The Horror Genre.
Wider Reading Coursework: The Horror Genre The horror genre is based on fear, predominantly visual, psychological and atmospherical. A very good horror may even be able to affect you physically, making you too scared to go to sleep, turn the light off or the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. 'The Blair Witch Project' uses suspense in the way that you never get to see what is actually following the students in the woods, making you use your imagination, which can be much scarier than anything you can see. It also sets the scene at the start of the film when they ask people on the streets about the woods, and when they all say bad things you now something bad is going to happen. This happens in a similar but different form in 'The Superstitious Mans Story'. At the start of the story it straight away sets William Privett up to be a bit strange, not in the literal sense, but in a way that he has a strange presence. The narrator says, and I quote: "...if he was in the house or anywhere behind your back without you seeing him, there seemed to be something clammy in the air, as if a cellar door was opened close by your elbow". The Sexton (church caretaker) says that: "...he'd not known the bell go so heavy in his hand for years - and he feared it meant death in the parish". This is like the towns-people at the start of Blair Witch; you are given the feeling that
How Does the Tell Tale Heart Fulfil Your Expectations of A Gothic Story
How Does the Tell Tale Heart Fulfil Your Expectations of A Gothic Story? From a gothic story such as the tell tale heart, by Edgar Allan Poe, I expect numerous amounts of gory deaths, intense suspense, hideous horror, plently of fear and espically paranoia. They should also contain a variety of literacy techniques including imagery, sentence structure, punctation and repititation in my essay I will be focusing on the amounts of death, horror, fear, suspense and the amount of literacy techniques used throughout the story. Edgar Allan Poe uses a lot of suspense in the Tell Tale Heart. To increase the effect the suspense he incorprates it with literacy techniques. One example of mixing literacty techniques with suspense is when Edgar Allan Poe uses imagery to descirbe the man creeping into the old mans bedroom when the old man wakes up. 'I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out --"Who's there?" I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour, I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime, I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening; --just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.' Explaining the way the man reacted by not moving a muscle while the old man sits up in bed just listening for the
Compare and contrast 'The Black Cat', 'The Cask Of Amontillado' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe.
Compare and contrast 'The Black Cat', 'The Cask Of Amontillado' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe was an American poet born in 1809 and dies in 1849 and was something of a mystery. He wrote countless stories of mystery and imagination and seems to be a very morbid writer. The first of the apparent similarities between the three short stories is that they are all written in first person narrative, indicating that the narrators are deeply involved in the stories they tell. Two of the stories ('The Black Cat' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart') have narrators whose names are unknown to us this provides a sense of mystery, however in 'The Cask Of Amontillado' we are given the narrators name which provides a sense of familiarity. In all three of the stories a murder is present and the narrators are the murderers. There is another significant difference between the 'The Black Cat' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart', and 'The Cask Of Amontillado' in the latter the murderer and narrator remains free and is not punished for his crime whereas the murderers in 'The Black Cat' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart' were caught and punished whether through there own guilt or self-confidence. A major difference between the three stories is the style of the murders; the murder in 'The Black Cat' was one of passion unplanned and very careless, the murderer in this story was not as prepared
'Compare "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W Jacobs with either "The Red Room" by H.G Wells or "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allen Poe, examining how the writer creates suspense in the stories.
'Compare "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W Jacobs with either "The Red Room" by H.G Wells or "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allen Poe, examining how the writer creates suspense in the stories. In this essay, I will be answering all the aspects of the question above, with my views and beliefs. I will then finish with a conclusion, stating who has created more suspense than the other through their stories. The monkeys paw is set in a typical horror story setting, an isolated, lonely place with no one around. The story is based around a talisman given to a family which can allegedly grant wishes. This of course has consequences, and it leaves the family who received the paw heart broken. The black cat is about a man who through various courses of action ends up killing a black cat that he cherished. The cat then comes back to haunt and distress him. Both stories are Gothic horror stories that build up suspense and tensions in different ways. The setting that is established in 'The Monkey's Paw,' is typical of the genre. A lonely house on a lonely street, no one else around. There is not a lot of civilisation around. If something were to happen, the family involved will have no where to run or anyone to call for help. In the mind of the reader, a scary place is created. We the readers, start to expect something to do with ghosts or phantoms. We know that later on, something will happen.
By comparing‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ with ‘Hop Frog’ discuss the ways in which the writersportray the central characters.
By comparing 'The Yellow Wallpaper' with 'Hop Frog' discuss the ways in which the writers portray the central characters. March 2003 Olivia Presland Center Number 19139 English Literature Coursework St. Felix School 'The Yellow Wallpaper' and 'Hop Frog' were both written at a time of social turbulence and revolution. Poe wrote Hop Frog twelve years prior to the American civil war, so it is fitting that many of the ideas in the story carry a strong anti-slavery message. Similarly, 'The Yellow Wallpaper' was written in 1892 just before the climax of equal-rights for women. Gillman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper' is one of the early feminist texts in which her writing criticises the position that women were oppressed into and the ignorance of society as a whole. Both Gillman and Poe attack fiercely these ideas that were both upheld and willingly accepted by the majority of society. These two settings immediately portray the two central characters, a woman and a slave, as two of an unheard minority, who were subjected to an unjust, patriarchal world. One of the main similarities between 'Hop Frog' and 'The Yellow Wallpaper' is the atmosphere of each of the stories. Both are horror stories are very dark, and have a horror genre, however 'Hop Frog' is also similar to a fairy tale in that it is quite unbelievable, and where Hop Frog's surroundings
Assessing the Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Poe.
The Tell-Tale Heart Bye Edgar Poe Poe does a good job of creating suspense by telling the story from first-person perspective, which lets you see through the narrator's cruel intentions in mind. He also makes the narrator talk to the reader by using "but why will you say I am mad" or "now you think I drew back - but no" thus making you more involved in the story. The narrator's irrational obsession with an innocent man who he has no quarrel with " I loved the old man" he says "he had never wronged me" yet his commitment to take the old man's life thus "riding my self of the evil eye forever" is rather insane and scarring. The narrator explains the way he carried out the murder in a quite relaxed manner sometimes he even seems to enjoy his cruelty. "I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph" and even expects you to enjoy it too! "oh you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust in!" which makes you believe he is really insane and you want to find out what he is about to do next. The narrator talks about spying on the old man every night at midnight watching over him in his sleep to see if he can see the Evil eye open so he can get rid of it, and then talk about how nicely he is to the old man during the day which is rather cold and makes you sense what he is capable of and that creates suspense on the reader. He makes every thing very slowly and carefully
Compare and Contrast "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe and "A Confession Found In A Prison In The Time Of Charles II" by Charles Dickens
Compare and Contrast "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe and "A Confession Found In A Prison In The Time Of Charles II" by Charles Dickens We have looked at two different short stories by two different authors. The first story is called 'The Tell-Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe and the second is called 'A Confession found in a prison in the time of Charles II' by Charles Dickens. I have found out that that they both have a murder theme in common. There are also other similar themes between the two poems such as early confessions. The plot in 'The Tell-Tale Heart' is about a mad man that has the motive to kill an old man because of the look of his eye. We know that the mad is mad because he says on a number of occasions that he is not 'mad'. This repetitiveness shows some evidence of a degree of madness. He also claims to 'love the old man' and says that 'he has never wronged me' but still has every intension on killing him because his eye 'resembled that of a vulture'. The idea of wanting to kill, a man because his eye is like that of a vulture's eye, is not a plausible reason. This backs-up the idea that the author is mad. The man himself does not know where this idea came from, and I know this because he says 'It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain. He also confesses early to what his intensions are for the murder which is an important point to
Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher".
Brian Jasinski English 102 Steinclick Death is defined as, "The termination or extinction of something" (American Heritage Dictionary). Edgar Allen Poe uses this description in "The Fall of the House of Usher" in different ways. Poe's intention when writing "The Fall of the House of Usher" was not to present a moral, lesson, or truth to the reader; he was simply trying to bring forth a sense of terror to the reader. Edgar Allen Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. His life was filled with tragedies that started when he was ten months old and until he died at age forty. These tragedies might be the answer to why Poe wrote in a way that confuses most of his readers. "Abandoned, misunderstood, and broke throughout his life, few would have predicted that Poe would one day achieve the fame and respect now offered him in literacy circles in America and Europe. Poe is grouped with other writers in the Romantic period. Writers of this period focused on life, emotions, and the existence of the human race. Although Poe's work has many characteristics of Romanticism, "The Fall of the House of Usher", falls into the Gothic category. Bringing forth the symbolism of death is a major part of this writing. All of the characters in "The Fall of the House of Usher" are linked to death; by physical objects or by other people. There are no symbols of good. The physical
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe was evil genius for his time and a great literary forerunner of today. He created the mind set for current writers such as Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Robin Cook by creating the horror story. Poe invites the reader to enter the mind of the narrator by using our senses as a way to provoke terror, suspense, and awe. His writing was influenced by many tragic losses in his life, and this would explain why Poe was a writer of such morbid short stories and poems. Poe's experiences in life definitely influenced the remarkable literary work he produced. In his early life he had to deal with the death of both his parents, a difficult experience, but Poe accepted it as time went on. Later on in his life Poe's stepfather disowned him. Young Edgar's life was changed due to abandonment, alcoholism, and depression. In 1832 Poe moved in with his aunt and his 11 year old cousin in Baltimore. Poe then married his younger cousin in 1836. However, Poe did not know that he would suffer yet another terrible loss, the loss of his love, his wife. Poe's ability to write literature was the window for him to express his feelings. All of Poe's tragic losses affected the way he wrote. Poe used his life experiences to make his writing a lot more interesting. Poe's writing is remarkably interesting. The poem "The Raven" showed how Poe erected a crazed state of mind,
The Creative Destroyer: An analysis of Poe's The Oval Portrait.
The Creative Destroyer: An analysis of Poe's The Oval Portrait By Tolulope Gidado for Karin Littau The "Oval Portrait" by Edgar Allan Poe belies its short length by operating on so many different levels of meaning and understanding. It is a story that consciously seeks to ambush the reader's expectations. The tale is narrated by a weary, injured man who arrives one night in a castle in the Apennines. He occupies his evening by poring over a catalogue describing the paintings in the room he is occupying. By adjusting his bedside candle, his attention is caught by a startlingly life-like portrait of a young lady that is hanging in the corner of the room. He enters into a slumber, awakes, and is intrigued to find out more about this portrait. He reads in the catalogue that the lady's husband was the painter who was so obsessed with painting his wife that he failed to notice her increasingly poor condition. The story ends with the artist proclaiming that his masterpiece is 'indeed life itself' only to turn to his wife and realise that she is dead as a result of his neglect. One of the first noticeable things about "The Oval Portrait" is Poe's writing style. He weaves his tale in a verbose, repetitive manner, which initially takes some getting used to. Once this hurdle has been overcome, one cannot help but be drawn by Poe's compelling power of description. He manages to