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Literary Devices In Edgar Allen Poe's Works

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A literary device is something many different authors use in their writing to help gather the readers attention. These devices help the reader get their point across is a bigger way than just simply saying something like the black bird. Edgar Allen Poe used different types of literary devices to help make his stories more dark and dreary. From early on in his writings the term that stuck out to me the most was the symbolism he carries on throughout his works. When reading his poems and just picking out the symbolism you really get a clear sense on how everything is working in the story. The endings of his works are always a surprise and can have very different meanings to different people depending on how they interpreted it. An example where Poe uses symbolism is in his short story The Masque of The Red Death the first symbol gather from this story is the character himself, Prince Prospero. From Poe saying Prince you …show more content…

The narrator refuses to let the creepiness of the eye go, he is haunted by the image of the eye. He became so obsessed with the eye, that eventually this was the only thing he could see when he saw the old man, he could no longer look the man in the face the only thing he looked at was the eye. He describe the eye as evil and compares it to a vulture. These word symbolize the narrator in the end, he kills the old man and dismembers his body and then hides him under the floor boards of the bedroom. The narrator spent eight nights “circling his pray “ by cracking open the door to just the eye starring back at him before his killed the old man just as a vulture would do to its prey. The biggest mention of symbolism in this story is the “beating” of the dead mans heart. The moment when the narrator finally feels the guilt for what he has done to the innocent old man. The beating of the heart is the narrators guilty

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583 Words | 3 Pages

In the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe, the author uses the rhetorical device of symbolism. In this allegorical piece Edgar uses symbolism to explore his central idea more thoroughly. The central idea is that no matter what the characters did or where they went, they couldn't escape death as death is inevitable. Throughout the story the masqueraders were living life to the fullest, but then they were quickly reminded that morality cannot be avoided. Poe uses symbolism with the seventh chamber, the ebony clock, and the masked figure to expand on the theme of death.

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706 Words | 3 Pages

This example of symbolism was the one that stands out the most. The 7 chambers of Edgar Allen Poe are similar to the 7 stages of life of William Shakespeare. While Prince Prospero is rushing through the

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844 Words | 4 Pages

Poe uses symbolism a lot in his stories to make his writing have a more eerie feeling. ”The Tell-Tale Heart” and “Masque of Red Death” both have symbols that induce fear into the main characters hearts. In The Tell-Tale Heart Poe writes “...for it was no the old man who vexed me but his evil eye “(75).The narrator kills an innocent old man for that hr thought the old man's eyes were judging. Although the old man just had cataracts ,the narrator could not stand the man for his eye he compared looked as vulture's eye. The narrator was afraid of this old man and his “evil eye”.

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One of the most prominent literary devices used in the book is symbolism. The author uses several symbols to convey deeper meanings throughout the story. For instance, death, who is also the narrator of the story, is a prominent symbol in the novel. Death symbolizes the fear and uncertainty that come with war and the unknown. He is not only a personification of the end of life but also a representation of loss and grief experienced by the characters.

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By understanding the meaning of each symbol, the reader gains a deeper insight to the overall message of the short story. Poe proves symbolism to be an effective tool to add depth and meaning to the central theme, while still enhancing reader’s

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402 Words | 2 Pages

In the short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart” Edgar Allan Poe interests the reader through the use of literary devices such as symbolism, dramatic irony, and repetition. To begin, Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism to engage the reader. In the following quote, the narrator is talking to the audience about why he killed the old man he cared for. As stated on page 145, “One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture…

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You’ll start seeing hallucinations. In Poe’s stories, symbol, irony, and imagery are used to show how fear and paranoia distorts the narrator’s mind. In his stories, all of the characters experience fear and each handle it differently.

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Literary devices are used by an author to enhance a story. These devices can help to make a piece more descriptive, complex and thrilling. Literary devices can also help the reader further understand the text. Conflict, characterization, and imagery are exemplary examples of literary devices used by authors. Conflict is one of the most essential literary devices.

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He uses symbolism to portray simple objects into something vital to give them a deep significance throughout the story. For example, the text states, “there came to my ears a low, dull quick sound… the old man’s terror must have been extreme… and now a new anxiety seized me --- the sound would be heard by a neighbor.” The narrator heard the heartbeat of the old man getting “louder and louder”, but he felt that others could hear it, even though they actually couldn’t. The narrator felt that he just had an “over-acuteness of sense” , but the heart beating was his own anxiety and fear seizing him. His nervousness and fear builds up to the suspense of how he will act act at the end of the story and if he will actually confess.

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The function of a literary device plays an important part in literature. They provide a deep analyzation of the structure in a novel or poem. In Dante’s The Inferno literary devices play a significant role in providing a clear explanation of the Pilgrims journey through hell, allowing one to better understand the concept of eternal punishment. TS Dante uses symbolism in order to dehumanize the sinners in hell.

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Every day and night that the eye would haunt him, he would receive a better understanding to how he will overcome the eye. An obsession begins as a thought about someone or something, which is what happens to the narrator, the thought of the eye is the beginning of his obsession for it. The author satisfies his obsession “every night, about midnight” by “turning the latch” of the old man’s door and peeking his head through (3.4-7). By doing so, he got to take a look at the old man’s pale blue eye. To the narrator this eye stimulates an unhealthy obsession.

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Though Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories like, The Cask of Amontillado, to his poems like, The Raven, Poe’s shows his writing style to use physical imagery and connotative syntax to show ,imagery in his writing. Throughout his life, Poe had always lived through the most chaotic and evil of time. His parents died while he was 3 years old. After his parents died, he lived with another family member who never accepted him as their own son. Later on in life, Poe had served in the military and at that point he started writing poems.

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The last example of symbolism is the curse of bad luck that the angel puts on the narrator. The curse is an example of symbolism because some believe that the angel can represent alcohol, so the story is showing how alcohol can ruin your

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550 Words | 3 Pages

“The Story Of An Hour” uses Literary Devices. Literary Devices are specific language techniques which writers use to create text that is dear, interesting, and memorably. The literary devices in “The Story Of An Hour” are Irony, Symbolism, Imagery, and Allegory. Irony means the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically, for humorous or emphatic effect. Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.

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2063 Words | 9 Pages

Edgar Allan Poe was an American author; he mainly focused in genres such as short stories and poems. Poe didn’t have much of an academic background in literature but, he excelled in it. Some people believe that his success was mostly due to the fact that his life was very sad, filled by a series on misfortunate events, such as being an orphan, suffering from poverty and being constantly surrounded by death. In his works, Poe portrays narratives that are characterized by their mystery and macabre. The topic of death was ever present in his work, constantly describe with dark moods and somewhat terrifying settings.

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