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DOCUMENT

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literary analysis

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Contextual Spelling

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literary analysis
McLaughlin 7
Bailey McLaughlin
Ms. Kirschner
English II
5 October 2015
The Works of Poe and Melville
The short stories "The Black Cat" and "Berenice" by Edgar Allan Poe
and the poem "Ball's Bluff" by Herman Melville are works of dark
romanticism, a transcendental subgenre. This means that all of the
characteristics and elements of romanticism are used 1 but with a
creepy twist. These twists include dark and horrific themes and
symbols.

Passive voice

a slave is that he is hanged 4 from a tree, "One morning, in cool blood,

Overused word: great

I slipped a noose about its neck and hung it to the limb of a tree (Poe

Overused word: main

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[ Possible wordiness ]

[ Incorrect verb form with singular subject ]

hanging is used to foreshadow the narrators same fate. This story has

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many great uses of imagery through its duration. Many of these take

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"The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe is a gruesome narrative about

how a man murders his wife and his pet cat. This short story contains
a great deal of symbolism 2, with the main 3 symbols being Pluto, the
pen-knife, and the noose that hangs Pluto. First, Pluto himself could
represent either a slave or a child. The argument for him symbolizing

"BC" 10)," and that the cat is black. This would not be unreasonable
due to the fact that 5 Poe was raised in the south and was alive before
the abolishing of slavery. On the other hand, the evidence for Pluto
representing a child include 6 no children being mentioned 7
throughout the story and the cat's cry is described 8 as sounding like,
"the sobbing of a child (Poe "BC" 15)." Next, the narrator uses a penknife to blind Pluto. This, combined with the pen-knife's actual
purpose of sharpening a quill, are meant to sharpen the reader's
attention to the narrator's malicious intentions. Finally, Pluto's death by

place in climactic parts of the text such as Pluto's eye being

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stabbed 11:
I seized him; when, in his fright at my violence, he inflicted a slight
wound upon my hand with his teeth. The fury of a demon instantly
possessed me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at
once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish
malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fibre 12 of my frame. I took
from my waistcoat-pocket a pen-knife, opened it, grasped the poor
beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the
socket! (Poe "BC" 10)
and the 13 murder of the wife:
One day she accompanied me, upon some household errand, into the
cellar of the old building which our poverty compelled us to inhabit.
The cat followed me down the steep stairs, and, nearly throwing me
headlong, exasperated me to madness. Uplifting an axe 14, and
forgetting, in my wrath, the childish dread which had hitherto stayed
my hand, I aimed a blow at the animal which, of course, would have
proved instantly fatal had it descended as I wished. But this 15 blow
was arrested by the hand of my wife. Goaded, by the interference, into
a rage more than demoniacal, I withdrew my arm from her grasp and
buried the axe 16 in her brain. She fell dead upon the spot, without a
groan. (Poe "BC" 13)
These along with many other examples help describe the intensity of
different moments and actions. Surprisingly, The Black Cat contains
very little 17 figurative language. The one type of figurative language
that is used somewhat frequently throughout the story is irony. An
example of this is, "From my infancy I was noted 18 for the docility and
humanity of my disposition (Poe "BC" 9)." this is ironic because the
narrator goes on to become a murderer. The tone throughout the story
is very abashed and ashamed. This is because while he is recounting
his horrid actions and just how bad they are. This is shown 19 in the
quote, "I knew myself no longer (Poe "BC" 10)." Here, the narrator is
explaining the scene where he stabs Pluto in the eye and how he has
transformed into someone very different from who 20 he used to be.
There are three main themes in The Black Cat, violence, alcohol, and
transformation. Violence is quite apparent in the story through its

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various 21 deaths. With the introduction of this bloodshed, the narrator

manages to destroy himself and his family. Examples of these terrible
acts include Pluto's eye being stabbed 22, "I took from my waistcoat
pocket a pen-knife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat,
and deliberately cut one of its eyes from its socket (Poe "BC" 10)"
Pluto's hanging, "One morning, in cold blood, I slipped a noose about
its neck and hung it from the limb of a tree (Poe "BC" 10)" and the
wife's murder, "Goated, by the interference, into a rage more than
demonical, I withdrew my arm from her grasp, and buried the axe in
her brain (Poe "BC" 13)." 23 Alcohol is used 26 as being one of the
roots to 27 the narrator's dark behavior. Throughout the story 28 he
grows to abuse the substance. This is shown often 29, 30 when he gets
home such as, "One night, returning home, much intoxicated, from
one of my haunts about town (Poe "BC" 10)" Finally, transformation,
a part of both the other main themes, is shown a great deal in 31 the
story. Through the use of alcohol, the narrator becomes a completely
different person 32. The quote, "I grew, day by day, more moody, more
irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others (annotation)," shows
this.
"Berenice" by Edgar Allan Poe is tail about the narrator, Egaeus,
slowly losing his mind. He develops an obsession for 33 his dying wife
and cousin, Berenice's, teeth. Eventually, Egaeus takes the teeth,
seriously 34 maiming her. This story has one main 35 example of
symbolism, Berenice's teeth. These teeth symbolize both the last bid
of life left in Berenice and the loss of Egaeus's sanity. While the rest of
her body withers from her illness, her teeth stay vibrant and healthy.
"Not a speck on their surface --not a shade on their enamel --not an
indenture in their edges (Poe "Be" 6)" The perfect health of the teeth
is what brought on Egaeus's obsession. "For these (the teeth) I longed
with a phrenzied desire. All other matters and all different interests
became absorbed in their single contemplation. They --they alone
were present to the mental eye, and they, in their sole individuality,
became the essence of my mental 38 life (Poe "Be" 6)." Throughout the
story are many examples of imagery. On many occasions, it is
Berenice and her teeth being described 39. An example of this is:

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The forehead was high, and very pale, and singularly placid; and the
once jetty hair fell partially over it, and overshadowed the hollow
temples with innumerable ringlets now of a vivid yellow, and Jarring
discordantly, in their fantastic character, with the reigning melancholy
of the countenance. The eyes were lifeless, and lustreless, and
seemingly pupil-less, and I shrank involuntarily from their glassy stare
to the contemplation of the thin and shrunken lips. They parted; and in
a smile of peculiar meaning, the teeth of the changed Berenice
disclosed themselves slowly to my view. Would to God that I had
never beheld them, or that, having done so, I had died! (Poe "Be" 6)
Not a great deal of figurative language is used 40 throughout
"Berenice." Although, there are some uses of metaphors and similes
comparing and contrasting misery and rainbows:
MISERY 41 is manifold. The wretchedness of earth is multiform.
Overreaching the wide horizon as the rainbow 42, its hues are as
various as the hues of that arch, --as distinct too, yet as intimately
blended. Overreaching the wide horizon as the rainbow! 43 How is it
that from beauty 44 I have derived a type of unloveliness? --from the
covenant of peace a simile of sorrow? But as, 45 in ethics, evil is a
consequence of good 46, so, in fact, out of joy is sorrow born. Either the
memory of past bliss is the anguish of to-day, or the agonies which are
have their origin in the ecstasies which might have been. (Poe "Be" 3)
This story has a very eerie tone that carries through the entirety of it.
This is due to how strange Egaeus's obsession for Berenice's teeth is.
Lastly, the main themes in "Berenice" are horror and obsession.
Horror 37 is shown 49 many times in the story 50 especially towards the
end. Although the scene isn't 52 shown 51, Egaeus unburied the buried
alive Berenice, removes all of her teeth, and places them in his library.
The theme of obsession is shown 53, 54 through Egaeus's
aforementioned tooth 55 lust.
"Ball's Bluff" by Herman Melville is a poem about the Civil War battle
of Balls Bluff where the Union suffered a humiliating defeat. In this
poem the, "Young soldiers marching lustily/Unto the wars (Melville
"BB" 1)," symbolize the Union army. In "Ball's Bluff", while the soldiers
are leaving town, Melville uses imagery to describe the situation. This

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is shown 56 in the quote, "Young soldiers marching lustily/Unto the

wars,/With fifes, and flags in mottoed pageantry;/While all the
porches, 61 walks, and doors/Were rich 60 with ladies cheering royally
(Melville "BB" 1)." Transitioning to figurative language 10, some similes
are used to describe the movements and spirits of the soldiers. The
quote, "They moved like Juny 48 morning on the wave,/Their hearts
were fresh as clover in its prime (Melville "BB" 1)," shows this. This
poem has a sad and depressing tone throughout. This is because of
the narrator's pity for the soldiers and their fate. The main 62 theme in
the poem is war. The poem 58 describes the woes of battle in just a
few short lines, "On those 'brave boys (Ah War! thy theft);/Some
marching feet/Found pause at last by cliffs Potomac cleft;/Wakeful I
mused, while in the street/Far footfalls died away till none were left
(Melville "BB" 2) 25
These well-known works of dark romanticism give many unique
messages through the use of creepy or depressing stories. These
stories and the many others like them help create the famous dark
romanticism genre.

Citations

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[ Misspelled word: pen-knife's ]

Dangling modifier
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[ Inconsistent spelling ]

2015. <http://poestories.com/read/blackcat>.

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[ Conjunction at beginning of sentence ]

Poe, Edgar Allan. "Berenice." poestories.com. Design215, n.d. Web.

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[ Inconsistent spelling ]

11 Oct. 2015.

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[ Conjunction at beginning of sentence ]

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[ Inconsistent spelling ]

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Weak adjective: little

2015. <http://americanliterature.com/author/herman-melville/poem/

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balls-bluff>.

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Possibly confused word: demonical

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[ Missing comma after introductory phrase ]

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[ Incorrect adverb placement ]

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Squinting modifier

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Overused word: completely

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Overused word: seriously

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Overused word: main

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Possibly confused word: bid

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Repetitive word: horror

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Repetitive word: mental

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Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Black Cat." poestories.com. Design215, n.d.

Web. 11 Oct.

<http://poestories.com/read/berenice>.
Melville, Herman. "Ball's 63 Bluff." American Literature. N.p., n.d. Web.
11 Oct.

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Repetitive word: misery

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[ Conjunction at beginning of sentence ]

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Overused word: good

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Repetitive word: obsession

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[ Misspelled word: Juny ]

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[ Missing comma(s) with interrupter ]

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[ Contraction in formal writing ]

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Repetitive word: shown

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Possibly confused word: fifes

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Repetitive word: poem

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Possibly confused word: mottoed

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Overused word: rich

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[ Improper comma between subject and verb ]

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Overused word: main

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[ Contraction in formal writing ]