Edgar Allan Poe Research Paper

The Dark Side of Literature Edgar Allan Poe has always been known for his role in the uprising of Romanticism in the United States during the 1800s’ and with several of his shorts stories and poems, Poe has earned his spot of being one of the most known authors. Poe was born on January 19,1809 to actress, Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins and actor David Poe Jr. However, Poe seemed to have a troublesome first 2 year. Just after a year of his birth, his father left the family and only a year later he loses his mother to illness, thus making him an orphan. Poe was then “adopted” by John Allan, a successful merchant. When Poe went off to study at the University of Virginia, he began to become financially unstable, racking up debt from unclarified sources,

If an author uses too bland of word choice, they will lose the readers interest in no time. Poe has various words that better initiates the reader to question what he means, for example the word “tattoo” from personal experience the word means some sort of permanent form of art printed on the body, however after some searching the word also means “a rhythmic tapping or drumming”. The use of this word helps emphasize the imaginary sound that the narrator is constructing in his mind. Another example is the word “hearken”, the word means listen, however after 18 years of living this is the first time hearing the word. The placement helps create some sort or relationship between reader and narrator as the narrator tries to defend his reasoning. It can be seen how word choice has a great impact when it comes to grabbing the readers attention. Poe causes the reader to question the word and want to go out and figure out the meaning, which in response creates a better understanding of the statement in which the word was

For example, in the beginning of the piece there seems to be an ironic tone, even though the narrator is undoubtedly guilty he still seems to see himself as innocent and tries to justify his action. There are also hints of an aggressive tone when the man talked about the things he wanted to do to the old man. These small changes in the tone though out the story causes the reader to experience different changes in their way of thinking, both towards the narrator and as to the plot. There is a scene in the story where the police at the house, at this moment what to mind was a “oh snap” kind of feel, you begin to think are they going to find out the truth or will this guy get away with it. The part where the narrator states "Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!"(Poe). The tone was undoubtedly guilty, however this kind tone being used and knowing how much work this man put into getting rid of the man was humorous, all that work from dealing with the old man when he was alive, to stalking him at night to killing him and getting rid of the body, for him to confess was so ironic. The thing is though, the man believed that by getting rid of the old man he would finally be free and happy, when it drove him to