Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque

“The Fall of Roderick Usher” Although Edgar Allen Poe is known for his short stories that haunt and disturb the reader long after they are read, “The Fall of the House of Usher” is on a completely different level of disheartening because is focuses on the heavy similarities between the characters and the setting to distress and confuse the reader. Between the vomit-inducing mentions of incest, the connection between his lineage and Roderick, and the clear effects that being trapped in the…

The poems "Nighttime Fires" and "Seniors" both deal directly with memories of their authors' experiences as youths. In "Nighttime Fires", Regina Barreca tells the reader that after her father lost his job he developed an unhealthy obsession with watching houses burn. She then discusses how he involved his family in this somewhat insalubrious fixation. Similarly, in "Seniors", Alberto Rios discusses several events that had an impact on him and the word choices he uses relay that he still allows…

The novel Steppenwolf had a dark and mysterious storyline. It shows how one can struggle with the feeling of loneliness. The novel Steppenwolf takes place in an unspecified, medium-sized town in a German-speaking country. The novel was taking place between the two world wars. “You are to live and learn to laugh,” (216). Everyone knows what it takes to live, but many struggle with knowing to laugh. Harry Haller feels to be a Steppenwolf a lonesome candid of steppes. Drifting away and alone in a…

CLEAN YOUR HOME SWEEP YOUR MIND Summary Mind is a vulnerable thing, too prone to stress and anxiety .This makes it very important to de-stress our mind by de-cluttering our surroundings and home. Who wants to be lost in his own house searching for keys, wallet etc. eventually delaying all the plans and starting the day off on a wrong foot. Here are a few tried and tested tips on making your home a better place by organizing it and getting it in order: Body 1. Bursting at the Seams We often…

Compare The Haunting Hill House & Rose Red The Haunting of Hill house it to be almost exactly the same as Rose Red. Because the two houses have evil spirits, and they have almost the same experiences in the house. The stories of the people who died in each of them are very different. For example, the history of the two houses is something similar because both are houses where strange things happen, it is also where bad spirits or other people's spirits take over the places to scare the people.…

The Alice of 1880, from “The Oke of Okehurst”, has a connection with Alice of 1626 and her lover Lovelock akin to that displayed between Heathcliff and Catherine. This ghost story, though written around forty years after Wuthering Heights, provides similar psychological elements, revealing that the topic remains relevant even into the late 19th century “when theories about hallucination and its relation to the troubled psyche were in circulation” (Liggins 5). In both, desperate individuals use…

The short stories, My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke, My Last Duchess by Robert Browning, and Ozymandias by Percy B. Shelley, all incorporate characters who promote the plot. While there are noticeable differences between each poem, the similarities stand. Differences include variances in plot, types of characters, and unique writing style integrated by the authors. Similarities that unite the three poems involve the various characters having a role to further the generality of the plot. 4…

Grief holds power over the mind, bringing sorrowful thoughts and painful memories to a life once bound for happiness. Edgar Allan Poe’s childhood could have been one of dreams, but instead was consumed by the nightmare that was the death of both his parents. In the years that followed, many of those around him met their demise and left a mark on the writer. Seemingly in a constant state of grief, Poe never saw true happiness. Specifically, the death of Poe’s wife brought him pain shortly…

Romanticism Within a Dream The eclectic storyteller Edgar Allen Poe tells a classic tale of lost love on the surface in the classic poem A Dream Within a Dream. Though, according to poemuesm.com (POEMUSEUM.ORG), he was most notable credited for his science fiction / horror style stories. Further examination of this poem divulges a much bigger picture that reflects heavily on the characteristics of the Romanticism era that is present in much of Poe’s work especially his poetry. A Dream Within a…

It was a day just like today. The fields were bleak and the skies were a dark gray. I remember that day. The day that my parents had passed. It was December 20, 1784; my mother and father were sailing north towards Norway to celebrate the holidays with relatives. I decided to stay home as much of my family did not enjoy my presence. I was the least successful of the Evenstad name. Many of my relatives looked down at me, as most of my wealth was inherited from my parents, and not from the family…