Language Edgar Allan Poe uses to Create Atmosphere and Suspense

Show how Edgar Allan Poe uses language to create atmosphere and

describe the state of mind of the murderer.

Consider how the modern reader might respond to this story.

In this essay I will discuss the which language techniques Poe uses to

create atmosphere and suspence. I will also show how he allows us to

get into the mind of the murder and how he conveys his state of mind.

‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ is the story of a man who decides to murder the

old man he is living with. There is no apparent reason for this other

than the old man’s eye which ‘resembled that of a vulture’. In the end

he is driven mad by guilt and confesses to the murder.

I think that this story was perfect for the time in Europe due to the

19th century fascination with the mind of ‘madmen’. However, in

America, Poes stories were rejected for their sordidity and gore.

Despite this they became very popular in Europe along with the Gothic

and Romantic movements in art and literature.

The story starts with a very abrupt attention grabbing opening. The

word ‘TRUE’ not only starts the story with a burst of tension, it also

makes the reader want to read on further to try and find out what is

true. Poe also uses short, intense sentences to increase suspence and

atmosphere. He uses this technique throughout the story whenever he

needs to renew the tension.Straight away the murderer begins to argue

his sanity. This suggests to the reader that he may have done

something for others to think him mad, this again makes the reader

want to read on to find out what he has done.

Poe tells the story in the first person, in my mind this is exactly

the right choice as it allows us into the head of the murderer. It

also increases tension as Poe cannot...

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describes how the murderer hides his deed

Another technique Poe uses is to adress the reader whenever the

tension drops, I beleive that this is a clever way of increasing

tension as it makes the reader want to continue to try and discover

wht the murderer is talking about.

Towards the end of the story Poe uses alot of punctuation, this is

unlike the rest of the story so it helps to increase tension and

atmosphere. The punctuation helps to give the story more rythym

towards the end of the story.

Poe uses many language techniques to great effect in ‘The Tell-Tale

Heart’. He uses most of the techniques to increase tension and

suspence, however at one point he uses many of the same techniques to

slow down the pace and level the tension. I beleive that he uses all

his language techniques at the right moments in the story to give the

desired effect.