In the American judicial system, one very controversial defense strategy is the insanity defense. ... The insanity defense asserts that a criminal defendant should not be found guilty due to the his/her level of mental illness or insanity. ... The first famous insanity case happened in 1843, with the McNaughton case. ... "Few psycholegal issues are more controversial then the insanity defense. ... Insanity is not a psychiatric or scientific term it is a legal term. ...

• Word Count: 2402
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography

Best known for his short stories flooded with mystery and the macabre, Poe is recognized as one of the foremost masters of horror that United States has ever produced. ... Furthermore, in his review of Hawthorne's Twice Told Tales, he defends short story as preferable to the novel and states that the ideal short story should be short enough to be read at one sitting in order to preserve this unity of effect or rather impression. ... "2 On that account in Poe's short stories every aspect of the tale contributes to its overall tone, including the motif of madness. ... Therefore th...

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

In the beginning he was introduced as a poet then he became a famous short story writer of the uncanny, but he kept writing poems. ... After reading some of his short stories and his biography I found his characters more interesting and I decided to write my paper on a few of them. In my paper I will focus on some of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories to analyze the perfect combination of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories and his characters. The protagonists of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories are the main attractions for the readers. ... The unnamed narrators of the "The Tell-Tale H...

• Word Count: 2343
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

He filled his stories with grotesque details like burying people alive, murder, decaying mansions, and people plagued with insanity. ... In his short story "The Black Cat", the reader knows that the narrator is writing his confession on the day before he is to be executed for the murder of his wife. ... Poe never got over her death and many think that she is the motivation behind his works that revolved around death and insanity (Sova, 34-35). ... His short stories suggest that he was most concerned with the concepts of guilt, sin, and evil being the most inherited natural properties...

• Word Count: 1698
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Short story analysis of: The Cask of Amontillado By: Edgar Allen Poe In one of Edgar Allen Poe's best-known Tales of horror, "The Cask Of Amontillado," he suggests that pride can be a very dangerous thing. ... From one of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. ... Poe also implemented styles of realism and gothic into this story. ... Poe in this particular story used the first person participant narration in which the Montresor ("I") is narrating the story where other characters as well as Montresor participate. ... Another literary device Poe used many times in thi...

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

The Yellow Wallpaper The Liberation of a Woman The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a short story of oppression that women faced during the late 1800s. ... At the beginning of the story she states "Personally, I disagree with their ideas. ... Her plunge to insanity was actually a confirmation of freedom and liberation from an illogical and unreasonable society. ... The Yellow Wallpaper was undoubtedly a story of liberation and freedom. ... It was not until the end of the story that she finally stood up for herself and won her own liberation by freeing her soul, ev...

• Word Count: 1430
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

"The Fall of the House of Usher," " a short story published in 1939, is one of the most popular fictional narratives of Edgar Allan Poe. ... This mythic tale, and Poe's other terror short stories alike, aims at arousing readers' sense of inner disgust or terror, as Poe himself stated in his preface to "Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque"" (1840) that the terror he meant to create was "not of the Germany, but of the soul." ... 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...

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

This relates directly to the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe in the subject formation of the main character. ... In the beginning of the story he is confident, but as he tells his story, it becomes clear that he is struggling to hold onto sanity. ... This becomes evident in his work, perhaps suggesting that Poe himself may have been fighting against insanity. ... Poe's character appears to be "a prisoner of nothing but himself" and his own insanity. ... Or was Poe simply writing a story, with no other implied meaning but that of imagination? ...

• Word Count: 1340
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Death, madness, and lies are the perfect themes to make up an ideal tragic story. ... In theory, Hamlet could have killed Claudius while feigning insanity. ... Hamlet's rudeness and rejection through this part of the play drives her even closer to insanity. ... The news of Polonius" death was just enough to throw her over the edge of insanity. ... A short while after, Ophelia is found dead in a river, having drown that afternoon. ...

• Word Count: 1430
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is a short story in which it could see reflected the influence of the author's life. ... Regarding the events of the story, they develop in the nineteenth century. ... In the same line, Faulkner deals with issues such as gender, race and class and also he describes the romance between a southern lady and a northern man who represents the different ideologies in each location This short story about tragedy presents the life and death of a southern woman who became mentally ill while living in isolation according to the obsolete traditions of the South A...

• Word Count: 1289
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Above all of these devices centers Poe's use of diction throughout the short story. ... This is continued throughout the rest of the short story with the use of many similar adjectives and descriptions. ... The goal of Edgar Allan Poe in all of his short stories is to convey one particular effect to the reader. ... I agree, in this short story a man comes to visit his friend Roderick. ... In conclusion I feel Edgar uses both characteristics, human perversity and ratiocination in the short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher ...

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

According to Short Stories for Students Gilman was not only a prominent feminist but also a radical social thinker at the turn of the century (SSS. 277).The theme of the short story is the social imprisonment of womankind. ... (Kirszner & Mandell, 2001) On the surface, the short story appears to be about a woman who is ill and is being taken care of by her adoring husband, John. Which according to the Short Stories for Students, John is a doctor that strongly believes in the rest cure that was "developed by real-life neurologist Dr. ... Throughout the story, John pushes his influences on his w...

• Word Count: 1530
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Lovecraft and the examinations of his short stories have been numerous. ... In his short story, "The Sneering-, it can be analyzed in regard to symbolism, tone and characterization. ... The short story, "The Sneering-, has an interesting plot structure. ... Continuously throughout "The Sneering- Campbell portrays Jack's insanity and depression with these false apparitions. ... Through the study of Ramsey Campbell's life and short story "The Sneering-, one can deduce that the author is adept to creating a psychological horror. ...

• Word Count: 1611
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

This idea is clearly portrayed throughout the poem "The Raven" and short story "The Tell-Tale Heart". ... Things that that killer obsesses about are brought up several times in the short story. ... He constantly claims sanity, but it only causes him to seem more insane and his "erratic and confused language" amplifies his insanity ("The Tell-Tale Heart" 346). ... Poe incorporates himself into his short stories with his dark, poetic writing style as means of representing the evil in him as well as the evil in society. ... In the short story "The Tell-Tell Heart" and poem "The Raven", Poe has ...

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

Salinger, when Holden Caulfield tells his story from inside the mental hospital, there is a good chance treatment he is receiving is affecting the way the theme and tone of his story turn out. In the 1950s, mental institutions around the country quickly filled as every slight problem with a person was viewed as insanity. ... "By 1959 only 12% of admissions to mental illness hospitals were compulsory, and the trend was towards shorter periods of in-patient treatment and towards outpatient treatment. ... Even though Holden continually talks bad about himself, most of his memories have symboli...

• Word Count: 1490
• Approx Pages: 6

The Yellow Wallpaper The short story, Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is written in first person and it is from our nameless character's writings that we are introduced to her world and her life. ... This effective tone and method Gilman uses to write this story allows the reader to see what the narrator is going through, where as if this story was told from someone else's perspective, it would not have been as real and understanding. ... According to the Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, Volume 9 the real purpose of the story was to reach Dr. ... As mentioned...

• Word Count: 2055
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

In Catch 22 , Heller portrays a situation where a military bureaucracy, impersonal and clearly biased, can seriously affect one's perceptions of sanity and insanity. ... This meant acting a certain way to persuade others into believing one's specially crafted tactics were simple acts caused by insanity. Yossarian had a partner by the name of Orr who shows signs of insanity, but in truth, he is really sane. ... He figures out a way to beat the system and escape the catch-22 by acting like a simpleton for the entire story. ...

• Word Count: 1784
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

The story is told as a first person narrative. ... From the beginning of this story, she feels the house is haunted. ... She was a prominent American short story and non-fiction writer, as well as a social activist. She married Charles Stetson in 1884, and the two had a daughter a short time after. ... Treatment for schizophrenia in the time of Gilman would be viewed as insanity itself in modern society. ...

• Word Count: 1370
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography

The phrase has a long history in literature, and was popularized (and perhaps coined) by Edgar Allan Poe in his short story, "The Imp of the Perverse." 2. ... The fact that he constantly hears the tormenting pulsation of the old man's heart, when no one else seems to hear it, only makes his insanity more obvious not only to the reader but also to the mysterious person that is listening to his tale. ... THE INP OF THE PERVERSE IN POE'S "THE TELL-TALE HEART" Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," is a short story very similar to the same author's later published story (...

• Word Count: 1909
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

These issues were not only the influences that led her to write The Yellow Wallpaper, but the story is a mirror image of her life. ... This is one of the major themes that the short story The Yellow Wallpaper is based upon. Kuhns 3 One point that I find very intriguing in the short story is the yellow wallpaper itself and the description of it by the narrator. ... This statement is true in both Gilman's life and it's recreation in the story. ... Here again, Gilman has the uncanny ability to combine aspects of her life with that of the story. ...

• Word Count: 1862
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Heathcliff's love for Catherine is fanatical to the point of insanity as he is even jealous of the worms decaying her corpse. ... Out of all the short stories, sadism is most evident in the Count from "The Snow Child". ... The fact that she has emphasised his loneliness in this way may heighten the idea that it is significant in provoking his insanity. ...

• Word Count: 1898
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

It is a critical point in the story where much is discovered, developed and recovered. Without this crucial drive, much of the story would be lost. ... The supernatural works through the mind to drive out insanity. ... After pleading with him for a short time she finally becomes aggressive and demands to be let in (30). ... We slowly realize as the story develops that it is not Luke that Eleanor is falling for, it is the house. ...

• Word Count: 1293
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

By doing a close reading of this passage, we will be able to understand the narrator better, and hence, get a better understanding of the story. ... This trait of self-inducing entrapment is continued till the end of the story, where she once again traps herself, this time in the abyss of insanity. ... The words "tired" and "exhaust" were used many times throughout the short passage and she also describes herself as "fretful and querulous", which are all signs of tiredness. ... Being the central image of the whole story, the yellow wallpaper plays a very important role towards the understan...

• Word Count: 1540
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

By doing a close reading of this passage, we will be able to understand the narrator better, and hence, get a better understanding of the story. ... This trait of self-inducing entrapment is continued till the end of the story, where she once again traps herself, this time in the abyss of insanity. ... The words "tired" and "exhaust" were used many times throughout the short passage and she also describes herself as "fretful and querulous", which are all signs of tiredness. ... Being the central image of the whole story, the yellow wallpaper plays a very important role towards the understan...

• Word Count: 1476
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

THE PATRIOT is the story of a father of seven and veteran of the French and Indian War. ... In THE PATRIOT our story begins quite differently. ... The difference between these films is that one uses characters to tell the story of a war, while the other uses a war to tell the story of a character. ... It consists of a variety of methods such as, zoom in to close up during Gabriel's (Heath Edgar) death; cut editing with short duration shots during battle scenes, nothing unique. ... By recreating World War II so realistically, his viewers see what he saw from the beginning: the inexcusable ...

• Word Count: 1399
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School