Monday, February 27, 2017

Poe's The Haunted Palace, The Black Cat, The Cask of Amontillado, Fall of the House of Usher, Evening Star, A Dream and A Tell Tale Heart.


The Haunted Palace by Poe is a great poem. The palace is described as beautiful, which I loved because you get this sense of imagery that you didn’t imagine was possible. There were pretty palace doors and when you look in there was dancing going on. To me, this just seems like an overall happy place. Somewhere you can go to always clear your head. Unfortunately, the palace was attacked by evil things. All of those beautiful things go away, and that was really hard to read. You can tell how evil this placed has turned out. The palace becomes creepy, which I didn’t like because I saw the palace as something beautiful. Poe completely surprises us when he writes this because it comes out with an outcome we didn’t expect.

The Black Cat by Poe was also a great read. As readers, we don’t know the narrator, but we do realize that he confesses a great love for cats and dogs. He also marries at a young age and introduces all kinds of pets to his wife. Though, all of these pets are noticed, he loved the big black cat named Pluto the most. The narrator becomes a drunk and comes home to cut one of the cat’s eyes out. This came as a shock to me because I thought he loved this cat. He murders the car and they also get a new cat. This started to become a little bit of a weird read for me. Why would Poe make the story like this? The police storm the house and bust down a wall where the corpse laid. Upon the head was the missing cat. Now this, I didn’t expect. It is like the cat was there trying to mess with him and pop out and say remember me? This was also a creepy read, especially because it was a black cat.

The Cask of Amontillado by Poe is one of my favorites. I have read it in previous classes and enjoyed it just as much. Montresor expresses that he is seeking revenge for Fortunato. When he sends his men to the carnival he then starts to taste the wine. He begins to cough and the narrator tries to get him to go back him but he doesn’t want to. They continue to explore under the vaults and they see many dead bodies. As the story goes on, we realize that Montresor traps Fortunato and starts to build a wall around him. I believe this whole thing is analyzing their trip to hell. Things don’t go as he planned so he takes it to his level on how he thinks things should be done. Poe writes the strangest things, but it always leaves us on our toes no matter what.

Fall of the House of Usher by Poe is also one of my favorites. Of course, since it is written by Poe, it starts out dark and mysterious. The narrator approaches a house that is super creepy, and dark. Roderick wrote him a letter saying to come to the house because he was very ill and needed his help. He mentions that the inside is just as creepy as the outside. Roderick is very sick and pale he mentions. His sister Madeline has died but also comes back alive. Madeline attacks Roderick and he dies of fear. The narrator hurries out of the house and once he makes it outside, the house falls to the ground. This was such an amazing ending I thought because you were expecting for him and his friend to both make it out. Once again, you never know with Poe.

Evening Star by Poe was also an interesting read because he starts the setting off by explaining that it is midnight. He explains that the moons light always will shine brighter than the starts light. The mid planets seem to represent Poe himself. The moon controls him and we realize that this would be a women. He is her slave. He explains that the women is too cruel for him. He changes from being angry and now he is starting to act happier. He realizes that gazing at the far away star makes him happy even though he knows it is far away. The light of the star is more powerful to him. We can see his journey throughout the poem with the women and I love the imagery he chose to use here.

A Dream and A Tell Tale Heart by Poe of course starts out by not knowing the narrator. This seems to be a popular thing during his writing. We start to realize that this man has killed an old man. He isn’t mad, even though he is a criminal. The old man cries for help and we can realize that he is scared. But, before anyone will hear him, the narrator kills the old man. The police arrive and they don’t expect a thing from him, but they start hearing something from under the floor boards. The narrator hopes that they don’t hear anything that he does, but they do. The narrator then says that they need to start ripping up the floor boards and get him out because he is alive. He lays out a tale of murder, and he becomes familiar with this old man. This story was interesting to me because he comes to close to this old man but still kills him. Poe seems to have a pattern in his works, and I find that so interesting.

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