1. Edgar Allan Poe The Father of Horror
The Fall of the House of Usher
11th grade English

2. Brief Objectives
Understand and appreciate a classic Gothic short story by creating a literary analysis
Identify, understand, and create mood in a short story
Understand, write, and use complex sentences in your own writing.

3. Poe’s Philosophy on Writing
“-the writer of a literary work must plot the work out completely before beginning to write-”
- “The Philosophy of Composition” (1846)

4. Poe’s Particular Genius
His stories were crafted to create:
Unity of Effect
Every part, detail, etc. designed to contribute to a single overall feeling

5. How it was done… Displays 3 mood-building techniques
Detailed descriptions of settings through imagery and figurative language
Precisely chosen words and phrases
Use of a narrator who observes and participates in the events

6. Use of Sentence Structure
Uses several complex sentences to pile detail upon detail
describing scenes
conveying emotions

7. What is a complex sentence?
Has one independent clause
Has a subject, verb, and complete thought
Can stand alone as a sentence
Has one or more subordinate clauses
Will have a subject and verb, but NO complete thought
Can’t stand alone as a sentence.

8. How to find a SUB. Clause
Often begins with a subordinating conjunction such as:
after, although, because, if, since, when, where, wherever, or while
Can also be introduced by relative pronouns such as:
who, whom, whose, which, or that

9. For Practice, You try a few…
Which sentences in the following paragraph are complex?
How do you know?

10. Kublai Khan, who was the Mongol emperor of China, invited Marco Polo to be his guest. He remained there for 17 years until he started traveling abroad again. Although Polo visited the kingdom of Samara on the island of Sumatra, he objected to the people’s religious practices and to their powerful ruler. As long as the winds remained contrary, he was forced to stay. With a party of some 2000 men, he dug a huge, deep ditch that would serve as a defense against any danger. The ditch, which was strengthened with several wooden forts, ended in the shipping port. Polo, who thought the natives were threatening savages, lived securely in his ditch with his party for five months.

11. Understanding Complex Sent. In writing…
Look for the main idea.
Locate the subject and verb that form the basic sentence.
If subject and verb are inverted, rearrange them.

12. Throw out anything that is not crucial to the true meaning of the sentence.
If you don’t need it to understand the sentence, it is a modifier and can be thrown out.
Read further.
Sometimes confusing sentences are followed by one or more sentences that provide clarity.

13. Vocabulary Affinity Aghast Insipid Alleviation Insoluble Annihilate
Deficiency
Emaciated
Fitfully
Futility
Insipid
Insoluble
Interment
Narrative
Obstinate
Terrestrial
Vivacious

14. The Fall of the House of Usher
Written in 1839
Is a classic Gothic horror story
Narrator’s ability to rationalize situations contrasts with the main character, Roderick Usher’s, dark and mystical frame of mind.

15. Nothing to FEAR???
Roderick Usher, the main character, claims that his greatest fear is that he will lose his life and sanity to fear.
Some believe that when fear takes over, it prevents a logical, effective reaction.
Have you ever witnessed a situation in which someone showed fear?
How did the fear affect the person’s judgment and ability to handle the situation?