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Analysis Of Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask Of Amontillado

Decent Essays

Throughout the world of literary works, different elements differentiate one author from another. Poe, he was unique; one could recognize his work through his unique style. Edgar Allan Poe had a unique writing style and expressed this through the use of dashes, first person point of view and dialogue.

Dialogue tends to be a major element Poe uses to convey a message or feeling. His use of dialogue can be found in “The Cask of Amontillado” when he writes; "Nitre?" he asked, at length."Nitre," I replied. "How long have you had that cough?" (Poe 43-44).This use of dialogue shows that Poe uses it to add detail about how the Montresor was trying to convince Nitre that he was sick. By convincing him of this through dialogue, Poe adds …show more content…

For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it.” (Poe 2). Using first person in this story conveys the narrator’s motive for killing the old man. In this case, the narrator wanted to kill the man because of how his eye bothered the narrator. One could conclude that Poe uses first person point of view to develop motives, feelings and plot based off the provided evidence.

Poe often uses dashes to add detail, show succession and add rhythm or pauses. In the story “Silence” Poe writes; “And the heaven became livid with the violence of the tempest --and the rain beat upon the head of the man --and the floods of the river came down --and the river was tormented into foam --and the water-lilies shrieked within their beds --and the forest crumbled before the wind --and the thunder rolled, --and the lightning fell --and the rock rocked to its foundation.” (Poe 10). This use of dashes in this text shows that Poe used them to show how things quickly turned bad and into chaos. Which shows how the use of dashes in this case demonstrates that Poe uses dashes to show succession. Poe uses dashes in “The Black Cat” to add detail. “Pluto -- this was the cat's name -- was my favorite pet and playmate.” (Poe 5). He uses dashes in this context to describe more about the cat rather than just leaving the reader wondering. The purpose behind Poe’s use of dashes can be simply

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