed to make us feel protected, safe, and comfortable; Poe destroys this sense of security. In this story, the murderer goes inside the room exploiting the vulnerability of one who is sleeping; even the narrator kills with the bed itself turning the bedroom in a crime zone. In “The Masque of the Red Death” the masquerade is taken place in a Castellated Abbey. The abbey is a place of confinement; the doors are welded shut from the inside to prevent anything...
Words: 569 - Pages: 3
...The Tell-Tale Heart In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," the narrator who later proves himself morbidly insane by committing a gruesome murder spends his entire story trying to convince an unknown audience that he is not mad. The unreliableness of this narrator shows up in the very beginning of his story. He begins speaking to an audience that is unknown. This is revealed in his first words, "True!---nervous---very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?" In this first sentence alone the narrator discredits his reliability several times. First, it is unknown to who he is telling his story. The reader can only guess. It is unknown if he is speaking to a psychiatrist, a prison warden, or himself. The fact that his audience is unknown makes the narrator in this story unreliable. Secondly, he states his nervousness. It shows here that he is unstable and cannot be trusted. Finally, the best example of the narrator's unreliability is in his continuous attempts from his first words, and to the end of his story to convince that he is not a madman. It is seen over and over in the following statements, "Now this is the point. You fancy me as 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!" and, "And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses?" His overbearing...
Words: 407 - Pages: 2
...The Cask of Amontillado “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig 2 graves,” by Confucius. In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, the description of one of the character’s, Montresor, wants to get revenge on his “friend”. The title caught my eye, because it was a unique title. It was unique because it had the word Amontillado sounded haunting to me. I wondered where it came from. The author, Edgar Allan Poe gives a really good message in the story. I learned that even if you are stressed about an insult from a person, don’t try to hurt them in such a way they might die, try to reason with them. The connection to life is to talk to the person that may have made you mad, to reason with that person. During carnival season, in...
Words: 333 - Pages: 2
