Literary Techniques Used in Edgar Allen Poe's Work

Symbolism plays an important part in this story. The ebony clock is particularly significant “there stood against the Western wall, a gigantic clock of ebony.” Poe placed the clock against the western wall for a symbolic purpose. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. The clock is nearer to the setting sun. The placement of the clock indicates an association with an ending. A sunset indicates the ending of a day, while the ebony color of the clock suggests its relationship with darkness and death. The characters react to the sounding of the clock’s chimes in a nervous fashion. “…While the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale.” Poe uses this clock to remind the characters that they have lived through another hour to build up the time of revelation. At each strike of the clock the characters stop everything as if they are waiting for the "Red Death" to come for them at any minute. At twelve, the stranger dressed as the "Red Death" appears. This time everyone begins to fear death. The darkness of the rooms causes shadows to form by the fires' light to increase suspense.

The nineteenth century poet Edgar Allen Poe makes use of several literary devices in order to create a gloomy atmosphere in his poem “The Raven”. Alliteration, rhyme, onomatopoeia, assonance, and repetition are used to contribute to the melodic nature of the work and provide an almost “visual” representation of his gothic setting. Poe is a master of using these writing techniques. “The Raven” is one of his most popular works. This is certainly due, in part to his use of these literary devices in this piece.

Usually, fairy tales are in connection to big and illustrious happy endings. But in Edgar Allan Poe’s case, it is evident that they do not exist, for his stories more often than not bear a grotesque demeanor. His life was surrounded by death. All of the women in his life died young, including his mother, sister, and wife. By the age of three, he had experienced what most would not experience until nearly the middle or end of their lives. Living in such an atmosphere allowed Poe to reach deep into his emotions when writing. Edgar Allan Poe was known for his macabre metaphors. These metaphors challenged the reader to endeavor themselves into his simple words; coming to find the gothic elements portrayed. He most commonly portrayed love and death in his poems. Poe is even credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. Edgar Allan Poe utilizes symbolism and portrays an envious love tale, ending in tragedy to expose the speaker’s emotional state in the poem “Annabel Lee.”

Whenever the clocked chimed, the guests were filled with fear that they could be next, and everything that is happening at that moment is temporary… such as their short-lived happiness and life span. No matter how much they try to ignore and escape what’s happening outside the walls of Prince Prospero’s home, it still ends up getting them in the end. Much like Tuberculosis, where there was no cure and death was inevitable. He showcases all the different stages of living to dying while, Prince Prospero and the Red Death, go through the stages of acceptance backwards leading to the manifestation of Poe’s inner demons.

It is said by Poe in the story, “And the rumor of this new presence leaving spread itself whisperingly around, there arose at length from the whole company a buzz, or murmur, expressive of disapprobation and surprise-then finally of terror, of horror, and of disgust.”(459) This means that figuratively, the presence was not a person, but in fact death itself, making everyone horrified and panicked. Not to mention, Poe says “And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall.”(461) The intention of this specific part of the story is to inform the impact death can have and how it’s inevitable. By all means that even if quarantine and isolation seems like a solution or an escape, death is able to overcome any obstacle, as seen in the

In the story “The Masque of the Red Death”, Poe expresses the theme that death is inescapable or inevitable. He expresses this theme through rhetorical devices such as symbolism and allegory. For example, Prince Prospero’s chambers were allegorical because of the rooms’ arrangement which was from east to west. The east represents the beginning of life, while the west represents the end of life. The Darkroom, which was at the end of the hall, symbolized death. It was the room that the guests didn’t want to go in and eventually was the place that they were killed by the Black Death. Another example of symbolism is the clock which as a symbol of the time-lapse of life as a human being. It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the western wall a gigantic clock of ebony...and when the minute-hand made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and emphasis that, at each lapse of an hour the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily (Poe 374). This sentence expresses how compelling the clock is and how it attracts the attention of the masqueraders. The author also uses imagery to build suspense upon the reader. An example would be how the author describes the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in blood-and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror (Poe 378). This describes the dreadful

Edgar Allan Poe, born in 1809, is a critic, mystery and short story writer, but most importantly a poet. Edgar’s troubled life greatly influenced his works. As a young boy, Edgar loved to compose poems for his loved ones. But as he grew older, Edgar started to experience pains and tragedies in life, causing him to abuse on opium and alcohol. These were scenes behind the years of Edgar’s dark writings.

The nineteenth century poet Edgar Allen Poe makes use of several literary devices in order to create a gloomy atmosphere in his poem “The Raven”. Alliteration, rhyme, onomatopoeia, assonance, and repetition are used to contribute to the melodic nature of the work and provide an almost “visual” representation of his gothic setting. Poe is a master of using these writing techniques. “The Raven” is one of his most popular works. This is certainly due, in part to his use of these literary devices in this piece.

Many people enjoy the detective and crime shows, but what they may not realize is that Edgar Allan Poe was the one to pioneer this genre. For the short stories, poems, and a few books he wrote, Edgar Allan Poe is a recognized American writer. He lived in the era of westward expansion, slavery laws beginning to become an issue, and most influential to Poe, Tuberculosis(TB) was a major issue. There was not yet a cure for people with TB, in fact, there wouldn’t be a known cure for another 100 years after his life. He lost many people during his life; his father left before Poe was 3 years old, his mother died from TB when Poe was three. He moved into a foster home, but stories tell that his foster father did not like him so he struggled to find the support he needed both as a child and as a broke college student. Although many myths state that Poe was a drunkard and incapable of love, he was married. His outsiderness in his foster home likely influenced his writing, as well as his irregularity and uniqueness, and his horrid memories of how TB had taken some of his closes family. Poe’s unique literary techniques enhance his macabre writing style.

is made through his use of punctuation, word choice, figurative language, tone, and sentence structure.

This story takes place at a time when a plague has struck the land. Many people think that the Red Death that Poe is writing about could have came from a real life plague called the Black Death, also known as the Bubonic Plague. That plague wiped out almost a quarter of Europe's population in the middle ages. Poe, through his stories, tries to touch the emotion which humans consciously suppress. This is why Poe personifies death in his story. People more easily relate to death when it takes the form of a person that we can see and touch instead of something inanimate that appears without warning.

A virtuoso of suspense and horror, Edgar Allan Poe is known for his Gothic writing style. His style is created through his use of punctuation, sentence structure, word choice, tone, and figurative language. Punctuation-wise; dashes, exclamation marks, semicolons, and commas are a favorite of Poe. His sentences vary greatly; their structures are influenced by punctuation. Much of his word choice set the tone of his works. Figurative language colors his writings with description. Such is observed in the similarities between two of his most well-known short stories, “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Edgar Allan Poe gives hints and clues to help the readers guess what is going to happen next that is called foreshadowing. In the “Cask of Amontillado” on page 67 a piece of writing that caught my attention was “ I vowed revenge” and “I vowed to be avenged”. When he says those two lines it lets me and the readers know that he will stop at nothing to get revenge and to be avenged. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” foreshadowing is used in many ways. On page 88 the excerpt says “ No part of the building had fallen” in the end the house had fallen.

I found this reading interesting. This reading is very complex and can be hard to understand. This story has seven rooms and they are colored in order from the beginning of life to the end of life. The color red in Poe’s short story represents the death and blood parts of the story. The seventh room was black and ebony. This room has no light and represents the darkness of death. The color ebony is for the clock that stands in the room. The colors blue, purple, green, orange, white and violet are the colors of the first six rooms. If you look at all these colors they represent a prism. The reflect progression, and lending faith to interpretation. Blue represents birth, purple is youth, adolescence is green, orange is adulthood, white is old age, and violet is imminent death. This stuck out to me just because it was interesting to read. This quote from the reading stuck out as part of the death room, “who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him—that we may know whom we have to hang at sunrise, from the battlements!”(Perkins

Edgar Allan Poe uses several writing techniques to create a single concentrated effect of unending despair in his classic poem, "The Raven." The most noticeable technique is the use of repetition. Just as repeated exposure to cold raindrops can chill one to the bone, repeated exposure to words of hopelessness and gloom creates a chilling effect. Poe saturates the reader with desperate futility by repetitive use of the words "nothing more" and "nevermore." These two phrases, used in refrain to end seventeen of the poem's eighteen stanzas, drench the reader with melancholy. Poe also uses repetition to spark the reader's curiosity. He refers to the sound of rapping or tapping eight times in the