The Different Techniques Used in Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe, a very well know author, doesn‘t just write to write. He writes to intrigue readers into wanting more. There are many different techniques that he uses in his stories and three of them are point of View, characterization, and foreshadowing. The techniques create a sense of curiosity or even confusement to bring the readers into the story. In The Black Cat, one of the techniques Poe uses is the first-person point-of-view. Using first person in this story made the reader seem scared and anxious because it made it seem as if the narrator was talking to them.

It helps the reader feel like they know the narrator or are speaking to them in real life. A second technique he used was characterization. When the narrator states they are “mad indeed,..Yet. mad [they are] not” it helps the reader understand that they probably are crazy. There are events that “terrified-have tortured have destroyed” the narrator so it can help make assumptions that the narrator is not okay mentally or physically.

Characterization helps readers get a gist of who is telling the story so they can know them more, one last technique used was foreshadowing.

Though the foreshadowing can be obvious, it is still one technique he will use. When the narrator says he will tell the reader a story, he mentions later that what happened to him was terrible, so foreshadowing could be used to assume that the story was about the terrible things that happened. The Facts in the Case of M.

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Valdemar have the same techniques in it as well. There is the first person point-of-view where the narrator is addressing the reader. They are talking to the reader and talking as if the reader is crazy for not knowing about a case going on. it makes the story feel more intimate because the narrator is addressing the reader. The characterization helps the reader understand the narrator. Whether the narrator was part of the case in the story or not or their personality the characterization can help the reader feel like they have always known the narrator. Foreshadowing is one other technique in this story.

The foreshadowing in this story helps the reader understand that the story they are being told was supposed to be secret but they are being told anything. The reader will be able to have a better understanding of the story’s possible plot before they read further into it, the final story, the Cask ofAmonti Iado, shows the same three techniques. The narrator, Montresor. is telling the reader a story that they were involved in. Because the story is told from the narrator’s memories and spoken right to the reader as if they were friends, the story is more intimate. The reader is able to get into the mind of the narrator rather than knowing only the actions going on if it were third person. Characterization is very present within the first few paragraphs in the story. When the narrator states that they “must not only punish, but punish with impunity” you can easily see their personality, which would be evil for him.

It gives the reader a better comprehension of the character so it feels more like they know them. Foreshadowing is used a lot in the first paragraph of The Cask ofArnonti/Iado. When Montresor the narrator. says “the thousand injuries of Fortunato [he] had borne as best [he] could” it foreshadows that the narrator may try to hurt the character. It gives the reader an idea of what the story may be about and will help them later in the story when they fit the pieces together. The foreshadowing may even confuse the reader so they ask why the narrator says what they do and then later in a story they can use the plot to understand what they meant techniques, such as the ones Poe uses, pique interests for readers the three examples are not the only ones though. Pacing and creation of tension are others that Poe uses. Using techniques in stories will help make readers interested, keeping them curious so they keep reading more.