Tell-Tell Heart Synthesis Essay

Edgar Allan Poe incorporates many literary elements such as imagery, specific diction, and syntax, in both his short stories and poems, to create the desired effect to the reader, such as creating rhythm or suspense. The narrator in “Tell-Tell Heart” describes how he entered the room “And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in!” (Poe 204). In the short story, Poe uses longer sentences that are more complex to allow the reader to picture the craziness of the narrator, yet still limiting his word choice to restrict the amount of information that the reader knows, such as any background information on the narrator.

On the other hand, in the poem, Poe uses a shorter and more simple word choice, as well as shorter sentences, to create a rhythm and flow in the poem “Annabel Lee.” The narrator describes how the angels were “...not half so happy in heaven, went envying her [Annabel Lee] and me--Yes!--that was the reason (as all men know, in this kingdom by the sea), that the wind came out of the cloud by night, chilling and killing my Annabel Lee” (Poe 1). Poe uses this short sentence structure to give the reader a good understanding of what is happening, but also restricts the amount of information that the reader knows, such as who Annabel Lee is, or even who the narrator is. Not to mention, even with the extremely simple diction, the reader is able to picture what is happening in the poem, such as how the angels came out of the clouds, “chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.” The simple type of sentence structure, along with the specifically chosen diction, also creates a vagueness in the