The Altered State of Mind & Theme of Perversity E D G A R A L L A N P O E The Altered State of Mind & Theme of Perversity “The Descent into Madness…”

HORROR FICTION Horror fiction, horror literature and also horror fantasy is a genre of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten, scare, or startle its readers by inducing feelings of horror and terror. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society.

Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre. Edgar Allen Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic. Poe’s short stories can be recognized by his suspenseful tone, his characters’ murderous tendencies as well as the common theme of their descent into madness.

Poe’s Common Elements Edgar Allen Poe likes to use descriptive detail, the power of imagery and sound which adds suspense to the tone of the short story. Poe likes to use the concept of “the unreliable narrator”: In the tales of criminal insanity, Poe’s narrators are unnamed and often unreliable. They claim their sanity and then proceed to detail their pathological madness. Poe’s first-person narrators produce unreliable confessions. They control the narrative, and we see only through their eyes. However, they describe their own pathological actions so carefully that they demonstrate that they are actually insane

In Media Res In Media Res or Medias in Res (into the middle of affairs) is a Latin phrase representing the literary or narrative technique wherein the relation of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusion, rather than at the beginning of the story.

The Tell Tale Heart The Black Cat

Poe’s Literary Techniques The Tell-Tale Heart The Black Cat Sound Imagery Personification Tone Metaphor Simile Mood

What drives the narrators or characters into the deterioration and the alteration of their mind is a very prominent theme in Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories.

Both “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat” are not the DISNEY short stories we are used to reading… What GENRE/TYPE OF STORY does Poe writes? We Will find Out How does Poe accomplish this?

PARANOIA INSANITY TRAUMA PERVERSITY DETERIORATION OBSESSION DISABILITY What Drives a Man to be in an Altered State of Mind… TRAUMA PERVERSITY DETERIORATION OBSESSION DISABILITY

“The Tell Tale Heart”  We are introduced to our first narrator…  He is an unknown man that claims he is not insane but otherwise proves us differently…  He is obsessed with an old man sleep in a room not far by…He mentions how the old man’s eye is continuously watching him…haunting him…  He decides to do something about it…

Things to Look Out For… The Eye The Planks The Vulture The Heart

ANALYSIS QUESTIONS What does the story's title mean? The narrator claims he is not mad. What evidence do we have that he is? The two controlling symbols in the story are the eye and the heart. What might these two symbols represent? What does the act of hiding the body under the floorboards of the house symbolize ? Is the narrator stricken with guilt? What is the difference between guilt and remorse?