Analysis of Edgar Allan Poes Writing Style Essay - 776 Words

A virtuoso of suspense and horror, Edgar Allan Poe is known for his Gothic writing style. His style is created through his use of punctuation, sentence structure, word choice, tone, and figurative language. Punctuation-wise; dashes, exclamation marks, semicolons, and commas are a favorite of Poe. His sentences vary greatly; their structures are influenced by punctuation. Much of his word choice set the tone of his works. Figurative language colors his writings with description. Such is observed in the similarities between two of his most well-known short stories, â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† To begin with, Poe valued punctuation in its ability to make a point. Proper use of punctuation allowed the reader to feel the†¦show more content†¦Just as the choppiness caused by punctuation build suspense, so does short sentences. In â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado†, the climax builds in â€Å"Then I heard the furious rattling of the chain. The noise lasted for several minutes† as Fortunato’s drunkenness begins to wear off. Readers wonder whether or not Montresor’s revenge would be successful. Poe utilizes punctuation and sentence structure to make an impression. In addition, one of the greatest distinctions in Poe’s technique is his choice of â€Å"dark† words, which add to the genre of his stories. In both â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† and â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado†, these words portray madness, death, fury, and murder to create fear. For example, when the narrator explains how the old man’s efforts to imagine his fears causeless to be in vain, he says, â€Å"All in vain; because Death, in approaching him, had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped the victim. And it was the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel—although he neither saw nor heard—to feel the presence of my head within the room† The usage of such disturbing words like â€Å"vain†, â€Å"Death†, â€Å"stalked†, â€Å"mournful†,Show MoreRelatedThe Tortured Poet : Edgar Allan Poe1312 Words   |  6 PagesThe Tortured Poet: Edgar Allan Poe â€Å"Beauty is the sole legitimate province of the poem† Poe, Edgar Allan. The Philosophy of Composition. 1846. The name Poe often brings to mind tales of horror and mystery, but this Poe was also a writer of sophisticated poems, capable of extreme poetic beauty within a dark genre of writing. Poe never lived the happiest of lives, but his writing is extraordinary, both for its execution, and for the sheer elegance of the words which he found to write upon the pageRead MoreAnalysis of Edgar A. Poe Through the Tell-Tale Heart Essay example1290 Words   |  6 PagesPsychological Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe In every culture, in every nation around the world, there are those names which echo in the minds of the people. These names are bred into every individual from childhood as masters of their crafts, whether such a craft is in the arts, athletics, or academics. One such name in American history that must be agreed upon as one of the masters and shapers of American literature is a Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. This man brought to the American literary style a darknessRead MoreEdgar Allan Poe s Writing Style1303 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Beauty is the sole legitimate province of the poem† Poe, Edgar Allan. The Philosophy of Composition. 1846. The name Poe often brings to mind tales of horror and mystery, but this Poe was also a writer of sophisticated poems, capable of extreme poetic beauty within a dark genre of writing. Poe never lived the happiest of lives, but his writing is extraordinary, both for its execution, and for the sheer elegance of the words which he found to write upon t he page. Death is among one of the recurringRead MoreWhy Should We Care?1748 Words   |  7 PagesWhy Should We Care?: Edgar Allan Poe â€Å"Few creatures of the night have captured [reader’s] imagination[s] like [Edgar Allan Poe]† (â€Å"Vampires†). Poe has fascinated the literary world since he first became known for writing in 1829, when he was just twenty years old (Chronology†). While he is widely known for exploring the macabre, his work is controversial because of its psychologically disturbing nature. Edgar Allan Poe is worth examining as an author because his many contributions to the literaryRead More A Critical Essay on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher (1839)1221 Words   |  5 Pagesconsider and analyse this statement and investigate the style, language and form of the American author Edgar Allan Poe’s (1809-1849) macabre and Gothic fictional prose The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) (Poe. 1987: 1). I shall present and argue how the artistic effects deployed in the narrative structure create an atmosphere of tension and suspense, through the ex ploration of architectural space demonstrated in a close reading and analysis from key passages of the text. The Fall of the HouseRead MoreThe Analysis Of Montresor’S Madness. One Of1065 Words   |  5 PagesThe Analysis of Montresor’s Madness   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most critically-acclaimed short stories, â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado,† is well-known  ­for covering one of the you used one of the twice in one sentence most intriguing topics: retaliation.   The author, Edgar Allan Poe, lived an interesting life full of alcoholism and drug-addiction, but still managed to write many unforgettable pieces.   like what? In this short story, Edgar Allan Poe focuses on Montresor and his determination to exact revengeRead MoreCommon Themes of Edgar Allan Poe3152 Words   |  13 PagesAn Analysis of the Common Themes Found in selected works of Edgar Allan Poe A Research Presented to The faculty of the English Department In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in English IV By March 2010 Acknowledgement The researcher would like to thank the following people who help and give guidance to make this project To the Project adviser and the home room adviser of the researchers, who gave his outmost patience and time to check the drafts and format of eachRead MoreCommon Themes of Edgar Allan Poe3166 Words   |  13 PagesAn Analysis of the Common Themes Found in selected works of Edgar Allan Poe A Research Presented to The faculty of the English Department In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in English IV By March 2010 Acknowledgement The researcher would like to thank the following people who help and give guidance to make this project To the Project adviser and the home room adviser of the researchers, who gave his outmost patience and time to check the drafts and format of each part of this veryRead MoreThe Final Days of Edgar Allan Poe by Roger Francis 1732 Words   |  7 PagesEdgar Allan Poe is regarded as one of the most influential American writers of the nineteenth-century. Poe’s short stories posses the recurring themes of death, murder and his narrators often show signs of mental instability, like the old man in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† and Montressor in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado†. Since tragedy was prominent throughout Poe’s life, his work reflects the darkness ingrained by continuously being faced with adversity. Poe’s mental stability also comes into question whenRead MoreInfluence Of A Life By Richard Connell And Edgar Allan Poe1600 Words   |  7 PagesThe Influence of a Life Richard Connell and Edgar Allan Poe, two of the most famous authors at the time, are recognize by the different types of literature they wrote. Several of these pieces are still popular today. In many cases the life of the author can impact the different themes, or the techniques they use in their stories. Richard Connell’s and Edgar Allan Poe’s backgrounds reflects in the writing techniques they used to captivate their audience. Biography of Richard Connell The famous writer