The Tell-Tale Heart

1. The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe 1843

2. Summary The Tell-Tale Heart is a powerful psychological thriller that gives an account of a murder from the perspective of its perpetrator, a deranged madman. The narrator plots to kill an old man to forever rid himself of his “Evil Eye”. For seven nights the narrator stalks the old man, waiting to catch his enemy-the eye-open.

3. …Continued • When the time arrives, on the eighth night, he meticulously carries out the heinous murder and disembodiment of his victim. The madman’s victory is short-lived, however, as his paranoia couples with guilt. As his emotions intensify, so does his insanity.

4. …Continued • His insanity manifests itself as the sound of a heartbeat that becomes louder and louder. At the pinnacle of madness, the narrator can no longer endure his guilty conscience, and he confesses his crime.

5. Simile • Poe uses this type of figurative language to compare two unlike things, typically marked by use of “like” or “as”: A low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton…

6. Personification • Poe also uses personification to enhance his storytelling: All in vain; because Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim…

7. Alliteration • Poe used alliteration to establish mood, call attention to important words, and point out similarities and contrasts: hideous heart

8. Repetition • Poe would often repeat words or certain phrases to achieve a stronger emphasis: Louder, Louder

9. Grim Humor • Poe used topics and events that are usually treated seriously- death, mass murder, sickness, madness, terror, drug abuse, war, etc., and treated them in a humorous or satirical manner: “I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him.”

10. Horror & Supernatural • Poe’s writing intended to scare, unsettle, or horrify the audience. The cause of the “horror” experience had often been the intrusion of an evil- or occasionally, misunderstood supernatural element into everyday human experience: “Death, in approaching him, had stalked…”