“The Tell Tale Heart”
Some examples of Literary Techniques/
Figurative Language
within Poe’s famous short story
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.
FYI-- Glaucoma- eye disease that
could lead to partial or complete loss
of vision
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.”
Understatementthe opposite of hyperbole
• “I made up my mind to take the life of the
old man and thus rid myself of the eye
forever. Now this is the point. You fancy
me mad.”
• At this point, the reader already thinks this
is the understatement of the century.
Symbolism
• A symbol can be anything that
stands for something else.
• In literature, a symbol can have
deeper meaning.
Symbolism
• The narrator mentions a watch four times in the story.
A watch is a visual and auditory representation of
time. The watch watches time, and tells tales of time.
Time can also be said to be watching death, up ahead
in the distance. Each tick of the watch symbolizes a
movement closer to the inevitable death that all
humans face. Poe presents this subtly in the story's
first mention of the watch: "A watch's minute hand
moves more quickly than did mine"
Symbolism
• This lantern is pretty cool. You can burn a candle or oil in
it (doesn't say which in the story), but 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.
It also suggests that sometimes there is light hiding in the
darkest places. If we can figure our how to get our lanterns
open, we can see it. Can you find any hidden light in this
dark tale?
Symbolism
• 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 one
who is sleeping. We are perhaps most vulnerable
in bed, and we sleep well when we feel safe in our
bedrooms. Poe turns the symbol of the bed on its
head. The narrator uses the bed as a weapon to
snuff out the old man. And since the bed is the
murder weapon, it's logical that the bedroom is the
burial place. Creepy.
HOMEWORK
• Does anyone have an example that they did
for homework last night that wasn’t on this
Powerpoint? Please raise your hand and
share your example with the class.