Poe Literary Devices

Have you ever read or heard a story that made your heart hammer, your knees grow weak, and leave you jumping at shadows? Well, Edgar Allan Poe, a mystery and horror story writer, has written some of the most descriptive and eerie murder stories that can leave you quaking. One of his most sinister works is the “Tell-Tale Heart”. Edgar Allan Poe uses time, repetition, noises, setting, and imagery to effectively create a spooky and disturbing atmosphere in his works. These aspects creates the realistically scary feeling...but how does he apply all that in his writing?

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.

At the end of the first paragraph Poe uses foreshadowing when he writes “And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour” (1). I see this as foreshadowing the event that ends the party and the lives of all those present. The entire thousand assembled die when the Red Death came. The “last chime had utterly sunk” (3) also foreshadows the end where each individual “died in the despairing posture of his fall” (4). Combining both these instances together shows that the whole situation or incident, from the “presence of a masked figure” (3) to “one by one dropped” (4), ended before the clock chimed the next passing hour. The “seventh apartment” (1) also foreshadow the presence of the Red Death. The entire apartment was “shrouded in black velvet tapestries” and the window “panes here

In the story, Poe uses symbolism to show that the eye is the reason to kill him. On page one, paragraph two it says “One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture… Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold.” This shows that the narrator was getting tired of the old man’s eye and that it was his time to go. This is important because that is the start of what the story’s going to be about. To add on, page 2, paragraph 3 says, “I undid it just so much that a single ray fell upon the vulture eye… for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye.” This shows

about conveying these feelings to his readers and why it is so effective. Poe uses an

Both Poe and Hawthorne used symbolism to tell their stories. In The Tell-Tale Heart, Poe uses a number of symbols such as the old man’s eye and heart. The narrator compares the old man’s eye to the eye of a vulture. It seems dull with something like a film over it, obscuring clear vision, but at the same time it has power over the narrator. He states that the old man’s eye “the eye of a vulture….whenever

Poe's economic style of writing is a key instrument in making this story amazing. In this story, he uses his style to truly bring out what he intended for the story - a study of paranoia. In example, "I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture -- a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever. " it is easy to see that Poe used short sentences, to capture the rapid thoughts of a twisted mind.

Many authors often use symbolism to express a deeper meaning. They use the symbols to connect an unrelated thought or feeling into their literary work they are writing. Edgar Allan Poe frequently uses this literary device in his works. Symbols are many times seen in his poems and in his short stories. Many symbols are evident in Poe’s works “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Black Cat.” Because Poe’s works are typically dark, his use of symbols is in a dark way. Although there are many types of symbols manifested in these stories, Poe’s works generally include a symbol that eludes death or the end of something and many include references of sight and vision.

One literary device Poe uses to shape his writing style is imagery. An example of imagery is in the poem “Alone,” he writes, “From the torrent of the fountain-/From the red cliff of the mountain-/” (13-14). This demonstrates his ability to describe something and make something that most people would see as peaceful or regular to seem

Edgar Allen Poe was the author of several daunting works of literature. Two examples of Edgar Allen Poe's literature are "The Tell Tale Heart" and "The Raven." If we compare these two works, one a short story and the other a poem, we will see that Poe shows great mastery of symbolism, as well as other forms of literary technique. In these two stories, many people would say that Poe uses the tales to reflect the way he perceives life in general. Poe makes obvious use of symbolism, metaphors and imagery within these two works of literature.

Poe Style Analysis Essay “The Raven”, “The Cast of the Amontillado”, “The Tell-Tale Heart” these are all amazing pieces that Edgar Allan Poe made. All these stories have something in common, something so bland that it is unique to Edgar Allan Poe. In his stories Poe uses three techniques that let you know you are reading something made by Poe, mood, imagery, and point of view all of these combined make the reader feel anxiety and sorrow. One that I believe he works the best is imagery. Imagery, such a simple concept that many people get wrong, but not Poe he does this excellent. Poe uses imagery to the max he makes the readers see what is happening, like if the book was a movie. Imagery plays a big part in “The Tale-Tell Heart”; you can clearly

Poe uses irony to show how isolating yourself from evil isn’t going to keep you from death; death is unavoidable. Symbolism is used to show that if you fear something, you can create and uncontrollable obsession leading you to make regretful mistakes. He uses imagery to show the darkness and evil of the pit and the pendulum and how fear saved him. Fear can keep you careful and cautious, helping you to survive. On the other hand, fear can keep you from enjoying the life you have.

Poe uses the supernatural to create a fear and set a mood in his stories. They are dark and always seem to have a surprise lurking around each turn. He reinforces the fear of an overpowering doom that cannot be escaped. In the story, The Telltale Heart, the imagery of a heart beating beneath the floorboards is riveting. You feel that the heart is really beating; it's not just the imagination of a madman. The narration is done totally in the first person and never gives the sex of the person. The narrator is described as the caretaker of an old man. This technique allows the reader to identify with the narrator/murderer and assume the caretaker is the same sex as the reader. When women read the Telltale Heart most feel the narrator is a woman, as most caretakers are women. When a man reads this story he believes that the narrator is a man, for most murderers are men. Poe puts good against evil through sharp contradictions in the story. The old man's deformed eye represents evil, yet the narrator describes him as never wronging her or insulting her. The narrator insists she is not crazy, but then commits

it the most of the plot in the story. The title of the story gives the reader the symbol from the beginning, as the heart. Although he uses the heart as a symbol, Poe also uses other symbolic representations too. From the beginning of the story, the narrator tries to describe his reasoning in killing the old man. ?It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was

Edgar Allan Poe uses a great deal of symbolism in his story. He often uses symbolism to illustrate his views of nature. One example of Poe using symbolism in this short story is when he talks about how every time he see’s the black cat, he feels angry and paranoid. A black cat naturally symbolizes evil and for Poe to say that when he see’s a black cat, he feels anger, this gives the reader an ideal that the black cat in Poe’s short story, also symbolizes evil. Poe uses symbolism to impact the overall tone of the story by using symbolism and imagery throughout his story.