In, "The Tell-Tale Heart," it is the madness of the man which brings him to murder his employer and at the end of this particular story, the madness – or the acuteness of senses as it is frequently described by Poe – serves also as the man's punishment since the unbearable sound of the beating of his own guilty heart forced him to confess. ... "3 Besides frightening subjects like death, disease, dark setting, haunted locations and others, characters who exhibit madness4 are the gothic elements incorporated in number of his stories, like for example in, "The...

• Word Count: 1406
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

After pondering the inevitable for what seems like an eternity in the dark woods all alone, Nick fires three shots into the night sky---the signal for his father and uncle to come back in case of an emergency. ... Regardless of Nick's close experience with death, he was still not prepared for the ultimate devastation a human being can undertake---a broken heart. ... Later that night, while in bed, Nick realizes that his heart is broken---to experience such an unbearable occurrence at such a young age is simply torture. ... Where the suicide affair may encompass the unremitting death t...

• Word Count: 1254
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The last paragraph of the story lends more credence to the fact that he is a psychopath in which he tells us "[his] heart grew sick – on account of the dampness of the catacombs." ... These three stories have similar components; while Poe and Faulkner both use of dark humor and irony in their stories, all three have the overarching theme of mental illness. ...

• Word Count: 799
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In "A Christmas Memory," the depiction of mood can be seen in the beginning excerpts, "The kitchen is growing dark. ... An element of symbolism in "A Christmas Memory" can be seen from the excerpt," As if I expected to see, rather like hearts, a lost pair of kites hurrying towards heaven....

• Word Count: 826
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate