How Did Edgar Allan Poe Create Suspense

In the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar Allan Poe uses many techniques to create and heighten the suspense of the story. In the article "Poe and the Gothic of the Normal: Thinking 'Inside the Box'" written by Elaine Hartnell-Mottram says, “this tale is told by an unhelpful first-person narrator, who is also the protagonist, to an addressee who is not directly involved in the action of the narrative and about whom we can deduce nothing with any certainty”. Nothing is certain in this short story. Poe uses many sources of irony and foreshadowing during the short story as well. As the story begins, there is suspense built up between the two main characters, Montresor and Fortunato. The reader will experience multiple sources of Gothic unease, which will add to the suspense (Hartnell-Mottram). One technique used right off the bat to create suspense is that Poe let the readers know that Montresor was out for revenge in the first line of the story. This keeps the readers at the edge of their seat because the readers can assume that there is going to be a fight or death occurrence at some point in the story.

One of Edgar Allan Poe’s most known attributes is his use of fear in many of his stories. He used words and images to instill the fright into his readers. He strung together scenarios that happen to his characters that encapsulates real fears that a reader could have. Poe would use fear in his stories in multiple ways. A story could relate around a certain fear. The way Poe sets up his story with the tension could create a fearful atmosphere. He did not just focus on portraying a narrator with a certain fear, he would use language that would make the reader feel fear. He packed in images of darkness and horror in order to create these atmospheres that presented fear in many different ways.

Edgar Allan Poe used several types of literary devices throughout the story to keep the readers in suspense. We will start with talking about the tone of the story. The tone is easily classified as one of fear and horror. This is shown in several ways. First off, there is very little light in the story. Quite often it is dark. Edgar Allan Poe also uses phrases such as ‘mortal terror’ and ‘dreadful echo’. Besides this, the narrator is often insisting that he is not mad, but we as the readers can see that he clearly is. Mr. Poe also uses the atmosphere to keep us in suspense. The very first sentence sets it up. The narrator says in the first sentence that he is ‘very, very, dreadfully nervous’ about something, and implies that many people think

Edgar Allen Poe uses literary devices to express suspense and horror such as foreshadowing, mood, and tone. The author also uses key words and terms to show irony and mood. One example of irony is, “(for the shutters were close fastened through fear of robbers)” (Poe, 62). This is an example of situational irony because the old man thought the crime was going to be committed by someone outside of the home but was committed on the inside by the old man's roommate. This also explains how cautious the old man was and was not aware that the narrator was going to kill him. The author also uses mood to convey

What gives the reader that feeling of being on the edge of their seat? Why would he want the reader to anticipate what’s going to happen next? That is how the author expresses tension. The author does this by using literary devices. Edgar Allen Poe builds suspense in “The Black Cat” by using specific literary devices—foreshadowing, allusion, and slow pace.

Suspense is an integral part of storytelling. Without suspense, certain stories would not create their intended effect. Edgar Allen Poe wrote many books and poems, which were all under a gothic theme. His writings were very dark and mysterious, and they all contained suspense. Poe’s novel “The Tell-Tale Heart” and his poem “The Raven” contain suspense, which is created through point-of-view, irony, and diction.

Edgar Allan Poe’s use of literary devices to show the how fear of the characters in his stories are both helpful and harmful to them. Poe shows how the fears and obsessions of the narrators in his tales either lead to their inevitable death, or their miraculous survival. Edgar Allan Poe uses many literary devices in his texts, such as symbols, ironies, and figurative language, to show the strange and distorted ways of the characters, and the repercussion of their fears and obsessions.

Suspense by Edgar Allen Poe Suspense is a writing style that authors use to make it so a reader is ahead of the characters in the story. Edgar Allen Poe profoundly used this technique in his story “Tell Tale Heart”. The narrator is psychotic and is particularly tormented by an old man’s ‘evil’ glass eye. He was willing to do close to anything to be rid of the eye, including murder.

In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” suspense is created through the reoccurring use of repetition which, conjures up feelings of unease in the readers. The speaker is clearly unstable. The speaker who is “nervous-very,very dreadfully nervous”(1) throughout the story repeatedly asks the reader “How, then, am I mad?”(1), then goes on to justify his actions. The reader understands that the fear in the speaker is building up, but do not know the reason why. With an unstable speaker the readers are not certain if what is being told is true or just in the speaker’s mind. The reader remains in anticipation of the speakers next move.

In the movie Psycho, Hitchcock used suspense in several ways to shock his audience and keep them intrigued. Hitchcock does this by using scary music and lighting.

In many stories and poems; such as the Tell Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, The Raven, Annabel Lee, The House of Usher, and so many more timeless works, Edgar Allan Poe has been captivating his audiences with spine tingling thrillers through the words and style of his own twisted ways. The only way to describe where Poe’s writing belongs in history, would be classified as gothic genre. From the start of the 1800’s to present day and the future of literature, through irony, repetition, imagery, and symbolism Poe has been bewitching readers with his gore and insane writings.

Suspense, every horror story needs them to be great. Every great horror story draws readers in. So, when stories have great suspense and it will make the story unpredictable. Edgar Allen Poe and W.W. Jacobs caused a feeling of suspense in their stories by using cause-and-effect relationships. Lets ' identify the cause-and-effect relationships in “The Monkey’s Paw”.

It is used to make the story become more real, and easier for the reader to place himself in the story, and feel the same way as the characters. Stephen King is using the terror effect throughout the whole story. He is making the feeling of dread and anticipation the main factors in the horrifying experience. He also uses the horror effect, when he is writing about The Boogeyman, but he leaves out the gross out part. Edgar Allan Poe is in the same way using both terror and horror to give the reader the most horrifying experience.

The Suspense and Mystery created successfully by Alfred Hitchcock in Spellbound and Rope When mention about suspense, “Hitchcock” must be the first word appears out in the mind. Alfred Hitchcock produced plenty of films which are suspense and thrilling. In his filmography, Spellbound and Rope were produced in a bit earlier stage. Spellbound is the first batch of film using the topic of Psychoanalysis.

It is clear from all three texts that we have read, that they each used literary devices in order to create suspense in their own unique way. These texts would include “The Tell Tale Heart,” by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Landlady,” by Roald Dahl and “All Summer in a Day.” by Ray Bradbury.