House Of Usher

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An Inside Look: Short Stories There are many components within a single short story. As with any piece of work, there are many factors at play behind the scenes which often go unnoticed. Although these things are overlooked, they play a crucial role in the story as a whole. When we take a step back and look at the entire picture we are able to gain an inside look at the work and appreciate the author’s intentions. The two short stories I have chosen to evaluate are “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Masque of the Red Death” both written by Edgar Allan Poe. There are many parts of a short story which may be analyzed. I have chosen to evaluate the narrator character type and use of imagery in these two short stories by Poe. LiteraryDevices …show more content…
Contrary to “The Fall of the House of Usher”, this short story does not have the thorough imagery I crave. An instance of this occurs when the narrator depicts a mysterious presence at the masquerade. Poe writes, “The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave” (441). This brief description clearly gives an idea of the unexpected guest’s appearance, however, it is awfully …show more content…
Reed.edu explains the significance of narrator character type, “A crucial element of any work of fiction is the NARRATOR, the person who is telling the story (note that this isn 't the same as the AUTHOR, the person who actually wrote the story)” (Reed). In “The Fall of the House of Usher”, the narrator speaks in first person, as he is a character in the story. The narrator character in this short story can be explained as, “a character in the story, who interacts with other characters; we see those interactions through the narrator 's eyes, and we can 't know anything the narrator doesn 't know” (Reed). Although I desire to know what is going on, I also enjoy being surprised by a story. This is why I prefer that the narrator character type be first person interacting with the other

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