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Similarities Between The Tell Tale Heart And The Fall Of The House Of Usher

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Jacob D. Goldman ELA Block 3 Literary Essay 23 January 2023 Comparative Essay “Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality”. Once said, Edgar Allan Poe. Today I will be talking about two of his amazing stories. The Fall of The House Of Usher, and The Tell-Tale Heart. In The Fall of The House of Usher Poe creates a thrilling story by making the narrator trapped mysteriously by the lure of Roderick's (His old childhood friend’s) attraction, and he cannot escape until the house collapses completely. Meanwhile the Tell-Tale Heart is about a deranged boarder who had to kill his landlord because he believed he was possessed by an evil eye. Both of these story’s showcase the excellent writing by Edgar …show more content…

Especially in The Fall of The House of Usher. In the text it shows descriptive imagery when it states “And now—to-night—Ethelred—ha! ha!—the breaking of the hermit’s door, and the death-cry of the dragon, and the clangour of the shield! —say, rather, the rending of her coffin, and the grating of the iron hinges of her prison, and her struggles within the coppered archway of the vault!”(Poe, 40). This perfectly explains how descriptive imagery is used to show the theme. This is because of how Edagr Allan Poe uses multiple sounds and images to paint a perfect picture of how one's mind can collapse after the multitude of horrific things going on in not only their environment, but their head. Showing how his writing can inspire fear into the reader. While this is a great piece of evidence, there is another one that really drives this point home. In the text it shows this when it states “There was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame. For a moment she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshold—then, with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother, and in her violent and now final death-agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated.”(Poe, 41). This is another great piece of evidence to show the point I am making. This is because of how Poe uses his talent of descriptive imagery not only on multiple things at once, but he can also redirect that into a singular object or person to increase the fear tenfold. Here making it the girl in the white robe. Telling very detailed and descriptive things about her that make you feel afraid and wondering what will come next. Thereby making this scene not only show the theme perfectly, but by also making it express the beautiful

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