Edgar Allan Poe The Raven Rhetorical Analysis

Gabrielle Villanueva

Dr Trevor Strunk

EN103 Composition and Rhetoric I

22nd, January 2018

My Response to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Philosophy of Composition” in both his works of “The Raven” and “Tell-Tale Heart.”

Edgar Allan Poe wrote an essay in 1846 called “The Philosophy of Composition.” He is an American writer famous for gothic poems and short stories of mystery, death, and loss of love. One of the main ideas in Edgar Allan Poe’s essay, is his strong belief that the emotion you cause in your readers is key to a great writing piece. He also explains that good writers should keep their writings short, so it could be read in one sitting. That if you work hard creating a detailed outline with a conclusion from the start, perfect your writing

He writes a poem about a young man who is rapidly losing his sanity due to the loss of his lover Lenore. Right from the start of the poem Edgar gives you strong emotions of freight, anxiety and a broken heart. Through the setting of the scene, the narrator builds suspense. The young man is alone, on a cold, gloomy winter night reading some creepy old books to keep his mind off his lost lover when he starts drifting to sleep. He is suddenly woken by a soft knock on his door. At this point every noise I heard was intensified by my fear and anxiety. The narrator continues to set the scene of the fire dying and the embers casting unusual shadows on the floor, the character having doubt about opening the door at such a late hour but finally get the courage to open the door. Yet no one is there, he is standing staring into complete darkness when his mind starts calling to Lenore, his dead lover. If that is not causing fear in you, the narrator then hears a tap coming from his window. He opens it to find a black raven, a bird known to symbolize bad luck. Throughout the poem I also experienced anxiety as the narrator was losing his grip on reality. Here is a young man who strongly believes he is talking to a bird sent with a message from Satan. The raven keeps repeating the word “Nevermore” and the narrator takes this to mean there is no hope of peace in his future. That he is trapped alive in a

Yes, I agree that a good writing can pull great emotion from a reader. Yet I also believe that a long novel/poem can be great success as well. I don’t believe that writing has an exact scientific formula. Nor do all good writers/authors need to have a conclusion and perfected outline before they begin their work. I believe some great authors can free write an excellent tale. Sometimes it’s a natural gift, just like a person born with a killer voice, an individual with a knack for photography and/or a person who is in their element with public