Edgar Allan Poe- "The Tell-Tale Heart"

           "The Tell-Tale Heart" is another one of Edgar Allan Poe's odd, thrilling short stories. In this short story the narrator lives in a house with this extremely unattractive old man. Every single time the narrator looks at this old man, he cant take it because the man is so ugly and has this bulging eye that creeps him out. This eye makes the narrator so incredibly freaked out that he desperately wants to get rid of the old man. He finally decides he will get rid of the man by killing him. He tried many times while the man was asleep; however he could not bring himself to do it. But in the mornings when he sees the man with his eye open he wished he had killed him. Finally he sneaks into his room, kills him, cuts apart the body into pieces, and puts it under the wood floor. The police come because the neighbors reported a shriek. They inspect the house and find nothing, so they all sit in the very room in which the old man is buried. The narrator is haunted by the heart beat of the old man and finally goes mad, ripping the floor up, revealing the remains of the man.
          Again Poe has written another weird creepy short story that I have found very interesting and entertaining. This story shows guilt in an interesting way. The narrator did not go crazy because he was mad and rip up the floors revealing the man, however his guilt ate away at him so much that he could not take it any more.  Many people feel this way inside about guilt, and Poe shows what too much guilt will do to one; eating away at them. He uses the heartbeat of the man to represent the narrators guilty conscience.

Question: How did he know the 'old man'?

Edgar Allan Poe-"The Fall of the House of Usher"

          "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a thrilling short story about a man who goes to visit a childhood friend of his because his friend had written to him and told him that he was sick. The narrator goes to his old friend's- Roderick Usher- house and sees for himself that his friend is in fact sick. Roderick explains to him that he and his sister are the last of the Ushers, and she is about to die soon. She then does 'die', and they put her in the basement area in the house. One creepy night neither of them could sleep, and Roderick thinks he hears his sister and is scared that they buried her alive. They check downstairs; she was covered in blood standing in the doorway and throws herself at Roderick, and he eventually dies. The narrator runs away from the house.
           I enjoy Edgar Allan Poe short stories, especially The Fall of the House of Usher. This short story was weird and very entertaining. It kept you reading because you always wanted to know what was going to happen next. The spin at the end was great. In general I like Poes odd writing style.     

Question: Did she intentionally kill him?

Edgar Allan Poe- "The Raven"

          "The Raven", by Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most known short stories of Poe. It is known for its dramatic qualities, and its unique story. In this short story there is a man sitting in his house and he keeps hearing knocking noises and thinks it is the wind. Eventually he figures out that there is a bird tapping outside. He starts talking to the  bird and surprisingly he talks back, although he only says 'nevermore'. He keeps talking to the bird, and all he has to say is the same word; nevermore. Finally he gets aggravated and says the bird is from the devil.
          This was a nice story to read, and a good change up from the usual packets. Short stories are great because they are short and sweet. In this poem the main character is dwelling over an old lover named Lenore who has gone. He talks to the bird about it but the bird simply brings him down by saying nevermore. In conclusion I liked this short story because it was short, and to the point.

Question: Why does he choose the bird to be a raven?