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Diction In The Cask Of Amontillado

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In The Cask Of Amontillado, Poe uses word choice, figures of speech, sensory details, imagery, and sentence structure to portray a certain mood in his writing, This mood is usually dark, menacing, and invokes fear in the reader. One example of this is diction. Poe uses exquisite word choice to vividly explain a setting and actions. The way Poe crafts his words and chooses which words to explain scenes in the story gives the reader a great visual. For example, “The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled. My own fancy grew warm with the Medoc. We had passed through long walls of piled skeletons, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of the catacombs” (pg, 2). This evidence shows the great word choice chosen …show more content…

The reader can also see the setting of the catacombs and see how dark and eerie they are. Poe also uses figures of speech to craft his story. One example of this is, “The bells upon his cap jingled as he strode” (pg. 2). This then appears again later in the story, “I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and let it fall within. There came forth in return only a jingling of the bells” (pg. 4). This represents symbolism in the story, This is a type of figurative language that Poe uses in his stories a lot. He used the jingling of the bells on Fortunato’s cap to stand for the eeriness during the whole story. Also, to give a sort of calm and serenity sound to the story. As he explains the jingling of the bells, you can almost hear them ringing on the cap and you invision Fortunato. Whenever you read a scene with the bells in it, you get a weird yet mysterious mood. Another example of symbolism is, “Putting on a mask of black silk and drawing a cloak closely about my person” (pg. 2). The black silk represents the darkness and horrid effect of this story. It also adds mystery to the mood. Poe also uses vivid sensory details to craft his

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