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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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”

8. 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”

9. 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

10. 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.