In Edgar Allan Poe's, The Philosophy of Composition, he breaks down what good composed works are. At first he explains how he writes in a step by step system meaning he gives a buildup for the story, instead of immediately getting to his point. Which is a good thing because then the story would be too short and to me rather boring instead of having an intellectual, hardworking sense behind it. Poe also talks about lengthy works saying that if a reader decides to stop reading a work in the middle to continue another day, that the reader is destroying the beauty intended by the author. He talks about stories and poems needing to be dynamic as well, meaning the works should leave an impression and have a certain tone. The works that I decided to attribute to this composition are, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, The Black Cat, Eleonora, The Masque of the Red Death, The Raven in which Poe speaks of in his composition, and Alone.
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar uses the step by step system Edgar explains by leading up to the condition of the Mr. Valdemar, after introducing who he is to the author and talking about who he is. The story then talks about what Edgar is doing with Mr. Valdemar and ends in the man's unfortunate death. The story does set a tone that is somewhat melancholy and sad but due to the knowing that the man is expected to die soon, the tone is not depressing. The story gives off an impression through what the author is doing for Mr. Valdemar because it is impressive that he is speaking with Mr. Valdemar while in a state of deep sleep and even in death. In the Black Cat there are steps as well, though they are not as clear as the buildup in the story of Mr. Valdemar. Poe starts by writing of something that he cannot believe has happened and that dreads him, then goes on to talk about his family life growing up with pets. Due to the abrupt difference in the first and second paragraphs, one may get confused until the story is further read.
