“Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered weak and weary”: one of the most famous, well-known lines of poetry. But why are readers so drawn in by this line? And who is the man behind the creation of this piece of art? Edgar Allan Poe. Poe’s literary works have been worldly recognized for their ability to draw in the reader and invoke dark emotions within each reader. Edgar Allan Poe himself experienced many hardships throughout his life, including the deaths of his wife and mother. Poe struggled with alcoholism, depression, and drug addiction, which all added to his ability to connect with readers from any point on the spectrum of hardships. Poe’s experiences helped him and his works appeal to readers, but he also was naturally gifted with an extraordinary ability to write tantalizing short stories and poetry. Edgar Allan Poe used numerous literary techniques such as irony and other poetic effects to tap into the inner dark side of man and arouse feelings of suspense, vengeance, and melancholy.
There are many reasons why Poe’s poetry and short stories appeal to the reader. For instance, it may be that the reader can connect with Poe in the deaths of loved ones. It may be the plot of the stories. Or it may be the psychological relationship that Poe creates between the reader and his literary works. Many people rarely like to talk about their “dark side”, but Poe embraces the dark side that every person has and taps into the feelings of hate, revenge, murder, and despair (Camila). He skillfully uses negative events to create his stories. Each poem and short story acts as a suspenseful rollercoaster for the reader to enjoy.
Before going into a detailed analysis of Poe’s literary techniques, it is important to understand that bi...
... middle of paper ...
... old man’s heart, eventually leading the narrator to a break down and insanity (Hemsworth). This story was diverse and a bit controversial at the time it was written, but yet again, Poe finds just the right words to create this feeling of tension and suspense within each reader.
Edgar Allan Poe stands today as an inspiration to any American writer. Although Edgar Allan Poe had a depressing life, there are so many things that any fervent writer can learn from. His techniques are something to admire and learn from, and his skillful use of literary devices such as irony in The Cask of Amontillado, repetition in “The Raven”, and creation of suspense in The Tell-Tale Heart are all things that have helped develop the American writer into the figure that it is today. His themes such as revenge, death, and the use of the color red are examples of Poe’s genius in writing.
Poe’s frightening stories acts as helpful inspiration for entertainment in the present, and for many years to come. The timeless relevance of his work, and its merciless scrutiny of the human condition, solidifies its place in history and its position of high admiration. In conclusion, the extraordinary-fleeting-tragic life of Edgar Allan Poe will forever remain on record as the tale of an orphan, a gentleman, a soldier, and one of the most prominent literary figures in American history.
Edgar Allan Poe has a style that is dark and morbid. His tone is very gloomy and obscure. The tone of “The Cask of Amontillado” is almost tame compared to the tone of “The Black Cat”, his other work we covered. The tone of that work is almost maddening. “The Cask of Amontillado” tone is very sinister and methodic. Whereas “The Black Cat”, has a pulse to a cadence and rhythm though no clear pattern is established. Poe’s style of writing seems so personal, as a reader I had to remind myself this was fiction. His first-person style of writing is so detailed and intricate it is very easy to become invested in the world he creates. “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Black Cat” both have themes of revenge where the supposed victim is untimely
Many of Poe’s stories and poems can be tied to events that have happened in his life. A lot of the hard times that he had had gone through in his life he used as motivation to write his poems and stories. For example the story “The Masque of the Red Death” is thought of to be related to the consumption (aka tuberculosis), which took the life of many of the women he loved. In “The Tell Tale Heart” the dying old man good be seen as Poe’s adoptive father on his death bed, and how the old mans eye made the murderer uncomfortable could be an analogy for how Poe’s father made him feel uncomfortable because he knew that his father did not love him.
Edgar Allen Poe is known for his dark yet comedic approach toward the his theme of his stories. Likewise, Poe’s themes have gathered many fans due to his impression of reasoning in his stories. The author uses thinking and reasoning to portray the theme. Poe’s unique diction comprehends with the theme of the story. Poe has a brilliant way of taking gothic tales of mystery, and terror, and mixing them with variations of a romantic tale by shifting emphasis from, surface suspense and plot pattern to his symbolic play in language and various meanings of words.
Why are Edgar Allan Poe’s works so poignant and heavy when read? Poe uses a variety of literary devices to convey what he wants to the reader, but imagery is the most impactful of them all. He allows the readers to step into his stories and permits them to feel as they have been taken into the story. Poe’s portrayal of tragedies and dark stories in his works such as “The Black Cat,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” and “The Cask of Amontillado” depends mainly on his use of one artistic tool, imagery. Each of these three stories explores tragedies or either dark, twisted characters that make some inhumane decisions for some reason or another.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, literary critic, and editor. Despite of his many talents, Edgar Allan Poe is best acknowledge for his poems and short stories, primarily his tales consist of mystery and deception of death. For instance, in the story “The Masque of the Red Death”, the story involves a plague that is killing the people, in which the Prince and his closest friend want to avoid. In the story “The Cask of Amontillado” is about a perfect murder planed out for revenge, in which he succeeds. In the story “The Tell-tale heart” involves the murder of an old man, in which the killer’s heart makes him say the truth. Many of Edgar Allan Poe stories use irony, by expressing a meaning that is contrary of what is expected throughout the
Introduced by tragedies early in his life, Edgar Allan Poe became one of the most successful writers, poets, and storytellers to ever live. Edgar Allan Poe had the intelligence to do anything he wanted to do, however, the pain of losing his loved ones always seemed to drive him towards a pen and paper. His emotions never failed to show through his writings, which helped the story line touch the readers. Poe became very close to several different women but each would die shortly after he came to love them. This only pushed him to write more emotionally. Poe had a natural talent for putting his real life experiences into a fictional story and making it seem as if it were really happening.
Redfield, J. S. "The Genius of Poe." Foreword. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Ed. A.C. Armstrong & Son. New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son., 1884. xv-xxvi. EPUB file.
The life of Edgar Allan Poe, was stuffed with tragedies that all affected his art. From the very start of his writing career, he adored writing poems for the ladies in his life. When he reached adulthood and came to the realization of how harsh life could be, his writing grew to be darker and more disturbing, possibly as a result of his intense experimenting with opium and alcohol. His stories continue to be some of the most frightening stories ever composed, because of this, some have considered this to be the reason behind these themes. Many historians and literature enthusiasts have presumed his volatile love life as the source while others have credited it to his substance abuse. The influence of his one-of-a-kind writing is more than likely a combination of both theories; but the main factor is the death of many of his loved ones and the abuse which he endured. This, not surprisingly, darkened his perspective considerably.
Edgar Allan Poe’s haunting poems and morbid stories will be read by countless generations of people from many different countries, a fact which would have undoubtedly provided some source of comfort for this troubled, talented yet tormented man. His dark past continued to torture him until his own death. These torturous feelings were shown in many of his works. A tragic past, consisting of a lack of true parents and the death of his wife, made Edgar Allan Poe the famous writer he is today, but it also led to his demise and unpopularity.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American short story writer, a poet, a novelist, an essayist, an editor, and a critic. He left a big impression on American and international literature, he left behind a legacy. Many people think Poe began the genre of science fiction (Binns, 114). In his works, he has shown that he has an original imagination, as well as a brilliant command of language and techniques. While most of his works were not much-admired during his lifetime, Poe had come to be viewed as one of the most important American authors in the Gothic tradition (Streissguth, 104).
The short story is generally a study in human terror. Furthermore, the author explains Poe use of a particular style and technique, to not only create the mood of mystery, but to cause the reader to feel sympathy for the narrator. Poe makes a connection between the storyteller and reader with knowledge and literary craftsmanship.
His stories had an immense importance among authors such as Stephen King, along with helping to establish the genres of science fiction and the detective story, which got him the named father of the detective story. When writing his work “Poe was concerned above all with the “effect” of his tale on the reader. This effect, he thought, should be single and unified. When readers finished the story, they ought to be left with a totality of impression, and every element of the story--character, style, tone, plot and so forth--should contribute to this effect” (Wright). So Poe sought to give his readers emotional and aesthetic pleasure, but also to get them to believe that his stories had a reality of their own. Poe’s early career path had him harboring two aspirations, one was writing and the other the army. The army aspiration didn’t last long and Poe began to focuses solely on writing full time. Poe began working for a magazine, writing reviews of his contemporaries and developed a reputation as a cutthroat critic, but while working for the magazine he also published some of his own works in it. In later years Poe worked as an editor, a poet, a critic and would publish several poems, short stories, and collections of stories. Poe was one of the more famous Dark Romantic writers, leading his works to have Dark Romantic elements such
Edgar Allen Poe is known for his dark theme poems and short stories. When one does read one of Poe 's works the reader gets a glimpse of Poe 's reality. His uses of metaphors and dark themes have made him very popular. He writing style has Gothic themes as well as suspense and horror themes as well. His use of very dark metaphors cast a dark and gloomy presence that shows the reader the mind and world of the narrator telling the story. Edgar Allen Poe 's use of dark themes in “Black Cat” helped him convey the very dark nature of his works in which helped him shape the reality of the stories.
Edgar Allan Poe is one of America’s most celebrated classical authors, known for his unique dealings within the horror genre. Poe was a master at utilizing literary devices such as point of view and setting to enhance the mood and plot of his stories leading to his widespread appeal that remains intact to this day. His mastery of aforementioned devices is evident in two of his shorter works “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado”.