“The Tell Tale Heart” Some examples of Literary Techniques/ Figurative Language Figurative Language • Language that cannot be taken literally; the words mean something BEYOND what they say so… YOU HAVE TO “FIGURE” OUT THEIR MEANING Alliteration • The repetition of certain sounds (consonance/assonance). • “Hearken! And observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story.” Consonance • Consonance is a poetic device characterized by the repetition of the same consonant two or more times in short succession, as in "pitter patter" or in "all mammals named Sam are clammy". • “I heard all things in heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell.” Personification • Giving attributes/qualities of a human being to an animal, object, or concept. “Death in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped the victim.” Death is not a person, and therefore could not literally stalk anyone, but presenting it as a predator creates a sinister mood. “For it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye.” Simile • A comparison of two unlike things using like or as • “So I opened it – you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily – until at length a single dim ray like the thread of the spider shot out from the crevice and fell upon the vulture eye”. Metaphor • A comparison between two unlike things WITHOUT using like or as. • “One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture- a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Irony • Something unexpected occurs • Literary technique that involves surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions • “I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him.” Symbolism • A symbol can be anything that stands for something else. • In literature, a symbol can have deeper meaning. The Heart • Traditionally the heart symbolizes the emotional center of the individual. • In "The Tell-Tale Heart," it symbolizes the narrator's guilt. • He hears the heart twice, immediately before killing the old man and when the police are investigating the crime. • Is it possible the narrator hears his own heart? Vulture • Vultures prey on the sick and dead. • Vulture represents the narrator. How? • Vulture represents the old man. How? The Bed(room) • The bed in "The Tell-Tale Heart" symbolizes the opposite of what beds and bedrooms should be about normally. • The narrator violates all bedroom etiquette, by exploiting the vulnerability of the one who is sleeping. We are perhaps most vulnerable in bed, and we sleep well when we feel safe. • Poe turns the symbol of the bed on its head. The narrator uses the bed as a weapon to snuff out the old man. • Creepy. The Lantern • This lantern is pretty cool. It has hinged panels that can be adjusted to let in as much or as little light as you want. • The narrator keeps most of the light hidden, only allowing one "ray" to escape. • This lantern is the narrator's weapon against the old man's eye. That's what we see on the eighth night – the lantern and the eye in a stare-down. Extension Activity • Using evidence from the text, pretend that you are the lawyer for or against the narrator during his upcoming trial. • How would you defend or prosecute him? • Is there enough evidence? in medias res • Suspense. Flashbacks. Memories. • Did you notice how "The Tell-Tale Heart" dove right into the middle of the story and provided the back-story later? • That technique is called "in medias res," and it's been used for ages – even way back in ancient Greek literature. • Write the "The Cask of Amontillado" in medias res.
