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In The Cask Of Amontillado, The Raven, And Annabel Lee

Decent Essays

The unity of effect is all the elements in a story that channels the effect the author wants the audience to experience. Therefore, to achieve the “unity of effect” in the Cask of Amontillado, The Raven, and Annabel Lee, Poe used the elements of setting, alliteration, and unreliable narrator to help elicit the unsettling mood in the audience.
For the sake of the “unity of effect”, Poe uses setting for the purpose of conceiving a sinister mood. As Montresor and Fortunato walked deeper into the catacombs in the Cask of Amontillado, Montresor points out the trickling of the water on the bones. “We are below the river’s bed. The drops of moisture trickle among the bones.” (Cask)The setting is under the surface of the earth, so the audience associates it with with Hell because of the bones that lie around. The bones also make the audience feel that the setting is eery and dangerous because it reminds them of death. This only makes isolation and danger prominent factors in the setting. The mood becomes unpredictable and treacherous, with a sense of fear and dread knowing that something bad will happen to the characters who are away from safety. Under those circumstances, Poe controlled the audience's fear and the diabolical mood using the dark setting.
Once again Poe uses the unity of effect to elicit this tense mood and draw out terror in the audience. In The Raven, Poe used alliteration with the intention to build a suspenseful mood and dread in the audience. The narrator of

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