I felt I must scream or die!"... His methodic ways of watching the old man sleep are also strange: "It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. ... I felt that I must scream or die! ... Three elements of literary work that truly sum up the theme of "The Tell Tale Heart" are setting, character, and language. ... All three elements were used extensively to convey the theme. ...

• Word Count: 1527
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

The poem begins with what appears to be a couple walking along during a nice summer day, and there they saw the object that was the dead animal that was laying belly up on the side of the road with its legs spread like a prostitute. ... This brings about the realization that we are all to die, and nothing can be done to prevent it. ... This means that the same thing will happen to us when we die, we will be given back to Nature. The very last stanza seems to be the narrator talking to his girl as they look at the carcass, saying something to the effect of "I am your man, if you get far from my...

• Word Count: 1751
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

The juxtaposition of Poe's life and work is most evident in the morbid personalities and melancholy themes of his literary compositions, similar to those of his life. ... Tragically, Jane Stanard was dying from a malignant brain tumor. ... When she died insane on April 28, Edgar was devastated. ... Yet she seems to prophesize her destiny, as only Poe would have it: "I am dying, yet I shall live." ... After her death, her tormented father lays her in her grave and "laughed with a long and bitter laugh as I found no traces of the first, in the charnel where I laid the second, Morella." ...

• Word Count: 3026
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School