Students will be reading a selection of Edgar Allan Poe readings.

For the readings attached here, write a 2 page response essay responding to the information you learned in the attached PowerPoint. Use what you learned to discuss the story and help me and your readers understand how to "interpret" Poe's stories better. Don't just identify what you find, explain it and make connections between the stories.

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From the PowerPoint, it is apparent that gothic literature comprises some specific elements that differentiate it from other types of literature. Edgar Allan Poe seems to have paid attention to most of the features of gothic literature. Close examination of such features makes it easy to understand Poes writing, which normally presents trouble to most readers. Even though the features may not be apparent or consistent in all writings by Poe, it is clearly depicted in both The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat. Therefore, this assignment identifies some of the elements that help the readers interpret Poes stories better by paying attention to the above-mentioned stories.

First, it is apparent that what moves the plot of the two stories is the idea of privileged irrationality and passion as opposed to rationality and reason. The characters of both stories are portrayed as being irrational in some way, and their entire actions cannot be rationally justified even though the character in The Tell-Tale Heart tries to justify his or her rationality by stating that he was telling the story healthily and while calm (Poe,) In The Black Cat, the persona is irrational and driven by misplaced passion. In the beginning, the narrator is portrayed as a friendly and loving. The narrator has a loving wife and is fond of the cat. However, the narrator changed and started mistreating and even killing them. Irrationality and passion are some of the gothic elements that can help in interpreting gothic literature such as Poes writings.

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