Suspense In The Tell-Tale Heart And The Monkey's Paw

Suspense is what keeps the audience watching until the end and just as you think you have it figured out the plot; you might find yourself in a plot twist. In both pieces the suspense is built up by the careful placement and use of words. The repetition of words in ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ is what grasped the audience as the tale was told from the murders point of view so there was no mystery to who the killer

The night is crisp and black as the moon lets off an eerie glow, leaves rustle and fall somewhere in the distance. A silhouette dwarfs the blackberry bush in the corner as one’s footsteps refrain, they move closer; you run. Suspense is a state of tension and anxiety which was used in the sentence above and is common in books and short stories. In the short story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W Jacobs suspense is created in a variety of ways. Jacobs demonstrates this by using foreshadowing, conflict and surprise endings.

The author uses suspense so that he can insure that the reader will have enough interest to continue throughout the piece. Jacobs creates suspense through the use of setting and foreshadowing. The story takes place at the

People reads books and they get their captured by the suspense the authors use to write their stories. Suspense is a key point for most readers it keeps them reading the book to see what happens next. Both Edgar Allan Poe and Richard Connell are very good authors that use a lot of suspense throughout their short stories. Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado” and Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” are two stories full of suspense. It’s unpredictable, surprising that we can’t figure out what happens next. .Through conflict, setting, and diction Poe and Connell are able to build suspense.

Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart” is a short story about a insane narrator which tries and eventually kills the old man, the narrator is his waiter, because of his vulture eye. In this story, readers feel curious and shock because of the dramatic and situational irony. First, Poe uses dramatic imagery to make the reader feel suspense. The mood is created when the narrator becomes determined to kill the old man because of his vulture eye, thus the reader knows the narrator wants to kill the old man, but the old man doesn’t know about it. ”I made up my mind to take the life of the old man” (Poe ) This make the reader feel suspense because it makes the reader like the old man’s hands are tied because he can’t overpower the narrator and he’s unaware of the narrator’s intention. Furthermore, Poe uses situational irony to create a mood of shock. The mood is created when the police officers knock on the old man’s door and come to investigate because of the narrators shriek, and the narrator started hearing the old man’s heartbeat, yet it grew louder and louder until he thought that the police officers are hearing the heartbeat and are mocking the narrator, so the narrator couldn’t take any more and admitted

Chills run down your spine as a breath of wind rushes past your frame. Incoherent whispering fills your ear due to the flowing wind… Edgar Allen Poe, one of America’s most prolific writers, wrote numerous horror stories that defined the genre for modern writing. Effort went into creating the style that he was known for, but was it constant from one story to the next? Despite differences in plot and length there are similarities of tone, setting, structure, narration, and character between two of his most famous stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” that allude to Poe’s true writing style.

Because of his constant use of imagery, Poe is able to create suspense in his writing. An excerpt from Edgar Poe’s story The Tell-Tale Heart states, “It was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe” (Poe 82). In the story, Poe uses descriptive words which can make the reader experience what is happening. “…the low, stifled sound…” gives the reader an inclination that something bad is about to happen. A part of Poe’s short story The Tell-Tale Heart says, “It was a low, dull, quick sound—much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath—and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly, more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased” (Poe 84). Yet again, Poe has created a sense of suspense by using words one would be able to experience. “A low, dull, quick sound” is imaginable as well as a little frightening to the reader. Poe uses imagery in his stories to create suspense by involving the reader in his writing.

Suspense is a detail that many horror writer use to catch the attention of many readers and keep them holding on till the end. Just as W.F. Harvey does when creating suspense in his story August Heat. Mr. Harvey used three methods to create his suspense for his story, foreshadowing, withholding information, and reversal. With these three methods he is able to make the reader feel like, “ We may even hold our breath without realizing it as we read on eagerly to find out how the story ends”(Source 1).

ll great writing has a form of suspense. If you were to ask a random person, they would define it as “anxiety” which, has some properties that deal with suspense. Dictionary.com defines suspense as “ a state or condition of mental uncertainty or excitement, as in awaiting a decision or outcome, usually accompanied by a degree of apprehension or anxiety”. Authors display suspense by adding a weaker character to their writing (“Eleanor and Park” by rainbow Rowell), adding a mishap in their character's life which causes them to have breakdowns (“Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky), displaying the reasoning, thoughts, and plans in a story (“The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe), and putting the characters that are either the main characters or a character that is close to the heart in danger or jeopardy (“The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury). In these stories I have claimed to have those specific types of suspense, “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Pedestrian” by

As the narrator experiences fear, what techniques does Poe use to create suspense for the reader?

Edgar Allan Poe is an American Gothic author from the 19th century. It is well known that Edgar Allan Poe was a master of suspense. The word ‘suspense’ is defined by the Oxford Dictionary to be ‘A state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen.’ Two of Poe’s works are ‘Ligeia’ and ‘The Fall of the House Usher’. ‘Ligeia’ is the story of an unnamed narrator in love with his wife Lady Ligeia and how he copes with her death. ‘The fall of the House of Usher’ is the story of an unnamed narrator visiting his friend Roderick Usher at his house. Both of them are full of suspense and this is the main topic this essay will be focusing on. This essay will attempt to illustrate how Poe builds suspense in his short stories

Tension and uncertainty caused by the unknown is the meaning of suspense. In “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs suspense is found. During “The Monkey’s Paw” by Jacobs suspense is created through setting, irony, and foreshadowing. Much suspense is caused by these story elements.

Edgar Allan Poe was a famous American author who specialised in short story and gothic fiction. One of Poe’s most famous works was The Tell-Tale Heart which explores murder, mental illness, cruelty and horror. The viewer becomes aware of the unprovoked mental challenges between characters which heightens the tension and fear, as darkness envelops the reader and the strong beating of a heart gradually grows louder. In order to create a more dramatic storyline, Poe has applied a range of narrative techniques including characters, point of view, setting, and theme, to amplify the intensity of the text and to elicit fear within the reader.

On January 19th, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, one of the most influential writers of all time was born. This person was Edgar Allen Poe and his works of literature would change the world of writing forever. Edgar Allen Poe was a master of creating a mood of suspense and exhibited this through two of his stories, “The Raven” and “Cask of Amontillado”, where there was much suspense built through many different methods. Poe creates suspense by using word choice, plot structure, and literary elements.

The “Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Monkey’s Paw” both convey suspicion and growing fear of what will happen “The Monkey’s Paw” is about a monkey’s paw that grants three wishes, but in the worst way. The “Tell-Tale Heart” is about a man who murders an old man, but his guilty conscience betrayed him by making him hear the old man’s heart after he died. "The Monkey's Paw" creates suspense through a slow paced timeline, and "The Tell-Tale Heart" creates suspense throughout the plot, the murder, and finally the heart beating after death causing him to surrender and confess.