Mitch Allan

“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe is one of Poe’s greatest literary works that embodies his signature themes of death, violence, and darkness. Poe’s main character begins his narration of his horrible wrongdoings regarding them as a “series of mere household events” (Poe 705). However, this is where Poe’s satire and irony begins and the story progresses to show the deranged mindset of this character as he tries to justify his actions. As the main character proceeds

Varying Attitudes Toward Death in the Masque of the Red Death       "Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying." Edgar Allen Poe provides us symbolically with the reaction of man to the pursuance of death that Jean Cocteau described before, in his gothic short story, "The Masque of the Red Death." Prince Prospero symbolizes the optimist who seeks to avoid death. The Masqueraders represent the pessimist-the carefree who seek to forget

Edgar Allan Poe; A Man of Secrecy      Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 as Edgar Poe. He was the second son to Elizabeth Arnold Poe and David Poe. Both parents were actors, and shortly after Poe’s birth, his father deserted his family around 1810. Edgar became an orphan before the age of three years, when his mother died on December 8, 1811 in Richmond, Virginia at the age of twenty-four years. His father died at the age of twenty-seven years old. After his mother’s

The Black Cat       The Black Cat, by Edgar Allen Poe, is a story about a man whose love for animals is overcome by an extreme hatred toward the creatures. What goes around comes around is a saying that would most effectively convey the message of this story because Poe implies that people will inevitably suffer the consequences of their actions. Through the careful construction of plot, the ongoing use of irony, and the rapid development of character, Poe captures the reader’s

In The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl by Ray Bradbury and The Tell Tale Hear by Edgar Allen Poe, both authors have to convince the reader that the main characters is mad. How do they do that? Which portrayal is more effective? Why? 1.The two stories that are going to be compared and contrasted are 'The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl' by Ray Bradbury and 'The Tell Tale Heart' by Edgar Allen Poe. Both stories are about murder and how the murderers react after the killings. In the story 'The

Gothic Horror in Susan Hill's The Woman in Black and H.G. Wells' The Red Room As with all things, the gothic horror genre of literature did not begin at one definable point, but evolved gradually. Gothic horror evolved out of gothic fiction (as opposed to classical fiction, for example the novels of Jane Austen), before establishing itself as a genre in its own right. However, many literary scholars and critics would point to "The Castle of Otranto", written by Horace Walpole and first

Edgar Allan Poe is a famously credited author known for his short stories in areas from mystery to horror. He lived during the 1800s. In the year 1843, Poe wrote two stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart” in January and “The Black Cat” in August. The first story is about a man who tries to convince the reader of his sanity by describing the murder he committed of an old man. The second story is about a man who accounts on his transformation into a murder. Some believe that the two stories were based off

I know you've thought about killing someone, but you're too worried about the consequences. In the short story "Cask of Amontillado" The protagonist, Montresor feels hatred toward this man Fortunato and is determined to get revenge with impunity. In "Lamb to the slaughter" a wife unsure of her feelings murders her husband. The stories are similar because the authors both create a effect of suspense while they use different types of irony and conflicts. Poe and Dahl both create the effect of

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe In ?The Cask of Amontillado?, Edgar Allan Poe takes us on a trip into the mind of a mad man. Poe uses certain elements to convey an emotional impact. He utilizes irony, descriptive detail of setting, and dark character traits to create the search of sinful deceit. Poe also uses first person, where the narrator is the protagonist who is deeply involved. The purpose is to get the reader to no longer be the observer. He wants them to see with Montressor

Psychoanalytical Approach to E. A. Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” The purpose of psychoanalytic criticism is to offer the reader a better understanding of a literary piece by the analysis and interpretation of certain aspects through psychoanalytical theory. The aim, as is the case with all critical approaches, is to go beyond the surface structure and into the deep structure of a text, this time through the study of the psyche and by looking for patterns which are significant and convey