He struggled through life having to deal with the death of his parents and being tossed around through foster care. ... This resembles a time of death and decay. The dark tone of the setting introduces the tone of the rest of the story. ... The dark atmosphere and symbolism of the raven illustrates the darkness in Poe's life. ... This is shown when the killer is watching the old man at night, waiting for his chance to strike him to his death. ...

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

Throughout his developing years, Poe suffered the deaths of more of those whom he cared for. ... However, the echoing darkness of those dreams must find specificity in the dark heart of the reader, and the poet will not fulfill that unholy task. ... After his wife's death, Poe gave himself up to drinking, which compounded his latent illness. ... Poe ended up drinking himself to death in Baltimore at age forty. ... This dark premonition does only increases the appeal of the mystery that is The Raven. ...

• Word Count: 1328
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Although the most interesting part is that he was one of the first authors to ever deal with the darker side of life. ... The way that he depicts death and darkness are very strange, it appears that he gets much joy, or rather he is intrigued by it. ... I think this due simply to the fact that we all have a darker side within, whether we like to admit it or not. ... He became so well known for this very reason, his writings gave people an idea of the dark side. ... Death is always associated with sadness, therefore all of his writings are about death, but are really about beauty for Poe. ...

• Word Count: 1548
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

This setting is very sinister in lieu of the imminent death that is facing the crew members. ... Later, when he goes away to college in pursuit of knowledge about alchemy and other sciences, everything gets darker and darker. ... While flipping through the novel, the reader can be certain of catching a glimpse of the words rain, dark, horror, and tears. ... After the death of Clerval, he is locked up for some time. ... Death, darkness, rain, and horror are all needed to make a good Gothic novel. ...

• Word Count: 1350
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The unfortunate events that happened throughout his life may have contributed to his dark, yet unique style of writing. ... In The Raven, he delved into the theme of death and loss. ... However, he couldn't save Virginia from the hands of death. ... It was after his death when he gained the recognition that he deserved. ... He explored the darker side of humanity by presenting his concepts of fear, obsession, and suspense. ...

• Word Count: 1699
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

The human soul was part of the oversoul, essentially the spirit of the cosmos, and upon death, would return to the oversoul. ... Unlike most other religions, this philosophy placed particular emphasis on the here and now, rather than what should happen after death. ... Another important aspect of this movement was the relationship between good and evil, between light and dark. Transcendentalists believed that evil and darkness were merely the absence of good and light. Light was seen as more powerful than the dark due to its illuminating qualities. ...

• Word Count: 1786
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Poe's Gothic writing style primarily focused around the themes of death and mourning which lands him a place in the dark romanticism genre. His extreme writing style separates him from other writers as his dark tone creates him a space in a genre of his own. ... There is no one that has impacted literature quite like Edgar Allan Poe and this is simply why is the master mind, known for being the greatest Poe has definitely paved the way for others and though dying a mysterious death he will forever be remembered. ...

• Word Count: 1445
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Poe's style of writing is almost always associated with death, in which the protagonists are exposed to supernatural occurrences. ... He was voluntarily discharged from the army after her death. ... The protagonist investigates the dark vault and discovers a circular, seemingly bottomless pit. ... Both experience mental torture and are exposed to events involving life after death. ... Both stories create suspense and emotions for the reader as the narrators encounter torture, fear and death. ...

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

A sense of death and decay surrounds the Usher mansion. ... This is a symbol for the "tempest" brewing in Roderick Usher's mind after the death of his sister and the gloom that has been created from it. Poe continues to convey his single effect of gloom through his descriptions of the house by noting the "dark creaking- and "soundless rooms-. ... Poe doesn't stop there, however; he continues on to discuss the mental state of Usher, which reaches the point of insanity with the death of his sister, Madeline Usher. ... Other phrases such as, "through many dark and intricate passages...

• Word Count: 1744
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Even though Poe immerses both stories with dark romantic gloom through his graphic sensory images, the subject of each story contrasts in many ways. ... Edgar Allan Poe's tumultuous childhood can be seen as the source of his dark and devious writing. ... A despondent depressant Poe put his heart into every story he wrote, the result is the horrifying tales of murder, nightmares, and death that are read to this day (Wilson, James 2). ... The house and Roderick finally "fall" and crumble away into the darkness which reaffirms the correctness of the title, "The Fall of the House of Ushe...

• Word Count: 1972
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

The dark, dreary and often frightening writing style of Edgar Allan Poe is often misunderstood. ... Here one can connect Madeline's apparent death to those that occurred in reality during the 1800's. By addressing Madeline's apparent death this way, Poe is questioning the knowledge of his society. How could society have such little knowledge about death that so many people are put to rest by accident?     ... Different interpretations of "The Fall of the House of Usher " perceive his death as mythical or by drugs. ...

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

His work often included the symbolic portrayal of such themes as misery, sickness, and death. ... After 1910 Munch returned to Norway, where he lived and painted until his death. ... In the painting the thoughts of the tragic death of his sister were let out and they were rather haunting. ... She bust a blood vessel in 1842, and remained a virtual invalid until her death from tuberculosis five years later. After the death of his wife, Poe began to lose his struggle with drinking and drugs. ...

• Word Count: 1597
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The motif of madness is also used as a means of ravage of the mind which could result in death as it is portrayed in, "The Fall of the House of Usher.... "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 Fall of the House of Usher," "Berenice," and, "The Cask of Amontillado....

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

Although Alyona certainly would not be sentenced to death for her acts, she definitely did not deserve to be killed in such a cruel, brutal way. ... Poe's stories are almost always dark, and it is difficult to trust the narrator's account of the situations that transpired. Crime and Punishment was dark at the beginning, and Raskolnikov was quite ill for the better part of the book. ...

• Word Count: 1581
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

The narrator and the old man live in an old, dark house: "for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers" (1472). ... This setting is pure chaos starting in the head of the killer and spilling out into the physical world around him resulting in an unnecessary death. ... When speaking of a lantern's state of darkness he says it was, "closed, closed, so that no light shone out-(1472). ...

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

Once this is discovered, it can automatically be assumed that this poem is dealing with death and will probably not contain much happiness. ... Although the stench is a very unpleasant odor and invokes a negative response to the sense of smell, the odor is also a sad reminder that the animal is now deceased and that death brings about a sad and depressed feeling. ... The flies have swarmed the dead beast and make it appear as a dark black cloud has descended upon the carcass. ... Death is a sad thing and the reader is reminded that one day they will be just like the dead animal. ...

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

The tale was set in "a dull, dark and soundless day in the autumn of the year,"" while "the clouds hung oppressively low in the heaven." ... To specify, Lady Madeline is a parallel of Roderick Usher; the twin sister is the identical "ghost " to him and haunted him, resulting in his insanity and death. ... No specific explanation was made to every detail; for instance, the family physician, the valet or the death of Madeline or even personal information of Roderick Usher himself were heavily veiled. ...

• Word Count: 1692
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

His stories explore the darker side of the Romantic imagination, dealing with the grotesque, the supernatural, and the horrifying. ... In this respect, he is again comparable to the narrator of "The Pit and the Pendulum, " who having also abandoned the rationality of the external world, stares at the descending blade somewhat in fear, but more in wonder and then lies smiling at the glittering death, as a child at some rare bauble. ... His desire to explore the depths, even at the price of death, is actually a desire to experience more and more beauty. ...

• Word Count: 1763
• Approx Pages: 7

Poe further adds to this effect by calling the character Fortunato, who is anything but fortunate, and dressing him in a clown or fool's costume since Montresor intends to make a fool of him as part of his dark plan. ... The fact that in this whole scene Fortunato is being interpreted as a fool in his costume while Montresor is giving him wine and leading him to his death is proof of the dramatic irony that is being laid out like a trap that can be seen by the naked eye if one looks carefully enough. ... Montresor intends to be solely responsible for Fortunato's death and does not wa...

• Word Count: 2414
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

The Fall of The Usher House "The Fall of the House of Usher,'' written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1839, is regarded as an early and supreme example of the Gothic horror story, though Poe ascribed the term "arabesque'' to this and other similar works, a term that he felt best described its flowery, ornat...

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

Poe presents the compelling drama of two men, one who will stop at nothing to get the revenge that he deems himself and his family worthy of, and another who's pride will ultimately be the catalyst for his death. ... The location quickly changes from the lighthearted activates associated with such a festival to the damp, dark catacombs under Montresor's palazzo, which helps to establish the sinister atmosphere of the story. ...

• Word Count: 2072
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School