Trevor K's Complete Response to Literature Essay

Response to Literature Essay

“A watches minute hand moves faster than mine,” Tell Tale Heart, by the amazing writer, Edgar Allan Poe. Tell Tale Heart is a story about a crazy man. He Kills an old man because of the old mans “vulture eye,” which watches him wherever he goes. In this essay, I will talk about Tell Tale Heart, and about how great of a writer Edgar Allan Poe was.

“Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror.” That is only an example of the fantastic imagery that Edgar Allan Poe can dish out. His imagery is better than any imagery from any other author. Another example of this fantastic author’s creations is, “The old man’s terror must have been extreme! It grew louder- louder I say, louder every moment!” of any author, Edgar Allan Poe has the most fantastic imagery of all.

At first, I found the plot of Tell Tale Heart confusing. “I made up my mind to take the life of the old man.” The plot was at the beginning, and the story was ruined. I would tell Edgar Allan Poe that in order to make the plot less confusing, it would be this. Open the plot more towards the middle of the story. He said the plot within the first page and a half. That really gave the story away. Other than that, the story was fantastic.

The characters aren’t really described, other than that the old man has a pale blue eye, and that the narrator is crazy. The old man is described as, “He had the eye of a vulture- a pale blue eye, with a film over it.” The descriptions are really vague. But this one is more accurate: “True!-nervous-very dreadfully nervous I had been and am! But why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses-not destroyed-not dulled them.” I like that because then your imagination has to take over. You have to think of what he looks like. You have to be the artist. The characterization in Tell Tale Heart amazing for that reason.

As the essay comes to a close, I would like to say this: Edgar Allan Poe was a phenomenal writer. He used fantastic imagery, a great plot, and amazing characterization. For the record, I think he is one of the greatest writers of all time, and his stories will be cherished for a long time.