MASTER OF THE SHORT STORY EDGAR ALLAN POE MASTER OF THE SHORT STORY

FACTORS THAT LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SHORT STORY Literate public Leisure time Rise of periodicals (magazines) Need to fill periodicals with short fiction

POE’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE SHORT STORY Edited magazines that carried them Encouraged writers to create and submit short stories to his magazines ***He devised the basic theories and criteria for the short story

POE’S CRITERIA FOR THE SHORT STORY Fictional narrative Can be completely read in one sitting so as to give a unified impact 1 or 2 well-defined characters Simple plot with only a few main events ***A single, unified, impression or psychological effect: all elements of the story are designed to produce that effect

PLOT STRUCTURE RISING ACTION: COMPLICATIONS CLIMAX: where we find out if protagonist reaches goal or not Level of suspense RISING ACTION: COMPLICATIONS RESOLUTION/DENOUMENT EXPOSITION: time, place (setting), basic situation, main characters Time

POE WAS INTERESTED IN . . . Different levels and states of consciousness Semi-conscious: between sleep and full consciousness: gray areas Hyper-conscious: beyond normal consciousness Death: nothing more than a level of consciousness on a continuum “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “Tell-Tale Heart” DEATH SLEEP HYPER-CONSCIOUSNESS

POE WAS INTERESTED IN . . . People in situations of tremendous stress, pressure, and anxiety Studied the psychological effects and how this effected behavior Often uses 1st person narration to draw the reader into the psychology of the character “The Raven,” “The Fall of the House of Usher”

POE WAS INTERESTED IN . . . The abnormal or insane mind: Often occurs as a result of tremendous stresses Can be seen as an “altered level of consciousness” Tries to get at the causes of insanity “Tell-Tale Heart,” “Cask of Amontillado”

PSYCHOLOGICAL REALISM At least 50 years ahead of his time in understanding of psychological Tries to understand and represent the working of the mind well before: Literary Realism Psychology became a real, true science

DARK ROMANTICS Romantic Elements: Unromantic Elements Imagination, emotion, deeper truths beyong the physical (though they be dark ones), Gothic Elements Unromantic Elements Not optimistic about nature, human nature, not sure about God’s nature or existence.