Edgar Allan Poe Rhetorical Devices

American author Edgar Allen Poe illustrates how an individual’s internal chaos and anxiety can drive him insane. It is emotional narrative using pathos where Poe tells a dark murderous story through vivid characters, a puzzling plot and a setting that I found unique.
First, the portrayal of the characters plays a fundamental role in the creation of the plot, without strong characters, the ideas might appear simple. Poe creates vivid characters which effectively assist the construction of the plot and ideas. The author does this through vividly description. For example, when describing the narrator Poe never reveals a gender or name, but gives enough intrinsic details for the reader to develop that the narrator has a mental illness. This is clear when the narrator states, “Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing” (Poe 1). The author introduces a second character as seen through the eyes of the

This pathos developed plot is meant to stir the dark emotions of the soul. Poe accomplishes this by using emotional language. This was illustrated many times throughout, but the most important time is when the narrator tried to define his thoughts about the old man. The narrator says he loves the man, yet despises his evil old vulture eye. He seems to talk as if the old man were two separate beings, thus allowing him to love and hate this man. You will also see this emotion invoking language to describe the narrators chaotic mind. This is accomplished through repetitive questions of sanity by the narrator. Often describing the events to rationalize the dastardly plan to come. One of these examples is clear, the narrator starts by saying, “How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story” (Poe 1). He repeats these questions again throughout the story. It is an attempt to emotionally persuade the reader to the narrator’s point of