You’re going to try developing your own body paragraphs for a new essay. I will support you with an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your Assignment is to try developing two body paragraphs for this essay.

Essay Focus:

The effectiveness of author’s choices in developing elements of “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Sample topics for your paragraphs:

• author’s choice to narrate from first person rather than third person omniscient
• author’s choice to narrate from an unreliable narrator (regardless of point of view) – how that impacts the story for the reader
• author’s choice in the narrator using second person point of view, to speak to the reader
• author’s development of tone established by events, word choices, and early comments by the narrator
• author’s inclusion of gothic elements, like death of a loved one, fixation on heaven and hell, monsters and zombies, etc.
• other – can you think of another observation of the author’s choices in the outcome of the story?

Intro Paragraph:

Great authors consider even the smallest elements of a story to develop engaging and memorable stories for readers. The types and number of characters developed, the relationships they have to have to each other, and even where and when the story is placed can be the difference between a story readers love or are indifferent to. This is especially clear in the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” written by Edgar Allen Poe, the father of gothic literature. The story is mostly-set in a lone house with two occupants who have a relationship, but there is tension from the narrator towards the second unnamed character; he narrates to readers of events that may have already happened, when he stalks and finally kills the old man. The story is a popular one among fiction readers, who are attracted to many of the unique elements of the story, including a single narrator, short time span of events. Some of the most distinctive qualities included by the author are the use of the second person point of view, an unreliable narrator relaying the plot events, and the use of gothic elements. Through these style choices and others, readers explore a carefully-crafted short story.

Body One:

Body Two:

Body Three:

Conclusion Paragraph:

The choices made by the author in developing this text establish it among all the others as being an especially perfect example of storytelling and story writing. While many others may be developing their writing styles, they may look to popular pieces of literature to study and recognize what decisions authors made in developing those loved texts. Poe is one such author studied and envied for the many short stories he developed that leave a lasting impact on readers, not just for the ideas the stories convey, but also for the style the writer establishes and perfects.