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The Tell Tale Heart Suspense

Decent Essays

Have you ever read “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe? It is a short story about a man whose mental state deteriorates over time. The narrator loves the old man, however he has a deep hatred toward the old man’s vulture-like eye. This essay will be explaining the ways Poe keeps his readers in suspense. Edgar Allan Poe uses time, repetition, and descriptive language to set the pace, tone, and mood. The first way Edgar Allan Poe keeps the reader in suspense by the conception of time. Poe makes time move two different way: slow and fast in certain parts of the story. A sluggish part in the story is demonstrated in this quotation: “I undid the lantern cautiously – oh so cautiously.” A demonstration of the time being accelerated follows: “It grew quicker and quicker, louder and louder every instant.” These examples cause the reader to read carefully. When the pace picks up the reader reads faster as if they are hearing the man talk. This is how Poe distinguished time. …show more content…

Edgar repeats the word stealthily in the following sentence: “So I opened it – you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily – until at length, a single dim ray, like the thread of a spider, shot from out the crevice and fell upon the vulture eye.” This repetition proves to the reader who the man’s mental state is deteriorating. In the next sentence, the word very is repeated. “I moved it slowly – very, very slowly so that I might not disturb the old man’s sleep.” This example of repetition shows the reader how careful the narrator was while moving the lantern. These are a few ways Edgar Allan Poe used repetition to create

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