The tragedies and struggles Poe faced
during his early life combined with the
influence of Romantic literature brought
about a style of Gothic writing that was
unique to Poe. His morbid imagery and
cadence-laced texts spoke to readers ina
way that was different from any other
American author of his time. Oct 5, 2021
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Edgar Allan Poe | Biography, Works &
Writing Style - Video & Lesson Transcript
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What techniques does Edgar Allan Poe use? oa
In "The Tell-Tale Heart," Edgar Allan Poe uses various
literary devices, such as symbolism, simile, point of
view, and imagery to create a specific effect in his
writing. Sep 9, 2022
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Literary Devices in The Tell-Tale Heart - Video &
Lesson Transcript
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What is the tone of Edgar Allan Poe's writing? va Tee Rte ee fe ee
Type of Work
§ dgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" is a short story in the horror genre
that has elements of Gothic fiction. It focuses on the consciousness of the
narrator, who is in prison awaiting execution.
Setting
..The story opens in the cell of a prisoner a day before he is to be
executed by hanging. After introducing himself to readers as a man who
went through a horrifying experience, the prisoner writes down the details
of this experience, which led to his imprisonment and execution. The
events in his tale are set at his home and ina tavern. Although these
events take place over several years, the telling of them in writing takes
place on a single day in the narrator's prison cell
Characters
Narrator: a prisoner scheduled for execution. His hatred of a cat he once
loved leads to his commission of a capital crime. ...... many of his
other short stories, Poe does not name the narrattr, A ‘posible
explanation for this is that Poe wanted the unnamed narrator to represent
every human being, thereby enhancing the universality of the short story
In other words, the narrator represents anyone who has ever acted
perversely—and then had to pay for his deed
First Black Cat: Cat named Pluto that loves the narrator but irritates him
when it follows him everywhere.
Second Black Cat: Cat that resembles the first black cat and may be a re-
embodiment of the latter—or so the narrator may think.
Narrator's Wife: Woman of good disposition who likes animals and
obtains many pets for her husband.
Policemen: Officers who investigate the happenings at the home of the
narrator.
Servant: Person working in the narrator's household.
Point of
W
..The narrator tells the story in first-person point of view. He is
obviously unbalanced even though he declares at the beginning of the
story that "mad am I not." He tells readers that too much drinking helped
to result his changeable, violent behavior. The narrator tells his story as
he sees it from his uncontrolled point of view.
Plot