The Use Of Suspense In Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven

The Raven crafts the idea of suspense by using a range of different types of literary features. The use of hyperboles creates more suspense because the more exaggeration used grips the reader in more. Describing the Raven as “Ghastly, Grim and ancient” (8) makes the idea that the author is trying to get through, more coherent as Poe is offering more description. The way Poe repeats his “Sorrow for the lost Lenore” (2) helps embed the idea that he misses Lenore but it also makes the reader wonder where she went, why she left and why she is so important, which creates suspense. The way Poe uses repetition and pathos when he is trying to get an idea through is very prominent. Poe makes it very clear from the beginning that the character is trying to forget or to think about something “nevermore” (10) but what Poe does not state is what the character is trying to forget, which creates an atmosphere of fear, paranoia and suspense.

The multiple stanzas that all end with “more” (1) create a certain type of suspense that changes depending on the word that is before the “more” (2). The use of multiple sentences in stanzas makes the poem longer but also gives the reader more time to speculate what will happen next, which creates suspense. The use of the five different parts of a story is used in the poem. This makes the poem longer but it also makes it more interesting as there is a lot of