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Position:Home>Poetry> Poe Writing similarities?Question: Poe Writing similarities!? I am having a class discussion tomorrow, and i need supporting topics to why E!.A!. Poe's The Black Cat, and Cask of Amontillado are similar in: Characterization,Setting, Presence of Macabre imagery, Gothic Elements, Symbols, the mirroring of Poe's life, psychological horror, allusions, imagery, theme, sound devices ( euphony/ cacophonous sounds), tone and mood I appreciate any input!!! ThanksWww@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: You can probably find commentaries on this on the Internet if you do a few searches!. I will get you started: Both of the stories are narrated in the first person by someone who commits murder and then builds a wall around the victim!. In "The Black Cat" the narrator kills first a cat and then his own wife, seemingly because there is just something about both of them that irritates him!. In fact, there is a second cat which gets stuck in the wall with the wife, although in this instance the narrator did not know it was there!. In the "Cask of Amontillado" story, the narrator claims his future victim has caused him not only 1,000 injuries (who could believe there were really 1,000 injuries, or why in the world would someone even bother to keep count or continue to associate with someone like that!? The narrator is obviously exaggerating to justify his actions - the term for extreme exaggeration is hyperbole - sounds like high-purr'-boh-lee) but "insult as well," without ever documenting what terrible insult the victim had even mentioned (unless it was in an earlier section)!. The narrators in both stories have made a goal to get rid of their supposed tormentors but are unable to really rationalize what they are doing!. They actually seem to take delight in getting attention for telling what they are about to do, even from the readers of the stories!. You might want to try something interesting and count the number of times the narrators use the word "I" in the story to point out how egotistical and self-involved they are!. It goes to show that criminals are at their core selfish!. I would also point out that alcohol plays a strong part in both stories, although the man in "The Black Cat" seems like a true alcoholic, whereas the man in the "Cask" story uses the promise of a rare type of alcohol which needs to be identified as a snare for his victim!. Hope that helps!. Www@QuestionHome@Com |