Poe's Writing Style

Scott Lee
19 Jan 201714:46
EducationalLearning
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TLDRThis lecture delves into Edgar Allan Poe's distinctive writing style, focusing on his use of first-person and unreliable narrators to create suspense and intimacy with disturbed characters. Poe's rhythmic prose, rich with vivid descriptions and figurative language, is highlighted, along with his penchant for complex meters and sound effects in poetry. Students are challenged to imitate Poe's style in an assignment, incorporating techniques such as alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia to capture the essence of his gothic storytelling.

Takeaways
  • 📚 The lecture focuses on Edgar Allan Poe's writing style and introduces assignments related to his work in the Gothic American literature unit.
  • 📖 Students are assigned to either write a parody of 'The Raven' or a short story imitating Poe's style, showcasing his subject matter and narrative techniques.
  • 🧐 Poe is known for his focus on horror and the visceral communication of the unpleasantness of his subject matter, often involving madness, violence, and sadness.
  • 🗣️ First-person narration is a key technique in Poe's stories, allowing readers to experience the emotions and thoughts of the main character, often an unreliable narrator.
  • 🤔 The use of an unreliable narrator increases suspense and prompts readers to question the reality of the narrative, as seen in 'The Tell-Tale Heart'.
  • 🎶 Poe's writing is characterized by a rhythmic style, with a preference for complex and specific meters in his poetry, contributing to a nursery rhyme-like rhythm.
  • 🌐 Poe's descriptions are rich in sensual details and figurative language, using similes, metaphors, and personification to create vivid imagery.
  • 💬 The conversational nature of Poe's narration involves the narrator speaking directly to the audience, often with emotional intensity that escalates as the story progresses.
  • ✍️ Poe's writing includes the use of big, complex words, and a thesaurus can be a helpful tool for understanding and imitating his vocabulary.
  • 🎵 Sound effects play a significant role in Poe's poetry, with techniques like alliteration, assonance, rhyme, and onomatopoeia used to enhance the auditory experience.
  • 📝 The lecture concludes with the larger assignment of writing a story or poem that imitates Poe's style, using the discussed techniques to capture his essence.
Q & A

  • What is the main focus of Edgar Allan Poe's writing style?

    -Edgar Allan Poe's writing style is mainly focused on horror, with a focus on the unpleasantness of extreme situations such as violence, loss, sadness, and madness.

  • What are the two primary assignments mentioned for Edgar Allan Poe's portion of the gothic American literature unit?

    -The two primary assignments are to either write a parody of 'The Raven' imitating Poe's poetic style or to write a short story that imitates his prose style.

  • Why does Poe often use the first-person narrator in his stories?

    -Poe uses the first-person narrator to get up close and personal with the emotions of his characters, particularly the main character, allowing the reader to experience the thoughts and actions of very disturbing individuals.

  • What is the effect of using an unreliable narrator in Poe's stories?

    -The use of an unreliable narrator increases suspense for the reader and leaves them questioning what is real and what isn't, as they cannot fully trust the narrator's account of events.

  • How does Poe's writing style differ from other contemporary authors like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving?

    -While Hawthorne and Irving also write dark themes, Poe is the first American writer to focus on the visceral communication of horror and the unpleasantness of extreme situations.

  • What is the significance of the rhythmic fashion in which Poe writes?

    -Poe's rhythmic writing, especially in his poetry, creates a clapping ball rhythm that is very strict and complex, contributing to the overall atmosphere and intensity of his works.

  • How does Poe use description in his writing?

    -Poe uses extensive similes, metaphors, and personification to create long, detailed descriptions that appeal to the senses, similar to Shakespeare's descriptive style.

  • What is the conversational aspect of Poe's narration?

    -Poe's narrators often speak directly to the audience, using rhetorical questions and emotional speech, making the narration feel more like a personal conversation.

  • How does Poe show the intensification of energy or emotion in his characters?

    -Poe indicates intensification through the use of short, choppy sentences and dashes, reflecting the chaotic and jumpy thoughts of his characters as the story becomes more intense.

  • What is the role of sound effects in Poe's poetry?

    -Poe heavily utilizes sound effects such as alliteration, assonance, rhyme, and onomatopoeia to create a rich auditory experience that enhances the mood and tone of his poetry.

  • What vocabulary-related technique does Poe often employ in his writing?

    -Poe is known for using big, fancy words and a large vocabulary, often opting for a single complex word over a simple phrase or clause to convey his meaning.

Outlines
00:00
📚 Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe's Writing Style

The lecture begins with an introduction to Edgar Allan Poe's writing style, focusing on his subject matter and techniques. Poe is renowned for writing about madness, violence, and horror, and is considered the first American writer to specialize in horror. The lecturer explains that Poe's stories often employ a first-person narrator who is also the main character, allowing for an intimate portrayal of disturbed individuals. This technique is exemplified in stories like 'The Cask of Amontillado' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart'. The lecture also mentions an assignment for students to either parody 'The Raven' or write a short story imitating Poe's style, emphasizing the exploration of extreme situations to reveal the true nature of his characters.

05:02
🎭 Poe's Use of First-Person and Unreliable Narrators

This paragraph delves deeper into Poe's narrative techniques, particularly the use of first-person narration and unreliable narrators. The lecturer points out that Poe's narrators are often untrustworthy, which heightens suspense and forces readers to question the reality of the events described. Examples such as 'The Tell-Tale Heart' illustrate how an unreliable narrator can lead the audience to doubt the sanity of the character, despite their protestations of rationality. The paragraph also touches on the conversational nature of Poe's narration, where the narrator directly addresses the audience, adding to the intensity and emotional depth of the stories.

10:03
📖 Poe's Rhythmic Writing and Rich Descriptions

The lecturer discusses Poe's distinctive writing style, characterized by rhythmic prose and poetry, as well as the extensive use of descriptive language. Poe's works are known for their strict adherence to rhythm and meter, with minimal changes throughout his poems, such as 'The Raven'. The paragraph also highlights Poe's penchant for detailed descriptions using similes, metaphors, and personification, akin to Shakespeare's style. The lecturer advises students to include rich sensory details and figurative language when imitating Poe's style, and to consider using a thesaurus to find more complex vocabulary, as Poe was known for his expansive lexicon.

🎼 Sound Effects and Poetic Techniques in Poe's Works

The final paragraph of the script focuses on the auditory elements in Poe's poetry, including alliteration, assonance, rhyme, and onomatopoeia. Poe's fondness for sound effects is evident in his use of these techniques to create a distinct auditory experience for the reader. The paragraph provides examples of each sound effect and explains how they contribute to the overall atmosphere and intensity of the poems. The lecturer also mentions the assignment to write a story or poem in Poe's style, suggesting that students incorporate these sound effects to capture the essence of his work.

Mindmap
Keywords
💡Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic, known for his influential works of the dark romanticism subgenre in a part of literary history of the 19th century. In the script, Poe is discussed as a central figure in American Gothic literature, famous for his focus on horror and the macabre, which is integral to the theme of the lecture.
💡Subject Verb Agreement
Subject-verb agreement refers to the grammatical rule that the subject and verb in a sentence must agree in number. The script mentions this concept as a previous lecture topic, indicating the educational context of the series and setting the stage for the current lecture's focus on Poe's writing style.
💡Gothic American Literature
Gothic American literature is a genre that combines elements of horror, romance, and supernatural occurrences, often reflecting the anxieties of the society. The script places Poe within this genre, emphasizing his contributions and the dark themes that characterize his work.
💡First-Person Narrator
A first-person narrator is a character within a story who tells it from their own perspective. Poe frequently uses this narrative technique, allowing readers to experience the story through the eyes of the protagonist, often revealing their innermost thoughts and emotions, as illustrated in stories like 'The Cask of Amontillado' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart'.
💡Unreliable Narrator
An unreliable narrator is a character whose credibility is compromised, leading readers to doubt the accuracy of the story they tell. The script cites 'The Tell-Tale Heart' as an example of this technique, where the narrator's protestations of sanity only serve to convince the reader of their insanity, thereby increasing suspense and engaging the reader's judgment.
💡Rhythmic Writing
Rhythmic writing in literature refers to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that give the text a musical quality. Poe is noted for his strict adherence to rhythm in his poetry, creating a 'clap-trap ball' rhythm that is almost nursery rhyme-like, as mentioned in the script, which is a distinctive feature of his style.
💡Sensual Details
Sensual details are descriptive elements that appeal to the five senses, enriching the narrative by engaging the reader's senses. The script suggests that Poe's writing is characterized by an abundance of such details, using similes, metaphors, and personification to create vivid and immersive scenes.
💡Conversational Narration
Conversational narration is a style where the narrator speaks directly to the reader, often using rhetorical questions or addressing the audience. The script notes that Poe's narrators frequently adopt this approach, making the storytelling more intimate and interactive.
💡Emotional Intensity
Emotional intensity refers to the heightened emotional state of a character or the narrative itself. The script explains that as the story's tension increases, so does the emotional intensity of the narration, with sentences becoming shorter and more choppy, reflecting the character's state of mind.
💡Vocabulary
Poe's writing is known for its extensive and sophisticated vocabulary, often employing complex or 'fancy' words in place of simpler expressions. The script suggests that to imitate Poe's style, one might consult a thesaurus for more elaborate word choices, highlighting the richness of language in his work.
💡Sound Effects
Sound effects in literature include the use of alliteration, assonance, rhyme, and onomatopoeia to create auditory patterns and enhance the reading experience. The script details how Poe makes extensive use of these techniques in his poetry, contributing to the musicality and memorable quality of his writing.
Highlights

Lecture on Edgar Allan Poe's writing style and subject matter focusing on horror and the visceral communication of the unpleasant.

Introduction of assignments involving imitating Poe's style through a parody of 'The Raven' or a short story.

Poe's preference for first-person narration to closely engage with the emotions and disturbing actions of the characters.

Use of unreliable narrators to increase suspense and challenge the reader's perception of reality.

Poe's rhythmic writing style, with a focus on complex and specific meters in his poetry.

Emerson's nickname for Poe as the 'jingle master' due to the beats and rhythm in his poetry.

The importance of rich descriptions and figurative language in Poe's writing, including similes, metaphors, and personification.

Poe's conversational narration style, with narrators speaking directly to the audience and using rhetorical questions.

The emotional intensity of the narration increasing with the story's intensity, reflected in the shortening and choppiness of sentences.

Poe's fondness for using big and complex words, often preferring a single word over a phrase or clause.

Sound effects in Poe's poetry, including alliteration, assonance, and rhyme schemes.

The use of internal rhyme and complex rhyme patterns in Poe's poetry to enhance the reading experience.

Onomatopoeia in Poe's writing, where words are chosen to imitate the sounds they represent.

Assignment details to be discussed in class, including the creation of a short story or poem imitating Poe's style.

The provided techniques and elements from Poe's style that students can borrow for their assignments.

Reference to additional resources in the textbook and video for further understanding of Poe's style.

Transcripts

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Related Tags
Poe ImitationGothic LiteratureWriting StyleFirst-PersonUnreliable NarratorRhythmic WritingSensual DetailsFigurative LanguageSound EffectsAlliterationOnomatopoeia