Tell-Tale Heart

1. Point of view: In the story, the narator has a first person point of view because he also acts as the main character in the story.


2. Style: give one example of:


2.1 Imagery

''A watch's minute hand moves more quickly than did mine.''

This is a good example of the use of imagery in the text because it really shows how the narrator moved slowly and in a subtle way, juste like the long hand on a clock.

Darkness
Sounds-Heart beat/beating of drums/clock ticking

2.2 Metaphor

The narrator frequently calls the old man's eye the ''vulture eye''. As mentionned by the main character, the old man's eye looks like a vulture's eye, thus explaining the metaphor.

Stone dead

2.3 Simile

''His room was as black as pitch...''

In this sentence, Poe compares the darkness of the room with pitch, a black and thick substance.

Heart beating like a drum
Ray of light like the thread of a spider

2.4 Personification

''ALL IN VAIN, because Death in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped the victim.''

In this sentence, the narrator clearly talks about death not as an event, but as a character because of the use of a capital letter for the word Death, the fact that Death ''approached'' and ''stalked'' (actions) and finally because of the use of the pronoun ''his'' to mention Death.


2.5 Irony

It is the main character's problem with his too sharp senses that leads him to kill the old man. However, it also leads him to reveal that he commited the old man's murder at the end of the story, which makes the ending ironic.

''It's ironic that the narrator thought the old man was kind, but he killed because he was evil.'' (kindness vs. cruelty)
''It's ironic that he conceals the body really well, then he gives himself away.'' (precautious vs. being honest)
''He says that he is not mad, but he really is insane.'' (insanity vs. sanity)

Prefixes:

Dis-ease/simulation
Im-possible
Fore-sight
De-tect/definiteness
Mid-dle/night
UN-did
Con-cealment
Pre-caution
Intro-duce
Ex-cite

Suffixes

Motion-less
Uncontroll-able
Imposs-ible

Themes:

1. ''A human being has a perverse, wicked side that can goad (force) him or her into doing evil things with no apparent motive.''

2. ''Fear of discovery can bring about discovery.''

3. ''The Evil within is worse than the Evil or ugliness without.''