sydnie's response

Sydnie Ross
3/4 ELA

Response to Literature

“I made up my mind to take the life of the old man.” (Poe. 626) A quote from the great Edgar Allan Poe’s suspenseful story, Tell-Tale Heart. The man's ''Evil Eye'' is making him go incredibly insane. In the story, the psycho man spies on him and waits until the right time to lurk in on him and take his life. Is everything okay in the end? Does he get away with ending an innocent man's life? This intense story shows a gruesome plot, unbelievable imagery, and creates and shows phenomenal characterization.
Tell-Tale Heart had such an intriguing plot that kept me hooked the whole time. One night he had waited in the doorway watching the man sleep while the ''Evil Eye'' had just been lying there. He lurked into his room and when he had stepped in far enough, the ''Evil Eye'' had awakened and he went bazurk. One of the quote's Poe had said in this story was, ''I pulled the bed over him until he was dead.'' (Poe. 628). That’s crazy! The ''Evil Eye'' had irked him to the point of ending this man's life. He had also stated, ''I cut off the head and arms and the legs. I took up the floor boards and shoved the limbs in the scantlings.'' (Poe. 629). After he had killed the man, he had decided to hide the body parts. He is most definitely crazy! Eventually, in the end, the guilt was killing him so read on and find out what happens. The plot was for sure the best part.
The descriptive imagery in Tell-Tale Heart was outstanding and helped draw the reader's attention in the story. Poe described the different places and characters so vividly that it appears as though you're seeing it through the eyes of the author. Its allowing you to see all of the scenes and people Poe is trying to describe. An example is, ''He had the eye of the vulture. A pale blue eye with a film over it.'' (Poe. 625). This quote is describing the Evil Eye and how vulgar looking it is. Poe did a very good job on describing this because you can picture what the eye looks like and how the crazy man sees it. Another quote that shows imagery is, '' the beating became more distant.'' (Poe.630). This is trying to explain how when the psycho man killed the Evil Eye and shoved the limbs in the floorboards, the heart is slowly dieing so the beating is slowly going away. Poe did an exquisite job of putting you in the story with his examples of imagery.
The stimulating characterizations in Edgar Allan Poe's story were amazing, which made the story come alive and pull you in. Poe explains how he takes the time to think about what he is going to do with the Evil Eye. This quote is a great example of it, ''I made up my mind to take the life of the old man.'' (Poe. 626). He had thought long and hard and came to a conclusion of killing him. In the story, you get the impression of him being mad, and being mad is exactly right. The insane man had said, ''you fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing, but you should've seen me. (Poe. 626). He is explaining how usually madmen are just plain out not right in the head, but since he had made so many precise and detailed ways to kill him, he can’t be all that mad. Edgar Allan Poe is a genius when it comes to detailing his characters so very well.
In conclusion, this intense story shows an appalling plot, inconceivable imagery, and creates and shows you miraculous characterizations. After reading this story, I can tell that Edgar Allan Poe is just unbelievable when it comes to writing beautiful pieces of literature. Especially when a man so troubled and confused had written it. As you can see, some madmen have the great gift of being an amazing writer and being capable to come up with such a great story like this one.