Suspense Literary Analysis Essay Rough Draft Name: Ayaana Chaudhry In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Eager Allen Poe used many different literary techniques to help develop suspense in his short story. Suspense is an uneasy feeling people get when they don’t know what’s going to happen next. Using suspense in writing keeps the reader interested and makes them want to keep reading to find out what happens next. Poe constantly used different techniques in “The Tell-Tale Heart” to help build suspense. “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edger Allen Poe was about a narrator, who is not named, trying to convince the reader that he was a sane man even though he killed someone. He was very disturbed by the "vulture eye" of an old man who he knew. Because of that, he stalked the man for several nights but didn’t …show more content…
The police then came to investigate because they heard a scream, but the narrator was very confident that he hid all the evidence. Eventually, the guilt of his actions drove him crazy and made him believe that he could still hear the old man's heartbeat through the floorboards. That led the narrator to confess his actions to the police and get himself caught for killing the old man. Throughout the story, Poe constantly uses repetition to enhance the story and build suspense. Repetition is the act of repeating words, phrases, sounds, or other elements within a story over and over again. It is a literary technique that is often used by writers to emphasize important themes or ideas, create a sense of rhythm, build tension, or create a sense of unity within a story. Repetition can take many forms, including repeated words or phrases, repeated sounds or rhythms, or repeated images or motifs. It is a powerful tool that can be used to create a wide range of effects within a story. Poe used it in the story to help make the readers feel a feeling of suspense. In “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edger Allen Poe, repetition is used