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Edgar Allan Poe Suspense Analysis

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Edgar Allan Poe is known for his knowledge of how to build and use suspense, but how does he do it? Poe has done many works in his time as a poet and he has mastered suspense in writing these works. He knows when and how to use suspense. In all of his story you can find at least one sentence of suspense. Edgar Allan Poe uses craft elements like short and choppy sentences, the setting, and very descriptive language to build suspense in his works. Poe uses short and choppy sentences to build suspense. In the beginning of stanza 3 Poe uses short and choppy sentences to build suspense. When you you use short and choppy sentences it makes the reader read faster and faster and if you make those sentences descriptive but short you make suspense. …show more content…

In most of Poe’s stories the setting is set in a dark or dreary place. A dark or dreary place is usually associated with suspense, just look at some of the most famous horror films, the settings of these films are set in a dark or dreary place. The best horror films are so suspenseful that they make you imagine what no mind has ever imagined before, as said in the Raven by Poe. The black cat is set in a very wet and dark place, not only literally but figuratively as well because of the narrators dark mind. In this story the setting helps to establish the mood of suspense because it is so tragic and dark. You realize that the narrator's mind is in such a dark place that nothing is too weird or disgusting for him to do it. This adds suspense seeing you do not know what will happen next. Also in The Raven the setting is at night, which is almost always associated with creepy. The setting in the raven is at night, by himself, reading a book, and almost falling asleep. All of a sudden he is startled by a mysterious visitor knocking at his door. This is around one o’clock in the morning and a person or something is knocking at his door. You do not know what it, is so this builds suspense due to the fact that it is a mystery and makes you excited. As you can see Edgar Allan Poe uses the setting of his stories and poems to build …show more content…

Have you ever felt like you were a part of the story? If you have that was most likely due too descriptive language. Edgar Allan Poe uses descriptive language in his stories and poems to build suspense and make you feel like you are a part of the story. In the Tell Tale Heart Poe describes the story with such graphic content that you can create a “movie” in your mind. In paragraph 3 of this story, Poe uses descriptive language when he writes “ 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. And this I did for seven long nights—”. You can literally see the narrator undoing the lantern and looking at the dreaded eye. This makes for a very suspenseful story considering you can see it, hear it, and sometimes even smell it. You feel like you are in the story and do not want anything bad to happen to you. Also in the Raven Poe uses very descriptive language to give you a mental movie and to build suspense. He does this when he writes “And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain 14 Thrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; 15 So that now, to still the beating of my heart,”. When Poe writes this you can see the narrator going to answer the door and reassuring himself. This makes suspense considering you do not know what is at the

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