Edgar Allen Poe is one of the most significant poetry and short story writers of all time. His writings are still studied today in schools, and his definitions of literary terms and ideas are among the most accurate. But, how did he become such a great writer? How did his works of horror, and the unreal become such great works of literature? Poe wrote his literary works along his own guidelines that he named, "The Unity of Effect."" His method of the unity of effect was achieved like nowhere else in his short story, "The Fall of "The House of Usher."" .
The first aspect of Poe's Unity of Effect is brevity, or briefness. Poe believed that a poem or a short story should be read in a single sitting, so that the problems of the world around the reader would not distract him from the unity of the poem or the story itself. "The Fall of The House of Usher- is certainly a short story that is easily read in a single sitting. Poe believed that all excitements or details are, by necessity, brief. A lot of Poe's descriptions were short and brief. For instance, "In this mansion of gloom an anomalous species of terror a flood of intense rays rolled throughout."" All of these small quotations are examples of brief, and to the point descriptions that give the reader a clear image and picture of the setting. Poe's brevity remains consistent through the entire story. .
The second aspect of Poe's "Unity of Effect- is a close setting. The entire setting of the story takes place inside the Usher Mansion, where he is able to give extremely detailed descriptions due to the close proximities of the mansion, and his first person point of view. An excellent example of his detailed descriptions is in the following passage: Its principle feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity. The discolorations of ages have been great. Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web work from the eaves specious totality of old wood work which has rotted for long years in some neglected vault, with no disturbance from the breath of external air.
