The motivation of short story characters, as well as the theme, is revealed by authors through dialogue, setting and symbolism. ... From her speech Phoenix does not seem to have much education and her impoverished condition makes me feel pity for her. Unlike Welty, Poe in the "Masque of the Red Death" uses the castles and its contents as a symbol to reveal his theme. ... Each time the alarm sounds everyone gives a condition response. ... It makes them complete and gives each story their particular character....

• Word Count: 1014
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The theme is a very important aspect of a short story; it is one of the most important parts of the story's layout. ... "Enough, the cold is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. ... Giving these hints and still being able to lure Fortunato to his death will give him pride in his work. ... The literary element of theme always plays a big part in short stories, as the writer's main idea and point he is trying to convey in the theme is what the whole story is based on. Poe uses many dark negative themes in his work such as revenge, this short story being a perfect example of his dar...

• Word Count: 853
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

As in many of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories there is one main theme. ... This is the theme most often used in Poe short stories because Poe wants to terrorize the reader. ... He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. ... This gives the reader a real eerie feeling because it is set at midnight and the narrator is a very suspicious individual. ...

• Word Count: 656
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The poem is very much like a story ending traumatically. The love between the two in the story is so strong, that even after the death of Annabel Lee, Edgar's love for her still remains the same. ... Expanding Detail: This gives an idea of love of Romeo and Juliet style, because by this verse is evident that the family of Annabel Lee rejected the romance between her and the lyrical self. ... Written in a fairytale type story, Poe expresses his deep love for Annabel Lee, hence showcasing the main theme of the poem. ... The angels, not half so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me -  Y...

• Word Count: 1035
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The stories entice the reader with the brilliant use of first-person narration, creating the theme of psychological terror. ... It is apparent that his life story contributes to his gothic infatuation for the death of a beautiful woman, and the psychological thriller, the themes in most of his work. ... Poe often used mental or physical weaknesses, the death of a beautiful woman and psychological terror as themes in his work. ... Poe uses psychological terror as the main theme in both. ... "Days passed-it might have been that many days passed-ere it swept so closely over me as to fan me w...

• Word Count: 2349
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

The portrayal of the narrator as the murderer gives the stories a frightening impact. ... He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult... He gives no logical reason for the murder. Poe creates a theme of paranoia and madness beginning with the opening line, again giving a type of rationalization for the perverse actions of the narrator. ...

• Word Count: 650
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

His only motive he gives is the old man's eye, "I think it was his eye!... He gives this as another reason why he is not insane. ... Murder is another reoccurring theme in the story "The Cask of Amontillado". ... This is a result of the reoccurring theme of hiding in the place of confrontation. ... The reoccurring theme of death is clearly present throughout this story. ...

• Word Count: 1238
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The major theme in the story is the deep hatred buried within the outwardly congenial Montresor. ... Although I do not prefer horror stories, all these aspects have allowed consideration for "The Cask of Amontillado" to be one of the memorable and favorable stories for me. This intriguing story written by Edgar Allan Poe gives verisimilitude to the murder of Fortunate by Montresor. ... (Paragraph 4) This story is well written. ... Edgar Allan Poe writes this story from the perspective of Montresor who vows revenge against Fortunato in an effort to support his motto: "Nemo me impune lacessit" ...

• Word Count: 788
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In contrast, Mark Strand chooses to ration the amount of information that he gives the reader, but instead allows the reader to establish his own conclusion regarding the various details in the story. In his opening lines, Strand apparently gives the culmination of details for the reader to understand the setting of the story, "A man has been standing, in front of my house, for days." ... The theme of both stories is obviously the concept of one seeing and coming into contact with their own personage. ... An attempt to explain the characters feelings that he has known this personage before is ...

• Word Count: 1660
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Poe took his reputation for writing Gothic stories a step further with the theme of living inhumation. He involves this theme in many stories, including "The Premature Burial"." ... Long --long --long --many minutes, many hours, many days, have I heard it --yet I dared not --oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am! ... Each one of his stories is presented as if it could occur in real life. ... Poe's use of gothic realism has a greater effect because it places the reader in that situation, giving them a stronger fear. ...

• Word Count: 1545
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

The story reaches its climax when the boy begins to go insane, and the story comes to an end. ... Poe writes using elements that contribute to a central theme of a story which are repeated throughout (May 1647). Guilt is a major theme in "The Tell-Tale Heart." ... Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me" (Poe 58). ... As way to give life to the old man's groan, the killer says, "[p]resently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. ...

• Word Count: 1485
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

When I was praised fro my conduct I felt a guilt that in some way I was doing something that was really against the wishes of the white folks, that if they had understood they would have desired me to act just the opposite, that I should have been sulky and mean, and that that really would have been what they wanted . . . everyone praised me and I was invited to give the speech at a gathering of the town's leading white citizens." ... Because each author uses vocabulary differently in his story, the tone of each story is strikingly different. ... In Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" ...

• Word Count: 1443
• Approx Pages: 6

His non-fiction works are the most famous because his stories end with a new beginning. ... Indeed, the narrator begins The Black Cat with a recap of the circumstances which bring about his execution and claims, "mad I am not " to give the readers a sense what brought about his execution was ordinary" (Poe). ... He takes it home with him but when it follows him down into the cellar it "exasperated me to madness " therefore he "uplifted an axe, aimed it at the animal. ... And Poe's narratives were less favorable because he gives a dramatic story of what may happen if you didn't fix th...

• Word Count: 1210
• Approx Pages: 5

Edgar Allan Poe in his poem, "Annabelle Lee" (869) uses various techniques to reveal his theme. ... "It is his personal story of lost love which achieves its unique effects through its narrative voice"(Reilly pg. 2). ... "For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes of the beautiful Annabel Lee... He chooses his words carefully making sure it gives the right effect about his character. ... "Words like these are the most natural, tender and tou...

• Word Count: 1206
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

He is credited with creating the detective story genre and with transforming the Gothic mystery tale of the Romantic Period. Poe developed a theory that he applied to both his short stories and his poems. ... The theme or plot of the piece is always subordinate to the author's calculated construction of a single, intense mood in the reader's or listener's mind. ... Tell me, tell me, I beg you!... Leave me alone! ...

• Word Count: 2508
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

It is then stated that the sun gives back to nature her own gift, a hundredfold of her desire. ... The last paragraph states that "the rose changes give us our joy in seeing. ... Now that you are here, let me touch you like the forehead of the beggar that touches the ground. It's not surprising that you came to find me because you care for the ones in pain like me. ... In the first stanza he refers to the Urn as a Sylvan historian that tells a story more sweetly than a poem. ...

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