English Literature Coursework Essay

analyse and contrast at least two short stories by Edgar Allen Poe, paying token attention to engraftting, atmosphere, creditisation, opus and language.Throughout this es submit I result be canvas and contrasting Edgar Allen Poes The vitriolic Cat and The gun barrel of Amontillado. Edgar Allen Poe had a token preference to what though was good writing he believed that a story should build suspense and tension and alone techniques should be used to build this tension for a big finish, his unity of effects. Many of Poes stories atomic number 18 in truth gothic and sinister, this washbowl be seen to induct been influenced by the long chain of very traumatic events in his life much(prenominal)(prenominal) as losing two pargonnts, losing his wife, intoxicantism and hallucinations. He should neer be called crazy himself but his stories often involve crazy fibbers and characters.I volition firstly start of with the setting in The Cask of Amontillado, this is a story s et in old Italy in which our main character Montressor has been severely insulted by Fortunato and to find his retaliate he buries him breathing cabalistic underneath his mansion. The setting in the Cask is sinister and overly ironic. Its set in a mansion during the carnival, the mansion itself is very gothic and offensive which break aways us the gothic element, but the fact that its set during carnival is very ironic as carnival is supposed to be a prison term of joy and gaiety not a time for evil murders such(prenominal)(prenominal) as this.The reason this murder actually implys send off is to a fault overdue to the carnival, as during it a lot of social boundaries are dropped and laws are little firmly enforced which gives him this chance to get away with murder. The work itself is set deep in Montressors cellar, his blareacombs, which provides is with a very gothic atmosphere. The deeper they stoop into the cellar can also been seen as irony for descending into sinfulness which gives us another layer to the setting of this tale.The Black Cat is a story set all at home in which a very strange series of events groom place and the narrator who was at a time a very fond animal lover becomes their enemy and ends up killing one cat and attempting to kill his second but or else kills his wife, who he walls up in his cellar and accidently walls up the cat alive with her. During this time we witness his slow decent into utter betise. The setting as I said is all at the narrator home, this is ironic as the home is where we are supposed to feel about secure and most safe but it this tale its where these crazy and rather disturbing events institute place, this affects the subscriber in a way which makes them think that the home is perhaps not so secure as they once thought and challenges their views of preventive and security.The safety of home is a total contrast to the sinister events that call for place. This is similar to the Cask as al l deaths in both stories take place in the narrators home, but is contrasted as in the Cask he was more in control of where the death could have taken place as he was more sane, but it in The Black Cat he is less in control and the death of his wife was more spur of the moment. The murder in the cask was very more than thought out and everything was mean to the last detail but in the black cat he is often drunk or not in a safe state of disposition when the murders are committed.I will now compare and contrast the atmosphere in both stories. In the Cask Poe creates a gothic atmosphere by describing the prospect very vivid and in a giganticly gothic detail. such(prenominal) as upon the damp ground of the catacombs of the montressors which gives up a vivid ensure of a huge damp cellar lined with cob-webs and rats. Also the madness of the carnival is ironic for the madness of the deeds thats going to take place.In the black cat the gothic atmosphere is created by the huge range o f gothic literature and very dramatic writing. During the story on that point are series of very perverse doings such as the pair of deaths one being a cat and the other his wife. in that location are also lots of hints towards to supernatural elements starting off with the association between black cats and witches by the narrators wife, which we can grab played on his heading throughout the story and may have lead to wear of his downfall. Both stories have a huge gaudiness and a great build up of tension. Both stories create dread and a gothic atmosphere.Now I will discuss the largest of all subjects from the two stories, the narrators. The narrator in the Cask is a very uplifted man and not easily annoyed as Poe says that he say bared most of Forunatos but once he is gravely insulted he believes he has to go to the end of murder to gain his revenge and regain his dignity. Id say the character is actually rather reliable as he doesnt seem to be crackers, further gettin g revenge the only way he thinks he can, and he often mentions that what hes doing is and part of mankind nature and everyone does it just maybe not on this scale. His state of creative thinker is pretty secure, he seems to know exactly what hes doing and just how hes going to do it and everything seems very much planned out to the utter last detail. His only slip would seem to be right at the end when he starts to call out Fortunatos name where it would seem that hes starting to feel atone already for what hes doing.Hes very artful as he knows exactly what things to say to make Fortunato come with him, such as mentioning Luchresi as he knows that Fortunato would be in competition with him and would be jealous to see him take it to Luchresi instead of him, he basically uses him as a lure, even though that is all we hear about Luchresi its complete to sway Fortunato into the montressors deep vaults. Now for the narrator in the black cat, at the beginning of the story he is made out to be a very respectful and animal loving character. In the case of this incident character I can easily say that he is fallible as he is clearly insane.Unlike the narrator in the cask, during his psychical disintegration he starts to hallucinate. Such as the enormous, flat cat he imagines in house after the death of his first cat, and secondly the gallows appearing in the tuft of white hair on the second cat. The gallows are used as foreshadowing, maybe his death, or another death in his household or his impending capture. Throughout the story the narrators state of mind deteriates slowly, one reason for this could be his alcoholism that had taken control of him. He calls the alcohol fiend intemperance which he says had altered his for the worse, this shows that the narrator can see whats slowly happening to himself but blames it on the alcohol as he calls it a fiend. This adds another layer to the alcohol and leads up to believe that the narrators state of mind is not a lone secure. So unlike the narrator in the cask we feel that he is rather out of control of his actions and his state of mind.The third subject likeness I will make is in the language of the two stories. In the cask Poe uses a huge array of linguistic devices. thither is enormous vocabulary throughout the prose which gives it depth and great vivid detail such as deep dark crypt this has two descriptive adjectives and alliteration in a tiny space. This gives the tale imagery of this evil crypt and mysterious vaults. He also uses several instances of repetition to describe and give the story to that extent another layer or depth and emphasis in particular important events in the prose a succession of loud and shrill screams. He also has a wide range of sentence structure, simple, compound and daedal. The complex sentences in this prose build tension and then a compound or simple on for impact.All of these techniques create and build tension and intensity. There is also irony, for example the use of appearance versus reality where the narrator presents himself as one way when infact in reality it is clearly obvious they are not. Foreshadowing is also used, this is when a particular event is mentioned or hinted at will become later in the story. Such as when Fortunato is pang from a cough and upon entering the vaults has a sudden coughing expire after which montressor requests that they leave but fortunate insists that the coughs a mere nothing it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough. This is seen as foreshadowing his future, true he will not die of a cough, but he will die in these vaults.In the black cat Poe uses irony in his very first paragraph, mere household events when we know that they are clearly far from mere household events. Poe also uses personification the most rhetorical is when he personifies the alcohol to give it another layer and it would also give someone to blame his irrational behaviour on. The use of irony is broad when the na rrator reveals that his first cats name was Pluto, who, in Greek mythology, is the lord of the underworld.This could also tap into the supernatural element of the tale which could be the reason for the narrators physiological downfall. Poe uses the technique of rhetorical questions to probe at the reader and leave an unanswered question in the readers head. Such as who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a preposterous action, for no other reason that because he knows he should not?. This particular rhetorical question is basically talking about this perverse situation in everyone and about basic human nature, which is something that we can all preserve to as readers and could also, be the narrator trying to justify his actions as part of everyday human nature.Poes vocabulary is very vicious, emotive and demonic, such as demons, exhault, damned and agony. These emotive words play on the emotions and are much better than just normal descriptive words. ers t again, like the Cask, intensity is created and built throughout the story, and both have foreshadowing, symbolisation and good diction. An example of foreshadowing in the black cat could be the narrators hallucination of the gallows appearing in his second cats fur, this could be foreshadowing a death that he could be related to including himself.The last category I will be comparing and contrasting is themes in the tale. In the cask Poe explores several themes, such as the dropping of moral boundaries at the time of carnivals and their consequences, such as crime. Poe is just using this extremity to show this. Revenge is also another theme explored in this tale and once again this is an extremity to show that. It is also to explore the narrators state of mind and to entertain the reader.In the black cat Poe explores the idea that everyone has a perverse side and uses this extremity to show that. Like the cask, it also explores the narrators state of mind and to entertain the read er.