In the “Tell-Tale Heart” Edgar Allan Poe tells a story about an insane man that kills a man for having a “vulture eye”. The main character hides his crime from the police and starts conversing with them.Then he starts to hear a heartbeat. It grows louder and louder until it drives him to confessing. Poe uses dramatic syntax, a sinister setting, and vivid imagery to create a mood of suspense in his story.
The author utilizes dramatic syntax in his story. There are many moments where Poe adds emphasis on certain words to make it sound dramatic. In the story it says, “True! - nervous - very, 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.” This quote shows that Poe uses dashes and repetition to indicate that certain words are important. This establishes a mood of suspense by narrating the story this way.
The story uses sinister settings to create a mood of suspense. The story takes place during night. It says, “And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it - oh so gently!” This quote is sinister because around midnight the narrator is quietly opening the old man’s door. Midnight is a suspenseful setting, so there is a mood of suspense in the story. …show more content…
Poe uses vivid imagery to make the story more suspenseful. The quote, “It was open --wide, wide open --and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness --all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones; but I could see nothing else of the old man's face or person: for I had directed the ray as if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot.” shows the imagery in here is suspenseful. It uses imagery by using adjectives and repetition. Words like "hideous" and "chilled" creates a vivid picture in the reader's mind. This imagery makes a mood of