Conventions of the Gothic Horror - The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
How does the 'Tell-Tale Heart' reflect the Conventions of the Gothic Horror Genre? Tick, tick, tick, the heart ticks on. The Tell-Tale Heart is another spooky Gothic Horror story written in the 19th century by Edgar Allen Poe. Written entirely in first person, we follow the account of a young man driven to insanity by his mad actions. The person we hear the tale from tells us of his emotions and his feelings along the way. The young man lives with an older man who has never harmed him or never done anything wrong to him, but he decides to kill the older man. The old man's eye drives him to this terrible deed as it looks like a 'vulture's eye' and makes his blood run cold every time it sets upon him. The young man slowly but surely progresses into a state of madness and plots the murder of the old man by spying upon him sleeping at midnight every night. We come to the night of the murder, and the young man is almost caught spying on him as the old man wakes from his sleep terrified, the time comes and the young man leaps into the room, throws the man to the floor and pulls the bed over him. He dies. Chopping the body into pieces and carefully hiding them under the floor boards the police call round about a scream they were informed of, the man is not afraid, but as he sits there chatting away to them calmly a ticking fills his ears and no matter what he tries it gets worse and
What have you found interesting about the ways in which Poe makes his murderers tell their stories? How has the writing made you react to the murderers and the deeds?
What have you found interesting about the ways in which Poe makes his murderers tell their stories? How has the writing made you react to the murderers and the deeds? Edgar Allan Poe's stories are of horror, fantasy, and murder, with the theme of death showed in most of his works. Poe takes the subject of death a step further than just the act and explores the techniques and psychology involved. Poe's stories usually involves the main character getting rid a burden to them, usualy a person. Poe uses humour which is dark, sarcastic and very ironic. In the two stories i am analysing Poe works on the theme of a dark and dreary death. In addition, most of his stories involve an individual who is forever haunted by their actions. In "The Tell Tale Heart" and "The Cask Of Amontillado" we see this theme presented effectively. "The Tell Tale Heart" is a story describing a case of violence that occurs because of the fear of a person or object. In this story that fear is shown as the "old man's eye." "The Cask Of Amontillado" is also a story describing similar feelings towards a person who has insulted and offended the narrator whom feels that revenge is a neccessity. I have chosen these stories because they clearly represent the way in which the narrators of Poe's stories tell their own accounts, as if they were out of Poe's control. However we can tell as we move further into the
Tales of terror
Coursework - Tales Of Terror In the 19th Century Tales Of Terror were used for a source of entertainment. In this assignment I am going to use common elements of horror to show how the authors made their stories appealing to their audience. I am going to be analysing 'The Tell Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe and 'The Monkeys Paw' by W.W.Jacobs. In these stories both authors use various elements of horror However, I will be only analysing four of them, which are; Irony, style of language used, physiological dimension and suspense. W.W. Jacobs and Edgar Allan Poe both had a fascination with horrific themes, like many filmmakers today. Both author's stories were written pre-19th Century. The atmosphere, when the stories were being read, was made more mysterious and frightening because the century they were living in held public hangings. Death surrounded them everyday; this made the stories seem more real. In the 'Monkeys Paw' Jacobs uses many different techniques to build up an atmosphere of suspense. One way this is done is by Jacob's description of the Whites family's location, an isolated place. The fact that it is so far away from any built up area indicates to the audience that if something were to happen to the family, they would be very vulnerable. "of all the beastly, slushy, out-of-the-way places to live in, this is the worst". The words Mr White uses to describe
What makes it creepy - the setting of The fall of the house of Usher.
What makes it creepy ----- the setting of The fall of the house of Usher Edgar Allan Poe, one of the most widely read and influential American writers, is especially well known for his short fictions. Usually with the theme of death-in-life, his short fictions are called spine-chillers or thrillers which make him a household name. His insistence on unity of effect in the short stories contributes a lot to the effects of terror and supernatural trapping. The fall of the house of Usher is widely acknowledged to be one of Poe's finest and most representative tales and also a successful example of his theory that in short stories, "unity of effect is everything". From the very beginning of the story to the end, a sort of melancholy, nervous, and frightening atmosphere or mood has been created by a series of desolate objects and some mysterious elements. The setting of The fall of the house of Usher integrates the plot into a whole and helps to push the plot forward to its climax and finally brings about its resolution. In order to create the effect of terror, Poe focuses on the decay and tension before death in the first half, and in the other half, he pushes the story to the climax through playing up the horror and dreariness at the time of death. By doing this, Poe gradually involves readers into the setting of the story as well as the terror. In the opening paragraph,
The similarities and differences between ways in which murder is depicted in "The Tell-Tale Hearts", "The Black Cat" and "Call It Madness" "Buried the axe in her brain". Very graphic depiction of death appears in all 3 of the stories
Compare and contrast the similarities and differences between ways in which murder is depicted in "The Tell-Tale Hearts", "The Black Cat" and "Call It Madness" "Buried the axe in her brain". Very graphic depiction of death appears in all 3 of the stories, "The Tell-Tale Hearts", "The Black Cat" and "Call It Madness". There are many similarities between all 3 stories and the way they portray death, there are also many differences between the Edgar Allen Poe stories and the Maupassant story. The 2 authors have different styles both describing death and murder in there own ways. The black cat is a story written by Edgar Allen Poe. The narrator describes himself as a caring person when he was a young man, "my tenderness of heart". Poe creates the character in this way so early on so that later on in the story the reader feels sorry for the murderer even though he has committed a crime. However this is not successful because of how evil the murder is. During the story the narrator describes his love for animals deteriorating into hatred this then leads to the murder of his first car Pluto. The murderer describes a lot of emotion towards his killing of Pluto, 'who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a stupid action, for no other reason than because he knows he should not', in an attempt to tell the audience his reasons for murder he explains that he
'How are nineteenth century short stories traditional short stories?'
GCSE ENGLISH COURSEWORK: 'Nineteenth century short stories.' ESSAY TITLE: 'How are nineteenth century short stories traditional short stories?' In this essay we will be studying the following question, 'How are nineteenth century short stories traditional short stories?' Short stories developed as a style of writing when people were becoming more literate. One of the most important factors which helped which helped short stories develop as popular form of writing was the growing popularity of magazines and journals over the course of the 19th century. The general public admired the genre of fiction and the short story mainly written to express opinions and ideas was the ideal way for a writer to earn easy money and reach a wider audience. Short stories were also a popular from of entertainment as it was read aloud within families or groups of friends. As they reached a wide audience they often dealt with different issues that had a wide appeal. To answer our question we will be looking at 5 main factors that make up a traditional short story. The five factors are, the first line in a story (this line should be interesting as this will be the first thing the reader reads. This line will also create expectations about the kind of story the audience will be reading. It should engage the reader by being dramatic or humorous,) characters (this should be less than five
Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat" - A critical comparison.
Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat" A critical comparison Edgar Allan Poe's main focuses in his writings are horror, fantasy, and murder, with the theme of death visited in most of his works. His many writings reflect an imagination that most of his readers could experience when dreaming at night. Poe takes the subject matter death a step further than the simple act and explores the processes and avenues of death. This form of morbidity that is brought throughout Poe's stories usually involves the main character getting rid of one's burden, to one degree or another. Nearly all of his works consisted of variations of this single theme of dark and dreary death. In addition, most of his stories involve an individual who is forever haunted by their reactions to the one thing that they wanted to get rid of. In the stories "The Tell Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat" we see this theme presented in a very powerful sense. Both the "Tell Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat" involve the narrator's inner torment to his selfless act of violence. The focus on the narrator and the theme of the story is strongly concealed with the characters need to be rid of something, but yet continuously being haunted by that very something, even after it has been disposed of, presenting us with what Poe termed "spirit of perverseness." "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Alan Poe (1843) is a
Exploring the ways in which the writers Edgar Allan Poe and Charlotte Perkins Gilman portray madness in their writing.
Explore the ways in which the writers we have studied represent madness We have been exploring the ways in which the writers Edgar Allan Poe and Charlotte Perkins Gilman portray madness in their writing. The books we have been studying are "The Black Cat" and "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe; and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Edgar Allan Poe was a debauched American man who was around in the late nineteenth century. He was adopted and had a various troubled business life. These troubles earlier on in his life may have led to his drugs and alcohol addiction. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a feminist, also American, and was the first woman to make a living from writing. After having a baby she suffered from terrible post-natal depression. Her doctor, Weir Mitchell, gave her rest treatment and forbid her to write. Upon recovery, she wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a sort of therapy. She sent the story to Mitchell and her treatment was changed. The definition of the words 'madness' or 'insanity' varies from person to person. 'The state of having a serious mental illness; crazy or stupid behaviour that could be dangerous' is the dictionary definition. However, I do not feel such a controversial topic can be described in such a simple way. All three of the stories we have studied have been written in the 1st Person Narrative form. This portrays madness
The Black Cat is the story of one mans descent into madness. How does Edgar Allan Poe show this through the Narrator?
The Black Cat is the story of one mans descent into madness. How does Edgar Allan Poe show this through the Narrator? The story of the Black Cat, in which the narrator is also the main character, is a story in which the author provides you with a challenge. The narrator tells you that there has been a series of household events, which he cannot explain and issues you as the reader, the challenge of solving the puzzle of them. The narrator's voice suggests it belongs to that of a highly educated man from an upper class family. This makes the reader wonder why a man of such high education is talking about normal occurrences and making them seem like the most unnatural thing. Also the voice suggests that he is more unlikely to be a violent dipsomaniac. The author creates mood and atmosphere using words such as "... terrified...tortured...have destroyed me." This line sets a rather unearthly mood that, I believe, is carried on throughout the story. The story of the Black cat starts off with the narrator in prison. "But to-morrow I die..." This line suggests that he is waiting in death row and will be executed the next day. It also makes the reader want to know why he is to be executed what deed has been so bad he is to die. The narrator tells the audience that he used to be a loving, gentle, man. "From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my
What makes Poe's writing Gothic?
What makes Poe's writing Gothic? The Gothic genre is an extensive and wide ranging area of literature and as one of its leading writers Edgar Allen Poe uses many Gothic devices and elements in his stories. There are, unfortunately, too many to explore in one essay and therefore I shall concentrate on those elements with which I feel Poe actually enhances and enriches the genre. The Gothic genre is one of extremities and extravagance, whether it be gruesome horror or suspense filled terror, obsessions and madness or surroundings and scenery, every detail is described and exaggerated with great care. The damnable acts of felony, sinister darkness and shadows all add tension whilst the lust of the tyrannical males, their madness and rage and the helplessness and isolation of their female victims add emotion and evoke sympathy within the reader. Irrationality governs most of the events as dark and illogical plots unfold. Walpole's Castle of Otranto an early example of the genre shows all these features. These ideals were carried over into other forms. Grotesque and brooding art such as that of Goya flourished, along side Gothic literature, influenced by medieval sources and contemporary authors. Architecture too followed the same course. Walpole's own house Strawberry hill was a rambling mass of crenulations and towers filled, like his stories with dungeons and secret passages.